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Sample records for profound positive change

  1. What is profound?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sobisch, Jan-Ulrich

    2013-01-01

    Discussing the question, which elements on the path are to be considered profound. While a general view is that the most subtle practises are also the most profound, 'Jig-rten-mgon-po maintains that the most fundamental one's are to be considered the most profound....

  2. Like cognitive function, decision making across the life span shows profound age-related changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tymula, Agnieszka; Rosenberg Belmaker, Lior A; Ruderman, Lital; Glimcher, Paul W; Levy, Ifat

    2013-10-15

    It has long been known that human cognitive function improves through young adulthood and then declines across the later life span. Here we examined how decision-making function changes across the life span by measuring risk and ambiguity attitudes in the gain and loss domains, as well as choice consistency, in an urban cohort ranging in age from 12 to 90 y. We identified several important age-related patterns in decision making under uncertainty: First, we found that healthy elders between the ages of 65 and 90 were strikingly inconsistent in their choices compared with younger subjects. Just as elders show profound declines in cognitive function, they also show profound declines in choice rationality compared with their younger peers. Second, we found that the widely documented phenomenon of ambiguity aversion is specific to the gain domain and does not occur in the loss domain, except for a slight effect in older adults. Finally, extending an earlier report by our group, we found that risk attitudes across the life span show an inverted U-shaped function; both elders and adolescents are more risk-averse than their midlife counterparts. Taken together, these characterizations of decision-making function across the life span in this urban cohort strengthen the conclusions of previous reports suggesting a profound impact of aging on cognitive function in this domain.

  3. The causal effect of profound organizational change when job insecurity is low – a quasi-experiment analysing municipal mergers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhatti, Yosef; Gørtz, Mette; Pedersen, Lene Holm

    2015-01-01

    The present article finds that the causal effect of profound organizational change on employee health can be very low, if job insecurity is mitigated. We demonstrate this by investigating a rare case of a large-scale radical public sector reform with low job insecurity, in which a large number...... and job insecurity may explain the divergence from previous results. An important strength of our study is that the reform investigated can be considered a quasi-experiment, as it was exogenous and implemented simultaneously by the affected local governments. We also have access to an objective measure...... of robustness tests are performed, including propensity score matching and in-depth analysis of particular sub-groups of public sector employees. The results indicate that profound organizational change per se does not necessarily lead to decreased health, if job insecurity is low. However, a very modest effect...

  4. Human dignity and the profoundly disabled: a theological perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Pia

    2011-01-01

    One challenge to the concept of human dignity is that it is a rootless notion invoked simply to mask inequalities that inevitably exist between human beings. This privileging of humans is speciesist and its weak point is the profoundly disabled human being. This article argues that far from being a weak point, the profoundly disabled person is a source of strength and witness to the intrinsic dignity that all human beings have by virtue of being human. The disabled represent the reality of human existence that is both strong and fragile. Although human dignity can be understood philosophically its depth is rooted in Christian theological insights. The profoundly disabled occupy a privileged position and share in a theology of mission since they testify to the interdependence of every human being and human dependence on God to a myopic world that only values strength, autonomy and independence.

  5. Butyrate induces profound changes in gene expression related to multiple signal pathways in bovine kidney epithelial cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li CongJun

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Global gene expression profiles of bovine kidney epithelial cells regulated by sodium butyrate were investigated with high-density oligonucleotide microarrays. The bovine microarray with 86,191 distinct 60mer oligonucleotides, each with 4 replicates, was designed and produced with Maskless Array Synthesizer technology. These oligonucleotides represent approximately 45,383 unique cattle sequences. Results 450 genes significantly regulated by butyrate with a median False Discovery Rate (FDR = 0 % were identified. The majority of these genes were repressed by butyrate and associated with cell cycle control. The expression levels of 30 selected genes identified by the microarray were confirmed using real-time PCR. The results from real-time PCR positively correlated (R = 0.867 with the results from the microarray. Conclusion This study presented the genes related to multiple signal pathways such as cell cycle control and apoptosis. The profound changes in gene expression elucidate the molecular basis for the pleiotropic effects of butyrate on biological processes. These findings enable better recognition of the full range of beneficial roles butyrate may play during cattle energy metabolism, cell growth and proliferation, and possibly in fighting gastrointestinal pathogens.

  6. Misperceiving Bullshit as Profound Is Associated with Favorable Views of Cruz, Rubio, Trump and Conservatism.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Pfattheicher

    Full Text Available The present research investigates the associations between holding favorable views of potential Democratic or Republican candidates for the US presidency 2016 and seeing profoundness in bullshit statements. In this contribution, bullshit is used as a technical term which is defined as communicative expression that lacks content, logic, or truth from the perspective of natural science. We used the Bullshit Receptivity scale (BSR to measure seeing profoundness in bullshit statements. The BSR scale contains statements that have a correct syntactic structure and seem to be sound and meaningful on first reading but are actually vacuous. Participants (N = 196; obtained via Amazon Mechanical Turk rated the profoundness of bullshit statements (using the BSR and provided favorability ratings of three Democratic (Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders and three Republican candidates for US president (Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump. Participants also completed a measure of political liberalism/conservatism. Results revealed that favorable views of all three Republican candidates were positively related to judging bullshit statements as profound. The smallest correlation was found for Donald Trump. Although we observe a positive association between bullshit and support for the three Democrat candidates, this relationship is both substantively small and statistically insignificant. The general measure of political liberalism/conservatism was also related to judging bullshit statements as profound in that individuals who were more politically conservative had a higher tendency to see profoundness in bullshit statements. Of note, these results were not due to a general tendency among conservatives to see profoundness in everything: Favorable views of Republican candidates and conservatism were not significantly related to profoundness ratings of mundane statements. In contrast, this was the case for Hillary Clinton and Martin O

  7. Misperceiving Bullshit as Profound Is Associated with Favorable Views of Cruz, Rubio, Trump and Conservatism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfattheicher, Stefan; Schindler, Simon

    2016-01-01

    The present research investigates the associations between holding favorable views of potential Democratic or Republican candidates for the US presidency 2016 and seeing profoundness in bullshit statements. In this contribution, bullshit is used as a technical term which is defined as communicative expression that lacks content, logic, or truth from the perspective of natural science. We used the Bullshit Receptivity scale (BSR) to measure seeing profoundness in bullshit statements. The BSR scale contains statements that have a correct syntactic structure and seem to be sound and meaningful on first reading but are actually vacuous. Participants (N = 196; obtained via Amazon Mechanical Turk) rated the profoundness of bullshit statements (using the BSR) and provided favorability ratings of three Democratic (Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders) and three Republican candidates for US president (Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump). Participants also completed a measure of political liberalism/conservatism. Results revealed that favorable views of all three Republican candidates were positively related to judging bullshit statements as profound. The smallest correlation was found for Donald Trump. Although we observe a positive association between bullshit and support for the three Democrat candidates, this relationship is both substantively small and statistically insignificant. The general measure of political liberalism/conservatism was also related to judging bullshit statements as profound in that individuals who were more politically conservative had a higher tendency to see profoundness in bullshit statements. Of note, these results were not due to a general tendency among conservatives to see profoundness in everything: Favorable views of Republican candidates and conservatism were not significantly related to profoundness ratings of mundane statements. In contrast, this was the case for Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley. Overall, small

  8. Achieving and sustaining profound institutional change in healthcare: case study using neo-institutional theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macfarlane, Fraser; Barton-Sweeney, Cathy; Woodard, Fran; Greenhalgh, Trisha

    2013-03-01

    Change efforts in healthcare sometimes have an ambitious, whole-system remit and seek to achieve fundamental changes in norms and organisational culture rather than (or as well as) restructuring the service. Long-term evaluation of such initiatives is rarely undertaken. We report a secondary analysis of data from an evaluation of a profound institutional change effort in London, England, using a mixed-method longitudinal case study design. The service had received £15 million modernisation funding in 2004, covering multiple organisations and sectors and overseen by a bespoke management and governance infrastructure that was dismantled in 2008. In 2010-11, we gathered data (activity statistics, documents, interviews, questionnaires, site visits) and compared these with data from 2003 to 2008. Data analysis was informed by neo-institutional theory, which considers organisational change as resulting from the material-resource environment and three 'institutional pillars' (regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive), enacted and reproduced via the identities, values and activities of human actors. Explaining the long-term fortunes of the different components of the original programme and their continuing adaptation to a changing context required attention to all three of Scott's pillars and to the interplay between macro institutional structures and embedded human agency. The paper illustrates how neo-institutional theory (which is typically used by academics to theorise macro-level changes in institutional structures over time) can also be applied at a more meso level to inform an empirical analysis of how healthcare organisations achieve change and what helps or hinders efforts to sustain those changes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Triple-loop learning as foundation for profound change, individual cultivation, and radical innovation. Construction processes beyond scientific and rational knowledge.

    OpenAIRE

    Peschl, Markus F.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: Ernst von Glasersfeld’s question concerning the relationship between scientific/ rational knowledge and the domain of wisdom and how these forms of knowledge come about is the starting point. This article aims at developing an epistemological as well as methodological framework that is capable of explaining how profound change can be brought about in various contexts, such as in individual cultivation, in organizations, in processes of radical innovation, etc. This fra...

  10. Emergent Innovation—a Socio-Epistemological Innovation Technology. Creating Profound Change and Radically New Knowledge as Core Challenges in Knowledge Management

    OpenAIRE

    Peschl, Markus F.; Fundneider, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    This paper introduces an alternative approach to innovation: Emergent Innovation. As opposed to radical innovation Emergent Innovation finds a balance and integrates the demand both for radically new knowledge and at the same time for an organic development from within the organization. From a knowledge management perspective one can boil down this problem to the question of how to cope with the new and with profound change in knowledge. This question will be dealt with in the first part of t...

  11. Observations on Working Psychoanalytically with a Profoundly Amnesic Patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul A. Moore

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Individuals with profound amnesia are markedly impaired in explicitly recalling new episodic events, but appear to preserve the capacity to use information from other sources. Amongst these preserved capacities is the ability to form new memories of an emotional nature – a skill at the heart of developing and sustaining interpersonal relationships. The psychoanalytic study of individuals with profound amnesia might contribute to the understanding the importance of each memory system, including effects on key analytic processes such as transference and countertransference. However, psychoanalytic work in the presence of profound amnesia might also require important technical modifications. In the first report of its kind, we describe observations from a long term psychoanalytic process (72 sessions with an individual (JL who has profound amnesia after an anoxic episode. The nature of therapy was shaped by JL’s impairment in connecting elements that belong to distant (and even relatively close moments in the therapeutic process. However, we were also able to document areas of preservation, in what appears to be a functioning therapeutic alliance. As regards transference, the relationship between JL and his analyst can be viewed as the evolution of a narcissistic transference, and case material is provided that maps this into three phases: (i rejecting; (ii starting to take in; and (iii full use of the analytic space – where each phase exhibits differing degrees of permeability between JL and the analyst. This investigation appears to have important theoretical implications for psychoanalytic practice, and for psychotherapy in general – and not only with regard to brain injured populations. We especially note that it raises questions concerning the mechanism of therapeutic action in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, and the apparent unimportance of episodic memory for many elements of therapeutic change.

  12. Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saupe, E.E.; Hendricks, J.R.; Portell, R.W.; Dowsett, Harry J.; Haywood, A. M.; Hunter, S.J.; Lieberman, B.S.

    2014-01-01

    In order to predict the fate of biodiversity in a rapidly changing world, we must first understand how species adapt to new environmental conditions. The long-term evolutionary dynamics of species' physiological tolerances to differing climatic regimes remain obscure. Here, we unite palaeontological and neontological data to analyse whether species' environmental tolerances remain stable across 3 Myr of profound climatic changes using 10 phylogenetically, ecologically and developmentally diverse mollusc species from the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, USA. We additionally investigate whether these species' upper and lower thermal tolerances are constrained across this interval. We find that these species' environmental preferences are stable across the duration of their lifetimes, even when faced with significant environmental perturbations. The results suggest that species will respond to current and future warming either by altering distributions to track suitable habitat or, if the pace of change is too rapid, by going extinct. Our findings also support methods that project species' present-day environmental requirements to future climatic landscapes to assess conservation risks.

  13. Social Peer Interactions in Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: A Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nijs, Sara; Maes, Bea

    2014-01-01

    Social interactions may positively influence developmental and quality of life outcomes. Research in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) mostly investigated interactions with caregivers. This literature review focuses on peer interactions of persons with PIMD. A computerized literature search of three databases was…

  14. Family matters: The experiences and opinions of family members of persons with (severe) or profound intellectual disabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Luijkx, Jorien

    2016-01-01

    “I love my sister, but sometimes I don’t”. This is one of the statements made in the study focused on the experiences of family members of people with (profound) intellectual (and multiple) disabilities (both of individuals living in a residential facility as persons living at home). In recent years, there has been greater recognition of the important position of parents and siblings of people with (profound) intellectual (and multiple) disabilities and the importance of the wellbeing of all ...

  15. Staffs' documentation of participation for adults with profound intellectual disability or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talman, Lena; Gustafsson, Christine; Stier, Jonas; Wilder, Jenny

    2017-06-21

    This study investigated what areas of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health were documented in implementation plans for adults with profound intellectual disability or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities with focus on participation. A document analysis of 17 implementation plans was performed and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health was used as an analytic tool. One hundred and sixty-three different codes were identified, especially in the components Activities and participation and Environmental factors. Participation was most frequently coded in the chapters Community, social and civic life and Self-care. Overall, the results showed that focus in the implementation plans concerned Self-care and Community, social and civic life. The other life areas in Activities and participation were seldom, or not at all, documented. A deeper focus on participation in the implementation plans and all life areas in the component Activities and participation is needed. It is important that the documentation clearly shows what the adult wants, wishes, and likes in everyday life. It is also important to ensure that the job description for staff contains both life areas and individual preferences so that staff have the possibility to work to fulfill social and individual participation for the target group. Implications for rehabilitation There is a need for functioning working models to increase participation significantly for adults with profound intellectual disability or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. For these adults, participation is achieved through the assistance of others and support and services carried out must be documented in an implementation plan. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health can be used to support staff and ensure that information about the most important factors in an individual's functioning in their environment is not omitted in

  16. Achieving profound anesthesia using the intraosseous technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coury, K A

    1997-10-01

    The intraosseous technique has been described as a useful adjunct to primary anesthetic administration. It has several advantages (Table 3) over other supplemental techniques in that it is relatively simple to implement into routine practice, it affords fast, predictable results, and it is relatively painless. The technique has been shown to be very successful in achieving profound pulpal anesthesia when administered as a supplement to the inferior alveolar nerve block and is effective in achieving profound anesthesia in irreversibly inflamed teeth, especially mandibular molars.

  17. Structural modification of resveratrol leads to increased anti-tumor activity, but causes profound changes in the mode of action

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scherzberg, Maria-Christina; Kiehl, Andreas; Zivkovic, Aleksandra; Stark, Holger; Stein, Jürgen; Fürst, Robert; Steinhilber, Dieter; Ulrich-Rückert, Sandra

    2015-01-01

    (Z)-3,5,4′-Trimethoxystilbene (Z-TMS) is a resveratrol analog with increased antiproliferative activity towards a number of cancer cell lines compared to resveratrol, which has been shown to inhibit tubulin polymerization in vitro. The purpose of this study was to investigate if Z-TMS still shows potential for the prevention of metabolic diseases as known for resveratrol. Cell growth inhibition was determined with IC 50 values for Z-TMS between 0.115 μM and 0.473 μM (resveratrol: 110.7 μM to 190.2 μM). Flow cytometric analysis revealed a G 2 /M arrest after Z-TMS treatment, whereas resveratrol caused S phase arrest. Furthermore, Z-TMS was shown to impair microtubule polymerization. Beneficial effects on lipid accumulation were observed for resveratrol, but not for Z-TMS in an in vitro steatosis model. (E)-Resveratrol was confirmed to elevate cAMP levels, and knockdown of AMPK attenuated the antiproliferative activity, while Z-TMS did not show significant effects in these experiments. SIRT1 and AMPK activities were further measured indirectly via induction of the target gene small heterodimer partner (SHP). Thereby, (E)-resveratrol, but not Z-TMS, showed potent induction of SHP mRNA levels in an AMPK- and SIRT1-dependent manner, as confirmed by knockdown experiments. We provide evidence that Z-TMS does not show beneficial metabolic effects, probably due to loss of activity towards resveratrol target genes. Moreover, our data support previous findings that Z-TMS acts as an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization. These findings confirm that the methylation of resveratrol leads to profound changes in the mode of action, which should be taken into consideration when conducting lead structure optimization approaches. - Highlights: • Methylation of resveratrol leads to profound changes in biologic activity. • Z-TMS does not prevent hepatic steatosis, but inhibits tubulin polymerization. • Resveratrol analog Z-TMS does not influence known targets like PDEs, SIRT1

  18. Structural modification of resveratrol leads to increased anti-tumor activity, but causes profound changes in the mode of action

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scherzberg, Maria-Christina; Kiehl, Andreas; Zivkovic, Aleksandra; Stark, Holger [Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Stein, Jürgen [Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Department of Internal Medicine, Sachsenhausen Hospital, Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Fürst, Robert [Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Steinhilber, Dieter [Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Ulrich-Rückert, Sandra, E-mail: sandra.ulrich@em.uni-frankfurt.de [Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

    2015-08-15

    (Z)-3,5,4′-Trimethoxystilbene (Z-TMS) is a resveratrol analog with increased antiproliferative activity towards a number of cancer cell lines compared to resveratrol, which has been shown to inhibit tubulin polymerization in vitro. The purpose of this study was to investigate if Z-TMS still shows potential for the prevention of metabolic diseases as known for resveratrol. Cell growth inhibition was determined with IC{sub 50} values for Z-TMS between 0.115 μM and 0.473 μM (resveratrol: 110.7 μM to 190.2 μM). Flow cytometric analysis revealed a G{sub 2}/M arrest after Z-TMS treatment, whereas resveratrol caused S phase arrest. Furthermore, Z-TMS was shown to impair microtubule polymerization. Beneficial effects on lipid accumulation were observed for resveratrol, but not for Z-TMS in an in vitro steatosis model. (E)-Resveratrol was confirmed to elevate cAMP levels, and knockdown of AMPK attenuated the antiproliferative activity, while Z-TMS did not show significant effects in these experiments. SIRT1 and AMPK activities were further measured indirectly via induction of the target gene small heterodimer partner (SHP). Thereby, (E)-resveratrol, but not Z-TMS, showed potent induction of SHP mRNA levels in an AMPK- and SIRT1-dependent manner, as confirmed by knockdown experiments. We provide evidence that Z-TMS does not show beneficial metabolic effects, probably due to loss of activity towards resveratrol target genes. Moreover, our data support previous findings that Z-TMS acts as an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization. These findings confirm that the methylation of resveratrol leads to profound changes in the mode of action, which should be taken into consideration when conducting lead structure optimization approaches. - Highlights: • Methylation of resveratrol leads to profound changes in biologic activity. • Z-TMS does not prevent hepatic steatosis, but inhibits tubulin polymerization. • Resveratrol analog Z-TMS does not influence known targets like

  19. Temporal and spatial changes in the copepod community during the 1974-1998 spring seasons in the Kuroshio region; a time period of profound changes in pelagic fish populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Hiroomi; Itoh, Hiroshi; Okazaki, Yuji

    2017-10-01

    The long-term change (1974-1998) of the pelagic copepod community in the Kuroshio region, western Pacific was examined in archival samples collected both day and night in April/May in a time period of profound changes in the pelagic fish populations. A total of 162 adult copepod species was found. The community analysis based on species composition and abundance of adult copepods identified five assemblages (A-E) by cluster analysis. These assemblages were distributed in the north-frontal area of the Kuroshio Current within the slope area (A), the Kuroshio axis area (B), the subtropical area (C, D), and the coastal area within the slope area (E), indicating that such diverse communities were formed to correspond with the gradual change in the oceanic environment across the Kuroshio Current. The abundance of copepods in the north-frontal area of the Kuroshio Current (A) was 1.6 times greater than that of the other assemblages. Kuroshio/subtropical species were abundant in the assemblage, suggesting that these species that were transported from the Kuroshio and/or subtropical regions increased in the slope region. Abundance and species richness of two assemblages (C, D), which were found in the subtropical areas were higher at night (C) than during the day (D), suggesting that diel vertical migration of copepods is one of the most important factors affecting changes in the community. Furthermore, a generalized additive model revealed that the most dominant subtropical/Kuroshio species increased in years in which the Kuroshio Current flowed further south, with the Kuroshio axis located far from the Japanese coast. In contrast, the model showed that the lower latitude of the Kuroshio axis positioned negatively affected coastal-dominant species, such as Paracalanus parvus sensu lato (s.l.). These results indicate that onshore-offshore shifts of the Kuroshio axis caused by Kuroshio meandering was an important factor involved in the inter-annual change in the copepod

  20. Proximal processes of children with profound multiple disabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Wilder, Jenny

    2008-01-01

    In this thesis four empirical studies dealt with children with profound multiple disabilities and their parents with regard to: (a) how parents perceived interaction with their children (b) how observed child/parent interaction was linked to behavior style of the children as perceived by the parents (c) how parents of children with profound multiple disabilities perceived child/parent interaction and behavior style of their children in comparison to parents to children without disabilities ma...

  1. Signal processing for the profoundly deaf.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boothyroyd, A

    1990-01-01

    Profound deafness, defined here as a hearing loss in excess of 90 dB, is characterized by high thresholds, reduced hearing range in the intensity and frequency domains, and poor resolution in the frequency and time domains. The high thresholds call for hearing aids with unusually high gains or remote microphones that can be placed close to the signal source. The former option creates acoustic feedback problems for which digital signal processing may yet offer solutions. The latter option calls for carrier wave technology that is already available. The reduced frequency and intensity ranges would appear to call for frequency and/or amplitude compression. It might also be argued, however, that any attempts to compress the acoustic signal into the limited hearing range of the profoundly deaf will be counterproductive because of poor frequency and time resolution, especially when the signal is present in noise. In experiments with a 2-channel compression system, only 1 of 9 subjects showed an improvement of perception with the introduction of fast-release (20 ms) compression. The other 8 experienced no benefit or a slight deterioration of performance. These results support the concept of providing the profoundly deaf with simpler, rather than more complex, patterns, perhaps through the use of feature extraction hearing aids. Data from users of cochlear implants already employing feature extraction techniques also support this concept.

  2. Postural hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Микола Віталійович Лизогуб

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background of study. Prone position is one of the most complex positions for anesthesiologist as it is accompanied by several physiological changes that can lead to specific complications. Hemodynamic changes are most controversial.Aim of study was to establish hemodynamic changes in non-anaesthetized patients in prone position depending on body mass index.Material and methods. We examined central hemodynamics in 40 patients the day before surgery using thoracic rheography in supine position, in prone position 5 min after turning and in prone position 20 min after turning. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to body mass index (18-25 and 26-35.Results. Patients with normal body weight did not have any hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position. Patients with increased body weight had higher cardiac index. After turning to prone position obese patients’ cardiac output and cardiac index reduced 22% comparing with supine position. After 20 min in prone position these hemodynamic parameters were found to be reduced to the same level.Conclusion. Significant hemodynamic changes after turning from supine to prone position were revealed only in patients with increased body mass index. In these patients cardiac index in prone position was reduced by 22% comparing to supine position

  3. Quantification of structural changes in the corpus callosumin children with profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stivaros, Stavros M. [Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Academic Unit of Paediatric Radiology, Royal Manchester Children' s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester (United Kingdom); University of Manchester, Centre for Imaging Sciences, Institute of Population Health, Manchester (United Kingdom); Radon, Mark R. [The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Neuroradiology, Liverpool (United Kingdom); Mileva, Reneta; Gledson, Ann; Keane, John A. [University of Manchester, School of Computer Science, Manchester (United Kingdom); Connolly, Daniel J.A.; Batty, Ruth [Sheffield Children' s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Neuroradiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Cowell, Patricia E. [University of Sheffield, Department of Human Communication Sciences, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Hoggard, Nigel; Griffiths, Paul D. [University of Sheffield, Academic Unit of Radiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Wright, Neville B.; Tang, Vivian [Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Academic Unit of Paediatric Radiology, Royal Manchester Children' s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester (United Kingdom)

    2016-01-15

    Birth-related acute profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury has specific patterns of damage including the paracentral lobules. To test the hypothesis that there is anatomically coherent regional volume loss of the corpus callosum as a result of this hemispheric abnormality. Study subjects included 13 children with proven acute profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury and 13 children with developmental delay but no brain abnormalities. A computerised system divided the corpus callosum into 100 segments, measuring each width. Principal component analysis grouped the widths into contiguous anatomical regions. We conducted analysis of variance of corpus callosum widths as well as support vector machine stratification into patient groups. There was statistically significant narrowing of the mid-posterior body and genu of the corpus callosum in children with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury. Support vector machine analysis yielded over 95% accuracy in patient group stratification using the corpus callosum centile widths. Focal volume loss is seen in the corpus callosum of children with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury secondary to loss of commissural fibres arising in the paracentral lobules. Support vector machine stratification into the hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury group or the control group on the basis of corpus callosum width is highly accurate and points towards rapid clinical translation of this technique as a potential biomarker of hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury. (orig.)

  4. Quantification of structural changes in the corpus callosumin children with profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stivaros, Stavros M.; Radon, Mark R.; Mileva, Reneta; Gledson, Ann; Keane, John A.; Connolly, Daniel J.A.; Batty, Ruth; Cowell, Patricia E.; Hoggard, Nigel; Griffiths, Paul D.; Wright, Neville B.; Tang, Vivian

    2016-01-01

    Birth-related acute profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury has specific patterns of damage including the paracentral lobules. To test the hypothesis that there is anatomically coherent regional volume loss of the corpus callosum as a result of this hemispheric abnormality. Study subjects included 13 children with proven acute profound hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury and 13 children with developmental delay but no brain abnormalities. A computerised system divided the corpus callosum into 100 segments, measuring each width. Principal component analysis grouped the widths into contiguous anatomical regions. We conducted analysis of variance of corpus callosum widths as well as support vector machine stratification into patient groups. There was statistically significant narrowing of the mid-posterior body and genu of the corpus callosum in children with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury. Support vector machine analysis yielded over 95% accuracy in patient group stratification using the corpus callosum centile widths. Focal volume loss is seen in the corpus callosum of children with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury secondary to loss of commissural fibres arising in the paracentral lobules. Support vector machine stratification into the hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury group or the control group on the basis of corpus callosum width is highly accurate and points towards rapid clinical translation of this technique as a potential biomarker of hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury. (orig.)

  5. Smoking cessation induces profound changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota in humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luc Biedermann

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The human intestinal microbiota is a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of various diseases, such as metabolic syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD. Yet, knowledge about the role of environmental factors such as smoking (which is known to influence theses aforementioned disease states on the complex microbial composition is sparse. We aimed to investigate the role of smoking cessation on intestinal microbial composition in 10 healthy smoking subjects undergoing controlled smoking cessation. METHODS: During the observational period of 9 weeks repetitive stool samples were collected. Based on abundance of 16S rRNA genes bacterial composition was analysed and compared to 10 control subjects (5 continuing smokers and 5 non-smokers by means of Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis and high-throughput sequencing. RESULTS: Profound shifts in the microbial composition after smoking cessation were observed with an increase of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria and a lower proportion of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria on the phylum level. In addition, after smoking cessation there was an increase in microbial diversity. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that smoking is an environmental factor modulating the composition of human gut microbiota. The observed changes after smoking cessation revealed to be similar to the previously reported differences in obese compared to lean humans and mice respectively, suggesting a potential pathogenetic link between weight gain and smoking cessation. In addition they give rise to a potential association of smoking status and the course of IBD.

  6. Environmentally profound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Rushu [China Yangzte Three Gorges Project Development Corp., Yichang Hubei (China)

    1999-09-01

    The Three Gorges dam project on the Yangtze river will have a profound effect on the people, the environment and cultural heritage sites. The dam will be the world's biggest and will provide almost 85 BkWh of hydro power per annum. A noticeable benefit will be a greatly reduced incidence of flooding in the Jingjiang reaches of the river. Additional benefits will be improved local navigation, climate and enhanced water quality. The main unwelcome impacts were loss of farmland and resettlement of people but here the government have been particularly careful to provide the relocated people with a reasonable standard of new accommodation and farmland. The loss of natural vegetation will be small but there are endangered species of birds and animals living in the region. A number of negative environmental affects (dust noise, incidence of certain diseases) and how they are to be mitigated are mentioned. (UK)

  7. Depletion of 4-hydroxynonenal in hGSTA4-transfected HLE B-3 cells results in profound changes in gene expression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patrick, Brad; Li Jie; Jeyabal, Prince V.S.; Reddy, Prasada M.R.V.; Yang Yusong; Sharma, Rajendra; Sinha, Mala; Luxon, Bruce; Zimniak, Piotr; Awasthi, Sanjay; Awasthi, Yogesh C.

    2005-01-01

    Previously, we have shown that overexpression of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE)-detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase A4-4 (hGSTA4-4) in human lens epithelial cells (HLE B-3) leads to pro-carcinogenic phenotypic transformation of these cells [R. Sharma, et al. Eur. J. Biochem. 271 (2004) 1960-1701]. We now demonstrate that hGSTA4-transfection also causes a profound change in the expression of genes involved in cell adhesion, cell cycle control, proliferation, cell growth, and apoptosis, which is consistent with phenotypic changes of the transformed cells. The expression of p53, p21, p16, fibronectin 1, laminin γ1, connexin 43, Fas, integrin α6, TGFα, and c-jun was down-regulated, while the expression of protein kinase C beta II (PKCβII), c-myc, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), and TGFβ was up-regulated in transfected cells. These results demonstrate that HNE serves as a crucial signaling molecule and, by modulating the expression of genes, can influence cellular functions

  8. ProFound: Source Extraction and Application to Modern Survey Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robotham, A. S. G.; Davies, L. J. M.; Driver, S. P.; Koushan, S.; Taranu, D. S.; Casura, S.; Liske, J.

    2018-05-01

    We introduce PROFOUND, a source finding and image analysis package. PROFOUND provides methods to detect sources in noisy images, generate segmentation maps identifying the pixels belonging to each source, and measure statistics like flux, size, and ellipticity. These inputs are key requirements of PROFIT, our recently released galaxy profiling package, where the design aim is that these two software packages will be used in unison to semi-automatically profile large samples of galaxies. The key novel feature introduced in PROFOUND is that all photometry is executed on dilated segmentation maps that fully contain the identifiable flux, rather than using more traditional circular or ellipse-based photometry. Also, to be less sensitive to pathological segmentation issues, the de-blending is made across saddle points in flux. We apply PROFOUND in a number of simulated and real-world cases, and demonstrate that it behaves reasonably given its stated design goals. In particular, it offers good initial parameter estimation for PROFIT, and also segmentation maps that follow the sometimes complex geometry of resolved sources, whilst capturing nearly all of the flux. A number of bulge-disc decomposition projects are already making use of the PROFOUND and PROFIT pipeline, and adoption is being encouraged by publicly releasing the software for the open source R data analysis platform under an LGPL-3 license on GitHub (github.com/asgr/ProFound).

  9. Hypothalamic obesity in patients with craniopharyngioma: Profound changes of several weight regulatory circuits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian eRoth

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available One of the most striking examples of dysfunctional hypothalamic signaling of energy homeostasis is observed in patients with hypothalamic lesions leading to hypothalamic obesity (HO. This drastic condition is frequently seen in patients with craniopharyngioma (CP, an embryological tumor located in the hypothalamic and/or pituitary region, frequently causing not only hypopituitarism, but also leading to damage of medial hypothalamic nuclei due to the tumor and its treatment. HO syndrome in CP patients is characterized by fatigue, decreased physical activity, uncontrolled appetite, and morbid obesity, and is associated with insulin and leptin resistance. Mechanisms leading to the profoundly disturbed energy homeostasis are complex. This review summarizes different aspects of important clinical studies as well as data obtained in rodent studies. In addition a model is provided describing how medial hypothalamic lesion can interact simultaneously with several weight regulating circuitries.

  10. How musical engagement promotes well-being in education contexts: The case of a young man with profound and multiple disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFerran, Katrina S.; Shoemark, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Students with profound intellectual disabilities disorders (IDDs) have the right to participate in educational opportunities that recognize their unique resources and needs, as do all children. Because of their specific communication challenges, positive relationships with attentive communication partners are critical for success. In fact, the power of positive relationships in schools is recognized to be connected to student well-being more broadly. This article examines the case of one young man with profound IDD and his relationship with his music therapist using a duo-ethnographic informed paradigmatic case study. Video analysis based on multi-voice perspectives is used to generate hermeneutic phenomenological findings to closely examine the relationship between a young man with profound IDD and a music therapist. The voices of four allied health researchers were also gathered to inform the authors’ construction of an informed commentary on the phenomenon. The results suggest that the essence lay in a combination of attentive, responsive and creative being with the other person over time. Four principles of musical engagement were identified in the video footage as critical to the meaningful relationships through music: the music therapist listens; the music therapist takes responsibility for structure; spontaneous initiation is sought from the young person; and the relationship is built over time. These concepts are contextualized within a discussion of student well-being that is underpinned by positive relationships and leads to students achieving their full potential within diverse school contexts. PMID:23930986

  11. How musical engagement promotes well-being in education contexts: the case of a young man with profound and multiple disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFerran, Katrina S; Shoemark, Helen

    2013-08-07

    Students with profound intellectual disabilities disorders (IDDs) have the right to participate in educational opportunities that recognize their unique resources and needs, as do all children. Because of their specific communication challenges, positive relationships with attentive communication partners are critical for success. In fact, the power of positive relationships in schools is recognized to be connected to student well-being more broadly. This article examines the case of one young man with profound IDD and his relationship with his music therapist using a duo-ethnographic informed paradigmatic case study. Video analysis based on multi-voice perspectives is used to generate hermeneutic phenomenological findings to closely examine the relationship between a young man with profound IDD and a music therapist. The voices of four allied health researchers were also gathered to inform the authors' construction of an informed commentary on the phenomenon. The results suggest that the essence lay in a combination of attentive, responsive and creative being with the other person over time. Four principles of musical engagement were identified in the video footage as critical to the meaningful relationships through music: the music therapist listens; the music therapist takes responsibility for structure; spontaneous initiation is sought from the young person; and the relationship is built over time. These concepts are contextualized within a discussion of student well-being that is underpinned by positive relationships and leads to students achieving their full potential within diverse school contexts.

  12. Informal social networks of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities : Relationship with age, communicative abilities and current living arrangements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamstra, A.; van der Putten, A.A.J.; Post, W.J.; Vlaskamp, C.

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) have limited informal social contacts. Research to determine the factors which can positively influence establishing sound informal social contacts is required. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Regression analysis for 200 people

  13. Profound microcephaly, primordial dwarfism with developmental brain malformations: a new syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel-Salam, Ghada M H; Abdel-Hamid, Mohamed S; Saleem, Sahar N; Ahmed, Mahmoud K H; Issa, Mahmoud; Effat, Laila K; Kayed, Hisham F; Zaki, Maha S; Gaber, Khaled R

    2012-08-01

    We describe two sibs with a lethal form of profound congenital microcephaly, intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, subtle skeletal changes, and poorly developed brain. The sibs had striking absent cranial vault with sloping of the forehead, large beaked nose, relatively large ears, and mandibular micro-retrognathia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed extremely simplified gyral pattern, large interhemispheric cyst and agenesis of corpus callosum, abnormally shaped hippocampus, and proportionately affected cerebellum and brainstem. In addition, fundus examination showed foveal hypoplasia with optic nerve atrophy. No abnormalities of the internal organs were found. This profound form of microcephaly was identified at 17 weeks gestation by ultrasound and fetal brain MRI helped in characterizing the developmental brain malformations in the second sib. Molecular analysis excluded mutations in potentially related genes such as RNU4ATAC, SLC25A19, and ASPM. These clinical and imaging findings are unlike that of any recognized severe forms of microcephaly which is believed to be a new microcephalic primordial dwarfism (MPD) with developmental brain malformations with most probably autosomal recessive inheritance based on consanguinity and similarly affected male and female sibs. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Multimodal MR-imaging reveals large-scale structural and functional connectivity changes in profound early blindness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Corinna M.; Hirsch, Gabriella V.; Zajac, Lauren; Koo, Bang-Bon; Collignon, Olivier

    2017-01-01

    In the setting of profound ocular blindness, numerous lines of evidence demonstrate the existence of dramatic anatomical and functional changes within the brain. However, previous studies based on a variety of distinct measures have often provided inconsistent findings. To help reconcile this issue, we used a multimodal magnetic resonance (MR)-based imaging approach to provide complementary structural and functional information regarding this neuroplastic reorganization. This included gray matter structural morphometry, high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) of white matter connectivity and integrity, and resting state functional connectivity MRI (rsfcMRI) analysis. When comparing the brains of early blind individuals to sighted controls, we found evidence of co-occurring decreases in cortical volume and cortical thickness within visual processing areas of the occipital and temporal cortices respectively. Increases in cortical volume in the early blind were evident within regions of parietal cortex. Investigating white matter connections using HARDI revealed patterns of increased and decreased connectivity when comparing both groups. In the blind, increased white matter connectivity (indexed by increased fiber number) was predominantly left-lateralized, including between frontal and temporal areas implicated with language processing. Decreases in structural connectivity were evident involving frontal and somatosensory regions as well as between occipital and cingulate cortices. Differences in white matter integrity (as indexed by quantitative anisotropy, or QA) were also in general agreement with observed pattern changes in the number of white matter fibers. Analysis of resting state sequences showed evidence of both increased and decreased functional connectivity in the blind compared to sighted controls. Specifically, increased connectivity was evident between temporal and inferior frontal areas. Decreases in functional connectivity were observed

  15. The notochord in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) undergoes profound morphological and mechanical changes during development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kryvi, Harald; Rusten, Iselin; Fjelldal, Per Gunnar; Nordvik, Kari; Totland, Geir K; Karlsen, Tine; Wiig, Helge; Long, John H

    2017-11-01

    We present the development of the notochord of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), from early embryo to sexually mature fish. Over the salmon's lifespan, profound morphological changes occur. Cells and gross structures of the notochord reorganize twice. In the embryo, the volume of the notochord is dominated by large, vacuolated chordocytes; each cell can be modeled as a hydrostat organized into a larger cellular-hydrostat network, structurally bound together with desmosomes. After the embryo hatches and grows into a fry, vacuolated chordocytes disappear, replaced by extracellular lacunae. The formation of mineralized, segmental chordacentra stiffens the notochord and creates intervertebral joints, where tissue strain during lateral bending is now focused. As development proceeds towards the parr stage, a process of devacuolization and intracellular filament accumulation occur, forming highly dense, non-vacuolated chordocytes. As extracellular lacunae enlarge, they are enclosed by dense filamentous chordocytes that form transverse intervertebral septa, which are connected to the intervertebral ligaments, and a longitudinal notochordal strand. In the vertebral column of pelagic adults, large vacuolated chordocytes reappear; cells of this secondary population have a volume up to 19 000 times larger than the primary vacuolated chordocytes of the early notochord. In adults the lacunae have diminished in relative size. Hydrostatic pressure within the notochord increases significantly during growth, from 525 Pa in the alevins to 11 500 Pa in adults, at a rate of increase with total body length greater than that expected by static stress similarity. Pressure and morphometric measurements were combined to estimate the stress in the extracellular material of the notochordal sheath and intervertebral ligaments and the flexural stiffness of the axial skeleton. The functional significance of the morphological changes in the axial skeleton is discussed in relation to the

  16. Change of position of constitutional judiciary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orlović Slobodan P.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Constitutional judiciary is the youngest branch of authority in the horizontal level of state power. Constitutional judiciary has, during its existence - during two centuries as an ordinary court and during one century as a special authority, changed its position, role and importance. Those characteristics of constitutional judiciary had an increasing way - the position became better, in political and law sense, its role has expanded and the importance has increased. Today, constitutional judiciary is an inevitable subject of constitutional regimes in huge number of states (between them are almost all federations but, in the same time, constitutional judiciary is an authority which is at least limited by the constitution. The constitution is "soft" to the constitutional judiciary because the judiciary interpreted the constitution in accordance to its political and law attitudes, hidden by the guise of protection. Different separation of power, a rise of executive power, requests for better protections of fundamental human rights, a changed role of state and executive power, altogether, have influenced to change of position of constitutional judiciary.

  17. Transitioning hearing aid users with severe and profound loss to a new gain/frequency response: benefit, perception, and acceptance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Convery, Elizabeth; Keidser, Gitte

    2011-03-01

    Adults with severe and profound hearing loss tend to be long-term, full-time users of amplification who are highly reliant on their hearing aids. As a result of these characteristics, they are often reluctant to update their hearing aids when new features or signal-processing algorithms become available. Due to the electroacoustic constraints of older devices, many severely and profoundly hearing-impaired adults continue to wear hearing aids that provide more low- and mid-frequency gain and less high-frequency gain than would be prescribed by the National Acoustic Laboratories' revised formula with profound correction factor (NAL-RP). To investigate the effect of a gradual change in gain/frequency response on experienced hearing-aid wearers with moderately severe to profound hearing loss. Double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Twenty-three experienced adult hearing-aid users with severe and profound hearing loss participated in the study. Participants were selected for inclusion in the study if the gain/frequency response of their own hearing aids differed significantly from their NAL-RP prescription. Participants were assigned either to a control or to an experimental group balanced for aided ear three-frequency pure-tone average (PTA) and age. Participants were fitted with Siemens Artis 2 SP behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids that were matched to the gain/frequency response of their own hearing aids for a 65 dB SPL input level. The experimental group progressed incrementally to their NAL-RP targets over the course of 15 wk, while the control group maintained their initial settings throughout the study. Aided speech discrimination testing, loudness scaling, and structured questionnaires were completed at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 wk postfitting. A paired comparison between the old and new gain/frequency responses was completed at 1 and 15 wk postfitting. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine differences between the experimental and control groups and changes

  18. Assumptions of Decision-Making Capacity: The Role Supporter Attitudes Play in the Realisation of Article 12 for People with Severe or Profound Intellectual Disability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanne Watson

    2016-02-01

    supporters having positive assumptions of decision-making capacity as a factor affecting supported decision-making. This commentary aims to give a focus for practice and policy efforts for ensuring people with severe or profound cognitive disability receive appropriate support in decision-making, a clear obligation of signatory nations of the UNCRPD. A focus on changing supporter attitudes rather than placing the onus of change on people with disability is consistent with the social model of disability, a key driver of the UNCRPD.

  19. The tell-tale: what do heart rate; skin temperature and skin conductance reveal about emotions of people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vos, Pieter; De Cock, Paul; Munde, Vera; Petry, Katja; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Maes, Bea

    2012-01-01

    Identifying emotions in people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities is a difficult challenge. Since self-reports are not available, behaviour is the most used source of information. Given the limitations and caveats associated with using behaviour as the sole source of information about their emotions, it is important to supplement behavioural information with information from another source. As it is accepted that emotions consist of language, behaviour and physiology, in this article we investigated if physiology could give information about the emotions of people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities. To this aim we tested hypotheses derived from the motivational model of Bradley, Codispoti, Cuthbert, and Lang (2001) about the relation between heart rate and the valence of emotions and between heart rate, skin conductance and skin temperature and behavioural expressions of emotions of people with severe and profound intellectual disability. We presented 27 participants with 4 staff-selected negative and 4 staff-selected positive stimuli. The situations were videotaped and their heart rate, skin conductance and skin temperature was measured. Each behaviour of the participant was coded using the observational method developed by Petry and Maes (2006). As hypothesized, we found a lower heart rate when participants were presented with negative stimuli than when they were presented with positive stimuli in the first 6s of stimuli presentation. Their skin temperature was higher for the expression of low intensity negative emotions compared to the expression of low intensity positive emotions. The results suggest that, as with people without disability, heart rate and skin temperature can give information about the emotions of persons with severe and profound ID. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Informal Social Networks of People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: Relationship with Age, Communicative Abilities and Current Living Arrangements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamstra, A.; van der Putten, A. A. J.; Post, W. J.; Vlaskamp, C.

    2015-01-01

    Background: People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) have limited informal social contacts. Research to determine the factors which can positively influence establishing sound informal social contacts is required. Materials and Methods: Regression analysis for 200 people with PIMD was used to analyse how age,…

  1. The Effect of Frequency Transposition on Speech Perception in Adolescents and Young Adults with Profound Hearing Loss

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gou, J.; Smith, J.; Valero, J.; Rubio, I.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports on a clinical trial evaluating outcomes of a frequency-lowering technique for adolescents and young adults with severe to profound hearing impairment. Outcomes were defined by changes in aided thresholds, speech perception, and acceptance. The participants comprised seven young people aged between 13 and 25 years. They were…

  2. Bioethical Considerations for Teachers of the Severe and Profoundly Retarded: A Position Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downie, Don; Snart, Fern

    1983-01-01

    The paper reviews bioethical positions regarding the "human-ness" of severely handicapped students, notes that the quality of life for many severely handicapped persons is directly threatened by the utilitarian position which questions the personhood of individuals with limited IQ, and asserts that the deontological postition is more aligned with…

  3. Foveal Processing Under Concurrent Peripheral Load in Profoundly Deaf Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Development of the visual system typically proceeds in concert with the development of audition. One result is that the visual system of profoundly deaf individuals differs from that of those with typical auditory systems. While past research has suggested deaf people have enhanced attention in the visual periphery, it is still unclear whether or not this enhancement entails deficits in central vision. Profoundly deaf and typically hearing adults were administered a variant of the useful field of view task that independently assessed performance on concurrent central and peripheral tasks. Identification of a foveated target was impaired by a concurrent selective peripheral attention task, more so in profoundly deaf adults than in the typically hearing. Previous findings of enhanced performance on the peripheral task were not replicated. These data are discussed in terms of flexible allocation of spatial attention targeted towards perceived task demands, and support a modified “division of labor” hypothesis whereby attentional resources co-opted to process peripheral space result in reduced resources in the central visual field. PMID:26657078

  4. Profound bradycardia associated with NIV removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Echevarria, C; Bourke, S C; Gibson, G J

    2012-01-01

    A patient with lower-limb onset ALS presented with a one-month history of vasovagal episodes and a one-week history of cough productive of green sputum and lethargy. She was drowsy and in acute on chronic type-two respiratory failure. She responded to non-invasive ventilation, however she suffered recurrent episodes of profound bradycardia on removal of the mask, which gradually resolved over ten days. We have reviewed the literature and offer a potential explanation for these events.

  5. Teaching Individuals with Profound Multiple Disabilities to Access Preferred Stimuli with Multiple Microswitches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tam, Gee May; Phillips, Katrina J.; Mudford, Oliver C.

    2011-01-01

    We replicated and extended previous research on microswitch facilitated choice making by individuals with profound multiple disabilities. Following an assessment of stimulus preferences, we taught 6 adults with profound multiple disabilities to emit 2 different responses to activate highly preferred stimuli. All participants learnt to activate…

  6. Positional Accuracy Assessment for Effective Shoreline Change ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ghana Mining Journal ... Data quality may be expressed in terms of several indicators such as attributes, temporal or positional accuracies. ... It is concluded that for the purpose of shoreline change analysis, such as shoreline change trends, large scale data sources should be used where possible for accurate ...

  7. Positional Accuracy Assessment for Effective Shoreline Change ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Michael

    2016-06-01

    Jun 1, 2016 ... as backdrop in GIS environment. Positional error of ... integrated dataset obviously bore the cumulative effect of the input datasets. ... change. The shoreline, which is the interface between land ... modelling, which enables future shoreline change trend to ..... as gaps due to cloud cover and limitation of the.

  8. A Replication to Increase Happiness Indices among Some People with Profound Multiple Disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivancic, Martin T.; And Others

    1997-01-01

    The happiness indices in a Fun Time activity were systematically increased for three of four people with profound multiple disabilities by providing their preferred stimuli. The fourth showed decreased unhappiness. However, three people with profound disabilities and minimal movement failed to show any indices of happiness or unhappiness.…

  9. Do colors exist? and other profound physics questions

    CERN Document Server

    Cottrell, Seth Stannard

    2018-01-01

    Why do polished stones look wet? How does the Twin Paradox work? Why are orbits ellipses? How can we be sure that pi never repeats? How does a quantum computer break encryption? Discover the answers to these, and other profound physics questions! This fascinating book presents a collection of articles based on conversations and correspondences between the author and complete strangers about physics and math. The author, a researcher in mathematical physics, responds to dozens of questions posed by inquiring minds from all over the world, ranging from the everyday to the profound. Rather than unnecessarily complex explanations mired in mysterious terminology and symbols, the reader is presented with the reasoning, experiments, and mathematics in a casual, conversational, and often comical style. Neither over-simplified nor over-technical, the lucid and entertaining writing will guide the reader from the each innocent question to a better understanding of the weird and beautiful universe around us. Advance prai...

  10. Positioning and change in a hospital ward

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærbeck, Susanne

    2017-01-01

    Purpose This paper focuses on communication about hygiene in a hospital ward and with the relevant infection control organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the function of the hygiene coordinator as a key change agent and the communicative challenges and role conflicts implied in her...... practice. The author suggests strategies for improving communication on hygiene on ward level. Design/methodology/approach The empirical material consists of interviews and recordings of communicative events in relation to a breakout of dangerous bacteria in the ward. Change communication is used...... as a contextualizing frame of understanding, and positioning theory and analysis are applied to shed light upon the core challenges of communicating as a change agent when the coordinator's professional position and collegial relations do not support it. Findings It is shown how these challenges are connected...

  11. End-of-life care: nurses' experiences in caring for dying patients with profound learning disabilities--a descriptive case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, S; Ng, J

    2008-12-01

    This qualitative study identifies areas of expertise and deficits in the specific knowledge and practical skills of nurses in the care of dying patients with profound learning disabilities in one NHS Primary Care Trust in the UK. In response to these findings, we have developed a simple observational checklist applicable to profound learning disability nursing to identify disease-related personality and physiological changes. The method consists of a descriptive case study of five nurses qualified in learning disabilities nursing, using semi-structured interviews. The disease trajectory was used as a framework of reference to guide the data analysis. Themes showed were 'certainty of knowing' about disease-related changes in patients' habits and behaviour and 'uncertainty and ambiguity' in the patho-physiology of advanced diseases and disease progression. This study interprets a lack of patho-physiological knowledge in both malignant and non-malignant diseases leading to delayed diagnosis and timely intervention. Timeliness of observation and intervention are emphasised.

  12. Sleep Duration, Positive Attitude toward Life, and Academic Achievement: The Role of Daytime Tiredness, Behavioral Persistence, and School Start Times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkinson-Gloor, Nadine; Lemola, Sakari; Grob, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    Sleep timing undergoes profound changes during adolescence, often resulting in inadequate sleep duration. The present study examines the relationship of sleep duration with positive attitude toward life and academic achievement in a sample of 2716 adolescents in Switzerland (mean age: 15.4 years, SD = 0.8), and whether this relationship is…

  13. Pre-Language Activities for the Profoundly Mentally Retarded.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poole, Marilyn R.; And Others

    Provided are sample lesson plans for a program to develop pre-language skills in profoundly retarded children and adults. Characteristic of the suggested activities is the stimulation of all sensory channels through structured infant-like play activities in five general areas: oral stimulation, sensory arousal, motor stimulation, vocal play, and…

  14. Music Training for Severely and Profoundly Retarded Individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesler, Buford; Richmond, Bert O.

    Investigated were the effects of sex, ability and training method on the musical instrument playing ability of 16 institutionalized severely and profoundly retarded persons ages 7 to 20 years. Ss were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups, and the time required to reach criterion playing a familiar tune was recorded. Data indicated…

  15. Bimanual coordination of bowing and fingering in violinists--effects of position changes and string changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazennikov, Oleg; Wiesendanger, Mario

    2009-07-01

    Music performance is based on demanding motor control with much practice from young age onward. We have chosen to investigate basic bimanual movements played by violin amateurs and professionals. We posed the question whether position and string changes, two frequent mechanisms, may influence the time interval bowing (right)-fingering (left) coordination. The objective was to measure bimanual coordination, i.e., with or without position changes and string changes. The tendency was that the bimanual coordination was statistically only slightly increased or even unchanged but not perceptible. We conclude that the coordination index is limited up to 100 ms intervals, without any erroneous perception. Although the mentioned position changes and string changes are movements with their timing, they are executed in parallel rather than in series with the bow-fingering coordination.

  16. Basic life support and children with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cash, Stefan; Shinnick-Page, Andrea

    2008-10-01

    Nurses and other carers of people with learning disabilities must be able to manage choking events and perform basic life support effectively. UK guidelines for assessment of airway obstruction and for resuscitation do not take account of the specific needs of people with profound multiple learning disability. For example, they fail to account for inhibited gag and coughing reflexes, limited body movements or chest deformity. There are no national guidelines to assist in clinical decisions and training for nurses and carers. Basic life support training for students of learning disability nursing at Birmingham City University is supplemented to address these issues. The authors ask whether such training should be provided for all nurses including those caring for children and young people. They also invite comment and discussion on questions related to chest compression and training in basic life support for a person in a seated position.

  17. Systematic changes in position sense accompany normal aging across adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herter, Troy M; Scott, Stephen H; Dukelow, Sean P

    2014-03-25

    Development of clinical neurological assessments aimed at separating normal from abnormal capabilities requires a comprehensive understanding of how basic neurological functions change (or do not change) with increasing age across adulthood. In the case of proprioception, the research literature has failed to conclusively determine whether or not position sense in the upper limb deteriorates in elderly individuals. The present study was conducted a) to quantify whether upper limb position sense deteriorates with increasing age, and b) to generate a set of normative data that can be used for future comparisons with clinical populations. We examined position sense in 209 healthy males and females between the ages of 18 and 90 using a robotic arm position-matching task that is both objective and reliable. In this task, the robot moved an arm to one of nine positions and subjects attempted to mirror-match that position with the opposite limb. Measures of position sense were recorded by the robotic apparatus in hand-and joint-based coordinates, and linear regressions were used to quantify age-related changes and percentile boundaries of normal behaviour. For clinical comparisons, we also examined influences of sex (male versus female) and test-hand (dominant versus non-dominant) on all measures of position sense. Analyses of hand-based parameters identified several measures of position sense (Variability, Shift, Spatial Contraction, Absolute Error) with significant effects of age, sex, and test-hand. Joint-based parameters at the shoulder (Absolute Error) and elbow (Variability, Shift, Absolute Error) also exhibited significant effects of age and test-hand. The present study provides strong evidence that several measures of upper extremity position sense exhibit declines with age. Furthermore, this data provides a basis for quantifying when changes in position sense are related to normal aging or alternatively, pathology.

  18. Nurse leaders' perceptions of an approaching organizational change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmela, Susanne; Eriksson, Katie; Fagerström, Lisbeth

    2013-05-01

    The aim of the study was to achieve more profound understanding of nurse leaders' perceptions of an approaching organizational change. We used a three-dimensional hermeneutical method of interpretation to analyze text from 17 interviews. The results suggest that nurse leaders were positive toward and actively engaged in continual change to their units, even though they perceived themselves as mere spectators of the change process. The nurse leaders believed that change might benefit patients and patient care, yet their adaptation lacked deeper engagement. The approaching merger affected the nurse leaders' identities on a deeply personal level. They experienced uneasiness and anxiety with regard to being nurse leaders, the future of nursing care, and their mandate as patient advocates. Nurse leaders are in a critical position to influence the success of organizational change, but the organizations covered in this study were not incorporating their knowledge and experiences into the change.

  19. Self-Concept of Severely to Profoundly Hearing-Impaired Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Charlotte; Hasenstab, Suzanne

    1986-01-01

    A study examined demographic, impairment-related, and parental variables that best predicted self-concept among 49 severely to profoundly hearing-impaired 5- to 11-year-olds. A strong relationship was observed between self-concept and parental indulgence, parental rejection, parental protection, parental discipline, and extent of language…

  20. DMPD: Gram-negative endotoxin: an extraordinary lipid with profound effects oneukaryotic signal transduction. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available 1916089 Gram-negative endotoxin: an extraordinary lipid with profound effects oneuk...ep;5(12):2652-60. (.png) (.svg) (.html) (.csml) Show Gram-negative endotoxin: an extraordinary lipid with profound effects...tive endotoxin: an extraordinary lipid with profound effects oneukaryotic signal transduction. Authors Raetz

  1. Persistent Thalamic Sound Processing Despite Profound Cochlear Denervation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna R. Chambers

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Neurons at higher stages of sensory processing can partially compensate for a sudden drop in input from the periphery through a homeostatic plasticity process that increases the gain on weak afferent inputs. Even after a profound unilateral auditory neuropathy where > 95% of synapses between auditory nerve fibers and inner hair cells have been eliminated with ouabain, central gain can restore the cortical processing and perceptual detection of basic sounds delivered to the denervated ear. In this model of profound auditory neuropathy, cortical processing and perception recover despite the absence of an auditory brainstem response (ABR or brainstem acoustic reflexes, and only a partial recovery of sound processing at the level of the inferior colliculus (IC, an auditory midbrain nucleus. In this study, we induced a profound cochlear neuropathy with ouabain and asked whether central gain enabled a compensatory plasticity in the auditory thalamus comparable to the full recovery of function previously observed in the auditory cortex (ACtx, the partial recovery observed in the IC, or something different entirely. Unilateral ouabain treatment in adult mice effectively eliminated the ABR, yet robust sound-evoked activity persisted in a minority of units recorded from the contralateral medial geniculate body (MGB of awake mice. Sound-driven MGB units could decode moderate and high-intensity sounds with accuracies comparable to sham-treated control mice, but low-intensity classification was near chance. Pure tone receptive fields and synchronization to broadband pulse trains also persisted, albeit with significantly reduced quality and precision, respectively. MGB decoding of temporally modulated pulse trains and speech tokens were both greatly impaired in ouabain-treated mice. Taken together, the absence of an ABR belied a persistent auditory processing at the level of the MGB that was likely enabled through increased central gain. Compensatory

  2. Epidemiology of fractures in people with severe and profound developmental disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glick, N.R.; Fischer, M.H.; Heisey, D.M.; Leverson, G.E.; Mann, D.C.

    2005-01-01

    Fractures are more prevalent among people with severe and profound developmental disabilities than in the general population. In order to characterize the tendency of these people to fracture, and to identify features that may guide the development of preventive strategies, we analyzed fracture epidemiology in people with severe and profound developmental disabilities who lived in a stable environment. Data from a 23-year longitudinal cohort registry of 1434 people with severe and profound developmental disabilities were analyzed to determine the effects of age, gender, mobility, bone fractured, month of fracture, and fracture history upon fracture rates. Eighty-five percent of all fractures involved the extremities. The overall fracture rate increased as mobility increased. In contrast, femoral shaft fracture risk was substantially higher in the least mobile [relative risk (RR), 10.36; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.29-32.66] compared with the most mobile group. Although the overall fracture rate was not associated with age, the femoral shaft fractures decreased but hand/foot fractures increased with age. Overall fracture risk declined in August and September (RR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.89), being especially prominent for tibial/fibular fractures (RR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.13-0.70). Gender was not a factor in fracture risk. Two primary fracture mechanisms are apparent: one, largely associated with lack of weight-bearing in people with the least mobility, is exemplified by femoral fractures during non-traumatic events as simple as diapering or transfers; the other, probably due to movement- or fall-related trauma, is exemplified by hand/foot fractures in people who ambulate. The fracture experience of people with severe and profound developmental disabilities is unique and, because it differs qualitatively from postmenopausal osteoporosis, may require population-specific methods for assessing risk, for improving bone integrity, and for reduction of falls and accidents

  3. Resilience in Change: Positive Perspectives on the Dynamics of Change in Early Childhood Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglass, Anne

    2016-01-01

    Change is a central feature of the early care and education landscape today. Much of the research on educational change focuses on the negative or challenging aspects of change. This study employed a critical theory framework from the organizational sciences field, positive organizational scholarship, to offer a new way of thinking about change in…

  4. Speech perception, production and intelligibility in French-speaking children with profound hearing loss and early cochlear implantation after congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laccourreye, L; Ettienne, V; Prang, I; Couloigner, V; Garabedian, E-N; Loundon, N

    2015-12-01

    To analyze speech in children with profound hearing loss following congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection with cochlear implantation (CI) before the age of 3 years. In a cohort of 15 children with profound hearing loss, speech perception, production and intelligibility were assessed before and 3 years after CI; variables impacting results were explored. Post-CI, median word recognition was 74% on closed-list and 48% on open-list testing; 80% of children acquired speech production; and 60% were intelligible for all listeners or listeners attentive to lip-reading and/or aware of the child's hearing loss. Univariate analysis identified 3 variables (mean post-CI hearing threshold, bilateral vestibular areflexia, and brain abnormality on MRI) with significant negative impact on the development of speech perception, production and intelligibility. CI showed positive impact on hearing and speech in children with post-cCMV profound hearing loss. Our study demonstrated the key role of maximizing post-CI hearing gain. A few children had insufficient progress, especially in case of bilateral vestibular areflexia and/or brain abnormality on MRI. This led us to suggest that balance rehabilitation and speech therapy should be intensified in such cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  5. Social Change and Women Entrepreneurship in Algeria

    OpenAIRE

    Ghiat Boufeldja

    2014-01-01

    Algerian women had a culture of staying at home, but with the beginning of this century, the Algerian women are holding positions of responsibility. Many of them chose to be entrepreneurs, which demonstrate that the country is living profound social and cultural changes. The current environment in Algeria promotes access to education and training for girls, but the socio-cultural environment remains a difficult obstacle to overcome for women. Few years ago, to see women as entrepreneurs was i...

  6. Positive Exercise Experience Facilitates Behavior Change via Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parschau, Linda; Fleig, Lena; Warner, Lisa Marie; Pomp, Sarah; Barz, Milena; Knoll, Nina; Schwarzer, Ralf; Lippke, Sonia

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Motivational processes can be set in motion when positive consequences of physical exercise are experienced. However, relationships between positive exercise experience and determinants of the motivational and the volitional phases of exercise change have attracted only sparse attention in research. Method: This research examines direct…

  7. Specific needs of families of young adults with profound intellectual disability during and after transition to adulthood: What are we missing?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier-Boudreault, Camille; Gallagher, Frances; Couture, Mélanie

    2017-07-01

    At the age of 21, the trajectory of services offered to youth with profound intellectual disability (ID) change significantly since access to specialised services is more limited. Despite the desire of parents to avoid any impact on their child, several factors can influence the course of this transition. However, there is little research on facilitators and obstacles to the transition to adulthood, and impacts on people with a profound ID. It is therefore difficult to provide solutions that meet their specific needs. The study aimed to document the needs of parents and young adults with profound ID during and after the transition to adulthood by exploring their transitioning experience and factors that influenced it. Using a descriptive qualitative design, two individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen (14) parents of young adults aged between 18 and 26 with a profound ID. At this point, many material, informative, cognitive and emotional needs of young adults and their parents are not met. Obstacles, mainly organisational, persist and result in a particularly difficult transition to adulthood experience. By knowing the specific needs of these families, it is possible to develop and implement solutions tailored to their reality. WHAT THE PAPERS ADDS?: The transition to adulthood is a critical period for families with young adults with an intellectual disability (ID), a reality observed internationally. Current literature on all levels of ID suggests some barriers to transition that lead to negative impacts on both parents and young adults with ID. However, presently, very little research exists on the reality of families of young adults with profound ID and factors influencing transition to adult life. Most of studies target people with mild to moderate ID. Considering the significant disabilities of people with profound ID, it is possible to imagine that their experience of transition will be even more difficult and they will present

  8. Spider Silk Violin Strings with a Unique Packing Structure Generate a Soft and Profound Timbre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osaki, Shigeyoshi

    2012-04-01

    We overcome the difficulties in pulling long draglines from spiders, twist bundles of dragline filaments, and succeed in preparing violin strings. The twisting is found to change the cross section shapes of filaments from circular to polygonal and to optimize the packing structure with no openings among filaments providing mechanically strong and elastic strings. The spider string signal peaks of overtones for the violin are relatively large at high frequencies, generating a soft and profound timbre. Such a preferable timbre is considered to be due to the unique polygonal packing structure which provides valuable knowledge for developing new types of materials.

  9. Reversal of profound vecuronium-induced neuromuscular block under sevoflurane anesthesia: sugammadex versus neostigmine.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lemmens Hendrikus JM

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors cannot rapidly reverse profound neuromuscular block. Sugammadex, a selective relaxant binding agent, reverses the effects of rocuronium and vecuronium by encapsulation. This study assessed the efficacy of sugammadex compared with neostigmine in reversal of profound vecuronium-induced neuromuscular block under sevoflurane anesthesia. Methods Patients aged ≥18 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1-4, scheduled to undergo surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled in this phase III, multicenter, randomized, safety-assessor blinded study. Sevoflurane anesthetized patients received vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg for intubation, with maintenance doses of 0.015 mg/kg as required. Patients were randomized to receive sugammadex 4 mg/kg or neostigmine 70 μg/kg with glycopyrrolate 14 μg/kg at 1-2 post-tetanic counts. The primary efficacy variable was time from start of study drug administration to recovery of the train-of-four ratio to 0.9. Safety assessments included physical examination, laboratory data, vital signs, and adverse events. Results Eighty three patients were included in the intent-to-treat population (sugammadex, n = 47; neostigmine, n = 36. Geometric mean time to recovery of the train-of-four ratio to 0.9 was 15-fold faster with sugammadex (4.5 minutes compared with neostigmine (66.2 minutes; p Conclusions Recovery from profound vecuronium-induced block is significantly faster with sugammadex, compared with neostigmine. Neostigmine did not rapidly reverse profound neuromuscular block (Trial registration number: NCT00473694.

  10. Comparison of Irrational Believes between Mothers of Severe or Profound Mentally Handicapped Children with Healthy Children Mothers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Behrouz Hivadi

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The purpose of present research was the comparison of mothers irrational believes with severe or profound mentally handicapped child and mothers with normal child from 6 to14 years old in Tehran city. Materials & Methods: This study was an analytical, cross – sectional and comparative (case – control research. From mothers with severe or profound mentally handicapped child who had refered to Tehran welfare services centers, 80 mothers were selected by regular randomized sampling from two rehabilitation centers and 80 mothers with normal child were selected for peering with the group of testimonial from schools areas of east, west, south, north and center of Tehran, through multi - stage cluster sampling in for variables of: age of mothers, educational levels, the location of living and the number of children. They answered to questionnaire of irrational believes of jons (IBT. Analysis of data was done by descriptive and infringing statistics methods (Independent T test, U Mann Whitney, Chi-square and fisher. Results: The findings showed that: there are significantly differences in total irrational believes and irrational believes of blame proneness, frustration reactive, anxious over concern, problem avoiding and dependency, perfectionism between two groups of mothers (P<0/05. There was no significant difference in irrational believes between mothers who had mental handicap daughter and mothers who had mental handicap son (P=0/314. There was no significantly difference between two groups of mothers in four believes of demand for approval (P=0/737, high-self expectation (P=0/126, emotional irresponsibility (P=0/727, helplessness for change (p=0/283. Conclusion: Irrational believes and many its sub scales. In mothers of severe or profound mental handicap children were more than mothers with normal child. But believes of demand for approval, high self expectation, emotional irresponsibility, helplessness for change in mothers with

  11. A Prognostic Model for Development of Profound Shock among Children Presenting with Dengue Shock Syndrome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phung Khanh Lam

    Full Text Available To identify risk factors and develop a prediction model for the development of profound and recurrent shock amongst children presenting with dengue shock syndrome (DSS.We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of children with DSS recruited at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital for Tropical Disease in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The primary endpoint was "profound DSS", defined as ≥2 recurrent shock episodes (for subjects presenting in compensated shock, or ≥1 recurrent shock episodes (for subjects presenting initially with decompensated/hypotensive shock, and/or requirement for inotropic support. Recurrent shock was evaluated as a secondary endpoint. Risk factors were pre-defined clinical and laboratory variables collected at the time of presentation with shock. Prognostic model development was based on logistic regression and compared to several alternative approaches.The analysis population included 1207 children of whom 222 (18% progressed to "profound DSS" and 433 (36% had recurrent shock. Independent risk factors for both endpoints included younger age, earlier presentation, higher pulse rate, higher temperature, higher haematocrit and, for females, worse hemodynamic status at presentation. The final prognostic model for "profound DSS" showed acceptable discrimination (AUC=0.69 for internal validation and calibration and is presented as a simple score-chart.Several risk factors for development of profound or recurrent shock among children presenting with DSS were identified. The score-chart derived from the prognostic models should improve triage and management of children presenting with DSS in dengue-endemic areas.

  12. Factors which Motivate Job Acceptance and Profoundly Mentally Retarded Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marozas, Donald S.; May, Deborah C.

    1980-01-01

    The study involving 360 Pennsylvania teachers was designed to identify factors which motivate job acceptance among teachers of severely and profoundly mentally retarded children. The responses of 235 teachers indicated that challenge and practicum experiences were the two most prevalent motivational factors underlying job acceptance. (Author)

  13. Adult celiac disease with acetylcholine receptor antibody positive myasthenia gravis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Hugh J Freeman; Helen R Gillett; Peter M Gillett; Joel Oger

    2009-01-01

    Celiac disease has been associated with some autoimmune disorders. A 40-year-old competitive strongman with celiac disease responded to a glutenfree diet, but developed profound and generalized motor weakness with acetylcholine receptor antibody positive myasthenia gravis, a disorder reported to occur in about 1 in 5000. This possible relationship between myasthenia gravis and celiac disease was further explored in serological studies. Frozen stored serum samples from 23 acetylcholine receptor antibody positive myasthenia gravis patients with no intestinal symptoms were used to screen for celiac disease. Both endomysial and tissue transglutaminase antibodies were examined. One of 23 (or, about 4.3%) was positive for both IgA-endomysial and IgA tissue transglutaminase antibodies. Endoscopic studies subsequently showed duodenal mucosal scalloping and biopsies confirmed the histopathological changes of celiac disease. Celiac disease and myasthenia gravis may occur together more often than is currently appreciated. The presence of motor weakness in celiac disease may be a clue to occult myasthenia gravis, even in the absence of intestinal symptoms.

  14. Bipolar Affective Disorder in a Patient of Profound Deafness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zubair, Usama Bin; Mumtaz, Humza; Mansoor, Sawera

    2018-03-01

    Profound deafness is a lifelong impairment, leading to the physical disability as well as poor psychological adjustment. We herein present a mental health disorder rarely seen among the patients of profound deafness. A 16-year deaf and dumb girl, previously treated for depression, presented with unusual laughter, irritability, flight of ideas, decreased sleep, ideas of self importance, and decreased social functioning and educational performance. These problems were understood by the parents via sign language, who interpreted them to the interviewer. Her Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) score was 19 and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score was 52. She was diagnosed as a case of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). Marked improvement in the symptoms and social and educational performance was noted after two weeks of the treatment with sodium valproate, resperidone and clonazepam. Treatment options were explained to the patient with risks and benefits, and she was involved in the decision-making. This case report highlights the importance of accurately diagnosing and managing a rare mental health disorder among the physically handicapped people, especially those who cannot communicate effectively and explain their unusual subjective experiences.

  15. An evaluation of CPD learning and impact upon positive practice change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Nancy-Jane

    2011-05-01

    This paper explores positive practice change in nursing and health care practice following continuing professional development (CPD). It is derived from a commissioned evaluation study within the United Kingdom (UK). Evaluation data was gathered using semi structured discussions with CPD participants, a convenience sample of line managers and University module leaders. Findings suggest that professional peer attitudes and support, when harnessed effectively in the practice setting, strongly enhance positive change. Conversely a lack of engagement with practice peers, a lack of strategic support and not knowing how to access support hinder change. The study found that learning need was often explored through personal development planning and appraisal, however there was little systematic follow up, review and support following learning. Interestingly the individual personal drive and enthusiasm of practitioners was perceived as the strongest factor helping practice change, while policy drivers and national health targets were secondary. Possible strategies to enhance positive practice change are explored. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. [The positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior: a systematic review].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, Juliana Costa; Cotta, Rosângela Minardi Mitre; Silva, Luciana Saraiva da

    2014-08-01

    To conduct a systematic review of the literature describing the use of the positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior in order to identify the potentials of this method for health and nutrition education. Cochrane Library, LILACS, MEDLINE, SciELO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched. The following search terms were used: positive deviance, desvio positivo, positive deviance inquiry and positive deviants. Inclusion criteria were: reporting primary data, clearly defined methods, and availability of full text. The main results of the studies selected for inclusion were described and examined based on psychosocial (socioeconomic and health status, hygiene and nutrition habits), anthropometric (weight, height), and biochemical and clinical (presence of morbidity and biochemical tests) criteria to determine the potential and limitations of the positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior. Of the 47 studies identified, nine met the inclusion criteria. The positive deviance method was used for prevention and rehabilitation of child and maternal malnutrition in areas of socioeconomic vulnerability and for the treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. An improvement in maternal and child nutrition and the maintenance of beneficial behaviors over time were underscored as positive impacts of the method. The positive deviance approach may help change nutrition behaviors with the aim of reversing child malnutrition and overweight and obesity in adults. This approach seems effective to promote health education in areas of socioeconomic vulnerability.

  17. A Grounded Theory of Effective Reading by Profoundly Deaf Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvestri, Julia; Wang, Ye

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to uncover and describe psycholinguistic and sociocognitive factors facilitating effective reading by signing adults who are profoundly deaf and do not use hearing technology. The sample comprised four groups, each consisting of 15 adults, for a total of 60 participants. The four groups were "deaf…

  18. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge: An Overview for International Educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Thomas J.

    W. Edwards Deming called for the transformation to a new style of organizational management based on greater cooperation between managers and employees. This transformation could be achieved by introducing "profound knowledge" into the system. This paper is a presentation outline that was used to introduce the basics of Deming's theory…

  19. Asystole Following Profound Vagal Stimulation During Hepatectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Preeta John

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Asystole in a non laparoscopic upper abdominal surgery following intense vagal stimulation is a rare event. This case report highlights the need for awareness of such a complication when a thoracic epidural anaesthetic has been given in addition to a general anaesthetic for an upper abdominal procedure. A combined thoracic epidural and general anaesthetic was given. The anterior abdominal wall was retracted forty minutes after administration of the epidural bolus. This maneuver resulted in a profound vagal response with bradycardia and asystole. The patient was resuscitated successfully with a cardiac massage, atropine and adrenaline and the surgery was resumed. Surgery lasted eleven hours and was uneventful.

  20. Acceleration of Object Permanence with Severely and Profoundly Retarded Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahn, James V.

    Examined was the effectiveness of training four severely and profoundly retarded children (3-6 years old) to improve their level of functioning on a measure of object permanence and to demonstrate generalization to other areas of sensorimotor intelligence. Ss were given a pretest and posttest on the I. Uzgiris and J. Hunt instrument which consists…

  1. Climate change and respiratory disease: European Respiratory Society position statement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayres, J G; Forsberg, B; Annesi-Maesano, I; Dey, R; Ebi, K L; Helms, P J; Medina-Ramón, M; Windt, M; Forastiere, F

    2009-08-01

    Climate change will affect individuals with pre-existing respiratory disease, but the extent of the effect remains unclear. The present position statement was developed on behalf of the European Respiratory Society in order to identify areas of concern arising from climate change for individuals with respiratory disease, healthcare workers in the respiratory sector and policy makers. The statement was developed following a 2-day workshop held in Leuven (Belgium) in March 2008. Key areas of concern for the respiratory community arising from climate change are discussed and recommendations made to address gaps in knowledge. The most important recommendation was the development of more accurate predictive models for predicting the impact of climate change on respiratory health. Respiratory healthcare workers also have an advocatory role in persuading governments and the European Union to maintain awareness and appropriate actions with respect to climate change, and these areas are also discussed in the position statement.

  2. Oral Communication Development in Severe to Profound Hearing Impaired Children After Receiving Aural Habilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soleimani Farin

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Communication, cognition, language, and speech are interrelated and develop together. It should come as no surprise to us that the key to intervention with deaf children is to establish, as early as possible, a functional communication system for the child and the parents. Early intervention programs need to be multidisciplinary, technologically sound and most important, it should take cognizance of the specific context (community, country in which the child and family function. The main aim of this study was to obtain oral communication development regarding current status of the intervention (aural habilitation and speech therapyfor children with severe to profound hearing impairment in Iran. A prospective longitudinal study was undertaken on a consecutive group of children with severe to profound deafness. Nine severe to profound hearing-impaired children out of the primer 42 cases, who were detected below two years old, had been selected in the previous study to receive aural habilitation. The average of their speech intelligibility scores was near 70% at age 6, which was accounted as poor oral communication and only two of them were able to communicate by spoken language. An integrated intervention services continued again for one year and their oral communication skill was assessed by their speech intelligibility. The intelligibility test of children was recorded on audio-tape, when they read 10 questions such as where is your home. This can be answered only in one word. Each tape was presented to10 normal hearing listeners, and their task was to write down, the answers in Persian orthography. At the beginning (at age 6 the average speech intelligibility score of these children was 72% and only two of them had score of 90% and 100%. At age 7, all of the severe groups were over 90%, and only two profound ones achieved the score of 48% and 62%. All of severe groups develop oral communication, but profound ones had a semi-intelligible speech

  3. Sustained attention to objects' motion sharpens position representations: Attention to changing position and attention to motion are distinct.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Christina J; Rollings, Victoria; Hardie, Amy

    2017-06-01

    In tasks where people monitor moving objects, such the multiple object tracking task (MOT), observers attempt to keep track of targets as they move amongst distracters. The literature is mixed as to whether observers make use of motion information to facilitate performance. We sought to address this by two means: first by superimposing arrows on objects which varied in their informativeness about motion direction and second by asking observers to attend to motion direction. Using a position monitoring task, we calculated mean error magnitudes as a measure of the precision with which target positions are represented. We also calculated perceptual lags versus extrapolated reports, which are the times at which positions of targets best match position reports. We find that the presence of motion information in the form of superimposed arrows made no difference to position report precision nor perceptual lag. However, when we explicitly instructed observers to attend to motion, we saw facilitatory effects on position reports and in some cases reports that best matched extrapolated rather than lagging positions for small set sizes. The results indicate that attention to changing positions does not automatically recruit attention to motion, showing a dissociation between sustained attention to changing positions and attention to motion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Potential Effects of Climate Change on Treeline Position in the Swedish Mountains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jon Moen

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Climate change may strongly influence species distribution and, thus, the structure and function of ecosystems. This paper describes simulated changes in the position of the upper treeline in the Swedish mountains in response to predicted climate change. Data on predicted summer temperature changes, the current position of the treeline, and a digital elevation model were used to predict the position of the treeline over a 100-year timeframe. The results show the treeline advancing upward by 233-667 m, depending on the climate scenario used and location within the mountain chain. Such changes hypothetically caused a 75-85% reduction in treeless alpine heaths, with 60-93% of the remaining areas being scree slopes and boulder fields. For this change to occur, the migration rate of the trees would be in the order of 23-221 m yr-1, which is well within published migration rates for wind-dispersed deciduous trees. The remaining alpine areas would be strongly fragmented. These drastic changes would influence all aspects of mountain ecosystems, including biodiversity conservation and human land-use patterns.

  5. Prevalence of Auditory Neuropathy in a Population of Children with Severe to Profound Hearing Loss

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nader Saki

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this investigation is to determine auditory neuropathy in the students with severe to profound hearing losses in Ahwaz.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 212 children of 7-11 year old with severe to profound hearing loss performed ordinary audiometric evaluations as well as ABR and OAE. The patients with normal DPOAE who had no record of acoustic reflex having normal ABR, were considered as the patients with auditory neuropathy. Results: The neuropathic complication found in 14 children was appeared in 8 ones as one-sided (57.14% and in 6 ones (42.86% as two-sided. 68% of the patients as diagnosed had a very low Speech Discrimination Score (SDS.Conclusion: we must be very vigilant in auditory neuropathy diagnosis for the purpose to be successful in appropriate treatment of severe to profound hearing losses.

  6. Experimental Incubations Elicit Profound Changes in Community Transcription in OMZ Bacterioplankton

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Frank J.; Dalsgaard, Tage; Young, Curtis R.; Thamdrup, Bo; Revsbech, Niels Peter; Ulloa, Osvaldo; Canfield, Don E.; DeLong, Edward F.

    2012-01-01

    Sequencing of microbial community RNA (metatranscriptome) is a useful approach for assessing gene expression in microorganisms from the natural environment. This method has revealed transcriptional patterns in situ, but can also be used to detect transcriptional cascades in microcosms following experimental perturbation. Unambiguously identifying differential transcription between control and experimental treatments requires constraining effects that are simply due to sampling and bottle enclosure. These effects remain largely uncharacterized for “challenging” microbial samples, such as those from anoxic regions that require special handling to maintain in situ conditions. Here, we demonstrate substantial changes in microbial transcription induced by sample collection and incubation in experimental bioreactors. Microbial communities were sampled from the water column of a marine oxygen minimum zone by a pump system that introduced minimal oxygen contamination and subsequently incubated in bioreactors under near in situ oxygen and temperature conditions. Relative to the source water, experimental samples became dominated by transcripts suggestive of cell stress, including chaperone, protease, and RNA degradation genes from diverse taxa, with strong representation from SAR11-like alphaproteobacteria. In tandem, transcripts matching facultative anaerobic gammaproteobacteria of the Alteromonadales (e.g., Colwellia) increased 4–13 fold up to 43% of coding transcripts, and encoded a diverse gene set suggestive of protein synthesis and cell growth. We interpret these patterns as taxon-specific responses to combined environmental changes in the bioreactors, including shifts in substrate or oxygen availability, and minor temperature and pressure changes during sampling with the pump system. Whether such changes confound analysis of transcriptional patterns may vary based on the design of the experiment, the taxonomic composition of the source community, and on the

  7. Chronological changes in functional cup position at 10 years after total hip arthroplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okanoue, Yusuke; Ikeuchi, Masahiko; Takaya, Shogo; Izumi, Masashi; Aso, Koji; Kawakami, Teruhiko

    2017-09-19

    This study aims to clarify the chronological changes in functional cup position at a minimum follow-up of 10 years after total hip arthroplasty (THA), and to identify the risk factors influencing a significant difference in functional cup position during the postoperative follow-up period. We evaluated the chronological changes in functional cup position at a minimum follow-up of 10 years after THA in 58 patients with unilateral hip osteoarthritis. Radiographic cup position was measured on anteroposterior pelvic radiographs with the patient in the supine position, whereas functional cup position was recorded in the standing position. Radiographs were obtained before, 3 weeks after, and every 1 year after surgery. Functional cup anteversion (F-Ant) increased over time, and was found to have significantly increased at final follow-up compared to that at 3 weeks after surgery (p10° anteriorly. Preoperative posterior pelvic tilt in the standing position and vertebral fractures after THA were significant predictors of increasing functional cup anteversion. Although chronological changes in functional cup position do occur after THA, their magnitude is relatively low. However, posterior impingement is likely to occur, which may cause edge loading, wear of the polyethylene liner, and anterior dislocation of the hip. We believe that, for the combined anteversion technique, the safe zone should probably be 5°-10° narrower in patients predicted to show considerable changes in functional cup position compared with standard cases.

  8. A Graphical Proof of the Positive Entropy Change in Heat Transfer between Two Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiatgamolchai, Somchai

    2015-01-01

    It is well known that heat transfer between two objects results in a positive change in the total entropy of the two-object system. The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy change of a naturally irreversible process is positive. In other words, if the entropy change of any process is positive, it can be inferred that such a process…

  9. Examination of CT-AEC when the positioning changes after planning of CT scanning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esaki, Tooru; Yamazaki, Shoichi

    2009-01-01

    CT-automatic exposure control (AEC) controls tube current collecting information of the subject from positioning shooting. Because of this, we consider that CT-AEC does not get to operate properly if the body position of the test subject changes after the positioning shooting. However, we often experience in body positions of test subjects after the positioning shooting. In cases like this, we measured by using a phantom again to see how they affect the tube current value and standard deviation (SD) value comparing them to the normal scan where a body position does not change. As a result of the measurement, there was an impact on CT-AEC that optimization of tube current becomes insufficient if the body position of a test subject changes. As the image quality is deteriorated and radiation exposure increases because of this, taking positioning shooting again is required on the part of users and it's desirable on the part of manufacturers to develop CT-AEC that can be controlled with high accuracy. (author)

  10. Static and Dynamic Balance in Congenital Severe to Profound Hearing-Impaired Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farideh HajiHeydari

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Research conducted since the early 1900s has consistently identified differences between deaf and hearing children on performance of a wide variety of motor tasks, most notably balance. Our study was performed to test static and dynamic balance skills in congenital severe to profound hearing impaired children in comparison with normal age-matched children.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 severe to profound hearing impaired and 40 normal children with age 6 to 10 years old. Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency 2, balance subset with 9 parts was used for evaluation of balance skills.Results: Hearing-impaired children showed 16.7 to 100% fail results in 7 parts of the balance subset. In normal children fail result was revealed just in 3 parts of the balance subset from 2.5 to 57.5%, and differences between two groups were significant (p<0.0001. There was a significant difference between two groups in two static balance skills of standing on one leg on a line and standing on one leg on a balance beam with eyes closed (p<0.0001.conclusion: It seems that development of static balance skills are longer than dynamic ones. Because severe to profound hearing-impaired children showed more weakness than normal children in both static and dynamic balance abilities, functional tests of balance proficiency can help to identify balance disorders in these children.

  11. Reversal of profound rocuronium neuromuscular blockade by sugammadex in anesthetized rhesus monkeys.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boer, H.D. de; Egmond, J. van; Pol, F. van de; Bom, A.; Booij, L.H.D.J.

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Reversal of neuromuscular blockade can be accomplished by chemical encapsulation of rocuronium by sugammadex, a synthetic gamma-cyclodextrin derivative. The current study determined the feasibility of reversal of rocuronium-induced profound neuromuscular blockade with sugammadex in the

  12. Connections that Count: Brain-Computer Interface Enables the Profoundly Paralyzed to Communicate

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Home Current Issue Past Issues Connections that Count: Brain-Computer Interface Enables the Profoundly Paralyzed to Communicate Past Issues / ... of this page please turn Javascript on. A brain-computer interface (BCI) system This brain-computer interface (BCI) system ...

  13. Climate change policy position

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-11-01

    The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) is a firm believer in the need to take action to mitigate the risks associated with climate change, and that clear government policy is called for. The principles of sustainable development must guide this policy development effort. The initiatives required to address greenhouse gas emissions over both the short and long term must be carefully considered, and it is up to industries to ensure their production efficiency and emission intensity. Promoting improved performance of industries in Canada and developing technology that can be deployed internationally for larger global effects represents Canada's best contribution to progress on greenhouse gas emissions. The increase in energy demand along with increases in population and economic growth have contributed to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions despite improved energy efficiency in industry. Significant damage to the economy will result if Canada is to meet its commitment under the Kyoto Protocol, forcing the country to buy large quantities of foreign credits instead of using those funds for increased research and development. CAPP indicated that an effective plan must be: balanced, equitable, responsible, competitive, focused on technology and innovation, and based on agreements on sectoral plans. Each of these principles were discussed, followed by the fundamentals of approach for upstream oil and gas. The framework for climate change policy was described as well as the elements of a sector plan. CAPP wants to work with all levels of government on an appropriate plan for Canada, that considers our unique circumstances. Canada can play a significant role on the international stage by properly implementing the policy position proposed by the CAPP without unnecessary risks to the economy. refs

  14. Noonan Syndrome: An Underestimated Cause of Severe to Profound Sensorineural Hearing Impairment. Which Clues to Suspect the Diagnosis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, Alban; Loundon, Natalie; Jonard, Laurence; Cavé, Hélène; Baujat, Geneviève; Gherbi, Souad; Couloigner, Vincent; Marlin, Sandrine

    2017-09-01

    To highlight Noonan syndrome as a clinically recognizable cause of severe to profound sensorineural hearing impairment. New clinical cases and review. Patients evaluated for etiological diagnosis by a medical geneticist in a reference center for hearing impairment. Five patients presenting with confirmed Noonan syndrome and profound sensorineural hearing impairment. Diagnostic and review of the literature. Five patients presented with profound sensorineural hearing impairment and molecularly confirmed Noonan syndrome. Sensorineural hearing impairment has been progressive for three patients. Cardiac echography identified pulmonary stenosis in two patients and was normal for the three other patients. Short stature was found in two patients. Mild intellectual disability was found in one patient. Inconspicuous clinical features as facial dysmorphism, cryptorchidism, or easy bruising were of peculiar interest to reach the diagnosis of Noonan syndrome. Profound sensorineural hearing impairment can be the main feature of Noonan syndrome. Associated features are highly variable; thus, detailed medical history and careful physical examination are mandatory to consider the diagnosis in case of a sensorineural hearing impairment.

  15. Utility leaders must manage change in the workplace

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolf, R.; Gering, D.

    1997-01-01

    Like most other industries in the United States, the utility industry is undergoing profound changes. Furthermore, the industry is in a far more precarious position than almost all other businesses. Deregulation, a changing labor pool, competition and years of unbridled growth are some of the extraordinary factors impacting the industry. Perhaps the greatest challenge of all rests with the utility industry's top management. To lead their organizations from government anointed monopolies to rightful market leaders demands major intellectual and physical adjustments. Given this most difficult position, executives must learn to embrace change as a constant business opportunity and develop skills to constructively channel and manage change. The challenge to utilities is deceptively clear - to be competitive in a consumer and service driven environment. Unfortunately, the actions necessary to accomplish this daunting task are not that clear. The authors offer that this transition does not have to be as ominous as it may seem, provided one develops and employs a good plan and the open minds necessary to navigate these tricky waters

  16. Positive change following adversity and psychological adjustment over time in abused foster youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdez, Christine E; Lim, Ban Hong Phylice; Parker, Christopher P

    2015-10-01

    Many foster youth experience maltreatment in their family-of-origin and additional maltreatment while in foster care. Not surprisingly, rates of depression are higher in foster youth than the general population, and peak during ages 17-19 during the stressful transition into adulthood. However, no known studies have reported on whether foster youth perceive positive changes following such adversity, and whether positive change facilitates psychological adjustment over time. The current study examined components of positive change (i.e., compassion for others and self-efficacy) with depression severity from age 17 to 18 as youth prepared to exit foster care. Participants were youth from the Mental Health Service Use of Youth Leaving Foster Care study who endorsed child maltreatment. Components of positive change and severity of abuse were measured initially. Depression was measured initially and every three months over the following year. Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the course of depression as a function of initial levels of positive change and severity of abuse. Results revealed that decreases in depression followed an inverse quadratic function in which the steepest declines occurred in the first three months and leveled off after that. Severity of abuse was positively correlated with higher initial levels of depression and negatively correlated with decreases in depression. Greater self-efficacy was negatively associated with initial levels of depression and predicted decreases in depression over the year, whereas compassion for others was neither associated with initial depression nor changes in depression. Implications for intervention, theory, and research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. How psychological and behavioral team states change during positive and negative momentum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Den Hartigh, Ruud J R; Gernigon, Christophe; Van Yperen, Nico W; Marin, Ludovic; Van Geert, Paul L C

    2014-01-01

    In business and sports, teams often experience periods of positive and negative momentum while pursuing their goals. However, researchers have not yet been able to provide insights into how psychological and behavioral states actually change during positive and negative team momentum. In the current study we aimed to provide these insights by introducing an experimental dynamical research design. Rowing pairs had to compete against a virtual opponent on rowing ergometers, while a screen in front of the team broadcasted the ongoing race. The race was manipulated so that the team's rowing avatar gradually progressed (positive momentum) or regressed (negative momentum) in relation to the victory. The participants responded verbally to collective efficacy and task cohesion items appearing on the screen each minute. In addition, effort exertion and interpersonal coordination were continuously measured. Our results showed negative psychological changes (perceptions of collective efficacy and task cohesion) during negative team momentum, which were stronger than the positive changes during positive team momentum. Moreover, teams' exerted efforts rapidly decreased during negative momentum, whereas positive momentum accompanied a more variable and adaptive sequence of effort exertion. Finally, the interpersonal coordination was worse during negative momentum than during positive momentum. These results provide the first empirical insights into actual team momentum dynamics, and demonstrate how a dynamical research approach significantly contributes to current knowledge on psychological and behavioral processes.

  18. Osteoporosis management in patients with breast cancer : EMAS position statement

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trémollieres, Florence A; Ceausu, Iuliana; Depypere, Herman; Lambrinoudaki, Irene; Mueck, Alfred; Pérez-López, Faustino R; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Senturk, Levent M; Simoncini, Tommaso; Stevenson, John C; Stute, Petra; Rees, Margaret

    Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are the first-line recommended standard of care for postmenopausal estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Because they cause a profound suppression of estrogen levels, concerns regarding their potential to increase the risk of fracture were rapidly raised. There is

  19. Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and gender differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferriman, Kimberley; Lubinski, David; Benbow, Camilla P

    2009-09-01

    Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students (275 men, 255 women) were assessed at ages 25 and 35 years. In Study 1, analyses of work preferences revealed developmental changes and gender differences in priorities: Some gender differences increased over time and increased more among parents than among childless participants, seemingly because the mothers' priorities changed. In Study 2, gender differences in the graduate students' life values and personal views at age 35 were compared with those of profoundly gifted participants (top 1 in 10,000, identified by age 13 and tracked for 20 years: 265 men, 84 women). Again, gender differences were larger among parents. Across both cohorts, men appeared to assume a more agentic, career-focused perspective than women did, placing more importance on creating high-impact products, receiving compensation, taking risks, and gaining recognition as the best in their fields. Women appeared to favor a more communal, holistic perspective, emphasizing community, family, friendships, and less time devoted to career. Gender differences in life priorities, which intensify during parenthood, anticipated differential male-female representation in high-level and time-intensive careers, even among talented men and women with similar profiles of abilities, vocational interests, and educational experiences. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Profound vision loss impairs psychological well-being in young and middle-aged individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Giancarlo A; Khoshnevis, Matin; Gale, Jesse; Frousiakis, Starleen E; Hwang, Tiffany J; Poincenot, Lissa; Karanjia, Rustum; Baron, David; Sadun, Alfredo A

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of profound vision loss on psychological well-being in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults with regard to mood, interpersonal interactions, and career-related goals. In addition, we assessed the significance of the resources that may be used to enhance psychological well-being in cases of profound vision loss, and in particular, examined the utility of low vision aids and the role of the ophthalmologist as a provider of emotional support. A questionnaire was issued to individuals aged 13-65 years with profound vision loss resulting from Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Depression prevalence was evaluated with questions regarding major depressive disorder symptomatology. Participants appraised the effects of vision loss on their interpersonal interactions and career goals by providing an impact rating (IR) on a 21-point psychometric scale from -10 to +10. Social well-being index was defined as the average of interpersonal IR and career IR. Subjects were additionally asked about the use of low vision aids and sources of emotional support. A total of 103 participants (mean age =26.4±11.2 years at LHON diagnosis; mean ± standard deviation) completed the questionnaire. Nearly half (49.5%) met the depression criteria after vision loss. Negative impacts on interpersonal interactions (median IR = -5) and career goals (median IR = -6) were observed; both ratings were worse ( P negative interpersonal IR and career IR. Sixty-eight percent of subjects used electronic vision aids; controlling for age, social well-being index was higher among these individuals than for those who did not use electronic aids ( P =0.03). Over half of the participants (52.4%) asserted that they derived emotional support from their ophthalmologist. Profound vision loss in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults is associated with significant negative psychological and psychosocial effects, which are influenced by

  1. The impact of visual impairment on the ability to perform activities of daily living for persons with severe/profound intellectual disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dijkhuizen, Annemarie; Hilgenkamp, Thessa I M; Krijnen, Wim P; van der Schans, Cees P; Waninge, Aly

    2016-01-01

    The ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) as a component of participation is one of the factors that contribute to quality of life. The ability to perform ADL for persons experiencing severe/profound intellectual disability (ID) may be reduced due to their cognitive and physical capacities. However, until recently, the impact of the significantly prevalent visual impairments on the performance of activities of daily living has not yet been revealed within this group. The purpose of this prospective cross-sectional study was to investigate the impact of visual impairment on the performance of activities of daily living for persons with a severe/profound intellectual disability. The Barthel Index (BI) and Comfortable Walking Speed (CWS) were used to measure the ability of performing activities of daily living (ADL) in 240 persons with severe/profound ID and having Gross Motor Functioning Classification System (GMFCS) levels I, II or III; this included 120 persons with visual impairment. The impact of visual impairment on ADL was analyzed with linear regression. The results of the study demonstrated that visual impairment slightly affects the ability of performing activities of daily living (BI) for persons experiencing a severe/profound intellectual disability. GMFCS Levels II or III, profound ID level, and visual impairment each have the effect of lowering BI scores. GMFCS Levels II or III, and profound ID level each have the effect of increasing CWS scores, which indicates a lower walking speed. A main effect of visual impairment is present on CWS, but our results do show a substantive interaction effect between GMFCS level III and visual impairment on Comfortable Walking Speed in persons with a severe/profound intellectual disability. Visual impairment has a slight effect on ability to perform ADL in persons experiencing severe/profound ID. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Attuning: A Communication Process between People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability and Their Interaction Partners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, Colin; Smith, Martine

    2016-03-01

    People with severe and profound intellectual disability typically demonstrate a limited ability to communicate effectively. Most of their communications are non-verbal, often idiosyncratic and ambiguous. This article aims to identify the process that regulates communications of this group of people with others and to describe the methodological approach that was used to achieve this. In this qualitative study, two dyads consisting of a person with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disability and a teacher or carer were filmed as they engaged in school-based activities. Two 1-hour videotapes were transcribed and analysed using grounded theory. Attuning was identified within the theory proposed here as a central process that calibrates and regulates communication. Attuning is conceptualized as a bidirectional, dyadic communication process. Understanding this process may support more effective communication between people with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disability and their interaction partners. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Changing Perception of Physical Properties using Multimodal Augmented Reality: Position Paper

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lugtenberg, Geert; Sandor, Christian; Hürst, W.O.; Plopski, Alexander; Taketomi, Takafumi; Kato, Hirokazu; Rosa, N.E.

    2016-01-01

    By means of augmented reality (AR) systems it has become increasingly easy to manipulate our perception of real objects. In this position paper we review existing work that changes physical property perception, and propose methods for changing perceived object density during haptic interaction. Our

  4. Big data and positive change in the developing world

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Taylor, L.; Cowls, J.; Schroeder, R.; Meyer, E.T.

    2014-01-01

    This paper is the product of a workshop that brought together practitioners, researchers, and data experts to discuss how big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We include in our definition of big data sources such as social media

  5. Profound hyper natremia due to central diabetes insipidus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaqar, A.; Javaid, K.H.; Parveen, R.; Sadaf, R.

    2012-01-01

    Diabetes insipidus is a rare endocrine disorder in paediatric patients. Polyuria is a cardinal manifestation that is extremely difficult to recognize in diapered infants. Careful urine quantification is the key to diagnosis in appropriate clinical setting. We report a case of a 4 months old infant presenting with an acute life threatening event following an episode of vomiting and decreased oral intake. She had profound hyper natremia which persisted after stabilization. Polyuria unrecognized by the mother was revealed by 24-hour urine output measurement. A diagnosis of diabetes insipidus was made after appropriate laboratory investigations including serum and urine osmolality. The central nature of the disease was confirmed by neuroimaging which showed holoprosencephaly. (author)

  6. Profound neonatal hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis caused by pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercimek-Mahmutoglu, Saadet; Horvath, Gabriella A; Coulter-Mackie, Marion; Nelson, Tanya; Waters, Paula J; Sargent, Michael; Struys, Eduard; Jakobs, Cornelis; Stockler-Ipsiroglu, Sylvia; Connolly, Mary B

    2012-05-01

    Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (PDE) was first described in 1954. The ALDH7A1 gene mutations resulting in α-aminoadipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency as a cause of PDE was identified only in 2005. Neonatal epileptic encephalopathy is the presenting feature in >50% of patients with classic PDE. We report the case of a 13-month-old girl with profound neonatal hypoglycemia (0.6 mmol/L; reference range >2.4), lactic acidosis (11 mmol/L; reference range A (p.Val278Val), and a novel putative pathogenic missense mutation c.1192G>C (p.Gly398Arg) in the ALDH7A1 gene. She has been seizure-free since 1.5 months of age on treatment with pyridoxine alone. She has motor delay and central hypotonia but normal language and social development at the age of 13 months. This case is the first description of a patient with PDE due to mutations in the ALDH7A1 gene who presented with profound neonatal hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis masquerading as a neonatal-onset gluconeogenesis defect. PDE should be included in the differential diagnosis of hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis in addition to medically refractory neonatal seizures.

  7. Can commonly used profile planes be used to evaluate changes in lower lip position?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buschang, Peter H; Fretty, Kimberly; Campbell, Phillip M

    2011-07-01

    To determine the validity of five profile planes commonly used to describe the horizontal changes of the lower lip during orthodontic treatment. Pretreatment and posttreatment cephalograms of 79 patients (12.4 ± 2.8 years of age) were evaluated. Lower lip (labrale inferiorus) changes over time were measured relative to the Rickett's E-line, Steiner's S1-line, Burstone's B-line, Sushner's S2-line, and Holdaway's H-line. As an independent measure of actual horizontal lip changes, the labrale inferiorus was measured relative to a stable reference plane registered on the sella and oriented on the SN-7°. The lower lip actually moved anteriorly 2.35 ± 3.35 mm during orthodontic treatment; the five profile planes indicated that the lower lip moved to a more retrusive, posterior position. The five profile planes also showed no statistically significant sex differences in terms of the treatment changes that occurred, while the actual lip changes showed that males exhibited significantly greater changes than females. Actual treatment changes showed that the lower lip moved to a more protrusive position with nonextraction than with extraction treatments, changes that were not evident based on the five profile lines. While lip changes based on the five profile planes demonstrated moderately high to high intercorrelations ranging from 0.81 to 0.97, they showed only weak correlations (r planes measured similar aspects of positional change, none of them closely reflected the actual lower lip changes that occurred. These planes should not be used to measure changes in lip position that occur during treatment.

  8. Revans Reversed: Focusing on the Positive for a Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Jeffrey

    2014-01-01

    The classical principles of action learning, based on the work of Revans, usually include working with problems as the core. This article aims, by contrast, to show how a recent project of change has incorporated principles of appreciative inquiry (AI) based on social constructionism and positive psychology into an action learning process…

  9. A Vibrotactile Interface to Motivate Movement for Children with Severe to Profound Disabilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manresa-Yee, Cristina; Morrison, Ann; Larsen, Jeppe Veirum

    2014-01-01

    V-Sense is a vibrotactile interface that encourages children with severe or profound cognitive, sensory and physical impairments to move. The interface makes use of touch, in particular vibrations, as a supportive function to motivate users' actions. Specifically, we propose a vibrotactile...

  10. POSITIVE LIFE CHANGE AFTER CANCER: THE KEY INGREDIENTS TO FACILITATE IT AND EFFECTS ON WELL-BEING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian Ochoa Arnedo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last decades, Positive Psychology (PP has promoted the scientific study of positive life changes in the aftermath of cancer. These have been integrated within negative life changes, based on the same human experience framework. Innovative interventions have been designed, prioritizing the pathways to the reduction of emotional distress and psychopathology in cancer, through the facilitation of positive psychological functioning. These interventions have achieved promising results. A theoretical and integrative review of the PP-related constructs was performed in the relevant databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, etc.. These constructs have been linked to positive life changes after cancer and their therapeutic potential. Finally, we provide a summary of a positive psychotherapy program for cancer survivors, indicating the therapeutic strategies that facilitate positive life changes in the aftermath of cancer. Positive life changes after suffering cancer are more the norm than the exception. These changes play an important role in psychosocial adjustment, adherence to cancer treatments, well-being and quality of life. Psychological treatment programs based on PP achieve promising results with cancer. These programs are capable of complementing and improving the outcomes achieved by traditional stress-management programs.

  11. Changing Boundaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brodkin, Evelyn; Larsen, Flemming

    2013-01-01

    project that is altering the boundary between the democratic welfare state and the market economy. We see workfare policies as boundary-changing with potentially profound implications both for individuals disadvantaged by market arrangements and for societies seeking to grapple with the increasing...

  12. Profound Obstructive Hypotension From Prone Positioning Documented by Transesophageal Echocardiography in a Patient With Scoliosis: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abcejo, Arnoley S; Diaz Soto, Juan; Castoro, Courtney; Armour, Sarah; Long, Timothy R

    2017-08-01

    In a healthy 12-year-old female with scoliosis, prone positioning resulted in pressor-refractory cardiovascular collapse. Resumption of supine position immediately improved hemodynamics. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) revealed a collapsed left atrium and biventricular failure. Repeat prone positioning resulted in a recurrence of hypotension. However, hemodynamic stabilization was restored and maintained by repositioning chest pads caudally. The patient successfully underwent a 6-hour scoliosis repair without perioperative morbidity. With this case, we aim to: (1) reintroduce awareness of this mechanical obstructive cause of reversible hypotension; (2) highlight the use of intraoperative TEE during prone hemodynamic collapse; and (3) suggest an alternative prone positioning technique if chest compression results in hemodynamic instability.

  13. Effects of particle's off-axis position, shape, orientation and entry position on resistance changes of micro Coulter counting devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qin, Zhenpeng; Zhe, Jiang; Wang, Guo-Xiang

    2011-01-01

    With the recent advance in micro/nano-fabrication technology, micro Coulter counters have been widely used in detecting and characterizing micro- and nanoscale objects. In this paper, the electrical resistance change during translocation of a non-conducting particle through a channel is studied numerically. The numerical results are validated by proven analytical results available in the literature. The effects of particle's off-axis position, shape and orientation, and entry position are studied for particles with a large dynamic range. From the numerical results, a new fitted correlation is proposed that can accurately predict the resistance change caused by off-axis spherical particles regardless of their size. The shape and orientation effects of the electrical resistance change are studied by changing the axis ratio of spheroid particles and their orientation angles. Results show that a particle's shape and orientation have a significant influence on the resistance change. Simulation of an entry effect indicates that a particle starts to induce a resistance change before it enters the channel and still causes a resistance change even after the particle exits the channel completely. This study will offer some guidelines in designing and implementing Coulter counting devices and experiments, and provide insights into explaining experimental results

  14. Changes of brain response induced by simulated weightlessness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Jinhe; Yan, Gongdong; Guan, Zhiqiang

    The characteristics change of brain response was studied during 15° head-down tilt (HDT) comparing with 45° head-up tilt (HUT). The brain responses evaluated included the EEG power spectra change at rest and during mental arithmetic, and the event-related potentials (ERPs) of somatosensory, selective attention and mental arithmetic activities. The prominent feature of brain response change during HDT revealed that the brain function was inhibited to some extent. Such inhibition included that the significant increment of "40Hz" activity during HUT arithmetic almost disappeared during HDT arithmetic, and that the positive-potential effect induced by HDT presented in all kinds of ERPs measured, but the slow negative wave reflecting mental arithmetic and memory process was elongated. These data suggest that the brain function be affected profoundly by the simulated weightlessness, therefore, the brain function change during space flight should be studied systematically.

  15. Maturation of the mitochondrial redox response to profound asphyxia in fetal sheep.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul P Drury

    Full Text Available Fetal susceptibility to hypoxic brain injury increases over the last third of gestation. This study examined the hypothesis that this is associated with impaired mitochondrial adaptation, as measured by more rapid oxidation of cytochrome oxidase (CytOx during profound asphyxia.Chronically instrumented fetal sheep at 0.6, 0.7, and 0.85 gestation were subjected to either 30 min (0.6 gestational age (ga, n = 6, 25 min (0.7 ga, n = 27 or 15 min (0.85 ga, n = 17 of complete umbilical cord occlusion. Fetal EEG, cerebral impedance (to measure brain swelling and near-infrared spectroscopy-derived intra-cerebral oxygenation (ΔHb = HbO(2 - Hb, total hemoglobin (THb and CytOx redox state were monitored continuously. Occlusion was associated with profound, rapid fall in ΔHb in all groups to a plateau from 6 min, greatest at 0.85 ga compared to 0.6 and 0.7 ga (p<0.05. THb initially increased at all ages, with the greatest rise at 0.85 ga (p<0.05, followed by a progressive fall from 7 min in all groups. CytOx initially increased in all groups with the greatest rise at 0.85 ga (p<0.05, followed by a further, delayed increase in preterm fetuses, but a striking fall in the 0.85 group after 6 min of occlusion. Cerebral impedance (a measure of cytotoxic edema increased earlier and more rapidly with greater gestation. In conclusion, the more rapid rise in CytOx and cortical impedance during profound asphyxia with greater maturation is consistent with increasing dependence on oxidative metabolism leading to earlier onset of neural energy failure before the onset of systemic hypotension.

  16. The Influence of Phonological Mechanisms in Written Spelling of Profoundly Deaf Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colombo, Lucia; Arfe, Barbara; Bronte, Tiziana

    2012-01-01

    In the present study, the effect of phonological and working memory mechanisms involved in spelling Italian single words was explored in two groups of children matched for grade level: a group of normally hearing children and a group of pre-verbally deaf children, with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Three-syllable and four-syllable familiar…

  17. Mapping changes – from changing perspectives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Bo Nissen

    Changes in administrative structures over time has profound implications for the organisation of topographically ordered research data. One example could be the numerous changes in the municipal structure in Denmark the last 150 years. Mapping the huge amount of changes over the past 350 years...... context, and for instance historical censuses tied to an obsolete parish structure can now be depicted more accurately. Digitisation of historical place-name data is a key to establishing an efficient search facility, and though not fully integrated yet, the place-name data resulting from the project can...

  18. How psychological and behavioral team states change during positive and negative momentum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Den Hartigh, Ruud J.R.; Gernigon, Christophe; Van Yperen, Nico W.; Marin, Ludovic; Van Geert, Paul

    In business and sports, teams often experience periods of positive and negative momentum while pursuing their goals. However, researchers have not yet been able to provide insights into how psychological and behavioral states actually change during positive and negative team momentum. In the current

  19. Reversal of rocuronium-induced profound neuromuscular block by sugammadex in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boer, H.D. de; Egmond, J. van; Booij, L.H.D.J.; Driessen, J.J.

    2009-01-01

    A case is reported in which a child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy received a dose of sugammadex to reverse a rocuronium-induced profound neuromuscular block. Sugammadex is the first selective relaxant binding agent and reverses rocuronium- and vecuronium-induced neuromuscular block. A fast and

  20. China's climate change positions: at a turning point?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tangen, K.; Heggelund, G.; Buen, J.

    2001-03-01

    The purpose of this article is to discuss major concerns and perceptions underlying Chinese positions in the international climate negotiations. China has asserted that concrete action on the part of developed countries is a precondition for any developing country action. It has been sceptical of the Kyoto Mechanisms and has consistently refused to discuss quantified emission limits for developing countries. China's position regarding the Clean Development Mechanism has, however, developed from scepticism towards a more pragmatic focus on maximising benefits. The dynamics of China's positioning can partly be explained by perceptions of costs, but also 'high politics', and tactical considerations. However, in light of the external and internal forces for change, it is worth asking how long it will be in China's interest to stick to its present position. (author)

  1. Classroom Procedures for the Measurement of Behavior State among Students with Profound Disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guy, Barbara; And Others

    1993-01-01

    This study examined whether teacher-implemented classroom measurement procedures of short duration are as reliable as methods used in research studies to determine behavior state (e.g., awake active, awake inactive, asleep, drowsed) of six students with profound mental disabilities. Results indicated that more frequent but briefer measurements…

  2. Do Voters Learn? Evidence that Voters Respond Accurately to Changes in Political Parties’ Policy Positions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Henrik Bech; Slothuus, Rune; Stubager, Rune

    2017-01-01

    A premise of the mass–elite linkage at the heart of representative democracy is that voters notice changes in political parties’ policy positions and update their party perceptions accordingly. However, recent studies question the ability of voters accurately to perceive changes in parties...... attention to parties when they visibly change policy position. Second, voters update their perceptions of the party positions much more accurately than would have been expected if they merely relied on a ‘coalition heuristic’ as a rule-of-thumb. These findings imply that under some conditions voters...

  3. ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC CHANGES OBSERVED IN HAEMORRHAGIC AND ISCHAEMIC CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Channappa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Cardiac abnormalities are relatively common after acute neurologic injury. Disturbances can vary in severity from transient ECG abnormalities to profound myocardial injury and dysfunction. CNS is involved in the generation of cardiac arrhythmias and dysfunction even in an otherwise normal myocardium. AIM To find out proportion of ECG changes observed in ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Electrocardiographs of 100 patients with acute stroke were studied to find out the types of ECG abnormalities among different types of stroke. RESULTS In our study, the most common ECG abnormalities associated with stroke were prolonged QTc interval, ST-T segment abnormalities, prominent U wave and arrhythmias. Trop-I was positive in 12.8% patients with ECG changes. Statistical significance was found in association with Trop-I positivity and ST depression. CONCLUSION Usually patients with heart disease present with arrhythmias and Ischaemic like ECG changes. But these changes are also seen most often in the patients with presenting with stroke who didn’t have any past history of heart disease. This shows that arrhythmias and ischaemic ECG abnormalities are primarily evolved due to central nervous system disorders.

  4. You're not to dance with the girls: oral history, changing perception and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mee, Steve

    2010-03-01

    The learning disability nursing course at the University of Cumbria features people with a learning disability presenting an oral history of their past in a long-stay institution. These are powerful stories which frequently portray very negative life experiences. Student feedback suggests that the resulting learning is profound, possibly transformative and offering a different type of learning to a 'traditional' lesson. Students report that they experience different and more positive perceptions of people with a learning disability. They have a new respect for people who have survived these experiences. This change of perception may, in part, be due to observing people with a learning disability in positive roles such as storyteller, teacher and carer. The students reported that in subsequent placements their professional practice changed as a result of these insights. These changes include being more outspoken against bad practice and being able to listen more effectively.

  5. Operationalizing quality of life for people with profound multiple disabilities : a Delphi study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Petry, K.; Maes, B.; Vlaskamp, C.

    Background: In a recent study, we constructed an item pool that contains items on the quality of life (QOL) and related aspects of support of people with profound multiple disabilities (PMD). In the present study, a panel of experts assessed the content and the structure of this item pool in order

  6. A Data Based Multidimensional Oral Hygiene Curriculum for the Severely and Profoundly Handicapped.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, David; Elliott, Thomas A.

    A multidimensional oral hygiene curriculum appropriate for the moderately to profoundly retarded and composed of tooth brushing, flossing, and gum stimulation/massage is proposed. Task analyses are included for manual tooth brushing, utilizing an oral irrigation appliance, manual flossing, and use of an adaptive aid for flossing. Also provided are…

  7. Persuasion Model and Its Evaluation Based on Positive Change Degree of Agent Emotion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jinghua, Wu; Wenguang, Lu; Hailiang, Meng

    For it can meet needs of negotiation among organizations take place in different time and place, and for it can make its course more rationality and result more ideal, persuasion based on agent can improve cooperation among organizations well. Integrated emotion change in agent persuasion can further bring agent advantage of artificial intelligence into play. Emotion of agent persuasion is classified, and the concept of positive change degree is given. Based on this, persuasion model based on positive change degree of agent emotion is constructed, which is explained clearly through an example. Finally, the method of relative evaluation is given, which is also verified through a calculation example.

  8. Validation of the Spanish version of the Baylor Profound Mental Status Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmerón, Sergio; Huedo, Isabel; López-Utiel, Melisa; Soler-Moratalla, Isabel; Flores-Ruano, Teresa; Fernández-Sánchez, Miguel; Noguerón, Alicia; Doody, Rachelle S; Abizanda, Pedro

    2016-01-01

    There are no short valid instruments to evaluate cognitive status in severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in the Spanish language. To validate the Spanish version of the Baylor Profound Mental Status Examination (BPMSE-Sp). The Baylor Profound Mental Status Examination (BPMSE) was translated to Spanish and back translated. Validation was conducted in 100 patients with severe probable AD with a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) reliability. The mean age of patients was 84.9; 74% were female; 64% were institutionalized. The mean MMSE was 5.6; the mean BPMSE-Sp was 13.6; the mean BPMSE-Sp behavior was 1.2; the mean SIB was 42.2; and the mean NPI-Q was 4.7. BPMSE-Sp presented good internal consistency (Cronbach α= 0.84). There were significant correlations between the BPMSE-Sp and MMSE (r = 0.86, p reliability were in both cases excellent, ranging between 0.96 and 0.99 (p <  0.001). BPMSE-Sp had fewer floor and ceiling effects than the MMSE. The BPMSE-Sp is a valid tool for use in daily practice and research in the evaluation of cognitive function of patients with severe AD.

  9. Taking part in 'Understanding Your Child's Behaviour' and positive changes for parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appleton, Rebecca; Douglas, Hazel; Rheeston, Mary

    2016-02-01

    ABSTRACT The Solihull Approach's Understanding Your Child's Behaviour (UYCB) is a 10-session group for parents run by facilitators in their local area. Previous studies have shown that parents enjoy taking part in the group, and that UYCB can reduce problematic behaviours in children. Building on this research, the present study evaluated whether UYCB programmes run more recently in the UK were rated as positively by parents, and what positive changes were reported by parents. Both quantitative and qualitative data was analysed from 105 parents who took part in 18 different UYCB groups between 2012 and 2015. The results of this analysis showed that 90 per cent of parents found the group a great place to relax and share experiences, 93 per cent rated the group as 'great' for helping them understand their child, and 92 per cent gave a 'great' rating for helping them identify changes. In addition to this, content analysis showed that 47 per cent of parents reported having a better relationship with their child after taking part, 42 per cent said they were more confident, and importantly six per cent reported a significant positive change in their lives generally as a direct result of UYCB.

  10. Land-use change interacts with climate to determine elevational species redistribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Fengyi; Lenoir, Jonathan; Bonebrake, Timothy C

    2018-04-03

    Climate change is driving global species redistribution with profound social and economic impacts. However, species movement is largely constrained by habitat availability and connectivity, of which the interaction effects with climate change remain largely unknown. Here we examine published data on 2798 elevational range shifts from 43 study sites to assess the confounding effect of land-use change on climate-driven species redistribution. We show that baseline forest cover and recent forest cover change are critical predictors in determining the magnitude of elevational range shifts. Forest loss positively interacts with baseline temperature conditions, such that forest loss in warmer regions tends to accelerate species' upslope movement. Consequently, not only climate but also habitat loss stressors and, importantly, their synergistic effects matter in forecasting species elevational redistribution, especially in the tropics where both stressors will increase the risk of net lowland biotic attrition.

  11. NATURE FACILITATES CONNECTION WITH THE PROFOUND SELF: NEEDS, GOALS AND RESOURCE AWARENESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicoleta Răban-Motounu

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The present study is based on Kaplan and Kaplan’s (1989 theory explaining the restorative effects that nature has on a person’s psychic. According to this theory, nature exerts a “soft fascination” combining the activation of involuntary attention mechanisms with the reflexive awareness, allowing a spontaneous detachment from stress factors and automatic functioning, and also the feeling of compatibility between personal purposes, and the possibilities for action offered by the environment (a sense of meaning. Our objective was to investigate the effects of nature on Self awareness: the immediate, emotional experience; needs awareness and organization; plans for action, and availability of resources, both personal, and external. We conducted an experiment with an experimental group (persons watching a video with life in nature and an active control group (involved in a psychotherapeutic technique focused on confronting and solving personal difficulties by creative means, accompanied by a short psychological analysis. The effects were assessed in terms of “here and now” emotions and available resources according to a self-evaluation scale, and with open-ended questions regarding personal needs and goals. The results showed that, for the experimental group, the relaxation effects and the awareness of long term goals were stronger, while all the other effects were the same as for the control group. The results suggest that indeed, nature helps a person get in contact with her profound Self, allowing the access to both “here and now” basic needs, and also long term goals (inner sources of meaning, the sense of connection between internal tendencies, personal, and external resources, resulting in increased positive emotions, and decreased negative emotions. Nature contemplation may facilitate a meditative state whit all its positive effects.

  12. Microenvironmental change as a mechanism to study global change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lortie, C. J.

    2016-12-01

    Global change is a set of significant processes that influence all aspects of ecosystem functioning and often-natural services within Santa Barbara County. The sensitivity of coastal and urban systems is certainly very high. However, profound changes are also predicted for arid and semi-arid systems globally, and California is no exception. These dryland systems are less buffered by oceanic processes and typically express high inter-annual variation in precipitation and temperatures in addition to perturbations associated with long-term droughts. However, climate estimates and downscaled values can present challenges in providing evidence at the scale relevant to individual species or individuals, and the importance of biotic interactions must be coupled to these estimates in space and time. Coupled indicators of key micro-environmental measures to both positive and negative interactions between foundation species and other organisms provide a metric of buffering capacity and resilience to global change at fine spatial scales. Consequently, the primary objective of this research project is to provide both the a well-articulated, ecologically relevant micro-environmental big data measure of global change within Santa Barbara County and a coupled estimate of concurrent changes in interactions in key species within the region. Shrubs directly and indirectly buffered local changes in the microenvironment thereby functioning as refuges for other species within arid and semi-arid regions subject to dramatic global change drivers. The following major patterns were identified: (i) shrub micro-environments reduce the level of stress and amplitude of variation associated with temperature and moisture, (ii) many plant and animal species including threatened lizards are relatively more common with shrubs within the region, and (iii) the variation in the interaction patterns between species relates to the extent of amelioration provided by shrub-biodiversity complexes within

  13. Is more profound knowledge in the field of radiation nece--ssary for doctors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klener, V.

    1981-01-01

    Reasons are listed why doctors should have more profound knowledge in the field of radiation. Despite imperceptibility by human senses of ionizing radiation, the parameters characterizing irradiation can accurately be measured. The units of the said parameters are listed and characterized and the relationships are explained of the radiation dose and non-stochastic and stochastic radiation effects. (Ha)

  14. HEART RATE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS IN PERSONS WITH PROFOUND INTELLECTUAL AND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Waninge, Aly; van der Putten, Annette A. J.; Stewart, Roy E.; Steenbergen, Bert; van Wijck, Ruud; van der Schans, Cees P.

    2013-01-01

    Because physical fitness and health are related to physical activity, it is important to gain an insight into the physical activity levels of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). The purpose of this study was to examine heart rate patterns to measure the activity

  15. Climate change: Wilderness's greatest challenge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nathan L. Stephenson; Connie Millar

    2014-01-01

    Anthropogenic climatic change can no longer be considered an abstract possibility. It is here, its effects are already evident, and changes are expected to accelerate in coming decades, profoundly altering wilderness ecosystems. At the most fundamental level, wilderness stewards will increasingly be confronted with a trade-off between untrammeled wilderness character...

  16. Melting empires? Climate change and politics in Antarctica since the International Geophysical Year.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howkins, Adrian

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the relationship between climate change and politics in Antarctica since the International Geophysical Year of 1957-8, paying particular attention to the work of the British Antarctic Survey. Research conducted in Antarctica has played an important role in the understanding of climate change on a global scale. In turn, fears about the consequences of global climate change have radically changed perceptions of Antarctica and profoundly shaped scientific research agendas: a continent that until fifty years ago was perceived largely as an inhospitable wilderness has come to be seen as a dangerously vulnerable environment. This radical shift in perception contrasts with a fundamental continuity in the political power structures of the continent. This article argues that the severity of the threat of climate change has reinforced the privileged political position of the "insider" nations within the Antarctic Treaty System.

  17. Driving to learn in a powered wheelchair: the process of learning joystick use in people with profound cognitive disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilsson, Lisbeth; Eklund, Mona; Nyberg, Per; Thulesius, Hans

    2011-01-01

    The Driving to Learn project explored ways to help people with profound cognitive disabilities practice operating a joystick-operated powered wheelchair. The project used a grounded theory approach with constant comparative analysis and was carried out over 12 yr. The participants were 45 children and adults with profound cognitive disabilities. Reference groups included 17 typically developing infants and 64 participants with lesser degrees of cognitive disability. The data sources included video recordings, field notes, open interviews, and a rich mixture of literature. The findings that emerged yielded strategies for facilitating achievements, an 8-phase learning process, an assessment tool, and a grounded theory of deplateauing explaining the properties necessary for participants to exceed expected limitations and plateaus. Eight participants with profound cognitive disabilities reached goal-directed driving or higher. Participants were empowered by attaining increased control over tool use, improving their autonomy and quality of life.

  18. Can positional MRI predict dynamic changes in the medial plantar arch?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johannsen, Finn E; Hansen, Philip; Stallknecht, Sandra

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Positional MRI (pMRI) allows for three-dimensional visual assessment of navicular position. In this exploratory pilot study pMRI was validated against a stretch sensor device, which measures movement of the medial plantar arch. We hypothesized that a combined pMRI measure incorporating...... and c) standing position with addition of 10 % body weight during static loading of the foot. Stretch sensor measurements were also performed during barefoot walking. RESULTS: The total change in navicular position measured by pMRI was 10.3 mm (CI: 7.0 to 13.5 mm). No further displacement occurred when.......08). CONCLUSIONS: Total navicular bone displacements determined by pMRI showed concurrent validity with stretch sensor measurements but only so under static loading conditions. Although assessment of total navicular displacement by combining concomitant vertical and medial navicular bone movements would appear...

  19. Hu Jintao's Speech on Climate Change (abridged)%Hu Jintao' s Speech on Climate Change (abridged)

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2009-01-01

    @@ Mr.Secretary-General, dear colleagues, Global climate change has a profound impact on the survival and development of mankind. It is a major challenge facing all countries.I wish to highlight a few principles that we need to follow in our common endeavor to tackle this issue of climate change.

  20. Radiographic study of bone changes on TMJ arthrosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    You, Dong Soo

    1982-01-01

    condyle in 217 cases (18.66%). 5. In the TMJ arthrosis patients with bone changes, 1249 cases of abnormal condylar position in the mouth closed state and 1163 cases of abnormal condylar position in the mouth open state could be interpreted. so, for the radiographic interpretation of TMJ arthrosis, the reading of condylar positional changes as well as that of bond changes should be preformed and their interrelations should be profoundly considered.

  1. Radiographic study of bone changes on TMJ arthrosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    You, Dong Soo [Dept. of Radiology, College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1982-11-15

    condyle in 217 cases (18.66%). 5. In the TMJ arthrosis patients with bone changes, 1249 cases of abnormal condylar position in the mouth closed state and 1163 cases of abnormal condylar position in the mouth open state could be interpreted. so, for the radiographic interpretation of TMJ arthrosis, the reading of condylar positional changes as well as that of bond changes should be preformed and their interrelations should be profoundly considered.

  2. Change in the family food environment is associated with positive dietary change in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrie, Gilly; Sohonpal, Gundeep; Lange, Kylie; Golley, Rebecca

    2013-01-07

    The family food environment is an important influence in the development of children's dietary habits. Research suggests that influences of current dietary behaviour and behaviour change may differ. The aims of this paper were to: (1) investigate the association between the food environment at baseline and change in children's saturated fat intake; and (2) to explore whether a change in the food environment was associated with a change in children's saturated fat intake. Secondary analysis of a 12 week cluster randomised controlled trial in 133 4-13 year old children. Families were randomly allocated to parental education regarding changing to reduced-fat dairy foods or a comparison non-dietary behaviour. The interventions were family focused. Parents received education from a dietitian in 3x30 minute sessions to facilitate behaviour change. Parents completed a comprehensive questionnaire capturing three domains of the food environment--Parent knowledge and attitudes; shaping practices; and behaviours and role modelling. Children's dietary intake was assessed via multiple 24-hour recalls at baseline and week 12. Changes in the family food environment and primary outcome (saturated fat) were calculated. Hierarchical linear regression models were performed to explore the association between baseline and change in food environment constructs and change in saturated fat intake. Standardised Beta are presented (pchange in saturated fat. An increase in nutrition knowledge (β=-0.2), perceived responsibility (β=-0.3) and restriction (β=-0.3) from baseline to week 12 were associated with greater reduction in saturated fat intake. The present study was one of the first to quantify changes in the family food environment, and identify a number of factors which were associated with a positive dietary change. Because interventions focus on behaviour change, the findings may provide specific targets for intervention strategies in the future. Australia New Zealand Clinical

  3. Physiologic and Pharmacokinetic Changes in Pregnancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maged eCostantine

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Physiologic changes in pregnancy induce profound alterations to the pharmacokinetic properties of many medications. These changes affect distribution, absorption, metabolism, and excretion of drugs, and thus may impact their pharmacodynamic properties during pregnancy. Pregnant women undergo several adaptations in many organ systems. Some adaptations are secondary to hormonal changes in pregnancy, while others occur to support the gravid woman and her developing fetus. Some of the changes in maternal physiology during pregnancy include, for example, increased maternal fat and total body water, decreased plasma protein concentrations, especially albumin, increased maternal blood volume, cardiac output and blood flow to the kidneys and uteroplacental unit, and decreased blood pressure. The maternal blood volume expansion occurs at a larger proportion than the increase in red blood cell mass, which results in physiologic anemia and hemodilution. Other physiologic changes include increased tidal volume, partially compensated respiratory alkalosis, delayed gastric emptying and gastrointestinal motility, and altered activity of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes. Understating these changes and their profound impact on the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs in pregnancy is essential to optimize maternal and fetal health.

  4. Speech timing and working memory in profoundly deaf children after cochlear implantation

    OpenAIRE

    Burkholder, Rose A.; Pisoni, David B.

    2003-01-01

    Thirty-seven profoundly deaf children between 8- and 9-years-old with cochlear implants and a comparison group of normal-hearing children were studied to measure speaking rates, digit spans, and speech timing during digit span recall. The deaf children displayed longer sentence durations and pauses during recall and shorter digit spans compared to the normal-hearing children. Articulation rates, measured from sentence durations, were strongly correlated with immediate memory span in both norm...

  5. Tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients across Europe: changes over time and risk factors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kruk, Alexey; Bannister, Wendy; Podlekareva, Daria N

    2011-01-01

    OBJECTIVE:: To describe temporal changes in the incidence rate of tuberculosis (TB) (pulmonary or extrapulmonary) among HIV-positive patients in western Europe and risk factors of TB across Europe. METHODS:: Poisson regression models were used to determine temporal changes in incidence rate of TB...

  6. Managing Positive Stress for Change in the Implementation of Technology in Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carol Vanvooren

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available In the Information Age, faculty and staff in large institutions and schools make transformative changes slowly. The implementation of technology as a tool for communication and in classroom integration for instruction is also slow for many educators. However, today there is an urgency to bring the most recent technology systems, applications, and strategies into the educational organization, creating an environment that requires knowledgeable leaders to manage the rapid change. With resistance just a parking lot whisper away, leaders must orchestrate the right amount of stress to create a need in the staff to constantly evolve to a new level of technology implementation. The five positive stress inducing strategies for change, first introduced by DeVore in 1994 [4], have proven to be used by highly effective leaders from elementary schools through college. With leaders trained in these key strategies, the likelihood of faculty and staff commitment to the needed changes in technology integration is greatly increased. Leaders can’t wait for the experienced employee to consider using technology as a tool; even elementary students race past the limited and readily outdated technology skills of most teachers. Leaders must create the positive stressors to initiate change for technology in their organizations now.

  7. Tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients across Europe: changes over time and risk factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kruk, Alexey; Bannister, Wendy; Podlekareva, Daria N.; Chentsova, Nelly P.; Rakhmanova, Aza G.; Horban, Andrzej; Domingo, Perre; Mocroft, Amanda; Lundgren, Jens D.; Kirk, Ole; Losso, M.; Elias, C.; Vetter, N.; Zangerle, R.; Karpov, I.; Vassilenko, A.; Mitsura, V. M.; Suetnov, O.; Clumeck, N.; de Wit, S.; Delforge, M.; Colebunders, R.; Vandekerckhove, L.; Hadziosmanovic, V.; Kostov, K.; Begovac, J.; Machala, L.; Sedlacek, D.; Nielsen, J.; Kronborg, G.; Benfield, T.; Larsen, M.; Gerstoft, J.; Katzenstein, T.; Hansen, A.-B. E.; Skinhøj, P.; Pedersen, C.; Ostergaard, L.; Zilmer, K.; Ristola, M.; Katlama, C.; Viard, J.-P.; Girard, P.-M.; Livrozet, J. M.; Vanhems, P.; Pradier, C.; Dabis, F.; Neau, D.; Rockstroh, J.; Reiss, P.

    2011-01-01

    To describe temporal changes in the incidence rate of tuberculosis (TB) (pulmonary or extrapulmonary) among HIV-positive patients in western Europe and risk factors of TB across Europe. Poisson regression models were used to determine temporal changes in incidence rate of TB among 11,952 patients

  8. The Curriculum for Children with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties at Stephen Hawking School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rayner, Matthew

    2011-01-01

    The increasing number of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties means that many schools for children with severe learning difficulties are having to review the curriculum that they offer. In addition, these schools are continuing to question whether a subject-based approach, in line with the National Curriculum, is the most…

  9. Teaching the Statement of Changes in Financial Position--A Worksheet Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrd, David B.; Byrd, Sandra D.

    1986-01-01

    The worksheet approach to preparing a Statement of Changes in Financial Position (SCFP) is presented. An example that has been developed for presentation to the class during the first class period spent on SCFPs is discussed. Conversion of working capital to cash is also explained. (CT)

  10. Detecting Output Pressure Change of Positive-Displacement Pump by Phase Trajectory Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerzy Stojek

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The monitoring of hydraulic system condition change during its exploitation ran its complex problem. The main task is to identifyearly phase damage of hydraulic system elements (pumps, valves, ect. in order to take decision which can avoid hydraulic system breakdown. This paper presents the possibility of phase trajectories use in detecting output pressure change of hydraulic system causedby positive-displacement pump wear.

  11. Positive emotion-specific changes in the gene expression profile of tickled rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hori, Miyo; Hayashi, Takashi; Nakagawa, Yoshimi; Sakamoto, Shigeko; Urayama, Osamu; Murakami, Kazuo

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate changes in gene expression after tactile stimulation (tickling) accompanied by positive emotion in the adolescent rat brain. We observed a positive emotional response (50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations) after tickling using a modified version of the Panksepp method, and then comprehensively compared gene expression levels in the hypothalamus of the tickled rats and control rats using the microarray technique. After 4 weeks of stimulation, the expression levels of 321 of the 41,012 genes (including transcripts) were changed; 136 genes were up-regulated (>1.5-fold) and 185 were down-regulated (>0.67-fold) in the tickled rat group. Upon ontology analysis, the up-regulated genes were assigned to the following Gene Ontology (GO) terms: feeding behavior, neuropeptide signaling pathway, biogenic amine biosynthesis and catecholamine biosynthesis. Down-regulated genes were not assigned to any GO term categorized as a biological process. In conclusion, repeated tickling stimulation with positive emotion affected neuronal circuitry directly and/or indirectly, and altered the expression of genes related to the regulation of feeding in the adolescent rat hypothalamus.

  12. Positive emotional change: mediating effects of forgiveness and spirituality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levenson, Michael R; Aldwin, Carolyn M; Yancura, Loriena

    2006-01-01

    We evaluated the efficacy of an emotional education program that seeks to reduce the intergenerational transmission of negative interaction patterns by increasing forgiveness and spirituality. We examined both reduction of psychological symptoms and increase in positive psychological outcomes over the course of a year, as well as the mediators of this change. At baseline, the sample consisted of 99 participants and 47 waiting list controls. Comparisons of scores from baseline (Time 1) to one week after the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (Time 2) showed large declines in negative affect (depressive symptoms) and increases in both positive outcomes (mastery, empathy, emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, forgiveness, and spiritual experience) and health and well-being. Over the course of a year, most of these gains were sustained, in comparison with the control group. Further, increases in forgiveness and spirituality mediated the effect of program participation on depressive symptoms.

  13. The Differential Effects of Attentional Focus in Children with Moderate and Profound Visual Impairments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott W. T. McNamara

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available It has been consistently reported that an external focus of attention leads to better motor performance than an internal focus, but no research to date has explored this effect in a population with visual impairments (VI. External focus statements typically reference something in the environment (e.g., target that may be difficult to conceptualize for people with VI since they cannot generate a visual representation of the object of focus. Internal focus statements could be more closely identifiable with proprioception that is not impaired in this population. Recent studies have reported that sighted adults with temporarily obstructed vision are able to receive an external focus benefit when performing discrete tasks (i.e., golf putt and vertical jump, however, it is unclear if those with VI would experience the same benefit. The purpose of this investigation was to compare how an internal focus and external focus impact the balance of children with VI. Eighteen children with VI were grouped into a moderate (n = 11 and a profound VI group (n = 7. Participants completed a familiarization trial, an internal focus trial (i.e., focusing on feet and an external focus trial (i.e., focusing on markers in a counterbalanced order. The moderate VI group had a lower root mean square error while using an external focus (p = 0.04, while the profound VI group did not differ between conditions (p > 0.05. These results suggest that while performing a task reliant on sensory feedback, an external focus benefit may be dependent on the severity of VI. Further research is needed to examine whether external focus statements can be presented in a way that may be more intuitive to those with profound VI. These findings may help to influence how professionals in health-related fields (e.g., physical therapist and physical educators give instructions on motor performance to populations with VI.

  14. Visual impairments in people with severe and profound multiple disabilities: An inventory of visual functioning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Broek, E.G.C.; Janssen, C.G.C.; van Ramshorst, T.; Deen, L.

    2006-01-01

    Background: The prevalence of visual impairments in people with severe and profound multiple disabilities (SPMD) is the subject of considerable debate and is difficult to assess. Methods: In a typical Dutch care organization, all clients with SPMD (n = 76) participated in the study and specific

  15. The pros and cons of inclusive education for children with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Everaarts, Sanne; de Boer, Anke; van der Putten, Annette; Minnaert, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Aim: Although children with disabilities have the right to be included into the school system, children with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) are often not included. The aim of this study is to gather knowledge about inclusive education for children with PIMD by identifying

  16. Interaction between Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities and Their Partners: A Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hostyn, Ine; Maes, Bea

    2009-01-01

    Background: High quality interactions are of crucial importance for quality of life of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). This literature review describes and synthesises studies addressing the interaction between persons with PIMD and their partners. Method: A computerised literature search using defined…

  17. [Inadequacy of the paradigms of special education to subjects with severe and profound grade intellectual disability - the need for pragmatic realism in psychiatry and special pedagogy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sipowicz, Kasper; Żuraw, Hanna; Witusik, Andrzej; Mokros, Łukasz; Najbert, Edyta; Pietras, Tadeusz

    2018-05-25

    People with severe and profound grade disabilities are the subject of interest in psychiatry, clinical psychology and special pedagogy. Unfortunately, the paradigmatic approach to special education based on postmodern philosophy is in contrast to the biomedical approach that is based on the positivist and Cartesian models. The paper is an attempt to systematize the similarities and differences between the humanistic approach and the modern biomedical model, which, despite the apparent differences, do not differ so much from each other. Work with a person disabled intellectually in the severe or profound degree is governed by the principles of methodical realism, taking into account to an equal extent the principal deficits, the concomitant diseases, limitations and the social context. The deeper the impairment and disability is, the smaller is the role of the humanistic paradigm in work with the client in the medical management and educational process. Changing the paradigms of special pedagogy has drawn attention to the social context of disability, separating, however, special pedagogy from modern medicine and psychology, cognitive-oriented and psychometry-based. The postmodern paradigm has become an ideology, which makes it difficult to work with deeply disabled people. Only the multidirectional approach including a variety of paradigms makes it possible to provide integrational aid to people with severe and profound grade intellectual disabilities. Working with such a disabled person should take into account equally the biomedical and humanistic aspects. © 2018 MEDPRESS.

  18. Facing climate change in forests and fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amy Daniels; Nancy Shaw; Dave Peterson; Keith Nislow; Monica Tomosy; Mary Rowland

    2014-01-01

    As a growing body of science shows, climate change impacts on wildlife are already profound - from shifting species' ranges and altering the synchronicity of food sources to changing the availability of water. Such impacts are only expected to increase in the coming decades. As climate change shapes complex, interwoven ecological processes, novel conditions and...

  19. Undernutrition in children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD): its prevalence and influence on quality of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holenweg-Gross, C; Newman, C J; Faouzi, M; Poirot-Hodgkinson, I; Bérard, C; Roulet-Perez, E

    2014-07-01

    To estimate the prevalence of undernutrition among children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) and to explore its influence on quality of life. Seventy-two children with PIMD (47 male; 25 female; age range 2 to 15 years 4 months; mean age 8.6, SD 3.6) underwent an anthropometric assessment, including body weight, triceps skinfold thickness, segmental measures and recumbent length. Undernutrition was determined using tricipital skinfold percentile and z-scores of weight-for-height and height-for-age. The quality of life of each child was evaluated using the QUALIN questionnaire adapted for profoundly disabled children. Twenty-five children (34.7%) were undernourished and seven (9.7%) were obese. Among undernourished children only eight (32 %) were receiving food supplements and two (8%) had a gastrostomy, of which one was still on a refeeding programme. On multivariate analysis, undernutrition was one of the independent predictors of lower quality of life. Undernutrition remains a matter of concern in children with PIMD. There is a need to better train professionals in systematically assessing the nutritional status of profoundly disabled children in order to start nutritional management when necessary. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. The Role of Sound in Residential Facilities for People With Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Bosch, Kirsten A.; Andringa, Tjeerd C.; Baskent, Deniz; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2016-01-01

    Attention to the auditory environment of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is limited, both in research and practice. As there is a dynamic interplay between the quality of the auditory environment and well-being, a study was undertaken to test the validity of the

  1. Faculty Scholarship Has a Profound Positive Association with Student Evaluations of Teaching--Except When It Doesn't

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Robert E.

    2016-01-01

    Conventional wisdom holds that research-productive faculty are also the finest instructors. But, is this commonly held belief correct? In the current study, the notion that faculty scholarship exhibits a positive association with teaching evaluations is investigated. Reflecting the data structure of faculty nested within university, the current…

  2. Climate change and tourism: Implications for South Africa | Steyn ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    African Journal for Physical Activity and Health Sciences ... Global warming is a much debated issue. ... scientists nevertheless agree that the world's climate is changing and that these changes will have a profound effect on human activities.

  3. Partial neuroprotection by nNOS inhibition during profound asphyxia in preterm fetal sheep.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, Paul P; Davidson, Joanne O; van den Heuij, Lotte G; Tan, Sidhartha; Silverman, Richard B; Ji, Haitao; Blood, Arlin B; Fraser, Mhoyra; Bennet, Laura; Gunn, Alistair Jan

    2013-12-01

    Preterm brain injury is partly associated with hypoxia-ischemia starting before birth. Excessive nitric oxide production during HI may cause nitrosative stress, leading to cell membrane and mitochondrial damage. We therefore tested the hypothesis that therapy with a new, selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor, JI-10 (0.022mg/kg bolus, n=8), given 30min before 25min of complete umbilical cord occlusion was protective in preterm fetal sheep at 101-104day gestation (term is 147days), compared to saline (n=8). JI-10 had no effect on fetal blood pressure, heart rate, carotid and femoral blood flow, total EEG power, nuchal activity, temperature or intracerebral oxygenation on near-infrared spectroscopy during or after occlusion. JI-10 was associated with later onset of post-asphyxial seizures compared with saline (p<0.05), and attenuation of the subsequent progressive loss of cytochrome oxidase (p<0.05). After 7days recovery, JI-10 was associated with improved neuronal survival in the caudate nucleus (p<0.05), but not the putamen or hippocampus, and more CNPase positive oligodendrocytes in the periventricular white matter (p<0.05). In conclusion, prophylactic nNOS inhibition before profound asphyxia was associated with delayed onset of seizures, slower decline of cytochrome oxidase and partial white and gray matter protection, consistent with protection of mitochondrial function. © 2013.

  4. Changes in the Position of Mandibular Third Molars Following Extraction and Non-Extraction Orthodontic Treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Poosti

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Impaction of third molars can be associated with a number of sequelae, each requiring a different type of treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in the position of lower third molars following extraction and non-extraction orthodontic treatments. Methods: Pre- and post-treatment panoramic radiographs of 26 class I malocclusion patients (4 male and 22 female who were treated on a non-extraction basis were compared with those of 30 class I malocclusion patients (5 male and 25 female who received orthodontic treatment following the extraction of all first premolars. In each group, the lower third molar angulations and their distance from the lower border of the mandible were assessed. Results: Paired t-tests and independent t-tests detected significant changes in the position of the lower third molars in the extraction group. Both the left and right molars became more upright and their distance from the lower border of the mandible increased. Similar changes were only seen in the position of the right mandibular third molars in the non-extraction group. Conclusion: Tooth extractions can bring about favorable changes in the position of mandibular third molars and possibly reduce their incidence of impaction.

  5. Changes in the Position of Mandibular Third Molars Following Extraction and Non-Extraction Orthodontic Treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Poosti

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Impaction of third molars can be associated with a number of sequelae, each requiring a different type of treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in the position of lower third molars following extraction and non-extraction orthodontic treatments. Methods: Pre- and post-treatment panoramic radiographs of 26 class I malocclusion patients (4 male and 22 female who were treated on a non-extraction basis were compared with those of 30 class I malocclusion patients (5 male and 25 female who received orthodontic treatment following the extraction of all first premolars. In each group, the lower third molar angulations and their distance from the lower border of the mandible were assessed. Results: Paired t-tests and independent t-tests detected significant changes in the position of the lower third molars in the extraction group. Both the left and right molars became more upright and their distance from the lower border of the mandible increased. Similar changes were only seen in the position of the right mandibular third molars in the non-extraction group. Conclusion: Tooth extractions can bring about favorable changes in the position of mandibular third molars and possibly reduce their incidence of impaction

  6. Family influences on the cognitive development of profoundly deaf children: exploring the effects of socioeconomic status and siblings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macaulay, Catrin E; Ford, Ruth M

    2013-10-01

    We evaluated the cognitive development of 48 profoundly deaf children from hearing families (born 1994-2002, mean age M = 8.0 years at time of test, none of whom had received early auditory-verbal therapy) as a function of family socioeconomic status and number of siblings. Overall, the deaf children matched a younger group of 47 hearing controls (M = 4.6 years) on verbal ability, theory of mind, and cognitive inhibition. Partial correlations (controlling for age) revealed positive relations in the hearing group between maternal education and inhibition, between number of younger siblings and references to emotions, and between number of close-in-age siblings and references to desires and false beliefs. In the deaf group, there were positive relations between household income and memory span, between maternal education and references to false beliefs, and between number of younger siblings and nonverbal ability. In contrast, deaf children with a greater number of older siblings aged ≤12 years showed inferior memory span, inhibition, belief understanding, picture-sequencing accuracy, and mental-state language, suggesting that they failed to compete successfully with older siblings for their parents' attention and material resources. We consider the implications of the findings for understanding birth-order effects on deaf and language-impaired children.

  7. Venue Shifts and Policy Change in EU Fisheries Policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Princen, S.B.M.

    2010-01-01

    Over the past two decades profound changes have taken place in the European Union's (EU) fisheries policy. Partly these changes have occurred within the EU's Common Fisheries Policy itself, but partly policy change has been effected by the application of environmental legislation and policy

  8. Does the urethral angle change with leg position? Implications for urethral-based CT-planned transperineal prostate implants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bednarz, Greg; Ning, Yue; Waterman, Frank M.; Corn, Benjamin W.; Dicker, Adam P.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: CT based treatment planning for transperineal prostate implants allows for angulation of transperineal needles to avoid the pubic bones by changing the template angle. It requires fluoroscopic guidance and utilizes identification of the urethra by radiopaque markers inside the Foley catheter at the time of the implant. The needle trajectory is relative to the urethral angle as visualized by lateral fluoroscopic views. Patients who have a treatment planning CT in preparation for a transperineal prostate implant are typically scanned in the leg-down/straight position. However, the implant is done in the lithotomy position and changes in the template angle to adapt to the new urethral angle are often required. We have evaluated the relationship between leg position and the position of the prostatic urethra to predict the change in the planned template angle. Material and Methods: To duplicate the lithotomy position a custom designed foot holder was constructed that attached to a flatbed CT scanner. A Foley catheter was inserted with radio-opaque contrast placed in the balloon. Bladder contrast was also utilized. A catheter with 1 cm spaced dummy seeds was placed inside the Foley catheter. A radio-opaque catheter was inserted into the rectum. Fifteen patients had pre-implant scans performed in the leg-down/straight and lithotomy position. The prostate, urethra, bladder and rectum were contoured utilizing a 3D-brachytherapy software system and analyzed. Results: Fourteen of the patients (93%) had changes in urethral angle when evaluated in the lithotomy relative to the led-down/straight position. The mean angle change was - 9.8 degrees (Std. Error 1.47 degrees; p < 0.0001) when in the lithotomy position. The changes were not correlated with prostatic volume or clinical stage. All patients who had urethral angle changes would have required adjustments in the template angle. Conclusions: 1) The objective of treatment planning for prostate implants is to

  9. Longitudinal changes in functional capacity: effects of socio-economic position among ageing adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sulander Tommi

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Health and functional capacity have improved especially in Western countries over the past few decades. Nevertheless, the positive secular trend has not been able to decrease an uneven distribution of health. The main aim of this study was to follow-up changes in functional capacity among the same people in six years time and to detect whether the possible changes vary according to socio-economic position (SEP. In addition, it is of interest whether health behaviours have an effect on these possible changes. Methods This longitudinal follow-up study consisted of 1,898 individuals from three birth cohorts (1926–1930, 1936–40, 1946–50 who took part in clinical check-ups and answered to a survey questionnaire in 2002 and 2008. A sub-scale of physical functioning from the RAND-36 was used to measure functional capacity. Education and adequacy of income were used as indicators of socio-economic position. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used as a main method of analysis. Results Physical functioning in 2002 and 2008 was poorest among those men and women belonging to the oldest cohort. Functional capacity deteriorated in six years among men in the oldest cohort and among women in all three cohorts. Socio-economic disparities in functional capacity among ageing people existed. Especially lower adequacy of income was most consistently associated with poorer functional capacity. However, changes in functional capacity by socio-economic position remained the same or even narrowed independent of health behaviours. Conclusion Socio-economic disparities in physical functioning are mainly incorporated in the level of functioning at the baseline. No widening socioeconomic disparities in functional capacity exist. Partly these disparities even seem to narrow with ageing.

  10. Cardiovascular responses to the change from the left lateral to the upright position in pregnant hypertensives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyer, R A; Anthony, J; Ledeboer, Q; James, M F

    2004-03-01

    To evaluate by non-invasive means, the autonomically mediated changes in heart rate and blood pressure in response to postural change in pregnancy. Ninety-one patients were studied, of whom 17 were non-pregnant controls, 21 were normotensive parturients, 22 had non-proteinuric hypertension, and 31 were pre-eclamptics. In all patients the heart rate and blood pressure response to the change from the left lateral to the erect position was measured non-invasively, during the third trimester in the pregnant groups. The change from the left lateral to the erect position induced significantly greater mean changes (increases) in systolic blood pressure in the normotensive pregnant (PC) women than all other groups (Pchanges when comparing the PC, NP and H groups. The PE group exhibited a significantly greater increase in heart rate on adopting the erect position than all other groups. Pre-eclamptics exhibit smaller changes in blood pressure than normotensive pregnant patients and non-proteinuric hypertensives on standing, while producing an exaggerated heart rate response, indicating altered autonomic compensatory mechanisms in these patients.

  11. Patient state index and cerebral blood flow changes during shoulder arthroscopy in beach chair position.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buget, Mehmet Ilke; Atalar, Ata Can; Edipoglu, Ipek Saadet; Sungur, Zerrin; Sivrikoz, Nukhet; Karadeniz, Meltem; Saka, Esra; Kucukay, Suleyman; Senturk, Mert N

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the study were to demonstrate the possible hemodynamic changes and cerebral blood flow alterations in patients who were positioned from supine to beach chair position; and to detect if the position change causes any cortical activity alteration as measured by the 4-channeled electroencephalography monitor. 35 patients were included. Before the induction, mean arterial pressure and patient state index values were recorded (T0). After the intubation, doppler-ultrasonography of the patients' internal carotid and vertebral arteries were evaluated to acquire cerebral blood flow values from the formula. In supine position, mean arterial pressure, patient state index and cerebral blood flow values were recorded (T1) and the patient was positioned to beach chair position. After 5min all measurements were repeated (T2). Measurements of patient state index and mean arterial pressure were repeated after 20 (T3), and 40 (T4)min. There was a significant decrease between T0 and T1 in heart rate (80.5±11.6 vs. 75.9±14.4beats/min), MAP (105.8±21.9 vs. 78.9±18.4mmHg) and PSI (88.5±8.3 vs. 30.3±9.7) (all pstate index values (T1-T4) showed no significant change; however, comparing only T1 and T2 resulted in a statically significant decrease in patient state index. There was a significant decrease in cerebral blood flow after beach chair position. Beach chair position was associated with a decrease in cerebral blood flow and patient state index values. Patient state index was affected by the gravitational change of the cerebral blood flow; however, both factors were not directly correlated to each other. Moreover, the decrease in patient state index value was transient and returned to normal values within 20min. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  12. [Patient state index and cerebral blood flow changes during shoulder arthroscopy in beach chair position].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buget, Mehmet Ilke; Atalar, Ata Can; Edipoglu, Ipek Saadet; Sungur, Zerrin; Sivrikoz, Nukhet; Karadeniz, Meltem; Saka, Esra; Kucukay, Suleyman; Senturk, Mert N

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the study were to demonstrate the possible hemodynamic changes and cerebral blood flow alterations in patients who were positioned from supine to beach chair position; and to detect if the position change causes any cortical activity alteration as measured by the 4-channeled electroencephalography monitor. 35 patients were included. Before the induction, mean arterial pressure and patient state index values were recorded (T0). After the intubation, doppler-ultrasonography of the patients' internal carotid and vertebral arteries were evaluated to acquire cerebral blood flow values from the formula. In supine position, mean arterial pressure, patient state index and cerebral blood flow values were recorded (T1) and the patient was positioned to beach chair position. After 5min all measurements were repeated (T2). Measurements of patient state index and mean arterial pressure were repeated after 20 (T3), and 40 (T4)min. There was a significant decrease between T0 and T1 in heart rate (80.5±11.6 vs. 75.9±14.4beats/min), MAP (105.8±21.9 vs. 78.9±18.4mmHg) and PSI (88.5±8.3 vs. 30.3±9.7) (all pstate index values (T1-T4) showed no significant change; however, comparing only T1 and T2 resulted in a statically significant decrease in patient state index. There was a significant decrease in cerebral blood flow after beach chair position. Beach chair position was associated with a decrease in cerebral blood flow and patient state index values. Patient state index was affected by the gravitational change of the cerebral blood flow; however, both factors were not directly correlated to each other. Moreover, the decrease in patient state index value was transient and returned to normal values within 20min. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  13. The effects of institutional change in European soccer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haan, M.A.; Koning, R.H.; van Witteloostuijn, A.

    2012-01-01

    The last decades have seen two profound changes in European soccer. First, international trade in talent has increased markedly. Second, international competitions such as the Champions League have become much more important. Using a theoretical model, we study how these changes affect competitive

  14. The Effects of Institutional Change in European Soccer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haan, Marco A.; Koning, Ruud H.; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

    The last decades have seen two profound changes in European soccer. First, international trade in talent has increased markedly. Second, international competitions such as the Champions League have become much more important. Using a theoretical model, we study how these changes affect competitive

  15. Change in the family food environment is associated with positive dietary change in children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendrie Gilly

    2013-01-01

    saturated fat intake. Conclusions The present study was one of the first to quantify changes in the family food environment, and identify a number of factors which were associated with a positive dietary change. Because interventions focus on behaviour change, the findings may provide specific targets for intervention strategies in the future. Trial registration Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12609000453280.

  16. Demonstration of ipsilateral brain activation by noise in patients profoundly deaf with cochlear implant, or unilaterally deaf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herzog, H.; Wieler, H.; Morgenstern, C.; Lipman, J.; Langen, K.-J.; Schmid, A.; Rota, E.; Patton, D.; Feinendegen, L.F.

    1986-01-01

    Two groups of patients with hearing handicaps have been investigated with PET and F-18-2-FDG. Since these patients were unilaterally deaf or profoundly deaf with a cochlear implant installed, monaural stimulation was possible excluding any effects of bone conduction to the contralateral ear. White noise was used as acoustic stimulus in unilaterally deaf patients. The peripheral auditory nerve of cochlear implant patients was stimulated by electrical impulses which were encoded from music or a 4-tone mixture by an electronic speech processor. The non-music stimuli were chosen to avoid associative cortical reactions. In both groups response to the stimuli by increase of glucose consumption (LCMRglc) was found not only in the contralateral primary auditory cortex as expected from neuroanatomical knowledge, but also in the ipsilateral auditory cortex. Furthermore there was no correlation between the hemisphere showing increased LCMRglc and the side of stimulation or the type of stimulus. The similarity of results obtained in both groups by acoustical and electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve suggests that this kind of measurement might be a tool to predict or check the performance of a cochlear implant in a profoundly deaf patient. The finding of increased LCMRglc in the area of the normal auditory cortex in patients profoundly deaf since birth contradicts the hypothesis of degeneration of this cortical center in such patients. (Author)

  17. Correlation between audiovestibular function tests and hearing outcomes in severe to profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chi-Te; Huang, Tsung-Wei; Kuo, Shih-Wei; Cheng, Po-Wen

    2009-02-01

    This study investigated whether audiovestibular function tests, namely auditory brain stem response (ABR) and vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) tests were correlated to hearing outcomes after controlling the effects of other potential confounding factors in severe to profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). Eighty-eight patients with severe to profound SSHL were enrolled in this study. Pretreatment hearing levels, results of audiovestibular function tests, and final hearing outcomes were recorded from retrospective chart reviews. Other factors, including age, gender, delay of treatment, vertigo, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, were collected as well. Comparative analysis between multiple variables and hearing outcomes was conducted using the cumulative logits model in overall subjects. Further, multivariate analysis of prognostic factors was conducted in the stratified groups of severe (70 dB HL 90 dB HL) SSHL. Multivariate analysis showed that pretreatment hearing levels, presence of vertigo, and results of ABR and VEMP testing were significant outcome predictors in the overall subjects. Stratification analysis demonstrated that both the presence of ABR and VEMP waveforms were significantly correlated with better hearing outcomes in the group of severe SSHL [ABR: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 14.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.78 to 122, p = 0.01; VEMP: aOR = 5.91, 95% CI = 1.18 to 29.5, p = 0.03], whereas the presence of vertigo was the only significant negative prognostic factor in the group of profound SSHL (aOR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.95, p = 0.04). Other variables, including age, gender, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and delay of treatment, were not significantly related to hearing outcomes in both groups (p > 0.05). A predictive hearing recovery table with the combined ABR and VEMP results was proposed for the group of severe SSHL. ABR and VEMP tests should be included in the battery of neurootological examinations in

  18. Determining alertness in individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities : the reliability of an observation list

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Munde, V.S.; Vlaskamp, C.; Ruijssenaars, A.J.J.M.; Nakken, H.

    In the support of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), assessing the level of alertness is a recurring issue for parents and other direct support persons. Although observations show clear advantages above and beyond other assessment methods, there are problems

  19. cd4 changes in haart-naïve hiv positive pregnant women on haart

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    boaz

    This study thus attempt an assessment of the pattern of immunologic (CD4) changes in naïve. HIV positive pregnant women, in the first two months of commencing HAART, with a view to possibly postulate CD4 response rate and recommend the ideal time to initiate HAARTin HIV positive pregnant patients. METHODOLOGY.

  20. Empowering community settings: agents of individual development, community betterment, and positive social change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maton, Kenneth I

    2008-03-01

    The pathways and processes through which empowering community settings influence their members, the surrounding community and the larger society are examined. To generate the proposed pathways and processes, a broad range of studies of community settings were reviewed, in the domains of adult well-being, positive youth development, locality development, and social change. A set of organizational characteristics and associated processes leading to member empowerment across domains were identified, as well as three pathways through which empowering settings in each domain contribute to community betterment and positive social change. The paper concludes with an examination of the ways that community psychology and allied disciplines can help increase the number and range of empowering settings, and enhance the community and societal impact of existing ones.

  1. Normality and Impairment following Profound Early Institutional Deprivation: A Longitudinal follow-up into Early Adolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kreppner, Jana M.; Rutter, Michael; Beckett, Celia; Castle, Jenny; Colvert, Emma; Groothues, Christine; Hawkins, Amanda; O'Connor, Thomas G.; Stevens, Suzanne; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J. S.

    2007-01-01

    Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K.…

  2. Profound Endothelial Damage Predicts Impending Organ Failure and Death in Sepsis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Maria E; Johansson, Pär I.; Ostrowski, Sisse R

    2015-01-01

    levels at enrollment predicted risk of multiple organ failure during follow-up (HR [> 14 ng/mL vs. organ failure and death in septic......Endothelial damage contributes to organ failure and mortality in sepsis, but the extent of the contribution remains poorly quantified. Here, we examine the association between biomarkers of superficial and profound endothelial damage (syndecan-1 and soluble thrombomodulin [sTM], respectively......), organ failure, and death in sepsis. The data from a clinical trial, including critically ill patients predominantly suffering sepsis (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00271752) were studied. Syndecan-1 and sTM levels at the time of study enrollment were determined. The predictive ability of biomarker levels...

  3. An atypical case of successful resuscitation of an accidental profound hypothermia patient, occurring in a temperate climate.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Coleman, E

    2010-03-01

    Cases of accidental profound hypothermia occur most frequently in cold, northern climates. We describe an atypical case, occurring in a temperate climate, where a hypothermic cardiac-arrested patient was successfully resuscitated using extracorporeal circulation (ECC).

  4. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Agriculture and Food Security

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verschuuren, Jonathan

    Climate change has a profound impact on agriculture and on food security. At the same time agriculture contributes to climate change to a considerable extent. Fortunately there is also much to gain since the agricultural sector holds significant climate change mitigation potential through reductions

  5. Heart health = urologic health and heart unhealthy = urologic unhealthy: rapid review of lifestyle changes and dietary supplements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyad, Mark A

    2011-08-01

    Almost all aspects of urology are affected positively and negatively by certain lifestyle changes and dietary supplements. Some of these interventions have potential profound impacts independently or in combination with conventional therapy, others have no impact, and some could negatively impact treatment and overall health. The heart-healthiest recommendations have consistently served as the safest and most potentially effective options in urology from benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, interstitial cystitis, multiple urologic cancers, male infertility, male and female sexual dysfunction, kidney stones, and Peyronie disease. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Comparison of shoulder positions at MR arthrography: change of labroligamentous complex shape and diagnosis of labral tears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwak, Jin Young; Ha, Doo Hoe; Kim, Jeung Sook; Lee, Young Soo

    2001-01-01

    To compare the neutral, internal, and external rotation positions of the glenohumeral joint during magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography performed to assess changes in the shape of the labroligamentous complex (LLC) and in the labral tear. MR arthrography of the shoulder was retrospectively evaluated in 36 patients aged 14-66 (mean, 40) years. Fourteen cases were confirmed by arthroscopic surgery (7 SLAP lesions, 2 Bankart lesions, 1 both SLAP and Bankart lesions). Axial fat-suppressed T1-weighted spin-echo images were acquired with each shoulder in the neutral position, and with internal and external rotations. In each position, we measured the angle of rotation between the perpendicular line on the glenoid fossa and the long axis of the humeral head, analyzing the relationship between the rotational angle and changes in the shape of the LLC at each internal and external rotation, relative to the neutral position. In addition, labral tears in 14 arthroscopically confirmed joints were evaluated in each position. Mean angles of rotation relative to the neutral position were 44.1 and 45.3 degrees in internal and external rotation, respectively. Changes in the anterior LLC occurred in 25 and 24 cases of internal and external rotation, respectively. There was a significantly meaningful relationship between rotational angle and changes in the shape of the anterior LLC during external rotation, and when this changes was noticed, the rotational angle was wider (p<0.05). The posterior LLC changed in shape in 13 and 16 cases of internal and external rotation, respectively, but changes according to the angle of rotation were not statistically significant. In arthroscopically confirmed joints, diagnosis of the eight SLAP lesions at external rotation tended to become more accurate, but no statistically significant differences were noted (p=0.07). Two Bankart lesions were interpreted as a tear in all three positions, and one other such lesion was interpreted as a tear in the

  7. The study of 1H-MRS on monkey of resuscitation after cerebral selection ultra-profound hypothermic blood flow occlusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pu Jun; Xu Wei; Fang Shaolong; Zhao Xinxiang; Feng Zhongtang; Jiang Jiyao

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the appearance and feature of 1 H/protion magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS) on resuscitation after cerebral selective ultra-profound hypothermic and blood flow occlusion. To study effects of cerebral biochemical metabolism after cerebral selective ultra-profound hypothermia and blood flow occlusion and to explore the validity and feasibility of it. Methods: Bilateral carotid arteries and jugular veins were clipped about 10 minutes before perfusion. Then selective cerebral circulation was established by perfusion of cooling lingers liquid through right internal carotid artery and flow out of left jugular vein with clip of other carotid arteries and jugular veins. Brain temperature reached (15.1 ± 0.9) degree C, while the body temperature maintained (32.50 ± 0.58) degree C. Cerebral blood recovered after 60 minutes of cerebral ischemia and monkey came back. The cerebral MAI and DWI as well as 1 H-MRS were examined 4, 24, 72 h, 21 days before and after cerebral selective ultro-profound hypothermia and blood flow occlusion. The peak of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), Choline (Cho), creatine and phosphocreatine (Cr, PCr) of VOL were compare with those of control group in different time. Results: MRI T 1 WI, MRI T 2 WI and DWI is normal in different time in different region; there was not a significant difference in the ratio of NAA/(Cr+PCr), Cho/(Cr+PCr) in ROI in different time in the different region in the light of statistical analysis (P>0.05). Conclusion: The light of cerebral biochemical metabolism, selective ultra-profound hypothermia is safety and may provide effective protective effects and safety during cerebral ischemia. (authors)

  8. Factors associated with a positive attitude towards change among employees during the early phase of a downsizing process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svensen, Erling; Neset, Gunnar; Eriksen, Hege R

    2007-04-01

    Most research on organizational changes in working life, including downsizing, focuses on the negative attitudes and negative consequences of the change. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the employee's previous learning experience and characteristics of the working environment were associated with positive attitudes towards organizational change. The 467 employees (73.5% males) working in a global oil company in the early phases of a downsizing process were asked to answer a questionnaire with demographic variables, perception of the working environment, and attitude to change (93% response rate). Corporate social responsibility (CSR), involvement and participation, team leadership and team effectiveness were important factors related to positive attitudes towards organizational change. Non-leaders and older employees were positive to change. We conclude that employees' perceptions of their psychosocial working environment, in particular the CSR, were highly related to their attitude to organizational change.

  9. Are Auditory Steady-State Responses Useful to Evaluate Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss in Children?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grasel, Signe Schuster; de Almeida, Edigar Rezende; Beck, Roberto Miquelino de Oliveira; Goffi-Gomez, Maria Valéria Schmidt; Ramos, Henrique Faria; Rossi, Amanda Costa; Koji Tsuji, Robinson; Bento, Ricardo Ferreira; de Brito, Rubens

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR) at high intensities in pediatric cochlear implant candidates and to compare the results to behavioral tests responses. This prospective study evaluated 42 children with suspected severe-to-profound hearing loss, aged from 3 to 72 months. All had absent ABR and OAE responses. ASSR were evoked using binaural single frequency stimuli at 110 dB HL with a 10 dB down-seeking procedure. ASSR and behavioral test results were compared. Forty-two subjects completed both ASSR and behavioral evaluation. Eleven children (26.2%) had bilateral responses. Four (9.5%) showed unilateral responses in at least two frequencies, all confirmed by behavioral results. Overall 61 ASSR responses were obtained, most (37.7%) in 500 Hz. Mean thresholds were between 101.3 and 104.2 dB HL. Among 27 subjects with absent ASSR, fifteen had no behavioral responses. Seven subjects showed behavioral responses with absent ASSR responses. No spurious ASSR responses were observed at 100 or 110 dB HL. ASSR is a valuable tool to detect residual hearing. No false-positive ASSR results were observed among 42 children, but in seven cases with absent ASSR, the test underestimated residual hearing as compared to the behavioral responses.

  10. Positive Selection or Free to Vary? Assessing the Functional Significance of Sequence Change Using Molecular Dynamics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jane R Allison

    Full Text Available Evolutionary arms races between pathogens and their hosts may be manifested as selection for rapid evolutionary change of key genes, and are sometimes detectable through sequence-level analyses. In the case of protein-coding genes, such analyses frequently predict that specific codons are under positive selection. However, detecting positive selection can be non-trivial, and false positive predictions are a common concern in such analyses. It is therefore helpful to place such predictions within a structural and functional context. Here, we focus on the p19 protein from tombusviruses. P19 is a homodimer that sequesters siRNAs, thereby preventing the host RNAi machinery from shutting down viral infection. Sequence analysis of the p19 gene is complicated by the fact that it is constrained at the sequence level by overprinting of a viral movement protein gene. Using homology modeling, in silico mutation and molecular dynamics simulations, we assess how non-synonymous changes to two residues involved in forming the dimer interface-one invariant, and one predicted to be under positive selection-impact molecular function. Interestingly, we find that both observed variation and potential variation (where a non-synonymous change to p19 would be synonymous for the overprinted movement protein does not significantly impact protein structure or RNA binding. Consequently, while several methods identify residues at the dimer interface as being under positive selection, MD results suggest they are functionally indistinguishable from a site that is free to vary. Our analyses serve as a caveat to using sequence-level analyses in isolation to detect and assess positive selection, and emphasize the importance of also accounting for how non-synonymous changes impact structure and function.

  11. Parental Adaptation to Out-of-Home Placement of a Child with Severe or Profound Developmental Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Jeffrey B.; Roper, Susanne Olsen

    2014-01-01

    Utilizing grounded theory qualitative research methods, a model was developed for describing parental adaptation after voluntary placement of a child with severe or profound developmental disabilities in out-of-home care. Interviews of parents from 20 families were analyzed. Parents' cognitive appraisals of placement outcomes were classified…

  12. Bereavement and Loss: Developing a Memory Box to Support a Young Woman with Profound Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Hannah; Garrard, Brenda

    2016-01-01

    Supporting bereaved people with profound learning disabilities still remains an under-researched area. Moreover, the barriers of communication and disenfranchised grief mean that they often do not receive the support they require, leading to emotional and behavioural difficulties. This article describes research using a case study design, which…

  13. Attuning: A Communication Process between People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability and Their Interaction Partners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, Colin; Smith, Martine

    2016-01-01

    Background: People with severe and profound intellectual disability typically demonstrate a limited ability to communicate effectively. Most of their communications are non-verbal, often idiosyncratic and ambiguous. This article aims to identify the process that regulates communications of this group of people with others and to describe the…

  14. Reliability of assessing the sensory perception of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities : a case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vlaskamp, C.; Cuppen-Fonteine, H.

    Background This study describes preliminary stages of developing a checklist to enable practitioners to determine the behavioural responses of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities to sensory stimuli. Reliability of currently used checklists is low, with a focus on the

  15. Profound vision loss impairs psychological well-being in young and middle-aged individuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Garcia GA

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Giancarlo A Garcia,1,2 Matin Khoshnevis,1,3 Jesse Gale,1,4 Starleen E Frousiakis,1,5 Tiffany J Hwang,1,6 Lissa Poincenot,1 Rustum Karanjia,1,7–9 David Baron,6 Alfredo A Sadun1,7 1Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 4Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, Wellington, NZ; 5Department of Ophthalmology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA; 6Department of Psychiatry & The Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 7Doheny Eye Centers, Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles California, CA, USA; 8Department of Ophthalmology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 9Ottawa Hospital Health Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of profound vision loss on psychological well-being in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults with regard to mood, interpersonal interactions, and career-related goals. In addition, we assessed the significance of the resources that may be used to enhance psychological well-being in cases of profound vision loss, and in particular, examined the utility of low vision aids and the role of the ophthalmologist as a provider of emotional support.Methods: A questionnaire was issued to individuals aged 13–65 years with profound vision loss resulting from Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON. Depression prevalence was evaluated with questions regarding major depressive disorder symptomatology. Participants appraised the effects of vision loss on their interpersonal interactions and career goals by providing an impact rating (IR on a 21-point psychometric scale from −10 to +10. Social well-being index was defined as the average of interpersonal IR and career IR

  16. Profound tumor-specific Th2 bias in patients with malignant glioma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimato, Shinji; Maier, Lisa M; Maier, Richard; Bruce, Jeffrey N; Anderson, Richard CE; Anderson, David E

    2012-01-01

    Vaccination against tumor-associated antigens is one promising approach to immunotherapy against malignant gliomas. While previous vaccine efforts have focused exclusively on HLA class I-restricted peptides, class II-restricted peptides are necessary to induce CD4 + helper T cells and sustain effective anti-tumor immunity. In this report we investigated the ability of five candidate peptide epitopes derived from glioma-associated antigens MAGE and IL-13 receptor α2 to detect and characterize CD4 + helper T cell responses in the peripheral blood of patients with malignant gliomas. Primary T cell responses were determined by stimulating freshly isolated PBMCs from patients with primary glioblastoma (GBM) (n = 8), recurrent GBM (n = 5), meningioma (n = 7), and healthy controls (n = 6) with each candidate peptide, as well as anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and an immunodominant peptide epitope derived from myelin basic protein (MBP) serving as positive and negative controls, respectively. ELISA was used to measure IFN-γ and IL-5 levels, and the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-5 was used to determine whether the response had a predominant Th1 or Th2 bias. We demonstrate that novel HLA Class-II restricted MAGE-A3 and IL-13Rα2 peptides can detect T cell responses in patients with GBMs as well as in healthy subjects. Stimulation with a variety of peptide antigens over-expressed by gliomas is associated with a profound reduction in the IFN-γ/IL-5 ratio in GBM patients relative to healthy subjects. This bias is more pronounced in patients with recurrent GBMs. Therapeutic vaccine strategies to shift tumor antigen-specific T cell response to a more immunostimulatory Th1 bias may be needed for immunotherapeutic trials to be more successful clinically

  17. The effects of postural changes of baroreflex gain in normal and hypertensive pregnancies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyake, Yoshiaki; Ohnishi, Miyako; Fujii, T K; Yamamoto, Tatsuo; Yoneda, Chika; Takahashi, Sachie; Ichimaru, Yuhei

    2002-01-01

    In order to understand the changes of baroreflex gain due to postural changes in normal pregnancies, we measured percentage changes (% changes) in blood pressure (SBP, DBP), heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (TPR) as well as cardiac autonomic nervous function (HF as an index of parasympathetic and LF/HF as an index of sympathetic function) and compared these parameters in normal pregnancies with those found in hypertensive pregnancies, such as chronic hypertensive (CHP) and severe preeclamptic pregnancies (PE), in late pregnancy (after 32 wks). When the position was changed from supine to standing in normal and non-pregnant women, the % changes of HR, DBP, TPR and LF/HF were increased and SBP, SV, CO and HF were decreased. The % changes of these parameters, however, were gradually decreased as pregnancy progressed, especially after 20-24 wks of gestation. In hypertensive pregnancies, however, even in late pregnancy, the decreased SBP and increased TPR was still observed and the profound decrease of CO and SV and increase of TPR were characteristic in PE when compared to CHP.

  18. Histones induce rapid and profound thrombocytopenia in mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhandari, Ashish A.

    2011-01-01

    Histones are released from dying cells and contribute to antimicrobial defense during infection. However, extracellular histones are a double-edged sword because they also damage host tissue and may cause death. We studied the interactions of histones with platelets. Histones bound to platelets, induced calcium influx, and recruited plasma adhesion proteins such as fibrinogen to induce platelet aggregation. Hereby fibrinogen cross-linked histone-bearing platelets and triggered microaggregation. Fibrinogen interactions with αIIbβ3 integrins were not required for this process but were necessary for the formation of large platelet aggregates. Infused histones associated with platelets in vivo and caused a profound thrombocytopenia within minutes after administration. Mice lacking platelets or αIIbβ3 integrins were protected from histone-induced death but not from histone-induced tissue damage. Heparin, at high concentrations, prevented histone interactions with platelets and protected mice from histone-induced thrombocytopenia, tissue damage, and death. Heparin and histones are evolutionary maintained. Histones may combine microbicidal with prothrombotic properties to fight invading microbes and maintain hemostasis after injury. Heparin may provide an innate counter mechanism to neutralize histones and diminish collateral tissue damage. PMID:21700775

  19. Whole exome sequencing identifies mutations in Usher syndrome genes in profoundly deaf Tunisian patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riahi, Zied; Bonnet, Crystel; Zainine, Rim; Lahbib, Saida; Bouyacoub, Yosra; Bechraoui, Rym; Marrakchi, Jihène; Hardelin, Jean-Pierre; Louha, Malek; Largueche, Leila; Ben Yahia, Salim; Kheirallah, Moncef; Elmatri, Leila; Besbes, Ghazi; Abdelhak, Sonia; Petit, Christine

    2015-01-01

    Usher syndrome (USH) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by combined deafness-blindness. It accounts for about 50% of all hereditary deafness blindness cases. Three clinical subtypes (USH1, USH2, and USH3) are described, of which USH1 is the most severe form, characterized by congenital profound deafness, constant vestibular dysfunction, and a prepubertal onset of retinitis pigmentosa. We performed whole exome sequencing in four unrelated Tunisian patients affected by apparently isolated, congenital profound deafness, with reportedly normal ocular fundus examination. Four biallelic mutations were identified in two USH1 genes: a splice acceptor site mutation, c.2283-1G>T, and a novel missense mutation, c.5434G>A (p.Glu1812Lys), in MYO7A, and two previously unreported mutations in USH1G, i.e. a frameshift mutation, c.1195_1196delAG (p.Leu399Alafs*24), and a nonsense mutation, c.52A>T (p.Lys18*). Another ophthalmological examination including optical coherence tomography actually showed the presence of retinitis pigmentosa in all the patients. Our findings provide evidence that USH is under-diagnosed in Tunisian deaf patients. Yet, early diagnosis of USH is of utmost importance because these patients should undergo cochlear implant surgery in early childhood, in anticipation of the visual loss.

  20. Loss of CIB2 Causes Profound Hearing Loss and Abolishes Mechanoelectrical Transduction in Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanfei Wang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Calcium and integrin-binding protein 2 (CIB2 belongs to a protein family with four known members, CIB1 through CIB4, which are characterized by multiple calcium-binding EF-hand domains. Among the family members, the Cib1 and Cib2 genes are expressed in mouse cochlear hair cells, and mutations in the human CIB2 gene have been associated with nonsyndromic deafness DFNB48 and syndromic deafness USH1J. To further explore the function of CIB1 and CIB2 in hearing, we established Cib1 and Cib2 knockout mice using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR-associated Cas9 nuclease (CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique. We found that loss of CIB1 protein does not affect auditory function, whereas loss of CIB2 protein causes profound hearing loss in mice. Further investigation revealed that hair cell stereocilia development is affected in Cib2 knockout mice. Noticeably, loss of CIB2 abolishes mechanoelectrical transduction (MET currents in auditory hair cells. In conclusion, we show here that although both CIB1 and CIB2 are readily detected in the cochlea, only loss of CIB2 results in profound hearing loss, and that CIB2 is essential for auditory hair cell MET.

  1. Whole exome sequencing identifies mutations in Usher syndrome genes in profoundly deaf Tunisian patients.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zied Riahi

    Full Text Available Usher syndrome (USH is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by combined deafness-blindness. It accounts for about 50% of all hereditary deafness blindness cases. Three clinical subtypes (USH1, USH2, and USH3 are described, of which USH1 is the most severe form, characterized by congenital profound deafness, constant vestibular dysfunction, and a prepubertal onset of retinitis pigmentosa. We performed whole exome sequencing in four unrelated Tunisian patients affected by apparently isolated, congenital profound deafness, with reportedly normal ocular fundus examination. Four biallelic mutations were identified in two USH1 genes: a splice acceptor site mutation, c.2283-1G>T, and a novel missense mutation, c.5434G>A (p.Glu1812Lys, in MYO7A, and two previously unreported mutations in USH1G, i.e. a frameshift mutation, c.1195_1196delAG (p.Leu399Alafs*24, and a nonsense mutation, c.52A>T (p.Lys18*. Another ophthalmological examination including optical coherence tomography actually showed the presence of retinitis pigmentosa in all the patients. Our findings provide evidence that USH is under-diagnosed in Tunisian deaf patients. Yet, early diagnosis of USH is of utmost importance because these patients should undergo cochlear implant surgery in early childhood, in anticipation of the visual loss.

  2. Position Angle Changes of Inner-Jets in a Sample of Blazars Ligong ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Position Angle Changes of Inner-Jets in a Sample of Blazars. Ligong Mi1,3,∗ & Xiang Liu1,2. 1Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, CAS, 150 Science 1-Street, Urumqi 830011,. People's Republic of China. 2Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy, CAS, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China. 3University of Chinese ...

  3. A Preliminary Investigation of the Suitability of Aquatics for People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aherne, Cian; Coughlan, Barry

    2017-01-01

    Background: Aquatics is an under-researched but possibly appropriate form of activity for people with severe to profound intellectual disabilities (SPIDs). Aim: The current pilot study investigates the suitability of an aquatics programme for service users with SPIDs. Method: Four service users with SPID completed an 8-12-session aquatics…

  4. Attentional Processes in Interactions between People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities and Direct Support Staff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ine, Hostyn; Heleen, Neerinckx; Bea, Maes

    2011-01-01

    Few studies have examined joint attention in interactions with persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), despite its important role in high-quality interaction. The purpose of this study is to describe the attention-directing behaviours of persons with PIMD and their direct support staff and the attention episodes…

  5. Climate Change. India's Perceptions, Positions, Policies and Possibilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parikh, J.K.; Parikh, K. [Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai (India)

    2002-06-01

    In January 2001, the OECD held an expert seminar as part of a pilot project to investigate interactions between the long term agenda for climate change and sustainable development strategies. Experts from both OECD and developing countries attended. Participants identified issues and approaches, based on their regional perspectives, relevant to an evolving, equitable regime for addressing climate change, given various national circumstances, political interests, institutions and capacities to achieve sustainable development objectives. They stressed the importance of both climate mitigation and adaptation policy within a sustainable development framework. Discussions and presentations centred around two broad themes: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development objectives and long-term strategies to limit climate change; and How to build analytical and implementation capacity in developing countries to maximise synergies at local, regional and global levels of decision-making. To support seminar discussions, the OECD commissioned several papers (including this one) from non- OECD country experts; authors were asked to comment on key interactions between climate change and sustainable development from their own regional or national perspectives. This paper is being released as an informal working paper in the hope that it will continue to stimulate interest and discussions on these topics in other fora. The paper presents Indian perceptions on the problem of climate change and sustainable development; the kind of negotiating positions that follow from these perceptions; the policies India has undertaken so far and finally India's possibilities for action that can help contain the threat of climate change.

  6. Therapeutic interventions in the Netherlands and Belgium in support of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vlaskamp, Carla; Nakken, Han

    For several reasons, people with profound and multiple disabilities may be offered a variety of therapeutic interventions. Thus far, researchers have shown a limited interest in providing an empirical base for these interventions. Research is needed on the theoretical rationale (if any), the

  7. Assessing impact of climate change on season length in Karnataka

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Changes in seasons and season length are an indicator, as well as an effect, of climate change. Seasonal change profoundly affects the balance of life in ecosystems and impacts essential human activities such as agriculture and irrigation. This study investigates the uncertainty of season length in Karnataka state, India, ...

  8. CHANGE IN CONDYLAR POSITION AND SKELETAL STABILITY ASSESSMENT FOLLOWING BSSO FOR MANDIBULAR SET BACK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manjunath

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Change in condylar position following mandibular bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO has been implicated as an important factor in the appearance of immediate postoperative relapse during rigid fixation. It has been suggested that the control of the condylar segment following BSSO is the most important aspect in preventing relapse. The study was done to evaluate changes in position of condyle taken with lateral and frontal cephalograms with 20 patients were assessed, 10 male and 10 female patients wer e divided as group 1 and group 2. Patients undergoing sagittal split ramus osteotomy for mandibular set back were selected; radiographs before operation/surgery, immediately after surgery, 3 months and 6 months post - surgery. Differences between groups were measured by PAIRED ‘T’ TEST a nd time dependent changes in cephalometric measurements were examined by FISCHERS TEST. The present study results conclude significant difference occurring in both proximal and distal segment including condyle. Occlusal stabil ity and skeletal stability also maintained post operatively

  9. Introducing Change From the Top in Universities and Colleges. 10 Personal Accounts. Managing Innovation and Change in Universities and Colleges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weil, Susan, Ed.

    Ten personal accounts by successful leaders of colleges and universities in the United Kingdom describe how these individuals are reshaping their roles to respond to and shape the rapid and profound changes in higher education today. The opening and closing papers are by the editor and review current changes in education, and the importance of…

  10. Real-time measurement of relative sensor position changes using ultrasonic signal evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yastrebova, O.; Bulavinov, A.; Kroening, M. [Fraunhofer Institute Nondestructive Testing IZFP, Saarbruecken (Germany)

    2008-07-01

    Ultrasonic testing is considered to be one of the most commonly applied nondestructive testing techniques for flaw detection and material characterization. Traditional Nondestructive Testing (NDT) provides detection of material discontinuities that may cause failure within the designed lifetime of a part or component. In addition, Quantitative Nondestructive Testing (QNDT) provides means to obtain required information about type, size and location of deficiencies to the integrity of the inspected structure and further use under specific, given load conditions. The ''Acoustic Mouse'' technique has been developed as a tool for manual ultrasonic inspection to provide test results that can be evaluated quantitatively. The ultrasonic data are processed by real-time variation methods to extract position information from backscattered acoustic noise and geometric scatter signals in the inspection volume. The position and positional changes of the ''Acoustic Mouse'' sensor (transducer) are determined by the sequential analysis of ultrasonic data (highresolution sector-scans), which are acquired and reconstructed using the Sampling Phased Array technique. The results of first experiments conducted with linear scanning and intentional lift-offs demonstrate sufficient accuracy in position measurements. (orig.)

  11. Refractory Positional Vertigo With Apogeotropic Horizontal Nystagmus After Labyrinthitis: Surgical Treatment and Identification of Dysmorphic Ampullae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Sameer; Heidenreich, Katherine D; McHugh, Jonathan B; Altschuler, Richard A; Carender, Wendy J; Telian, Steven A

    2015-09-01

    To describe the rationale, intraoperative details, and histopathologic findings discovered when treating an unusual case of apogeotropic horizontal canal positional vertigo with a transmastoid labyrinthectomy. A single case report. Therapeutic. Resolution of apogeotropic nystagmus and improvement of positional vertigo. The apogeotropic variant of horizontal canal positional vertigo can be a difficult entity to treat. This report describes a patient who developed profound sensorineural hearing loss and vertigo after an acute left labyrinthitis. Ten months later, she developed vertigo with apogeotropic positional nystagmus involving the left horizontal semicircular canal. Particle repositioning maneuvers and vestibular physical therapy were unsuccessful. In addition, she developed intermittent positional vertigo affecting the ipsilateral vertical semicircular canals. Given the persistence of her vertigo, multiple canal involvement, and patient preference for definitive treatment, a transmastoid labyrinthectomy was performed. Intraoperatively, the ampulla of the horizontal canal as well as that of the other canals was grossly abnormal as later confirmed on histology. After surgery, her apogeotropic nystagmus and vertigo resolved, and her balance ability gradually improved to a highly functional level. This case illustrates a unique form of positional vertigo that developed and persisted after acute labyrinthitis. Conservative measures were unsuccessful and a transmastoid labyrinthectomy documented dense inflammatory tissue involving all three ampullae. We postulate that the post-labyrinthitic inflammatory changes resulted in mass loading of the membranous ampullae, causing abnormal nystagmus patterns and positional vertigo, which resolved after the labyrinthectomy.

  12. Camera-based microswitch technology to monitor mouth, eyebrow, and eyelid responses of children with profound multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lancioni, G.E.; Bellini, D.; Oliva, D.; Singh, N.N.; O'Reilly, M.F.; Sigafoos, J.; Lang, R.B.; Didden, H.C.M.

    2011-01-01

    A camera-based microswitch technology was recently used to successfully monitor small eyelid and mouth responses of two adults with profound multiple disabilities (Lancioni et al., Res Dev Disab 31:1509-1514, 2010a). This technology, in contrast with the traditional optic microswitches used for

  13. Effect of Electrode Belt and Body Positions on Regional Pulmonary Ventilation- and Perfusion-Related Impedance Changes Measured by Electric Impedance Tomography.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elin Ericsson

    Full Text Available Ventilator-induced or ventilator-associated lung injury (VILI/VALI is common and there is an increasing demand for a tool that can optimize ventilator settings. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT can detect changes in impedance caused by pulmonary ventilation and perfusion, but the effect of changes in the position of the body and in the placing of the electrode belt on the impedance signal have not to our knowledge been thoroughly evaluated. We therefore studied ventilation-related and perfusion-related changes in impedance during spontaneous breathing in 10 healthy subjects in five different body positions and with the electrode belt placed at three different thoracic positions using a 32-electrode EIT system. We found differences between regions of interest that could be attributed to changes in the position of the body, and differences in impedance amplitudes when the position of the electrode belt was changed. Ventilation-related changes in impedance could therefore be related to changes in the position of both the body and the electrode belt. Perfusion-related changes in impedance were probably related to the interference of major vessels. While these findings give us some insight into the sources of variation in impedance signals as a result of changes in the positions of both the body and the electrode belt, further studies on the origin of the perfusion-related impedance signal are needed to improve EIT further as a tool for the monitoring of pulmonary ventilation and perfusion.

  14. Experience with cochlear implants in Greenlanders with profound hearing loss living in Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Homøe, Preben; Andersen, Ture; Grøntved, Aksel

    2013-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Cochlear implant (CI) treatment was introduced to the world in the 1980s and has become a routine treatment for congenital or acquired severe-to-profound hearing loss. CI treatment requires access to a highly skilled team of ear, nose and throat specialists, audiologists and speech...... years are in need of a CI every second year in Greenland often due to sequelae from meningitis, which may cause postinfectious deafness. Screening of new-borns for hearing has been started in Greenland establishing the basis for early diagnosis of congenital hearing impairment and subsequent...

  15. Many-objective robust decision making for water allocation under climate change

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yan, Dan; Ludwig, Fulco; Huang, He Qing; Werners, Saskia E.

    2017-01-01

    Water allocation is facing profound challenges due to climate change uncertainties. To identify adaptive water allocation strategies that are robust to climate change uncertainties, a model framework combining many-objective robust decision making and biophysical modeling is developed for large

  16. Taking Up the Security Challenge of Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-05-26

    Climate change , in which man-made global warming is a major factor, will likely have dramatic and long-lasting consequences with profound security...effects of climate change are greatest, particularly in weak states that are already vulnerable to environmental destabilization. Two things are vitally...important: stemming the tide of climate change and adapting to its far-reaching consequences. This project examines the destabilizing effects of climate

  17. Wire position system to consistently measure and record the location change of girders following ground changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, H. J.; Lee, S. B.; Lee, H. G.; Y Back, S.; Kim, S. H.; Kang, H. S.

    2017-07-01

    Several parts that comprise the large scientific device should be installed and operated at the accurate three-dimensional location coordinates (X, Y, and Z) where they should be subjected to survey and alignment. The location of the aligned parts should not be changed in order to ensure that the electron beam parameters (Energy 10 GeV, Charge 200 pC, and Bunch Length 60 fs, Emittance X/Y 0.481 μm/0.256 μm) of PAL-XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser of the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory) remain stable and can be operated without any problems. As time goes by, however, the ground goes through uplift and subsidence, which consequently deforms building floors. The deformation of the ground and buildings changes the location of several devices including magnets and RF accelerator tubes, which eventually leads to alignment errors (∆X, ∆Y, and ∆Z). Once alignment errors occur with regard to these parts, the electron beam deviates from its course and beam parameters change accordingly. PAL-XFEL has installed the Hydrostatic Leveling System (HLS) to measure and record the vertical change of buildings and ground consistently and systematically and the Wire Position System (WPS) to measure the two dimensional changes of girders. This paper is designed to introduce the operating principle and design concept of WPS and discuss the current situation regarding installation and operation.

  18. Motor activation in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: research in daily practice in residential facilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bossink, Leontien; van der Putten, Annette; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2014-01-01

    Aim: The total study aims at generating knowledge about the best way to motor activate persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) in residential facilities. The purpose of the current poster presentation is to present the results of the first step executed in this project

  19. Ascending colon rotation following patient positional change during CT colonography: a potential pitfall in interpretation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Ji Yeon; Park, Seong Ho; Lee, Seung Soo; Kim, Ah Young; Ha, Hyun Kwon

    2011-01-01

    To investigate the degree and pattern of ascending colonic rotation as patients moved from supine to prone positions during CTC. A search of our CTC and colonoscopy database found 37 patients (43 eligible lesions) who fulfilled the following criteria: colonoscopy-proven sessile polyps ≥6 mm in the straight mid-ascending colon, lesion visualisation in both supine and prone CTC, and optimal colonic distension. A coordinate system was developed to designate the polyp radial location ( ) along the luminal circumference, unaffected by rotation of the torso. The degree/direction of polyp radial location change (i.e. ascending colonic rotation) between supine and prone positions correlated with anthropometric measurements. Movement from supine to prone positions resulted in a change in the radial polyp location of between -23 and 79 (median, 21 ), demonstrating external rotation of the ascending colon in almost all cases (2 to 79 in 36/37 patients and 42/43 lesions). The degree/direction of rotation mildly correlated with the degree of abdominal compression in the anterior-posterior direction in prone position (r = 0.427 [P = 0.004] and r = 0.404 [P = 0.007]). The ascending colon was usually found to rotate externally as patients moved from supine to prone positions, partly dependent on the degree of abdominal compression. (orig.)

  20. Terpene metabolic engineering via nuclear or chloroplast genomes profoundly and globally impacts off-target pathways through metabolite signalling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasoreck, Elise K; Su, Jin; Silverman, Ian M; Gosai, Sager J; Gregory, Brian D; Yuan, Joshua S; Daniell, Henry

    2016-09-01

    The impact of metabolic engineering on nontarget pathways and outcomes of metabolic engineering from different genomes are poorly understood questions. Therefore, squalene biosynthesis genes FARNESYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE (FPS) and SQUALENE SYNTHASE (SQS) were engineered via the Nicotiana tabacum chloroplast (C), nuclear (N) or both (CN) genomes to promote squalene biosynthesis. SQS levels were ~4300-fold higher in C and CN lines than in N, but all accumulated ~150-fold higher squalene due to substrate or storage limitations. Abnormal leaf and flower phenotypes, including lower pollen production and reduced fertility, were observed regardless of the compartment or level of transgene expression. Substantial changes in metabolomes of all lines were observed: levels of 65-120 unrelated metabolites, including the toxic alkaloid nicotine, changed by as much as 32-fold. Profound effects of transgenesis on nontarget gene expression included changes in the abundance of 19 076 transcripts by up to 2000-fold in CN; 7784 transcripts by up to 1400-fold in N; and 5224 transcripts by as much as 2200-fold in C. Transporter-related transcripts were induced, and cell cycle-associated transcripts were disproportionally repressed in all three lines. Transcriptome changes were validated by qRT-PCR. The mechanism underlying these large changes likely involves metabolite-mediated anterograde and/or retrograde signalling irrespective of the level of transgene expression or end product, due to imbalance of metabolic pools, offering new insight into both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of metabolic engineering. © 2016 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. "A gift wrapped in barbed wire" positive and negative life changes after being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purc-Stephenson, Rebecca; Bowlby, Desirae; Qaqish, S T

    2015-05-01

    A growing interest in posttraumatic growth among individuals who have experienced a traumatic event has given rise to measures such as the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi and Calhoun, 1996). However, such measures may not fully represent all dimensions of change among individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease and fail to highlight the negative changes that may also occur. This study explores the positive and negative changes patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have experienced since diagnosis. Three hundred and seventy-eight IBD patients provided answers to the qualitative question "Could you please describe the (positive/negative) effect(s) IBD has had on your life?" A grounded theory approach using NVivo was performed on participants' responses. Nearly 73 % of participants reported their disease positively affected their life in some way, and five themes related to positive changes emerged from the analysis: Interpersonal Relations, Personal Growth, Valuing Life, New Life Paths, and Spiritual Growth. However, almost 80 % of participants also reported their disease negatively affected their lives, with three themes emerging from the analysis: Freedom Restrictions, Psychological Side Effects, and Social Isolation. Our results support previous findings but also reveal that some dimensions related to the positive changes following adversity are not adequately assessed by the PTGI (e.g., appraising existing friendships, openness to try different forms of treatment or therapies, and psychological preparedness). The implications of these findings for future measurement and research of posttraumatic growth with IBD patients are discussed.

  2. Climate Change and Health: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowley, Ryan A

    2016-05-03

    Climate change could have a devastating effect on human and environmental health. Potential effects of climate change on human health include higher rates of respiratory and heat-related illness, increased prevalence of vector-borne and waterborne diseases, food and water insecurity, and malnutrition. Persons who are elderly, sick, or poor are especially vulnerable to these potential consequences. Addressing climate change could have substantial benefits to human health. In this position paper, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that physicians and the broader health care community throughout the world engage in environmentally sustainable practices that reduce carbon emissions; support efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change; and educate the public, their colleagues, their community, and lawmakers about the health risks posed by climate change. Tackling climate change is an opportunity to dramatically improve human health and avert dire environmental outcomes, and ACP believes that physicians can play a role in achieving this goal.

  3. Effects of climatic variability and change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael G. Ryan; James M. Vose

    2012-01-01

    Climate profoundly shapes forests. Forest species composition, productivity, availability of goods and services, disturbance regimes, and location on the landscape are all regulated by climate. Much research attention has focused on the problem of projecting the response of forests to changing climate, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)...

  4. Are Auditory Steady-State Responses Useful to Evaluate Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss in Children?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Signe Schuster Grasel

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR at high intensities in pediatric cochlear implant candidates and to compare the results to behavioral tests responses. Methods. This prospective study evaluated 42 children with suspected severe-to-profound hearing loss, aged from 3 to 72 months. All had absent ABR and OAE responses. ASSR were evoked using binaural single frequency stimuli at 110 dB HL with a 10 dB down-seeking procedure. ASSR and behavioral test results were compared. Results. Forty-two subjects completed both ASSR and behavioral evaluation. Eleven children (26.2% had bilateral responses. Four (9.5% showed unilateral responses in at least two frequencies, all confirmed by behavioral results. Overall 61 ASSR responses were obtained, most (37.7% in 500 Hz. Mean thresholds were between 101.3 and 104.2 dB HL. Among 27 subjects with absent ASSR, fifteen had no behavioral responses. Seven subjects showed behavioral responses with absent ASSR responses. No spurious ASSR responses were observed at 100 or 110 dB HL. Conclusion. ASSR is a valuable tool to detect residual hearing. No false-positive ASSR results were observed among 42 children, but in seven cases with absent ASSR, the test underestimated residual hearing as compared to the behavioral responses.

  5. Outcomes of laryngohyoid suspension techniques in an ovine model of profound oropharyngeal dysphagia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Christopher M; Venkatesan, Naren N; Siddiqui, M Tausif; Cates, Daniel J; Kuhn, Maggie A; Postma, Gregory M; Belafsky, Peter C

    2017-12-01

    To evaluate the efficacy of various techniques of laryngohyoid suspension in the elimination of aspiration utilizing a cadaveric ovine model of profound oropharyngeal dysphagia. Animal study. The head and neck of a Dorper cross ewe was placed in the lateral fluoroscopic view. Five conditions were tested: baseline, thyroid cartilage to hyoid approximation (THA), thyroid cartilage to hyoid to mandible (laryngohyoid) suspension (LHS), LHS with cricopharyngeus muscle myotomy (LHS-CPM), and cricopharyngeus muscle myotomy (CPM) alone. Five 20-mL trials of barium sulfate were delivered into the oropharynx under fluoroscopy for each condition. Outcome measures included the penetration aspiration scale (PAS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Swallow Safety Scale (NIH-SSS). Median baseline PAS and NIH-SSS scores were 8 and 6, respectively, indicating severe impairment. THA scores were not improved from baseline. LHS alone reduced the PAS to 1 (P = .025) and NIH-SSS to 2 (P = .025) from baseline. LHS-CPM reduced the PAS to 1 (P = .025) and NIH-SSS to 0 (P = .025) from baseline. CPM alone did not improve scores. LHS-CPM displayed improved NIH-SSS over LHS alone (P = .003). This cadaveric model represents end-stage profound oropharyngeal dysphagia such as what could result from severe neurological insult. CPM alone failed to improve fluoroscopic outcomes in this model. Thyrohyoid approximation also failed to improve outcomes. LHS significantly improved both PAS and NIH-SSS. The addition of CPM to LHS resulted in improvement over suspension alone. NA. Laryngoscope, 127:E422-E427, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  6. How to Facilitate Transition to Adulthood? Innovative Solutions from Parents of Young Adults with Profound Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier-Boudreault, Camille; Couture, Mélanie; Gallagher, Frances

    2018-01-01

    Background: At age 21, access to specialised services for youth with profound intellectual disability is reduced. Few studies have focused on parents' views concerning potential solutions to ease the transition to adulthood, and most existing solutions target young adults with less severe intellectual disability. The aim of this study is to…

  7. Family matters : The experiences and opinions of family members of persons with (severe) or profound intellectual disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luijkx, Jorien

    2016-01-01

    “I love my sister, but sometimes I don’t”. This is one of the statements made in the study focused on the experiences of family members of people with (profound) intellectual (and multiple) disabilities (both of individuals living in a residential facility as persons living at home). In recent

  8. Situational Motivation and Perceived Intensity: Their Interaction in Predicting Changes in Positive Affect from Physical Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva Guérin

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available There is evidence that affective experiences surrounding physical activity can contribute to the proper self-regulation of an active lifestyle. Motivation toward physical activity, as portrayed by self-determination theory, has been linked to positive affect, as has the intensity of physical activity, especially of a preferred nature. The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the interaction between situational motivation and intensity [i.e., ratings of perceived exertion (RPE] in predicting changes in positive affect following an acute bout of preferred physical activity, namely, running. Fourty-one female runners engaged in a 30-minute self-paced treadmill run in a laboratory context. Situational motivation for running, pre- and post-running positive affect, and RPE were assessed via validated self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect between RPE and introjection (P<.05 but not between RPE and identified regulation or intrinsic motivation. At low levels of introjection, the influence of RPE on the change in positive affect was considerable, with higher RPE ratings being associated with greater increases in positive affect. The implications of the findings in light of SDT principles as well as the potential contingencies between the regulations and RPE in predicting positive affect among women are discussed.

  9. Climate change and health: a position paper of the American College of Physicians

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolle-Mir, Laurence; Andre, Jean-Claude

    2016-01-01

    Although climate change is often considered an environmental, economic and political problem, it is also a huge health threat. Physicians and the broader global health care community therefore have an important role to play, according to the American College of Physicians in this position paper calling for immediate action. (authors)

  10. Strategies that facilitate participation in family activities of children and adolescents with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: parents' and personal assistants' experiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axelsson, Anna Karin; Imms, Christine; Wilder, Jenny

    2014-01-01

    Participation throughout one's life plays a significant role for development and emotional well-being. For this reason, there is a need to identify ways to facilitate participation in family activities for children and adolescents with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). The study design was qualitative and explorative, based on semi structured interviews with 11 parents and 9 personal assistants of children with PIMD. The interviews revealed participation-facilitating strategies relating to the children's/adolescent's proximal environment, such as "Availability and acceptability of the activity", "Good knowledge about the child" and a "A positive attitude of people close to the child", as well as strategies related to the children/adolescents themselves: "Sense of belonging", "Possible for the child/adolescent to understand", "Opportunities to influence" and "Feeling of being needed". Children and adolescents with PIMD are dependent on support obtained through their environment. The identified strategies, individually adapted through awareness and knowledge by the parents and the personal assistants, provide important evidence to assist our understanding in gaining understanding about how to improve participation in family activities of children and adolescents with PIMD. Participation-facilitating strategies related to the child/adolescent and his or her proximal environments are identified to improve participation in children and adolescents with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Examples of strategies for the child's/adolescents' proximal environment include "good knowledge about the child/adolescent", and, for the child/adolescent, include creating "sense of belonging" and "opportunities to influence". Identifying and making these strategies explicit may assist in enhancing the participation of children and adolescents with PIMD in family activities. People in the child's/adolescent's proximal environment need to set

  11. Early reversal of profound rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade by sugammadex in a randomized multicenter study - Efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sparr, Harald J.; Vermeyen, Karel M.; Beaufort, Anton M.; Rietbergen, Henk; Proost, Johannes H.; Saldien, Vera; Velik-Salchner, Corinna; Wierda, J. Mark K. H.

    Background: Sugammadex reverses the neuromuscular blocking effects of rocuronium by chemical encapsulation. The efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of sugammadex for reversal of profound rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade were evaluated. Methods: Ninety-eight male adult patients were

  12. Panel established to revise position statement on climate change

    Science.gov (United States)

    President Robert Dickinson has appointed a panel to review the current AGU position statement on climate change and greenhouse gases, and to consider revising the statement to reflect scientific progress over the last four years. Marvin Geller of the State University of New York-Stonybrook chairs the panel.Other panel members include: Andre Berger, George Lemaître Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium; Anny Cazenave, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France; John Christy, University of Alabama, Huntsville; Ellen Druffel, University of California, Irvine; Jack Fellows, University Consortium for Atmospheric Research, Boulder; Hiroshi Kanzawa, Nagoya University, Japan; William Schlesinger, Duke University, Durham; William (Jim) Shuttleworth, University of Arizona; Eric Sundquist, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole; Richard Turco, University of California, Los Angeles; Ilana Wainer, Universidade Cidade Sao Paulo, Brazil.

  13. You Should be Dancin:! The Role of Performing Arts in the Lives of the Severely and Profoundly Handicapped.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barringer, Mary Dean

    The manual presents a program planning framework and teaching units for teaching dance and movement to severely and profoundly handicapped individuals. The planning framework contains four components: (1) aesthetic perception/multisensory integration; (2) creative expression; (3) dance heritage/historical and cultural; and (4) aesthetic…

  14. Catch the wave! Time-window sequential analysis of alertness stimulation in individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Munde, V. S.; Vlaskamp, C.; Maes, B.; Ruijssenaars, A. J. J. M.

    BackgroundWhile optimally activities are provided at those moments when the individual with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is focused on the environment' or alert', detailed information about the impact that the design and timing of the activity has on alertness is lacking.

  15. Position of the pelvis, lower extremities load and the arch of the feet in young adults who are physically active

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Jankowicz-Szymańska

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Body posture is an individual motion habit. It is variable and depends on the gender, age, structure of the body but also on mental and physical state. Although it is difficult to formulate a universal definition of correct body posture, the opinion that its elementary feature is symmetry is beyond any doubt. Such symmetry is related to the position of particular anatomical points and effects of static and dynamic forces. Aim of the research: To assess the relations between the pelvis position in the frontal plane, the static load on the lower limbs and architecture of the feet. The following features were analysed in a group of young, healthy and particularly physically active women and men: the frequency of asymmetry related to pelvis position, the load on the lower limbs related to body weight and foot architecture. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 100 students of physical education. To assess the position of the pelvis a palpable-visual method was used. Clarke’s method was applied to characterize the foot architecture determined by the position of standing with one leg on the CQ Elektronik podoscope. The static load on the lower limbs was assessed using the stabilographic platform EMILDUE from Technomex. Results : Collected data and observations show frequent asymmetric changes of pelvis position in the frontal plane and incorrect balance of the body in the standing position. The change of static load on the lower limbs influences the longitudinal architecture of the feet and this influence is statistically significant. Increased asymmetry of the pelvis in the frontal plane is related to profound disorder of body balance. Conclusions : Asymmetric position of the pelvis is associated with asymmetric arching of the feet and asymmetric body weight distribution. Full symmetric position of the pelvis is rare even among young people who are physically active.

  16. Our changing planet: The FY 1994 US Global Change Research Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    The approach of the US Global Change Research Program recognizes the profound economic and social implications of responding to global envirorunental changes and advances US leadership on this issue. The report outlines a careful blend of ground- and space-based efforts in research, data gathering, and modeling activities, as well as economic research, with both near- and long-term scientific and public policy benefits. In FY 1994, the Program will add an explicit focus on assessment, seeking to improve our understanding of the state of scientific knowledge and the implications of that knowledge for national and international policymaking activities

  17. Our changing planet: The FY 1994 US Global Change Research Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-09-01

    The approach of the US Global Change Research Program recognizes the profound economic and social implications of responding to global envirorunental changes and advances US leadership on this issue. The report outlines a careful blend of ground- and space-based efforts in research, data gathering, and modeling activities, as well as economic research, with both near- and long-term scientific and public policy benefits. In FY 1994, the Program will add an explicit focus on assessment, seeking to improve our understanding of the state of scientific knowledge and the implications of that knowledge for national and international policymaking activities.

  18. Early positivity signals changes in an abstract linguistic pattern.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Júlia Monte-Ordoño

    Full Text Available The extraction of abstract structures from speech (or from gestures in the case of sign languages has been claimed to be a fundamental mechanism for language acquisition. In the present study we registered the neural responses that are triggered when a violation of an abstract, token-independent rule is detected. We registered ERPs while presenting participants with trisyllabic CVCVCV nonsense words in an oddball paradigm. Standard stimuli followed an ABB rule (where A and B are different syllables. Importantly, to distinguish neural responses triggered by changes in surface information from responses triggered by changes in the underlying abstract structure, we used two types of deviant stimuli. Phoneme deviants differed from standards only in their phonemes. Rule deviants differed from standards in both their phonemes and their composing rule. We observed a significant positivity as early as 300 ms after the presentation of deviant stimuli that violated the abstract rule (Rule deviants. The amplitude of this neural response was correlated with participants' performance in a behavioral rule learning test. Differences in electrophysiological responses observed between learners and non-learners suggest that individual differences in an abstract rule learning task might be related to how listeners select relevant sources of information.

  19. Effect of reducing abdominal compression during prone CT colonography on ascending colonic rotation during supine-to-prone positional change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, Jong eon; Park, Seong Ho; Lee, Jong Seok; Kim, Hyun Jin; KIm, Ah Young; Ha, Hyun Kwon

    2016-01-01

    To determine the effect of reduced abdominal compression in prone position on ascending colonic movement during supine-to-prone positional change during CT colonography (CTC). Eighteen consecutive patients who had undergone prone CTC scanning with cushion blocks placed under the chest and hip/thigh to reduce abdominal compression and had confirmed sessile polyps ≥ 6 mm in the well-distended, straight, mid-ascending colon, were included. Radial location along the ascending colonic luminal circumference (°) was measured for 24 polyps and 54 colonic teniae on supine and prone CTC images. The supine-to-prone change ranging between -180° and +180° (- and + for internal and external colonic rotations, respectively), was determined. In addition, possible causes of any ascending colonic rotations were explored. Abdominal compression during prone CTC scanning completely disappeared with the use of cushion blocks in 17 of 18 patients. However, some degrees of ascending colonic rotation were still observed, with the radial location changes of -22° to 61° (median, 13.9°) for the polyps and similar degrees for teniae. Fifty-four percent and 56% of polyps and teniae, respectively, showed changes > 10°. The radial location change of the polyps was significantly associated with the degree of anterior shift of the small bowel and mesentery (r = 0.722, p < 0.001) and the degree of posterior displacement of the ascending colon (r = 0.566, p = 0.004) during supine-to-prone positional change. Ascending colonic rotation upon supine-to-prone positional change during CTC, mostly in the form of external rotation, is not eliminated by removing abdominal compression in prone position

  20. Creating a safe operating space for wetlands in a changing climate

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Green, Andy J; Alcorlo, Paloma; Peeters, Edwin THM; Morris, Edward P; Espinar, José L; Bravo-Utrera, Miguel Angel; Bustamante, Javier; Díaz-Delgado, Ricardo; Koelmans, Albert A; Mateo, Rafael; Mooij, Wolf M; Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Miguel; van Nes, Egbert H; Scheffer, Marten

    2017-01-01

    Many of the world's wetlands may be profoundly affected by climate change over the coming decades. Although wetland managers may have little control over the causes of climate change, they can help to counteract its effects through local measures. This is because direct anthropogenic impacts, such

  1. Face Inversion Disproportionately Disrupts Sensitivity to Vertical over Horizontal Changes in Eye Position

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crookes, Kate; Hayward, William G.

    2012-01-01

    Presenting a face inverted (upside down) disrupts perceptual sensitivity to the spacing between the features. Recently, it has been shown that this disruption is greater for vertical than horizontal changes in eye position. One explanation for this effect proposed that inversion disrupts the processing of long-range (e.g., eye-to-mouth distance)…

  2. Strategic Thinking Needed for Transformational Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovett, Clara M.

    2010-01-01

    Service on a college or university board of trustees has always been an honor, and still is. It has always entailed significant responsibilities, and still does. At a time of rising expectations and diminishing resources, of profound demographic and cultural change, of global opportunities and global competition, trustees are called to think…

  3. The documentation of health problems in relation to prescribed medication in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Heide, D. C.; van der Putten, A. A. J.; van den Berg, P. B.; Taxis, K.; Vlaskamp, C.

    Persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) suffer from a wide range of health problems and use a wide range of different drugs. This study investigated for frequently used medication whether there was a health problem documented in the medical notes for the drug prescribed.

  4. Staff attributions of the causes of challenging behaviour in children and adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poppes, P.; van der Putten, A.A.J.; ten Brug, A.; Vlaskamp, C.

    A study has shown that staff do not generally perceive challenging behaviour in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) as being of serious consequence. In this study we aimed to gain a better understanding of the causal explanations that direct care and support staff give

  5. Infant pupil diameter changes in response to others' positive and negative emotions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Geangu

    Full Text Available It has been suggested that infants resonate emotionally to others' positive and negative affect displays, and that these responses become stronger towards emotions with negative valence around the age of 12-months. In this study we measured 6- and 12-month-old infants' changes in pupil diameter when presented with the image and sound of peers experiencing happiness, distress and an emotionally neutral state. For all participants the perception of another's distress triggered larger pupil diameters. Perceiving other's happiness also induced larger pupil diameters but for shorter time intervals. Importantly, we also found evidence for an asymmetry in autonomous arousal towards positive versus negative emotional displays. Larger pupil sizes for another's distress compared to another's happiness were recorded shortly after stimulus onset for the older infants, and in a later time window for the 6-month-olds. These findings suggest that arousal responses for negative as well as for positive emotions are present in the second half of the first postnatal year. Importantly, an asymmetry with stronger responses for negative emotions seems to be already present at this age.

  6. Wandering carotid arteries: Reciprocating change between normal and retropharyngeal positions on serial CT studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akira Baba

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Positional change in the retropharyngeal carotid artery, a rare phenomenon over time, is even rarer in previous reports, and it is important to be aware of this before any neck surgical procedure. A woman in her 50s underwent an anterior maxillectomy for upper gingival cancer, without neck dissection. The patient had medical histories of diabetes mellitus and liver dysfunction, with unremarkable family histories. Serial neck contrast-enhanced computed tomography for detecting locoregional recurrence had been performed as a follow-up during 4 years. A radiological course of moving carotid arteries in serial computed tomography studies showed reciprocating positional changes (wandering between normal and retropharyngeal regions. There was no locoregional recurrence of the gingival cancer. This is the first case to describe a so-rare presentation of wandering carotid arteries. It is important for clinicians to be aware of a wandering carotid artery to avoid potentially fatal complications.

  7. Tape functionality: position, change in shape, and outcome after TVT procedure--mid-term results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kociszewski, Jacek; Rautenberg, Oliver; Kolben, Sebastian; Eberhard, Jakob; Hilgers, Reinhard; Viereck, Volker

    2010-07-01

    This study evaluates the relevance of the tape position and change in shape (tape functionality) under in vivo conditions for mid-term outcome. Changes in the sonographic tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) position relative to the percentage urethral length and the tape-urethra distance were determined after 6 and 48 months in 41 women with stress urinary incontinence. At 48 months, 76% (31/41) of women were cured, 17% (7/41) were improved, and 7% (3/41) were failures. Disturbed bladder voiding was present in 12% (5/41), de novo urge incontinence in 7% (3/41). The median TVT position was at 63% of urethral length. Median tape-urethra distance was 2.7 mm, ranging from 2.9 mm in continent patients without complications to 1.1 mm in those with obstructive complications. Patients with postoperative urine loss had a median distance of 3.9 mm. The tape was stretched at rest and C-shaped during straining in 15 of 41 women (37%) at 48 months (all continent). Patients with this tape functionality at 6 months were also cured at 48 months in 86% of cases (19/22), and only 14% (3/22) showed recurrent incontinence. Mid-term data suggest an optimal outcome if the tape is positioned at least 2 mm from the urethra at the junction of the middle and distal thirds. Patients with optimal tape functionality at 6 months are likely to show mid-term therapeutic success.

  8. Developmental dysgraphia with profound hearing impairment: intervention by auditory methods enabled by cochlear implant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukushima, Kunihiro; Kawasaki, Akihiro; Nagayasu, Rie; Kunisue, Kazuya; Maeda, Yukihide; Kariya, Shin; Kataoka, Yuko; Nishizaki, Kazunori

    2008-06-01

    Learning disability combined with hearing impairment (LDHI) is a poor prognostic factor for the language development of hearing impaired children after educational intervention. A typical example of a child with LDHI and effective interventions provided by cochlear implants are presented in this report. A case of congenital cytomegaloviral infection that showed dysgraphia as well as profound deafness was reported and an underlying visual processing problem diagnosed in the present case caused the patient's dysgraphia. The dysgraphia could be circumvented by the use of auditory memory fairly established by a cochlear implant.

  9. An Evaluation of Social and Adaptive Skills in Adults with Bipolar Disorder and Severe/Profound Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matson, Johnny L.; Terlonge, Cindy; Gonzalez, Melissa L.; Rivet, Tessa

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the interrelationship of social and adaptive skills in adults with bipolar disorder and severe or profound intellectual disability. A bipolar group (N=14), a severe psychopathology group without bipolar disorder (N=14), and a control group with no DSM-IV Axis I diagnosis (N=14) were compared on the…

  10. Developing a questionnaire on physical activity support of people with (profound) intellectual (and multiple) disabilities : Experiences from the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bossink, Leontien; van der Putten, Annette; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) undertake extremely low levels of physical activity, which is even more true in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Physical activity approaches, particularly for people with PIMD, are more likely to be

  11. Quality-Enhancing Interventions for People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: A Review of the Empirical Research Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maes, Bea; Lambrechts, Greet; Hostyn, Ine; Petry, Katja

    2007-01-01

    Background: This study provides an overview of empirical research on the effectiveness of quality-enhancing interventions for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Method: Through computerised searches of the PsycINFO and ERIC databases, and using several search criteria specifically relating to the target group and…

  12. Invited review : Changes in the dairy industry affecting dairy cattle health and welfare

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barkema, H W; von Keyserlingk, M A G; Kastelic, J P; Lam, T J G M|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/14686820X; Luby, C; Roy, J-P; LeBlanc, S J; Keefe, G P; Kelton, D F

    2015-01-01

    The dairy industry in the developed world has undergone profound changes over recent decades. In this paper, we present an overview of some of the most important recent changes in the dairy industry that affect health and welfare of dairy cows, as well as the science associated with these changes.

  13. Positional change of the condylar heads after wearing complete denture on dental cone beam CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Bong Ho; Kim, Jae Duk; Chung, Chae Heon

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in the position of the mandibular condyle within articular fossa by a CBCT after wearing complete denture (CD). CBCT of 34 temporomandibular joints were taken from 9 male and 8 female patients with CB Mercuray TM (Hitachi, Japan) before and after wearing a CD for rehabilitation. Position of mandibular condyle within articular fossa at centric occlusion was evaluated with Vimplant2.0 TM (CyberMed, Korea) on the central parasagittal view and curved panoramic coronal view of the condylar head. A statistical evaluation was done with SPSS. The range of anteroposterior positional rate (AP) of condylar head within articular fossa was -16-5 and -10-12 respectively on the right and left sides. Before wearing CD, the AP rate showed discrepancy between right and left sides (p<0.05). After wearing CD, both condyles showed a tendency to decrease in posterior condylar position (right side; p<0.05). The average discrepancy between right and left side in mediolateral positional rate (MD) was 15.5 and 4.5 respectively before and after wearing CD. The improvement was observed in mediolateral relationship of both condylar heads after wearing CD (p<0.01). Before wearing CD, the average horizontal angle of long axis of condylar head was 79.6 ± 2.7 .deg. C and 80.1 ± 5.7 .deg. C respectively on the right and left sides. After wearing CD, both condyles were rotated in the same direction in average on axial plane. We observed with CBCT the significant clinical evidence in case of positional change of mandibular condyle after wearing complete denture.

  14. Into the Green Economy – Evolutionary Perspectives on Green Economic Change

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Maj Munch

    The recent ‘greening’ of the economy represents possible one of the most profound examples of economic change. While the environment used to be considered a burden to business this perspec-tive has changed making ‘eco-innovation’ increasingly recognized as a driver of economic devel-opment. Evolu......The recent ‘greening’ of the economy represents possible one of the most profound examples of economic change. While the environment used to be considered a burden to business this perspec-tive has changed making ‘eco-innovation’ increasingly recognized as a driver of economic devel...... of the greening of industry and the economy is of interest because of the focus on the fundamental social and economic difficulties of changing direction in technology. Defining the greening of the economy as a techno-economic paradigm change the paper suggests expanding on Perez’s framework (Perez, 1983, 2000...... problem solving, and simultaneously, the emergence of new green selection criteria on the market. These lead to a series of interrelated eco-innovations, which gain still more force as the green market matures. In the search for the origins of paradigmatic changes, the paper suggests to focus...

  15. Effects of body position on the carbon monoxide diffusing capacity in patients with chronic heart failure: relation to hemodynamic changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faggiano, P; D'Aloia, A; Simoni, P; Gualeni, A; Foglio, K; Ambrosino, N; Giordano, A

    1998-01-01

    Pulmonary diffusion has been found to be reduced in patients with congestive heart failure. The effects of postural changes on the diffusing capacity had been evaluated in healthy subjects, but not in patients with heart failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the posture-induced changes in diffusing capacity in patients with chronic heart failure and their relation to the hemodynamic profile. The pulmonary carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) was measured in the supine position, with 20 degrees passive head elevation, and in the sitting position, both postures maintained for 10 min, in a group of 32 male patients with mild to moderate chronic heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction differ in the two positions (20.3 +/- 5.7 vs. 19.4 +/- 5.6 ml/min/mm Hg, 77 +/- 23 vs. 75 +/- 20% of predicted, respectively). The patients were then subdivided according to changes in DLCO from the supine to the sitting position: DLCO increased (+23%) in 9 patients (28%, group 1), decreased (-17.5%) in 17 patients (53%, group 2), and remained within the coefficient of reproducibility ( +/- 5 %) in 6 patients (group 3). As compared with group 2, group 1 patients showed a significant increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure (+7 vs. -15%, p pressure (+8 vs. -22%, p position, while the cardiac index showed a smaller - but not significant - decrease in group 1 (-5 vs. -12%). The percent changes in DLCO significantly correlated with changes in pulmonary capillary wedge (r = 0.54, p pressures. In chronic heart failure postural changes may induce different responses in diffusing capacity. To a greater extent than in healthy subjects, the most common response is a decrease in DLCO in the sitting as compared with the supine position. The DLCO changes correlate with variations in pulmonary circulation pressure, probably due to changes in pulmonary vascular recruitment and pulmonary capillary blood volume.

  16. Profound hypoglycemia-ınduced by vaccinium corymbosum juice and laurocerasus fruit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aktan, Ahmet Hamdi; Ozcelik, Abdullah; Cure, Erkan; Cure, Medine Cumhur; Yuce, Suleyman

    2014-01-01

    An emergency intervention was performed in a 75-year-old male patient with hypoglycemic attack and blackout. Although he was diagnosed with prediabetes before 2 years, he did not take any anti-diabetic drug or follow dietary advice. He drank Vaccinium corymbosum L (VC) juice daily with a belief that it increases sexual potency. Before the development of hypoglycemia, the patient had consumed about 500 ml VC juice in addition to eating 200-300 gram of Laurocerasus officinalis (LO) fruit. The measured plasma glucose (PG) level during loss of consciousness was 30 mg/dl. The profound hypoglycemia may be an unexpected side effect of an interaction between the chemical compositions of the two plants, occurred as a result of LO fruit intake that may have a strong PG-lowering effect or related to excessive intake of VC juice. Both plants may be considered in the alternative treatment of diabetes.

  17. Online manual movement adjustments in response to target position changes and apparent target motion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oostwoud Wijdenes, L.; Brenner, E.; Smeets, J.B.J.

    2014-01-01

    This study set out to determine whether the fastest online hand movement corrections are only responses to changing judgments of the targets' position or whether they are also influenced by the apparent target motion. Introducing a gap between when a target disappears and when it reappears at a new

  18. Domains of quality of life of people with profound multiple disabilities : The perspective of parents and direct support staff

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Petry, K; Maes, B; Vlaskamp, C

    Background This study considered the general validity of the basic domains of quality of life that appear in theoretical models, in relation to people with profound multiple disabilities. The authors examined how parents and direct support staff operationalized these basic domains for people with

  19. Reversal of rocuronium-induced (1.2 mg/kg) profound neuromuscular block by sugammadex: a multicenter, dose-finding and safety study.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boer, H.D. de; Driessen, J.J.; Marcus, M.A.; Kerkkamp, H.E.M.; Heeringa, M.; Klimek, M.

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Reversal of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade can be accomplished by chemical encapsulation of rocuronium by sugammadex, a modified gamma-cyclodextrin derivative. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of sugammadex in reversing rocuronium-induced profound neuromuscular

  20. Otolithic organ function in patients with profound sensorineural hearing loss

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yujuan Zhou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Profound sensorineural hearing loss (PSHL is not uncommonly encountered in otology. In clinics, there is a high incidence of otolithic damage in patients with PSHL, but relevant reports are few. Sharing a continuous membranous structure and similar receptor cell ultrastructures, the cochlea and vestibule may be susceptible to the same harmful factors. Disorders of the inner ear may result in a variety of manifestations, including vertigo, spatial disorientation, blurred vision, impaired articulation, and hearing impairment. Considering the diversity of clinical symptoms associated with PSHL with otolithic dysfunction, it may be frequently misdiagnosed, and objective means of testing the function of otolithic organs should be recommended for hearing-impaired patients. Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs via air-conducted sound are of great importance for the diagnosis of otolithic function. Hearing devices such as cochlear implants are commonly accepted treatments for PSHL, and early identification and treatment of vestibular disorders may increase the success rate of cochlear implantation. Therefore, it is necessary to increase awareness of otolithic functional states in patients with PSHL.

  1. Examining relationships between staff attributions of soundscapes and core affect in people with severe or profound intellectual and visual disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Bosch, Kirsten A.; Vlaskamp, Carla; Andringa, Tjeerd C.; Post, Wendy J.; Ruijssenaars, Wied A.J.J.M.

    Background: People with profound intellectual disabilities experience a high prevalence of visual disabilities, making them more dependent on sound. However, research addressing the influence of the auditory environment is scarce. Method: Observations of the auditory environments (soundscapes) and

  2. Openness to Experience as a Predictor and Outcome of Upward Job Changes into Managerial and Professional Positions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieß, Christiane; Zacher, Hannes

    2015-01-01

    In industrial and organizational psychology, there is a long tradition of studying personality as an antecedent of work outcomes. Recently, however, scholars have suggested that personality characteristics may not only predict, but also change due to certain work experiences, a notion that is depicted in the dynamic developmental model (DDM) of personality and work. Upward job changes are an important part of employees’ careers and career success in particular, and we argue that these career transitions can shape personality over time. In this study, we investigate the Big Five personality characteristics as both predictors and outcomes of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. We tested our hypotheses by applying event history analyses and propensity score matching to a longitudinal dataset collected over five years from employees in Australia. Results indicated that participants’ openness to experience not only predicted, but that changes in openness to experience also followed from upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. Our findings thus provide support for a dynamic perspective on personality characteristics in the context of work and careers. PMID:26110527

  3. From joint implementation to a clean development mechanism : Have the African positions changed?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, J.P.

    1998-01-01

    The economic and political implications of the applications of the Kyoto United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change for African developing nations were discussed. The concepts of joint implementation, clean development mechanism, and ecological implications were presented. Also discussed were the African positions on these matters, and on the mechanism of Article 12 of the Kyoto protocol (the Clean Development Mechanism). 19 refs., 1 tab

  4. Cancer prevention knowledge of people with profound hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zazove, Philip; Meador, Helen E; Reed, Barbara D; Sen, Ananda; Gorenflo, Daniel W

    2009-03-01

    Deaf persons, a documented minority population, have low reading levels and difficulty communicating with physicians. The effect of these on their knowledge of cancer prevention recommendations is unknown. A cross-sectional study of 222 d/Deaf persons in Michigan, age 18 and older, chose one of four ways (voice, video of a certified American Sign Language interpreter, captions, or printed English) to complete a self-administered computer video questionnaire about demographics, hearing loss, language history, health-care utilization, and health-care information sources, as well as family and social variables. Twelve questions tested their knowledge of cancer prevention recommendations. The outcome measures were the percentage of correct answers to the questions and the association of multiple variables with these responses. Participants averaged 22.9% correct answers with no gender difference. Univariate analysis revealed that smoking history, types of medical problems, last physician visit, and women having previous cancer preventive tests did not affect scores. Improved scores occurred with computer use (p = 0.05), higher education (p internet (p = 0.02), and believing that smoking is bad (p bad (p = 0.05) were associated with improved scores. Persons with profound hearing loss have poor knowledge of recommended cancer prevention interventions. English use in multiple settings was strongly associated with increased knowledge.

  5. Look closer : The alertness of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities during multi-sensory storytelling, a time sequential analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ten Brug, Annet; Munde, Vera S.; van der Putten, Annette A. J.; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) is a storytelling method designed for individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). It is essential that listeners be alert during MSST, so that they become familiar with their personalised stories. Repetition and the

  6. How positive is the feedback between climate change and the carbon cycle?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Friedlingstein, P.; Rayner, P.

    2003-01-01

    Future climate change induced by atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases is believed to have a large impact on the global carbon cycle. Several offline studies focusing either on the marine or on the terrestrial carbon cycle highlighted such potential effects. Two recent online studies, using ocean-atmosphere general circulation models coupled to land and ocean carbon cycle models, investigated in a consistent way the feedback between the climate change and the carbon cycle. These two studies used observed anthropogenic CO 2 emissions for the 1860-1995 period and IPCC scenarios for the 1995-2100 period to force the climate - carbon cycle models. The study from the Hadley Centre group showed a very large positive feedback, atmospheric CO 2 reaching 980 ppmv by 2100 if future climate impacts on the carbon cycle, but only about 700 ppmv if the carbon cycle is included but assumed to be insensitive to the climate change. The IPSL coupled climate - carbon cycle model simulated a much smaller positive feedback: climate impact on the carbon cycle leads by 2100 to an addition of less than 100 ppmv in the atmosphere. Here we perform a detailed feedback analysis to show that such differences are due to two key processes that are still poorly constrained in these coupled models: first Southern Ocean circulation, which primarily controls the geochemical uptake of CO 2 , and second vegetation and soil carbon response to global warming. Our analytical analysis reproduces remarkably the results obtained by the fully coupled models. Also it allows us to identify that, amongst the two processes mentioned above, the latter (the land response to global warming) is the one that essentially explains the differences between the IPSL and the Hadley results

  7. Mental health and positive change among Japanese mothers of children with intellectual disabilities: Roles of sense of coherence and social capital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Miyako; Yamazaki, Yoshihiko

    2016-12-01

    We investigated predictors of mental health and positive change among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities in Japan based on the concept of the Double ABCX model. We used variables of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and dissatisfaction with systems as stressors, availability of social support and social capital (SC) as existing resources, sense of coherence (SOC) as appraisal of the stressor, and mental health and positive change as adaptation. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 10 intellectual disability-oriented special needs schools in Tokyo, and obtained 613 responses from mothers of children under age 20 attending these schools. The results showed that our Double ABCX model explained 46.0% of the variance in mothers' mental health and 38.9% of the variance in positive change. The most powerful predictor of this model was SOC, and SC may be directly and indirectly related to maternal mental health and positive change through mothers' SOC. Increasing opportunity for interaction between neighbors and family of children with disabilities may be one effective way to enhance SOC through SC. Since maternal SOC, SC, mental health, and positive change were significantly correlated with each other, synergy among these elements could be expected. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. New England observed and predicted August stream/river temperature maximum positive daily rate of change points

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The shapefile contains points with associated observed and predicted August stream/river temperature maximum positive daily rate of change in New England based on a...

  9. New England observed and predicted July stream/river temperature maximum positive daily rate of change points

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The shapefile contains points with associated observed and predicted July stream/river temperature maximum positive daily rate of change in New England based on a...

  10. Association of the position of a hospital-acquired condition diagnosis code with changes in medicare severity diagnosis-related group assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Tricia; Kane, Jason M; Odwazny, Richard; McNutt, Robert

    2014-11-01

    Incentives to improve quality include paying less for adverse events, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' policy to not pay additionally for events classified as hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). This policy is controversial, as variable coding practices at hospitals may lead to differences in the inclusion and position of HACs in the list of codes used for Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group (MS-DRG) assignment. Evaluate changes in MS-DRG assignment for patients with an HAC and test the association of the position of an HAC in the list of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) diagnosis codes with change in MS-DRG assignment. Retrospective analysis of patients discharged from hospital members of the University HealthSystem Consortium's Clinical Data Base between October 2007 and April 2008. Comparisons were made between the MS-DRG assigned when the HAC was not included in the list of ICD-9 diagnosis codes and the MS-DRG that would have been assigned had the HAC code been included in the assignment. Of the 7027 patients with an HAC, 13.8% changed MS-DRG assignment when the HAC was removed. An HAC in the second position versus third position or lower was associated with a 40-fold increase in the likelihood of MS-DRG change. The position of an HAC in the list of diagnosis codes, rather than the presence of an HAC, is associated with a change in MS-DRG assignment. HACs have little effect on reimbursement unless the HAC is in the second position and patients have minor severity of illness. © 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine.

  11. Learn and apply: using multi-sensory storytelling to gather knowledge about preferences and abilities of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities--three case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brug, Annet Ten; Van der Putten, Annette A J; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2013-12-01

    Knowledge about the preferences and abilities of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMDs) is crucial for providing appropriate activities. Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) can be an ideal activity for gathering such knowledge about children with PIMDs. The aim of this study was to analyse whether using MSST did lead to changes in teachers' knowledge about preferences and abilities and whether this knowledge was then applied in practice. Three dyads of children with PIMDs and their teachers read an MSST book 20 times during a 10-week period. A questionnaire designed to identify the teachers' current knowledge was filled in before the 1st and again after the 10th and 20th reading sessions. Also, the teachers were asked for their opinion about their newly gathered knowledge. In all three cases, changes in the teachers' knowledge were observed. However, teachers are insufficiently aware of their new knowledge and do not apply it in practice.

  12. Blood disappearance rate of /sup 198/Au-colloid and changes of hepatic blood flow during position change in normal persons and in patients with various hepatic diseases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, B Y [Capital Armed Forces General Hospital, Seoul (Republic of Korea); Hong, K S; Koh, C S; Lee, M [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Republic of Korea). Coll. of Medicine

    1977-01-01

    To evaluate the diagnostic significance of the blood disappearance rate of /sup 198/Au-colloid and to evaluate the change of hepatic blood flow during position change from supine to erect, we measured the half time of blood disappearance rate of 7,1/sup 98/Au-colloid using external counting method in 94 normal persons and in 77 patients with various hepatic diseases. The results obtained were as follows: 1. In normal control, the mean blood disappearance half time of /sup 198/Au-colloid in supine position was 2.7+-0.4 minutes. There was no significant difference of hepatic blood flow in age and sex. 2. In acute hepatitits, chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis, the mean blood disappearance half times in supine position were 3.0+-0.45, 3.5+-0.74, 7.2+-3.6 minutes respectively. The hepatic blood flow of the patients with chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis were significantly decreased than that of normal control. 3. In the normal control and acute hepatitis, the decreaces of the hepatic blood flow during the position change from supine to erect were 27.7% and 22.6% respectively.

  13. The blood disappearance rate of 198Au-colloid and changes of hepatic blood flow during position change in normal persons and in patients with various hepatic diseases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, B.Y.; Hong, K.S.; Koh, C.S.; Lee, M.

    1977-01-01

    To evaluate the diagnostic significance of the blood disappearance rate of 198 Au-colloid and to evaluate the change of hepatic blood flow during position change from supine to erect, we measured the half time of blood disappearance rate of 7,1 98 Au-colloid using external counting method in 94 normal persons and in 77 patients with various hepatic diseases. The results obtained were as follows: 1. In normal control, the mean blood disappearance half time of 198 Au-colloid in supine position was 2.7+-0.4 minutes. There was no significant difference of hepatic blood flow in age and sex. 2. In acute hepatitits, chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis, the mean blood disappearance half times in supine position were 3.0+-0.45, 3.5+-0.74, 7.2+-3.6 minutes respectively. The hepatic blood flow of the patients with chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis were significantly decreased than that of normal control. 3. In the normal control and acute hepatitis, the decreaces of the hepatic blood flow during the position change from supine to erect were 27.7% and 22.6% respectively. (author)

  14. The Blood Disappearance Rate of 198Au-Colloid and Changes of Hepatic Blood Flow During Position Change in Normal Persons and in Patients with Various Hepatic Diseases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Bo Yeon; Hong, Kee Suk; Koh, Chang Soon; Lee, Mun Ho

    1977-01-01

    To evaluate the diagnostic significance of the blood disappearance rate of 198 Au-colloid and to evaluate the change of hepatic blood flow during position change from supine to erect, we measured the half time of blood disappearance rate of 198 Au-colloid using external counting method in 94 normal persons and in 77 patients with various hepatic diseases. The results obtained were as follows: 1) In normal control, the mean blood disappearance half time of 198 Au-colloid in supine position was 2.7±0.4 minutes. There was no significant difference of hepatic blood flow in age and sex. 2) In acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis, the mean blood disappearance half times in supine position were 3.0±0.45, 3.5±0.74, 7.2±3.6 minutes respectively. The hepatic blood flow of the patients with chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis were significantly decreased than that of normal control. 3) In the normal control and acute hepatitis, the decreases of the hepatic blood flow during the position change from supine to erect were 27.7% and 22.6% respectively.

  15. Vagal Nerve Stimulator Malfunction with Change in Neck Position: Case Report and Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Agostino, Erin; Makler, Vyacheslav; Bauer, David F

    2018-06-01

    Vagal nerve stimulation is a safe and well-tolerated treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy. Complications and failure of the device can result from lead fracture, device malfunction, disconnection, or battery displacement and can result in a variety of symptoms. We present an interesting case of stimulator malfunction with increased impedance change seen only with a change in head position. The patient is a 25-year-old male with a vagal nerve stimulator (VNs) placed for medically refractory epilepsy who presented with neck pain and an electrical pulling sensation in his neck whenever he turned his head to the right. Initial interrogation of the VNs showed normal impedance. Subsequent interrogation with the patient's head turned found increased impedance only when the head was turned to the right. The patient had successful removal and replacement of the device with resolution of his preoperative complaints. Partial lead fracture was seen at explant. VNs malfunction can present in atypical ways. Positional maneuvers may help with its timely diagnosis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Small changes in climate can profoundly alter the dynamics and ecosystem services of tropical crater lakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saulnier-Talbot, Émilie; Gregory-Eaves, Irene; Simpson, Kyle G; Efitre, Jackson; Nowlan, Tobias E; Taranu, Zofia E; Chapman, Lauren J

    2014-01-01

    African tropical lakes provide vital ecosystem services including food and water to some of the fastest growing human populations, yet they are among the most understudied ecosystems in the world. The consequences of climate change and other stressors on the tropical lakes of Africa have been informed by long-term analyses, but these studies have largely focused on the massive Great Rift Valley lakes. Our objective was to evaluate how recent climate change has altered the functioning and services of smaller tropical lakes, which are far more abundant on the landscape. Based on a paired analysis of 20 years of high-resolution water column data and a paleolimnological record from a small crater lake in western Uganda, we present evidence that even a modest warming of the air (∼0.9°C increase over 20 years) and changes in the timing and intensity of rainfall can have significant consequences on the dynamics of this common tropical lake type. For example, we observed a significant nonlinear increase (R(2) adj  = 0.23, e.d.f. = 7, pdeterioration of fish habitat and appears to have abated primary production; processes that may impair ecosystem services for a vulnerable human population. This study on a system representative of small tropical crater lakes highlights the far-reaching effects of global climatic change on tropical waters. Increased research efforts into tropical aquatic ecosystem health and the development of sound management practices are necessary in order to strengthen adaptive capabilities in tropical regions.

  17. Real-Time Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Amygdala Neurofeedback Changes Positive Information Processing in Major Depressive Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Kymberly D; Misaki, Masaya; Harmer, Catherine J; Victor, Teresa; Zotev, Vadim; Phillips, Raquel; Siegle, Greg J; Drevets, Wayne C; Bodurka, Jerzy

    2017-10-15

    In participants with major depressive disorder who are trained to upregulate their amygdalar hemodynamic responses during positive autobiographical memory recall with real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training, depressive symptoms diminish. This study tested whether amygdalar rtfMRI-nf also changes emotional processing of positive and negative stimuli in a variety of behavioral and imaging tasks. Patients with major depressive disorder completed two rtfMRI-nf sessions (18 received amygdalar rtfMRI-nf, 16 received control parietal rtfMRI-nf). One week before and following rtfMRI-nf training, participants performed tasks measuring responses to emotionally valenced stimuli including a backward-masking task, which measures the amygdalar hemodynamic response to emotional faces presented for traditionally subliminal duration and followed by a mask, and the Emotional Test Battery in which reaction times and performance accuracy are measured during tasks involving emotional faces and words. During the backward-masking task, amygdalar responses increased while viewing masked happy faces but decreased to masked sad faces in the experimental versus control group following rtfMRI-nf. During the Emotional Test Battery, reaction times decreased to identification of positive faces and during self-identification with positive words and vigilance scores increased to positive faces and decreased to negative faces during the faces dot-probe task in the experimental versus control group following rtfMRI-nf. rtfMRI-nf training to increase the amygdalar hemodynamic response to positive memories was associated with changes in amygdalar responses to happy and sad faces and improved processing of positive stimuli during performance of the Emotional Test Battery. These results may suggest that amygdalar rtfMRI-nf training alters responses to emotional stimuli in a manner similar to antidepressant pharmacotherapy. Copyright © 2017 Society of

  18. Adequacy of Mental Health Services for HIV-Positive Patients with Depression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Choi, Stephanie K Y; Boyle, Eleanor; Cairney, John

    2016-01-01

    use and antidepressant use, as well as mental health care for depression in accordance with existing Canadian guidelines for HIV-positive patients with depression in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study linking data from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study...... income or educational attainment, or as non-native English speakers or immigrants to Canada were less likely to obtain care. Of 493 patients using mental health services, 250 (51%) received mental health care for depression in accordance with existing Canadian guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed......BACKGROUND: Major depression can profoundly impact clinical and quality-of-life outcomes of people living with HIV, and this disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated in many HIV-positive individuals. Here, we describe the prevalence of publicly funded primary and secondary mental health service...

  19. Perinatal Western Diet Consumption Leads to Profound Plasticity and GABAergic Phenotype Changes within Hypothalamus and Reward Pathway from Birth to Sexual Maturity in Rat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Paradis

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Perinatal maternal consumption of energy dense food increases the risk of obesity in children. This is associated with an overconsumption of palatable food that is consumed for its hedonic property. The underlying mechanism that links perinatal maternal diet and offspring preference for fat is still poorly understood. In this study, we aim at studying the influence of maternal high-fat/high-sugar diet feeding [western diet (WD] during gestation and lactation on the reward pathways controlling feeding in the rat offspring from birth to sexual maturity. We performed a longitudinal follow-up of WD and Control offspring at three critical time periods (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood and focus on investigating the influence of perinatal exposure to palatable diet on (i fat preference, (ii gene expression profile, and (iii neuroanatomical/architectural changes of the mesolimbic dopaminergic networks. We showed that WD feeding restricted to the perinatal period has a clear long-lasting influence on the organization of homeostatic and hedonic brain circuits but not on fat preference. We demonstrated a period specific evolution of the preference for fat that we correlated with specific brain molecular signatures. In offspring from WD fed dams, we observed during childhood the existence of fat preference associated with a higher expression of key gene involved in the dopamine (DA systems; at adolescence, a high-fat preference for both groups, progressively reduced during the 3 days test for the WD group and associated with a reduced expression of key gene involved in the DA systems for the WD group that could suggest a compensatory mechanism to protect them from further high-fat exposure; and finally at adulthood, a preference for fat that was identical to control rats but associated with profound modification in key genes involved in the γ-aminobutyric acid network, serotonin receptors, and polysialic acid–NCAM-dependent remodeling of the

  20. Small changes in climate can profoundly alter the dynamics and ecosystem services of tropical crater lakes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Émilie Saulnier-Talbot

    Full Text Available African tropical lakes provide vital ecosystem services including food and water to some of the fastest growing human populations, yet they are among the most understudied ecosystems in the world. The consequences of climate change and other stressors on the tropical lakes of Africa have been informed by long-term analyses, but these studies have largely focused on the massive Great Rift Valley lakes. Our objective was to evaluate how recent climate change has altered the functioning and services of smaller tropical lakes, which are far more abundant on the landscape. Based on a paired analysis of 20 years of high-resolution water column data and a paleolimnological record from a small crater lake in western Uganda, we present evidence that even a modest warming of the air (∼0.9°C increase over 20 years and changes in the timing and intensity of rainfall can have significant consequences on the dynamics of this common tropical lake type. For example, we observed a significant nonlinear increase (R(2 adj  = 0.23, e.d.f. = 7, p<0.0001 in thermal stability over the past 20 years. This resulted in the expansion of anoxic waters and consequent deterioration of fish habitat and appears to have abated primary production; processes that may impair ecosystem services for a vulnerable human population. This study on a system representative of small tropical crater lakes highlights the far-reaching effects of global climatic change on tropical waters. Increased research efforts into tropical aquatic ecosystem health and the development of sound management practices are necessary in order to strengthen adaptive capabilities in tropical regions.

  1. Reliability of standing weight-bearing (0.25T) MR imaging findings and positional changes in the lumbar spine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, Bjarke B.; Bliddal, Henning [Department of Reumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, The Parker Institute, Koebenhavn Oe (Denmark); Hansen, Philip; Christensen, Anders F.; Trampedach, Charlotte; Rasti, Zoreh; Boesen, Mikael [Copenhagen University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Koebenhavn Oe (Denmark)

    2018-01-15

    To test the reliability and absolute agreement of common degenerative findings in standing positional magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI). Low back pain patients with and without sciatica were consecutively enrolled to undergo a supine and standing pMRI. Three readers independently evaluated the standing pMRI for herniation, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, HIZ lesions and facet joint effusion. The evaluation included a semi-quantitative grading of spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis and spinal nerve root compression. The standing pMRI images were evaluated with full access to supine MRI. In case lower grades or the degenerative findings were not present in the supine images, this was reported separately as position-dependent changes. A subsample of 20 pMRI examinations was reevaluated after two months. The reproducibility was assessed by inter- and intra-reader reliability (kappa statistic) and absolute agreement between readers. Fifty-six patients were included in this study. There was fair-to-substantial inter-reader reliability (κ 0.47 to 0.82) and high absolute agreement (72.3% to 99.1%) for the pMRI findings. The intra-reader assessment showed similar reliability and agreement (κ 0.36 to 0.85; absolute agreement: 62.5% to 98.8%). Positional changes between the supine and standing position showed a fair-to-moderate inter- and intra-reader reliability (κ 0.25 to 0.52; absolute agreement: 97.0% to 99.1). Evaluation of the lumbar spine for degenerative findings by standing pMRI has acceptable reproducibility; however, positional changes from the supine to the standing position as an independent outcome should be interpreted with caution because of lower reliability, which calls for further standardisation. (orig.)

  2. Reliability of standing weight-bearing (0.25T) MR imaging findings and positional changes in the lumbar spine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, Bjarke B.; Bliddal, Henning; Hansen, Philip; Christensen, Anders F.; Trampedach, Charlotte; Rasti, Zoreh; Boesen, Mikael

    2018-01-01

    To test the reliability and absolute agreement of common degenerative findings in standing positional magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI). Low back pain patients with and without sciatica were consecutively enrolled to undergo a supine and standing pMRI. Three readers independently evaluated the standing pMRI for herniation, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, HIZ lesions and facet joint effusion. The evaluation included a semi-quantitative grading of spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis and spinal nerve root compression. The standing pMRI images were evaluated with full access to supine MRI. In case lower grades or the degenerative findings were not present in the supine images, this was reported separately as position-dependent changes. A subsample of 20 pMRI examinations was reevaluated after two months. The reproducibility was assessed by inter- and intra-reader reliability (kappa statistic) and absolute agreement between readers. Fifty-six patients were included in this study. There was fair-to-substantial inter-reader reliability (κ 0.47 to 0.82) and high absolute agreement (72.3% to 99.1%) for the pMRI findings. The intra-reader assessment showed similar reliability and agreement (κ 0.36 to 0.85; absolute agreement: 62.5% to 98.8%). Positional changes between the supine and standing position showed a fair-to-moderate inter- and intra-reader reliability (κ 0.25 to 0.52; absolute agreement: 97.0% to 99.1). Evaluation of the lumbar spine for degenerative findings by standing pMRI has acceptable reproducibility; however, positional changes from the supine to the standing position as an independent outcome should be interpreted with caution because of lower reliability, which calls for further standardisation. (orig.)

  3. Reliability of standing weight-bearing (0.25T) MR imaging findings and positional changes in the lumbar spine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Bjarke B; Hansen, Philip; Christensen, Anders F; Trampedach, Charlotte; Rasti, Zoreh; Bliddal, Henning; Boesen, Mikael

    2018-01-01

    To test the reliability and absolute agreement of common degenerative findings in standing positional magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI). Low back pain patients with and without sciatica were consecutively enrolled to undergo a supine and standing pMRI. Three readers independently evaluated the standing pMRI for herniation, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, HIZ lesions and facet joint effusion. The evaluation included a semi-quantitative grading of spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis and spinal nerve root compression. The standing pMRI images were evaluated with full access to supine MRI. In case lower grades or the degenerative findings were not present in the supine images, this was reported separately as position-dependent changes. A subsample of 20 pMRI examinations was reevaluated after two months. The reproducibility was assessed by inter- and intra-reader reliability (kappa statistic) and absolute agreement between readers. Fifty-six patients were included in this study. There was fair-to-substantial inter-reader reliability (κ 0.47 to 0.82) and high absolute agreement (72.3% to 99.1%) for the pMRI findings. The intra-reader assessment showed similar reliability and agreement (κ 0.36 to 0.85; absolute agreement: 62.5% to 98.8%). Positional changes between the supine and standing position showed a fair-to-moderate inter- and intra-reader reliability (κ 0.25 to 0.52; absolute agreement: 97.0% to 99.1). Evaluation of the lumbar spine for degenerative findings by standing pMRI has acceptable reproducibility; however, positional changes from the supine to the standing position as an independent outcome should be interpreted with caution because of lower reliability, which calls for further standardisation.

  4. Giant irreversible positive to large reversible negative magnetic entropy change evolution in Tb-based bulk metallic glass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo Qiang; Schwarz, Bjoern; Mattern, Norbert; Eckert, Juergen

    2010-01-01

    We study the effects of amorphous structure and random anisotropy on the magnetic entropy change in a series of Tb-based amorphous alloys. The amorphous structure broadens the peak of magnetic entropy change and facilitates the adjustment of properties. The peak magnetic entropy change above the spin freezing temperature first depends on the average magnetic moment approximately linearly and second on the exchange interaction and random anisotropy. Large and broad reversible negative magnetic entropy changes are observed above the spin freezing temperature and giant positive irreversible magnetic entropy changes which associate with the internal entropy production are obtained well below.

  5. Enhanced Positive Emotional Reactivity Undermines Empathy in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alice Y. Hua

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by profound changes in emotions and empathy. Although most patients with bvFTD become less sensitive to negative emotional cues, some patients become more sensitive to positive emotional stimuli. We investigated whether dysregulated positive emotions in bvFTD undermine empathy by making it difficult for patients to share (emotional empathy, recognize (cognitive empathy, and respond (real-world empathy to emotions in others. Fifty-one participants (26 patients with bvFTD and 25 healthy controls viewed photographs of neutral, positive, negative, and self-conscious emotional faces and then identified the emotions displayed in the photographs. We used facial electromyography to measure automatic, sub-visible activity in two facial muscles during the task: Zygomaticus major (ZM, which is active during positive emotional reactions (i.e., smiling, and Corrugator supercilii (CS, which is active during negative emotional reactions (i.e., frowning. Participants rated their baseline positive and negative emotional experience before the task, and informants rated participants' real-world empathic behavior on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The majority of participants also underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. A mixed effects model found a significant diagnosis X trial interaction: patients with bvFTD showed greater ZM reactivity to neutral, negative (disgust and surprise, self-conscious (proud, and positive (happy faces than healthy controls. There was no main effect of diagnosis or diagnosis X trial interaction on CS reactivity. Compared to healthy controls, patients with bvFTD had impaired emotion recognition. Multiple regression analyses revealed that greater ZM reactivity predicted worse negative emotion recognition and worse real-world empathy. At baseline, positive emotional experience was higher in bvFTD than healthy controls and also

  6. Cortical activation in profoundly deaf patients during cochlear implant stimulation demonstrated by H2(15)O PET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herzog, H.; Lamprecht, A.; Kuehn, A.R.; Roden, W.; Vosteen, K.H.; Feinendegen, L.E.

    1991-01-01

    Cochlear implants (CIs) are used to provide sensations of sound to profoundly deaf patients. The performance of the CI is assessed mainly by the subjective reports of patients. The aim of this study was to look for objective cortical responses to the stimulation of the CI. Two postlingually and two prelingually deaf patients were investigated by positron emission tomography (PET) using 15 O-labeled water (H 2 15 O) to determine the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Instead of quantifying rCBF in absolute terms, it was estimated by referring the regional tissue concentration of H 2 15 O to the mean whole brain concentration. CI stimulation encoded from white noise and sequential words led to an increased rCBF in the primary and secondary (Wernicke) auditory cortex. Relative elevations of up to 33% were observed bilaterally, although they were higher contralateral to the CI. These results were obtained not only in the postlingually deaf patients but also in two patients who had never been able to hear. Thus, it could be demonstrated that PET measurements of cerebral H 2 15 O distribution yield objective responses of the central auditory system during electrical stimulation by CIs in profoundly deaf patients

  7. A Study on the Effects of Position Change on the Liver Shape on Radioisotope Scan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Kee Suk; Choi, Du Hyok; Yang, Young Tae; Koh, Chang Soon

    1982-01-01

    For this study, the authors obtained and examined anterior views of the liver and spleen in two different positions, upright and supine, of 39 normal subjects and 20 patients with hepatic pathology by means of 99m Tc-colloid and gamma camera. This examination confirms the following findings. In general, it is shown, left lobe of the liver in upright position becomes longer in height than in supine position, while the distance between lateral margin of the liver and that of spleen becomes father in with in supine position than in upright position. The upper margin of liver moves more downward in upright position than in supine. It is noticeable that as for 5 cases with severe chronic liver disease, there is minimal alteration of the liver shape between in two positions. The comparison of the both positions for the better liver scan shows the following findings. Prominent caudate and/or left lobe are marked in the upright position in 16 cases out of the total 59, while none is found in the supine. The false cold area in lower part of the liver disappears in 7 cases in the upright position, while only one shows the disappearance of the false cold area in the supine. Left liver margin due to close contact of spleen is blurred in 3 cases in the upright position. In total 23 cases out of 59 support that the upright position is better for the liver scan, while only 4 cases support the supine position is better. These findings support two assumptions. One is that upright view can be expected more improved resolution than supine view for liver scan. Second is that minimal change of the liver shape in both views indicate the serious abnormality in the liver.

  8. Changes in seed oil and protein contents of maize cultivars at different positions on the ear in response to water limitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazem Ghassemi-Golezani

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available A field experiment was carried out as split-split plot in 2014 to assess the effects of four irrigation treatments (irrigations after 60, 80, 100 and 120 mm evaporation, respectively on oil and protein changes of maize cultivars (SC704, NS640 and DC303: Late, mid and early maturing cultivars, respectively at different seed positions on the ear (upper, middle and lower positions on the ear. Overall, the highest seed yield was obtained from SC704, followed by NS640 and DC303 cultivars. Seed yield of all cultivars was higher at lower seed position on ear than at middle and upper parts of the ear under different irrigation treatments. The highest oil and protein yields were also recorded for seeds at lower position on the ear. Seed yield of all maize cultivars at various seed positions decreased with increasing irrigation intervals. Oil percentage decreased, but protein percentage increased with decreasing water availability. Water limitation decreased oil and protein yields of maize cultivars. Changes in protein and oil yields of maize cultivars at different seed positions and irrigation treatments were attributed to changes in seed yield.

  9. The experience of black parents/caretakers with the births and care of a child with profound congenital defects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.S. Mabaso

    1990-09-01

    Full Text Available The reaction of Black families to the birth and care of a baby with profound congenital defects was researched using twenty case studies. It was found that the families went through stages of the grieving process, that they shifted from the Western/Christian viewpoint to the traditional viewpoint in their struggle to cope and that they find the existing services grossly inadequate.

  10. Cranio-facial remodeling in domestic dogs is associated with changes in larynx position.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plotsky, Kyle; Rendall, Drew; Chase, Kevin; Riede, Tobias

    2016-06-01

    The hyo-laryngeal complex is a multi-segmented structure integrating the oral and pharyngeal cavities and thus a variety of critical functions related to airway control, feeding, and vocal communication. Currently, we lack a complete understanding of how the hyoid complex, and the functions it mediates, can also be affected by changes in surrounding cranio-facial dimensions. Here, we explore these relationships in a breed of domestic dog, the Portuguese Water Dog, which is characterized by strong cranio-facial variation. We used radiographic images of the upper body and head of 55 adult males and 51 adult females to obtain detailed measures of cranio-facial variation and hyoid anatomy. Principal components analysis revealed multiple orthogonal dimensions of cranio-facial variation, some of which were associated with significant differences in larynx position: the larynx occupied a more descended position in individuals with shorter, broader faces than in those with longer, narrower faces. We then tested the possibility that caudal displacement of the larynx in brachycephalic individuals might reflect a degree of tongue crowding resulting from facial shortening and reduction of oral and pharyngeal spaces. A cadaver sample was used to obtain detailed measurements of constituent bones of the hyoid skeleton and of the tongue body, and their relationships to cranio-facial size and shape and overall body size supported the tongue-crowding hypothesis. Considering the presence of descended larynges in numerous mammalian taxa, our findings establish an important precedent for the possibility that laryngeal descent can be initiated, and even sustained, in part in response to remodeling of the face and cranium for selective pressures unrelated to vocal production. These integrated changes could also have been involved in hominin evolution, where the different laryngeal positions in modern humans compared with nonhuman primates have been traditionally linked to the evolution

  11. Situational motivation and perceived intensity: their interaction in predicting changes in positive affect from physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guérin, Eva; Fortier, Michelle S

    2012-01-01

    There is evidence that affective experiences surrounding physical activity can contribute to the proper self-regulation of an active lifestyle. Motivation toward physical activity, as portrayed by self-determination theory, has been linked to positive affect, as has the intensity of physical activity, especially of a preferred nature. The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the interaction between situational motivation and intensity [i.e., ratings of perceived exertion (RPE)] in predicting changes in positive affect following an acute bout of preferred physical activity, namely, running. Fourty-one female runners engaged in a 30-minute self-paced treadmill run in a laboratory context. Situational motivation for running, pre- and post-running positive affect, and RPE were assessed via validated self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect between RPE and introjection (P positive affect was considerable, with higher RPE ratings being associated with greater increases in positive affect. The implications of the findings in light of SDT principles as well as the potential contingencies between the regulations and RPE in predicting positive affect among women are discussed.

  12. Look Closer: The Alertness of People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities during Multi-Sensory Storytelling, a Time Sequential Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ten Brug, Annet; Munde, Vera S.; van der Putten, Annette A.J.; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) is a storytelling method designed for individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). It is essential that listeners be alert during MSST, so that they become familiar with their personalised stories. Repetition and the presentation of stimuli are likely to affect the…

  13. Changes in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness after spinal surgery in the prone position: a prospective study

    OpenAIRE

    Gencer, Baran; Cosar, Murat; Tufan, Hasan Ali; Kara, Selcuk; Arikan, Sedat; Akman, Tarik; Kiraz, Hasan Ali; Comez, Arzu Taskiran; Hanci, Volkan

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Changes in ocular perfusion play an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic optic neuropathy. Ocular perfusion pressure is equal to mean arterial pressure minus intraocular pressure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the intraocular pressure and the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients undergoing spinal surgery in the prone position. ...

  14. The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Diefenbach

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. “Positive technology” thereby takes the responsible role of a “digital coach,” supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the “therapeutic interaction” mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article

  15. The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefenbach, Sarah

    2018-01-01

    Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. "Positive technology" thereby takes the responsible role of a "digital coach," supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the "therapeutic interaction" mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article aims to deepen the discussion

  16. The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefenbach, Sarah

    2018-01-01

    Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. “Positive technology” thereby takes the responsible role of a “digital coach,” supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the “therapeutic interaction” mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article aims to deepen the

  17. RhoE deficiency produces postnatal lethality, profound motor deficits and neurodevelopmental delay in mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enric Mocholí

    Full Text Available Rnd proteins are a subfamily of Rho GTPases involved in the control of actin cytoskeleton dynamics and other cell functions such as motility, proliferation and survival. Unlike other members of the Rho family, Rnd proteins lack GTPase activity and therefore remain constitutively active. We have recently described that RhoE/Rnd3 is expressed in the Central Nervous System and that it has a role in promoting neurite formation. Despite their possible relevance during development, the role of Rnd proteins in vivo is not known. To get insight into the in vivo function of RhoE we have generated mice lacking RhoE expression by an exon trapping cassette. RhoE null mice (RhoE gt/gt are smaller at birth, display growth retardation and early postnatal death since only half of RhoE gt/gt mice survive beyond postnatal day (PD 15 and 100% are dead by PD 29. RhoE gt/gt mice show an abnormal body position with profound motor impairment and impaired performance in most neurobehavioral tests. Null mutant mice are hypoactive, show an immature locomotor pattern and display a significant delay in the appearance of the hindlimb mature responses. Moreover, they perform worse than the control littermates in the wire suspension, vertical climbing and clinging, righting reflex and negative geotaxis tests. Also, RhoE ablation results in a delay of neuromuscular maturation and in a reduction in the number of spinal motor neurons. Finally, RhoE gt/gt mice lack the common peroneal nerve and, consequently, show a complete atrophy of the target muscles. This is the first model to study the in vivo functions of a member of the Rnd subfamily of proteins, revealing the important role of Rnd3/RhoE in the normal development and suggesting the possible involvement of this protein in neurological disorders.

  18. The existence of positive solutions for nonlinear boundary system with $p$-Laplacian operator based on sign-changing nonlinearities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fuyi Xu

    2010-12-01

    (\\phi_{p_1}(u''+a_1(tf(u,v=0, 01, i=1,2$. We obtain some sufficient conditions for the existence of two positive solutions or infinitely many positive solutions by using a fixed-point theorem in cones. Especially, the nonlinear terms $f,g $ are allowed to change sign. The conclusions essentially extend and improve the known results.

  19. Would Having a Lead Instructional Designer Position Encourage Change in a K-12 Educational Setting?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, John

    2011-01-01

    Adding the position Lead Instructional Designer (LID) will help an educational company or school district to work with principals and instructional designers to implement better instructional design strategies. This type of change creates more jobs and takes added pressure away from schools. The vision is to create better customer service to the…

  20. Non-nematode-derived double-stranded RNAs induce profound phenotypic changes in Meloidogyne incognita and Globodera pallida infective juveniles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalzell, Johnathan J; McMaster, Steven; Johnston, Michael J; Kerr, Rachel; Fleming, Colin C; Maule, Aaron G

    2009-11-01

    Nine non-nematode-derived double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), designed for use as controls in RNA interference (RNAi) screens of neuropeptide targets, were found to induce aberrant phenotypes and an unexpected inhibitory effect on motility of root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita J2s following 24h soaks in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA; a simple soaking procedure which we have found to elicit profound knockdown of neuronal targets in Globodera pallida J2s. We have established that this inhibitory phenomenon is both time- and concentration-dependent, as shorter 4h soaks in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA had no negative impact on M. incognita J2 stage worms, yet a 10-fold increase in concentration to 1 mg/ml for the same 4h time period had an even greater qualitative and quantitative impact on worm phenotype and motility. Further, a 10-fold increase of J2s soaked in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA did not significantly alter the observed phenotypic aberration, which suggests that dsRNA uptake of the soaked J2s is not saturated under these conditions. This phenomenon was not initially observed in potato cyst nematode G. pallida J2s, which displayed no aberrant phenotype, or diminution of migratory activity in response to the same 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA 24h soaks. However, a 10-fold increase in dsRNA to 1mg/ml was found to elicit comparable irregularity of phenotype and inhibition of motility in G. pallida, to that initially observed in M. incognita following a 24h soak in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA. Again, a 10-fold increase in the number of G. pallida J2s soaked in the same volume of 1 mg/ml dsRNA preparation did not significantly affect the observed phenotypic deviation. We do not observe any global impact on transcript abundance in either M. incognita or G. pallida J2s following 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA soaks, as revealed by reverse transcriptase-PCR and quantitative PCR data. This study aims to raise awareness of a phenomenon which we observe consistently and which we believe signifies a more expansive deficiency in our knowledge and

  1. Improving Social Skills in Adolescents and Adults with Autism and Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability: A Review of the Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, Katherine M.; Ingersoll, Brooke R.

    2013-01-01

    Social skills are important treatment targets for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) across the lifespan. However, few treatments are available for adolescents and adults with ASD who also have severe to profound intellectual disability (S/PID). Several social skill interventions have been described that may improve social skills in…

  2. The Role of the External Personal Assistants for Children with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities Working in the Children's Home

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axelsson, Anna Karin

    2015-01-01

    Background: Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities need support to function in an optimal way. However, there is a limited knowledge about the role of external personal assistants working in the children's home. Materials and Methods: A mixed method study was performed including qualitative data from interviews with 11…

  3. Association between disk position and degenerative bone changes of the temporomandibular joints: an imaging study in subjects with TMD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortés, Daniel; Sylvester, Daniel Cortés; Exss, Eduardo; Marholz, Carlos; Millas, Rodrigo; Moncada, Gustavo

    2011-04-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and relationship between disk position and degenerative bone changes in the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), in subjects with internal derangement (ID). MRI and CT scans of 180 subjects with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) were studied. Different image parameters or characteristics were observed, such as disk position, joint effusion, condyle movement, degenerative bone changes (flattened, cortical erosions and irregularities), osteophytes, subchondral cysts and idiopathic condyle resorption. The present study concluded that there is a significant association between disk displacement without reduction and degenerative bone changes in patients with TMD. The study also found a high probability of degenerative bone changes when disk displacement without reduction is present. No association was found between TMD and condyle range of motion, joint effusion and/or degenerative bone changes. The following were the most frequent morphological changes observed: flattening of the anterior surface of the condyle; followed by erosions and irregularities of the joint surfaces; flattening of the articular surface of the temporal eminence, subchondral cysts, osteophytes; and idiopathic condyle resorption, in decreasing order.

  4. Backstroke start kinematic and kinetic changes due to different feet positioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jesus, Karla; de Jesus, Kelly; Figueiredo, Pedro; Gonçalves, Pedro; Pereira, Suzana Matheus; Vilas-Boas, João Paulo; Fernandes, Ricardo Jorge

    2013-01-01

    The backstroke swimming start international rules changed in 2005. This study compared two backstroke start variants, both with feet parallel to each other but in complete immersion and emersion. Six elite swimmers performed two sets of 4 maximal 15 m bouts, each set using one of the variants. The starts were videotaped in the sagittal plane with two cameras, providing bi-dimensional dual-media kinematic evaluation, and an underwater force plate and a handgrip instrumented with a load cell collected kinetic data. Backstroke start with feet immerged displayed greater centre-of-mass horizontal starting position, centre-of-mass horizontal velocity at hands-off and take-off angle. Backstroke start with feet emerged showed greater wall contact time, centre-of-mass horizontal and downward vertical velocity at take-off, lower limbs horizontal impulse, and centre-of-mass downward vertical velocity during flight phase. Backstroke start with feet immerged and emerged displayed similar centre-of-mass horizontal water reach, back arc angle and 5 m starting time. Irrespective of the swimmer's feet positioning, coaches should emphasise each variant's mechanical advantages during the wall contact phases. Furthermore, the maintenance of those advantages throughout the flight should be stressed for better backstroke start performance.

  5. A Gene Expression Classifier of Node-Positive Colorectal Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul F. Meeh

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available We used digital long serial analysis of gene expression to discover gene expression differences between node-negative and node-positive colorectal tumors and developed a multigene classifier able to discriminate between these two tumor types. We prepared and sequenced long serial analysis of gene expression libraries from one node-negative and one node-positive colorectal tumor, sequenced to a depth of 26,060 unique tags, and identified 262 tags significantly differentially expressed between these two tumors (P < 2 x 10-6. We confirmed the tag-to-gene assignments and differential expression of 31 genes by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, 12 of which were elevated in the node-positive tumor. We analyzed the expression levels of these 12 upregulated genes in a validation panel of 23 additional tumors and developed an optimized seven-gene logistic regression classifier. The classifier discriminated between node-negative and node-positive tumors with 86% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of the classifier revealed an area under the curve of 0.86. Experimental manipulation of the function of one classification gene, Fibronectin, caused profound effects on invasion and migration of colorectal cancer cells in vitro. These results suggest that the development of node-positive colorectal cancer occurs in part through elevated epithelial FN1 expression and suggest novel strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of advanced disease.

  6. The influence of Dr. Hsiang-Tung Chang on neuroscience in Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Chun

    2012-10-25

    As one of the founders of Chinese neuroscience, Dr. Hsiang-Tung Chang's return to China has a profound impact on neuroscience in China. As many people expected, this action also may have influenced the development of neuroscience in other Eastern countries. Therefore, Dr. Chang's move may have changed the history of neuroscience in a greater area than China.

  7. Anticipated water quality changes in response to climate change and potential consequences for inland fishes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yushun; Todd, Andrew S.; Murphy, Margaret H.; Lomnicky, Gregg

    2016-01-01

    Healthy freshwater ecosystems are a critical component of the world's economy, with a critical role in maintaining public health, inland biological diversity, and overall quality of life. Globally, our climate is changing, with air temperature and precipitation regimes deviating significantly from historical patterns. Healthy freshwater ecosystems are a critical component of the world's economy, with a critical role in maintaining public health, inland biological diversity, and overall quality of life. Globally, our climate is changing, with air temperature and precipitation regimes deviating significantly from historical patterns. Changes anticipated with climate change in the future are likely to have a profound effect on inland aquatic ecosystems through diverse pathways, including changes in water quality. In this brief article, we present an initial discussion of several of the water quality responses that can be anticipated to occur within inland water bodies with climate change and how those changes are likely to impact fishes.

  8. Three-dimensional evaluation of changes in lip position from before to after orthodontic appliance removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eidson, Lindsey; Cevidanes, Lucia H S; de Paula, Leonardo Koerich; Hershey, H Garland; Welch, Gregory; Rossouw, P Emile

    2012-09-01

    Our objectives were to develop a reproducible method of superimposing 3-dimensional images for measuring soft-tissue changes over time and to use this method to document changes in lip position after the removal of orthodontic appliances. Three-dimensional photographs of 50 subjects were made in repose and maximum intercuspation before and after orthodontic appliance removal with a stereo camera. For reliability assessment, 2 photographs were repeated for 15 patients. The images were registered on stable areas, and surface-to-surface measurements were made for defined landmarks. Mean changes were below the level of clinical significance (set at 1.5 mm). However, 51% and 18% of the subjects experienced changes greater than 1.5 mm at the commissures and lower lips, respectively. The use of serial 3-dimensional photographs is a reliable method of documenting soft-tissue changes. Soft-tissue changes after appliance removal are not clinically significant; however, there is great individual variability. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Managing Profound Suffering at the End-of-Life: Should expanding access to continuous deep sedation be the priority?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirby, Jeffrey

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper argues that in addressing and managing profound suffering at the end-of-life, the priority should not be the legalization of physician-assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia in jurisdictions where these practices are not currently available. Rather, concerted efforts should be made by society and the healthcare provider community to expand patient access to proportionate distress-relieving sedation and continuous deep sedation.

  10. Factors Other Than Climate Change, Main Drivers of 2014/15 Water Shortage in Southeast Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otto, Friederike E. L.; Coelho, Caio A. S.; King, Andrew; Coughlan de Perez, Erin; Wada, Yoshihide; van Oldenborgh, Geert Jan; Haarsma, Rein; Haustein, Karsten; Uhe, Peter; van Aalst, Maarten; hide

    2015-01-01

    Southeast Brazil experienced profound water shortages in 2014/15. Anthropogenic climate change is not found to be a major influence on the hazard, whereas increasing population and water consumption increased vulnerability.

  11. The Hands with Eyes and Nose in the Palm: As Effective Communication Alternatives for Profoundly Deaf People in Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutswanga, Phillipa

    2017-01-01

    Drawing from the experiences and testimonies of people with profound deafness, the study qualitatively explored the use of the hands with eyes and nose in the palm as communication alternatives in the field of deafness. The study was prompted by the 27 year old lady, Leah Katz-Hernandez who is deaf who got engaged in March 2015 as the 2016…

  12. Cerebral blood flow velocity changes during upright positioning in bed after acute stroke : An observational study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aries, Marcel J; Elting, Jan Willem; Stewart, Roy; De Keyser, Jacques; Kremer, Berry; Vroomen, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: National guidelines recommend mobilisation in bed as early as possible after acute stroke. Little is known about the influence of upright positioning on real-time cerebral flow variables in patients with stroke. We aimed to assess whether cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) changes

  13. Recurrent Vestibular Migraine Vertigo Attacks Associated With the Development of Profound Bilateral Vestibulopathy: A Case Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wester, Jacob L; Ishiyama, Akira; Ishiyama, Gail

    2017-09-01

    Bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) is a debilitating condition characterized by gait ataxia, oscillopsia, and imbalance. Case series of patients with migraine-linked vertigo spells and profound BVP. PATIENT 1:: A 69-year-old man presented with a history of recurrent severe vertigo spells lasting up to 3 days in duration associated with prostrating migraine headaches starting at age 60. His symptoms were misdiagnosed as an anxiety syndrome. At age 68, electronystagmography (ENG) revealed bilaterally absent caloric responses and complete BVP. His hearing was normal. PATIENT 2:: A 51-year-old man presented with a history of "earthquake-like" vertigo, sharp head pain, and phonophobia. These episodes occurred a handful of times over a 7-year period. Previous ENG testing at age 43 was normal. However, his ENG at age 48 revealed complete BVP. He was started on acetazolamide and noted improved balance, although subsequent ENG was unchanged. PATIENT 3:: A 49-year-old woman presented with a history of recurrent migraines with visual aura associated with vertigo lasting 1 hour. ENG at age 50 revealed complete BVP. Subjectively, she noted improved balance with acetazolamide and subsequent ENG demonstrated mild improvement. PATIENT 4:: A 43-year-old man presented with a 5-year history of optical migraines and recurrent vertigo spells, lasting 30 seconds, which was misdiagnosed as positional vertigo. He additionally had a 10-year history of oscillopsia. ENG at age 61 revealed complete BVP. In these cases, vestibular migraine was linked to recurrent vertigo spells that eventually led to complete bilateral vestibulopathy.

  14. Changes in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness after spinal surgery in the prone position: a prospective study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baran Gencer

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Changes in ocular perfusion play an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic optic neuropathy. Ocular perfusion pressure is equal to mean arterial pressure minus intraocular pressure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the intraocular pressure and the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients undergoing spinal surgery in the prone position. METHODS: This prospective study included 30 patients undergoing spinal surgery. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were measured one day before and after the surgery by using optical coherence tomography. Intraocular pressure was measured by tonopen six times at different position and time-duration: supine position (baseline; 10 min after intubation (Supine 1; 10 (Prone 1, 60 (Prone 2, 120 (Prone 3 min after prone position; and just after postoperative supine position (Supine 2. RESULTS: Our study involved 10 male and 20 female patients with the median age of 57 years. When postoperative retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measurements were compared with preoperative values, a statistically significant thinning was observed in inferior and nasal quadrants (p = 0.009 and p = 0.003, respectively. We observed a statistically significant intraocular pressure decrease in Supine 1 and an increase in both Prone 2 and Prone 3 when compared to the baseline. Mean arterial pressure and ocular perfusion pressure were found to be significantly lower in Prone 1, Prone 2 and Prone 3, when compared with the baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has shown increase in intraocular pressure during spinal surgery in prone position. A statistically significant retinal nerve fiber layer thickness thinning was seen in inferior and nasal quadrants one day after the spinal surgery.

  15. The impact of visual impairment on the ability to perform activities of daily living for persons with severe/profound intellectual disability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkhuizen, Annemarie; Hilgenkamp, Thessa I. M.; Krijnen, Wim P.; Schans, van der Cees P.; Waninge, Aly

    Background: The ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) as a component of participation is one of the factors that contribute to quality of life. The ability to perform ADL for persons experiencing severe/profound intellectual disability (ID) may be reduced due to their cognitive and

  16. Reimbursement for school nursing health care services: position statement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowe, Janet; Cagginello, Joan; Compton, Linda

    2014-09-01

    Children come to school with a variety of health conditions, varying from moderate health issues to multiple, severe chronic health illnesses that have a profound and direct impact on their ability to learn. The registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse) provides medically necessary services in the school setting to improve health outcomes and promote academic achievement. The nursing services provided are reimbursable services in other health care settings, such as hospitals, clinics, and home care settings. The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) believes that school nursing services that are reimbursable nursing services in other health care systems should also be reimbursable services in the school setting, while maintaining the same high quality care delivery standards. Traditionally, local and state tax revenues targeted to fund education programs have paid for school nursing health services. School nurses are in a strategic position to advocate for improving clinical processes to better fit with community health care providers and to align reimbursements with proposed changes. Restructuring reimbursement programs will enable health care funding streams to assist in paying for school nursing services delivered to students in the school setting. Developing new innovative health financing opportunities will help to increase access, improve quality, and reduce costs. The goal is to promote a comprehensive and cost-effective health care delivery model that integrates schools, families, providers, and communities.

  17. Impact of implant–abutment connection and positioning of the machined collar/microgap on crestal bone level changes: a systematic review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwarz, Frank; Hegewald, Andrea; Becker, Jürgen

    2014-01-01

    Objectives To address the following focused question: What is the impact of implant–abutment configuration and the positioning of the machined collar/microgap on crestal bone level changes? Material and methods Electronic databases of the PubMed and the Web of Knowledge were searched for animal and human studies reporting on histological/radiological crestal bone level changes (CBL) at nonsubmerged one-/two-piece implants (placed in healed ridges) exhibiting different abutment configurations, positioning of the machined collar/microgap (between 1992 and November 2012: n = 318 titles). Quality assessment of selected full-text articles was performed according to the ARRIVE and CONSORT statement guidelines. Results A total of 13 publications (risk of bias: high) were eligible for the review. The weighted mean difference (WMD) (95% CI) between machined collars placed either above or below the bone crest amounted to 0.835 mm favoring an epicrestal positioning of the rough/smooth border (P abutment configurations. Due to a high heterogeneity, a meta-analysis was not feasible. Conclusions While the positioning of the machined neck and microgap may limit crestal bone level changes at nonsubmerged implants, the impact of the implant–abutment connection lacks documentation. PMID:23782338

  18. Making a difference? A comparison between multi-sensory and regular storytelling for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ten Brug, A; Van der Putten, A A J; Penne, A; Maes, B; Vlaskamp, C

    2016-11-01

    Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) was developed to include persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities in storytelling culture. In order to increase the listeners' attention, MSST stories are individualised and use multiple sensory stimuli to support the verbal text. In order to determine the value of MSST, this study compared listeners' attention under two conditions: (1) being read MSST books and (2) being read regular stories. A non-randomised control study was executed in which the intervention group read MSST books (n = 45) and a comparison group (n = 31) read regular books. Books were read 10 times during a 5-week period. The 1st, 5th and 10th storytelling sessions were recorded on video in both groups, and the percentage of attention directed to the book and/or stimuli and to the storyteller was scored by a trained and independent rater. Two repeated measure analyses (with the storytelling condition as a between-subject factor and the three measurements as factor) were performed to determine the difference between the groups in terms of attention directed to the book/stimuli (first analysis) and storyteller (second analysis). A further analysis established whether the level of attention changed between the reading sessions and whether there was an interaction effect between the repetition of the book and the storytelling condition. The attention directed to the book and/or the stimuli was significantly higher in the MSST group than in the comparison group. No significant difference between the two groups was found in the attention directed to the storyteller. For MSST stories, most attention was observed during the fifth reading session, while for regular stories, the fifth session gained least attentiveness from the listener. The persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities paid more attention to the book and/or stimuli in the MSST condition compared with the regular story telling group. Being more attentive towards

  19. Research regarding the influence of driving-wires length change on positioning precision of a robotic arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciofu, C.; Stan, G.

    2016-08-01

    The paper emphasise positioning precision of an elephant's trunk robotic arm which has joints driven by wires with variable length while operating The considered 5 degrees of freedom robotic arm has a particular structure of joint that makes possible inner actuation with wire-driven mechanism. We analyse solely the length change of wires as a consequence due inner winding and unwinding on joints for certain values of rotational angles. Variations in wires length entail joint angular displacements. We analyse positioning precision by taking into consideration equations from inverse kinematics of the elephant's trunk robotic arm. The angular displacements of joints are considered into computational method after partial derivation of positioning equations. We obtain variations of wires length at about tenths of micrometers. These variations employ angular displacements which are about minutes of sexagesimal degree and, thus, define positioning precision of elephant's trunk robotic arms. The analytical method is used for determining aftermath design structure of an elephant's trunk robotic arm with inner actuation through wires on positioning precision. Thus, designers could take suitable decisions on accuracy specifications limits of the robotic arm.

  20. Exploring the motor development of young children with possible severe to profound cognitive and motor developmental delay by means of a questionnaire

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schalen, Gertruud Henrike; van der Putten, Annette; Maes, Bea; Vlaskamp, Carla

    Aim: Early motor stimulation may be valuable for children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), however limited knowledge of their typical motor developmental trajectory may be currently restraining the efficacy and specificity of this intervention. Research on young children

  1. Rudiments of recent fertility decline in Hungary: Postponement, educational differences, and outcomes of changing partnership forms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zsolt Spéder

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Our study describes fundamental changes in childbearing behavior in Hungary. It documents current postponement of entry into motherhood (first birth and uncovers signs of delay in second birth. We place the behavioral modifications into historical time and reveal the basic role of the political, economic, and societal transformation of Hungary that started in 1989-1990 in these modifications. We document postponement as well as differentiation, and mothers' highest level of education will represent the structural position of individuals. We shed light on the different speed of postponement and support the assumption of behavioral differences according to the highest level of education. Particular attention will be paid to changing partnership relations: Fertility outcomes remain to be strongly associated with the type of partnership and its development; profound changes in partnership formation, namely the proliferation of cohabitation and the increasing separation rate of first partnerships, may therefore facilitate fertility decline in Hungary. The analysis is based on the first wave of the Hungarian panel survey "Turning points of the life course" carried out in 2001/2002.

  2. The impact of visual impairment on the ability to perform activities of daily living for persons with severe/profound intellectual disability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkhuizen, Annemarie; Hilgenkamp, Thessa I.M.; Krijnen, Wim; van der Schans, Cees; Waninge, Aly

    2015-01-01

    Background The ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) as a component of participation is one of the factors that contribute to the quality of life. The ability to perform ADL for persons experiencing severe/profound intellectual disability (ID) may be reduced due to their cognitive and

  3. Measuring Conceptual Change on Stoichiometry Using Mental Models and IllStructured Problems In a Flipped Classroom Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norrie E. Gayeta

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to measure conceptual change on stoichiometry using mental models and ill-structured problems in flipped classroom environment. This study examined the level of conceptual understanding of students on stoichiometry before and after exposure to flipped and traditional lecture method. It also covered the type of conceptual change, and students’ description in flipped classroom environment. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in the study. Respondents were two sections of third year Bachelor of Secondary Education, Biological Science. Frequency, percentage, ranking, mean, standard deviation, Hake factor test, and t-test were the statistical tools applied to answer specific questions. Results showed profound increase towards conceptual change representing a shift from intuitive understanding to correct incomplete understanding level. Thus, change for the better, in theoretical type was determined from pretest to posttest of students exposed to flipped and traditional instruction. Results also indicated that there is no significant difference on students’ conceptual change on stoichiometry exposed to flipped and traditional lecture method. Furthermore, students strongly agreed that flipped classroom instruction helped them develop positive attitude towards chemistry and appropriate for learning college chemistry.

  4. Acute changes in intra-alveolar tooth position and local clearance of 125I from the periodontal ligament

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwall, B.; Berg, J.O.; Gazelius, B.; Edwall, L.; Aars, H.

    1987-01-01

    Changes in intra-alveolar tooth position and local 125 I clearance from the periodontal ligament (PDL) were monitored simultaneously in cats. Axial tooth movements, reflecting periodontal ligament volume changes, were measured with an ultrasonic transit time technique. Local blood flow changes in the PDL were studied indirectly by measuring the local clearance of 125 I. Stimulation of the cervical sympathetic trunk caused an intrusive movement of the tooth with a concomitant reduction of the 125 I-clearance. Infusion of noradrenaline induced a similar respone. Stimulation of the inferior alveolar nerve during systemic treatment with phentolamine caused an extrusive movement of the tooth with a concomitant increase in the clearance of the tracer from the PDL. Intra-arterial infusion of the vasodilator substance P mimicked that response. Fization of the tooth to the jaw bone, thus preventing an intrusive movement, did not change the reductions in clearance seen on sympathetic stimulation, indicating that this blood flow reduction was not dependent on tooth movement. A qualitative relation between PDL blood flow (as measured by local 125 I clearance) and PDL volume (as measured by tooth position) in shown. The two variables measured are suggested to reflect two aspects of blood flow in the PDL

  5. Systematic Moiety Variations of Ultrashort Peptides Produce Profound Effects on Self-Assembly, Nanostructure Formation, Hydrogelation, and Phase Transition

    KAUST Repository

    Chan, Kiat Hwa

    2017-10-04

    Self-assembly of small biomolecules is a prevalent phenomenon that is increasingly being recognised to hold the key to building complex structures from simple monomeric units. Small peptides, in particular ultrashort peptides containing up to seven amino acids, for which our laboratory has found many biomedical applications, exhibit immense potential in this regard. For next-generation applications, more intricate control is required over the self-assembly processes. We seek to find out how subtle moiety variation of peptides can affect self-assembly and nanostructure formation. To this end, we have selected a library of 54 tripeptides, derived from systematic moiety variations from seven tripeptides. Our study reveals that subtle structural changes in the tripeptides can exert profound effects on self-assembly, nanostructure formation, hydrogelation, and even phase transition of peptide nanostructures. By comparing the X-ray crystal structures of two tripeptides, acetylated leucine-leucine-glutamic acid (Ac-LLE) and acetylated tyrosine-leucine-aspartic acid (Ac-YLD), we obtained valuable insights into the structural factors that can influence the formation of supramolecular peptide structures. We believe that our results have major implications on the understanding of the factors that affect peptide self-assembly. In addition, our findings can potentially assist current computational efforts to predict and design self-assembling peptide systems for diverse biomedical applications.

  6. Predictors of Change in Body Image in Female Participants of an Outdoor Education Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hovey, Kate; Foland, Jody; Foley, John T.; Kniffin, Mike; Bailey, JoEllen

    2016-01-01

    Body image is an ever-changing phenomenon that has a profound effect on women's quality of life. Research related to body image is expansive, but few researchers have focused on how outdoor education may influence body image. This study examines predictors of change in body image of female participants of an outdoor education program. Twenty-eight…

  7. Cesarean Delivery Changes the Natural Position of the Uterus on Transvaginal Ultrasonography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaelin Agten, Andrea; Honart, Anne; Monteagudo, Ana; McClelland, Spencer; Basher, Basmy; Timor-Tritsch, Ilan E

    2018-05-01

    To assess whether cesarean delivery changes the natural position of the uterus. In this retrospective Institutional Review Board-approved cohort study, we conducted a search of our university gynecologic ultrasonography (US) database. Patients with transvaginal US images before and after either vaginal or cesarean delivery between 2012 and 2015 were included. Women with prior cesarean delivery were excluded. Two readers independently measured antepartum and postpartum flexion angles between the longitudinal axis of the uterine body and the cervix. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients to measure inter-reader agreement. Antepartum and postpartum uterine flexion angles were compared between patients with vaginal and cesarean delivery. We included 173 patients (107 vaginal and 66 cesarean delivery). The mean interval between scans ± SD was 18 ± 10 months. Inter-reader agreement for flexion angles was almost perfect (intraclass correlation coefficients: antepartum, 0.939; postpartum, 0.969; both P cesarean delivery (154.8° ± 45.7°) versus vaginal delivery (145.8° ± 43.7°; P = .216). Mean postpartum flexion angles were higher after cesarean delivery (180.4° ± 51.2°) versus vaginal delivery (152.8° ± 47.7°; P = .001. Differences in antepartum and postpartum flexion angles between cesarean and vaginal delivery were statistically significant (25.6° versus 7.0°; P = .027). Cesarean delivery can change the uterine flexion angle to a more retroflexed position. Therefore, all women with a history of cesarean delivery should undergo a transvaginal US examination before any gynecologic surgery or intrauterine device placement to reduce the possibility of surgical complications. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

  8. The Blood Disappearance Rate of 1{sup 98A}u-Colloid and Changes of Hepatic Blood Flow During Position Change in Normal Persons and in Patients with Various Hepatic Diseases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Bo Yeon [Capital Armed Force General Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Kee Suk; Koh, Chang Soon; Lee, Mun Ho [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1977-03-15

    To evaluate the diagnostic significance of the blood disappearance rate of {sup 198}Au-colloid and to evaluate the change of hepatic blood flow during position change from supine to erect, we measured the half time of blood disappearance rate of {sup 198}Au-colloid using external counting method in 94 normal persons and in 77 patients with various hepatic diseases. The results obtained were as follows: 1) In normal control, the mean blood disappearance half time of {sup 198}Au-colloid in supine position was 2.7+-0.4 minutes. There was no significant difference of hepatic blood flow in age and sex. 2) In acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis, the mean blood disappearance half times in supine position were 3.0+-0.45, 3.5+-0.74, 7.2+-3.6 minutes respectively. The hepatic blood flow of the patients with chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis were significantly decreased than that of normal control. 3) In the normal control and acute hepatitis, the decreases of the hepatic blood flow during the position change from supine to erect were 27.7% and 22.6% respectively.

  9. Efforts in enhancing social contacts of persons with severe of profound intellectual and multiple disabilities : Analysing individual support plans in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamstra, Aafke; van der Putten, Annette; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2017-01-01

    Most people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) have limited social contact and it is unclear what is done to maintain or increase these contacts. Individual support planning (ISP) can be used in the systematic enhancement of social contacts. This study analyses the content

  10. Positive Change in Feedback Perceptions and Behavior: A 10-Year Follow-up Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balmer, Dorene F; Tenney-Soeiro, Rebecca; Mejia, Erika; Rezet, Beth

    2018-01-01

    Providing and learning from feedback are essential components of medical education, and typically described as resistant to change. But given a decade of change in the clinical context in which feedback occurs, the authors asked if, and how, perceptions of feedback and feedback behaviors might have changed in response to contextual affordances. In 2017, the authors conducted a follow-up, ethnographic study on 2 general pediatric floors at the same children's hospital where another ethnographic study on a general pediatric floor was conducted in 2007. Data sources included (1) 21 and 34 hours of observation in 2007 and 2017, respectively, (2) 35 and 25 interviews with general pediatric attending physicians and residents in 2007 and 2017, respectively, and (3) a review of 120 program documents spanning 2007 to 2017. Data were coded and organized around 3 recommendations for feedback that were derived from 2007 data and served as standards for assessing change in 2017. Data revealed progress in achieving each recommendation. Compared with 2007, participants in 2017 more clearly distinguished between feedback and evaluation; residents were more aware of in-the-moment feedback, and they had shifted their orientation from evaluation and grades to feedback and learning. Explanations for progress in achieving recommendations, which were derived from the data, pointed to institutional and national influences, namely, the pediatric milestones. On the basis of follow-up, ethnographic data, changes in the clinical context of pediatric education may afford positive change in perceptions of feedback and feedback behavior and point to influences within and beyond the institution. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  11. Changes in Ect2 Localization Couple Actomyosin-Dependent Cell Shape Changes to Mitotic Progression

    OpenAIRE

    Matthews, Helen K.; Delabre, Ulysse; Rohn, Jennifer L.; Guck, Jochen; Kunda, Patricia; Baum, Buzz

    2012-01-01

    Summary As they enter mitosis, animal cells undergo profound actin-dependent changes in shape to become round. Here we identify the Cdk1 substrate, Ect2, as a central regulator of mitotic rounding, thus uncovering a link between the cell-cycle machinery that drives mitotic entry and its accompanying actin remodeling. Ect2 is a RhoGEF that plays a well-established role in formation of the actomyosin contractile ring at mitotic exit, through the local activation of RhoA. We find that Ect2 first...

  12. Single-Lung Transplant Results in Position Dependent Changes in Regional Ventilation: An Observational Case Series Using Electrical Impedance Tomography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kollengode Ramanathan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Lung transplantation is the optimal treatment for end stage lung disease. Donor shortage necessitates single-lung transplants (SLT, yet minimal data exists regarding regional ventilation in diseased versus transplanted lung measured by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT. Method. We aimed to determine regional ventilation in six SLT outpatients using EIT. We assessed end expiratory volume and tidal volumes. End expiratory lung impedance (EELI and Global Tidal Variation of Impedance were assessed in supine, right lateral, left lateral, sitting, and standing positions in transplanted and diseased lungs. A mixed model with random intercept per subject was used for statistical analysis. Results. EELI was significantly altered between diseased and transplanted lungs whilst lying on right and left side. One patient demonstrated pendelluft between lungs and was therefore excluded for further comparison of tidal variation. Tidal variation was significantly higher in the transplanted lung for the remaining five patients in all positions, except when lying on the right side. Conclusion. Ventilation to transplanted lung is better than diseased lung, especially in lateral positions. Positioning in patients with active unilateral lung pathologies will be implicated. This is the first study demonstrating changes in regional ventilation, associated with changes of position between transplanted and diseased lung.

  13. Implementation of an Initial Training Program for New Employees in a Profoundly Mentally and Physically Handicapped Children and Adult Residential Facility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoeft, Linda A.

    A project was designed to reduce the turnover of direct care staff in a community-based residential facility that provides a home and educational or adult day training services for 54 severely or profoundly mentally and physically handicapped children and adults. The project sought to reduce total staff turnover by 40%, reduce employee…

  14. Secrets for Survival: The Training Program for Teachers of the Severely/Profoundly Handicapped (S/PH). Description of Teacher Inservice Education Materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Education Association, Washington, DC. Project on Utilization of Inservice Education R & D Outcomes.

    As a description of a "survival kit" for teachers confronted with the instruction of severely/profoundly handicapped children, complete information with regard to purposes of the kit, printed and audiovisual contents, scope and sequencing of topics for the six training modules, and activities and resources involved in the use of the kit is…

  15. Facing climate change in forests and fields: U.S. Forest Service taps into science-management partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amy Daniels; Nancy Shaw; Dave Peterson; Keith Nislow; Monica Tomosy; Mary Rowland

    2014-01-01

    As a growing body of science shows, climate change impacts on wildlife are already profound—from shifting species’ ranges and altering the synchronicity of food sources to changing the availability of water. Such impacts are only expected to increase in the coming decades. As climate change shapes complex, interwoven ecological processes, novel conditions and...

  16. A new type of change blindness: smooth, isoluminant color changes are monitored on a coarse spatial scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goddard, Erin; Clifford, Colin W G

    2013-04-22

    Attending selectively to changes in our visual environment may help filter less important, unchanging information within a scene. Here, we demonstrate that color changes can go unnoticed even when they occur throughout an otherwise static image. The novelty of this demonstration is that it does not rely upon masking by a visual disruption or stimulus motion, nor does it require the change to be very gradual and restricted to a small section of the image. Using a two-interval, forced-choice change-detection task and an odd-one-out localization task, we showed that subjects were slowest to respond and least accurate (implying that change was hardest to detect) when the color changes were isoluminant, smoothly varying, and asynchronous with one another. This profound change blindness offers new constraints for theories of visual change detection, implying that, in the absence of transient signals, changes in color are typically monitored at a coarse spatial scale.

  17. Glacial-Interglacial Changes in the Position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reimi Sipala, M. A.; Marcantonio, F.

    2016-12-01

    The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a key component of tropical hydroclimate. It is associated with a zonally heterogeneous tropical precipitation maximum which affects the lives of billions. The Central Equatorial Pacific, near the Line Islands, is an ideal location to study ITCZ migration in response to global temperature fluctuations. Our study uses dust records recovered from five locations in the CEP. We address changes in dust provenance, and the response of the paleo-ITCZ to glacial-interglacial transitions around the penultimate termination (150 to 110 ka). Pb and Nd isotope ratios can be used as dust provenance tools, and lead to accurate reconstructions of paleo-ITCZ position, which are decoupled from rainfall intensity and dust flux. Five cores, along a meridional transect at approximately 160° W, give us access to unprecedented high spatial resolution records with core samples at: 0.48° N (ML1208-17PC), 1.27° N (ML1208-20BB), 2.97° N (ML1208-28BB), 4.68° N (ML1208-31BB), and 7.04° N (ML1208-31BB). Our preliminary data suggests that at the location of the equatorial core (17PC) dust is predominantly sourced from South America (average ɛNd = -4.4), but during Heinrich Stadial 11 ( 136-129 ka) there is a rapid isotopic excursion (-3 ɛNd units). This suggests an abrupt change in dust provenance to the CEP potentially associated with an increased influence of northern hemisphere dust. We will present Pb isotope data to further constrain this finding, and discuss the implications of the results for models of abrupt climate change.

  18. Ellagic Acid-Changed Epigenome of Ribosomal Genes and Condensed RPA194-Positive Regions of Nucleoli in Tumour Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legartová, S; Sbardella, G; Kozubek, S; Bártová, E

    2015-01-01

    We studied the effect of ellagic acid (EA) on the morphology of nucleoli and on the pattern of major proteins of the nucleolus. After EA treatment of HeLa cells, we observed condensation of nucleoli as documented by the pattern of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs). EA also induced condensation of RPA194-positive nucleolar regions, but no morphological changes were observed in nucleolar compartments positive for UBF1/2 proteins or fibrillarin. Studied morphological changes induced by EA were compared with the morphology of control, non-treated cells and with pronounced condensation of all nucleolar domains caused by actinomycin D (ACT-D) treatment. Similarly as ACT-D, but in a lesser extent, EA induced an increased number of 53BP1-positive DNA lesions. However, the main marker of DNA lesions, γH2AX, was not accumulated in body-like nuclear structures. An increased level of γH2AX was found by immunofluorescence and Western blots only after EA treatment. Intriguingly, the levels of fibrillarin, UBF1/2 and γH2AX were increased at the promoters of ribosomal genes, while 53BP1 and CARM1 levels were decreased by EA treatment at these genomic regions. In the entire genome, EA reduced H3R17 dimethylation. Taken together, ellagic acid is capable of significantly changing the nucleolar morphology and protein levels inside the nucleolus.

  19. Positioning consumption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halkier, Bente; Keller, Margit

    2014-01-01

    positionings emerges based on empirical examples of research in parent–children consumption. Positionings are flexible discursive fixations of the relationship between the performances of the practitioner, other practitioners, media discourse and consumption activities. The basic positioning types...... are the practice maintenance and the practice change position, with different sorts of adapting in between. Media discourse can become a resource for a resistant position against social control or for an appropriating position in favour of space for action. Regardless of the current relation to a particular media......This article analyses the ways in which media discourses become a part of contested consumption activities. We apply a positioning perspective with practice theory to focus on how practitioners relate to media discourse as a symbolic resource in their everyday practices. A typology of performance...

  20. Exploration of life experiences of positive growth in long-term childhood cancer survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yoonjung

    2017-10-01

    The aim of this study was to explore experiences of positive growth in long-term childhood cancer survivors, from their perspective. Fifteen long-term survivors of childhood cancer provided descriptions of their experiences. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and the analysis was based on Giorgi's phenomenological research method. The analysis of positive growth experienced by long-term childhood cancer survivors revealed three themes: self-directed life, normalcy in life, and inner maturity. Long-term survivors defined positive growth as a successful transition to a self-satisfactory life based on motivation acquired through their cancer experience and on subjective goal-setting, as well as becoming cancer-free and living a normal life within society. They seemed to have acquired optimistic, flexible, active attitudes toward life while demonstrating profound gratefulness and consideration of people around them, as well as prudent approaches to health. The findings of this study verified that long-term survivors of childhood cancer have grown positively due to their negative past experience. We expect these findings to contribute to the development of programs that promote positive growth in long-term childhood cancer survivors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Positional and morphologic changes of the temporomandibular joint disc using magnetic resonance imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, Hyoun Suk; Cho, Su Beom; Koh, Kwang Joon

    2001-01-01

    To evaluate displacement and morphologic changes of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc in patient with internal derangement using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). One hundred and forty five MR images of TMJs in 73 patients were evaluated. Positional and morphologic changes of the TMJ disc were assessed. Lateral or medial disc displacement was also evaluated on cornal images. Among 63 discs with anterior disc displacement, 37 discs were assessed as a biconcave disc and 21 as a deformed disc. Rotational disc displacement was observed in 35 disc. Anteromedial disc displacement was observed in 29 discs, and anterolateral direction in 6 discs. Among 35 rotational displacement, 5 biconcave discs and 21 deformed discs were observed. Rotational and sideways displacement of TMJ discs were found to be common and an important aspect of internal derangement. This study also suggests that sagittal and coronal images of the TMJ have complementary abilities for an assessment of joint abnormality

  2. Comparison of Sedentary Behaviors in Office Workers Using Sit-Stand Tables With and Without Semiautomated Position Changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, Dechristian França; Srinivasan, Divya; Mathiassen, Svend Erik; Oliveira, Ana Beatriz

    2017-08-01

    We compared usage patterns of two different electronically controlled sit-stand tables during a 2-month intervention period among office workers. Office workers spend most of their working time sitting, which is likely detrimental to health. Although the introduction of sit-stand tables has been suggested as an effective intervention to decrease sitting time, limited evidence is available on usage patterns of sit-stand tables and whether patterns are influenced by table configuration. Twelve workers were provided with standard sit-stand tables (nonautomated table group) and 12 with semiautomated sit-stand tables programmed to change table position according to a preset pattern, if the user agreed to the system-generated prompt (semiautomated table group). Table position was monitored continuously for 2 months after introducing the tables, as a proxy for sit-stand behavior. On average, the table was in a "sit" position for 85% of the workday in both groups; this percentage did not change significantly during the 2-month period. Switches in table position from sit to stand were, however, more frequent in the semiautomated table group than in the nonautomated table group (0.65 vs. 0.29 hr -1 ; p = .001). Introducing a semiautomated sit-stand table appeared to be an attractive alternative to a standard sit-stand table, because it led to more posture variation. A semiautomated sit-stand table may effectively contribute to making postures more variable among office workers and thus aid in alleviating negative health effects of extensive sitting.

  3. Changing lamp type and position to improve lighting quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anizar; Syahputri, K.; Sari, RM; Rizkya, I.; Hardianti, DA

    2018-03-01

    This study investigates the lighting quality on the production floor in a cigarette paper industry by measuring illumination level and luminance. Cigarette paper inspection is performed manually by operators, and the criteria of defects are the cigarette paper has a hole, is rough and dirty. Operators complain that the room is pretty dark, which makes them unable to see clearly the cigarette paper defect. The government of Indonesia Health Ministerial Decree No 1405 The Year 2002 states that illumination level for continuous manual labor is 200 lux. Illumination level is measured for four days at 08.00, 10.00, 12.30, and 14.00 o’clock with 4 in 1 environmental meter. From the measurement result, it is found that using 7 LED lamps of 60 Watts can produce average illumination level of 70 lux. Low illuminance is caused by illumination level that does not meet the need 0f 569.759 lumen. Alternatives that can be used to increase lumen number are changing lamp type and position. One of the possibilities is using 24 LED of 138 Watts set 5.7 meters apart from one another can meet this demand. Another is using 5 LED of 150 Watts installed above the field of work.

  4. Life in Europe under climate change

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alcamo, J.; Olesen, Jørgen E

    Life in Europe will indeed go on as the climate changes, but not in the same way as before. The air will be warmer, winds will change, patterns of rainfall and snowfall will alter, and sea level is likely to rise. These phenomena are already being seen. Europe will in the future experience marked...... changes in vegetation cover, increased floods along rivers and coastlines as well as more frequent droughts and forest fires, often leading to large societal costs. The changes will be minor in some cases, profound in others, but in any case, pervasive.......Life in Europe will indeed go on as the climate changes, but not in the same way as before. The air will be warmer, winds will change, patterns of rainfall and snowfall will alter, and sea level is likely to rise. These phenomena are already being seen. Europe will in the future experience marked...

  5. Positive effect of Chang Run Tong on colonic remodeling in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and mechanisms involved

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhao, Jingbo; Sha, Hong; Gregersen, Hans

    2015-01-01

    Objective: It has been documented that the Chinese medicine Chang Run Tong (CRT) has a positive effect on constipation which is a prominent symptom in diabetic patients. This present study investigated the effect and the possible mechanism of CRT on colonic remodeling in streptozotocin (STZ...

  6. X-cephalometric study of different parts of the upper airway space and changes in hyoid position following mandibular fractures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, L-J; Zhao, M-C; Pan, X-F; Wei, Y-Q; Wang, D-Y

    2013-09-01

    This study analyses the different parts of the upper airway space and the changes in hyoid position. The results provide a clinical reference for developing timely and effective treatment programmes for patients with mandibular fractures caused by maxillofacial trauma. Standard X-cephalometric measurements of the lateral skull of 210 subjects were taken. The subjects were divided into four fracture groups: condylar, mandibular angle, mandibular body, and parasymphyseal. The radiographs of the mandibular fracture groups were compared with the normal occlusion group to analyse the upper airway space and the changes in hyoid position. Different types of fractures have different effects on the upper airway space. Bilateral mandibular body fracture and the parasymphyseal fracture have a significant influence on the lower oropharyngeal and laryngopharyngeal airway spaces, with serious obstructions severely restricting the ventilatory function of patients. Fractures at different parts of the mandibular structure are closely related to the upper airway and hyoid position.

  7. Reversal of rocuronium-induced (1.2 mg kg-1) profound neuromuscular block by accidental high dose of sugammadex (40 mg kg-1).

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Molina, A.L.; Boer, H.D. de; Klimek, M.; Heeringa, M.; Klein, J.

    2007-01-01

    Sugammadex is the first selective relaxant binding agent and reverses rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block. A case is reported in which a patient accidentally received a high dose of sugammadex (40 mg kg-1) to reverse a rocuronium-induced (1.2 mg kg-1) profound neuromuscular block. A fast and

  8. The Profound Power of Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brendtro, Larry K.; Mitchell, Martin L.

    2010-01-01

    Decades of studies show that children's behavior is shaped by relationships in the "social ecology" of family, peers, school, and community. But in recent decades the prevailing scientific dogma was that genes determine destiny. Now it is clear that experience changes genes. For better or worse, environmental experiences including nutrition,…

  9. Time to Amyloid Positivity and Preclinical Changes in Brain Metabolism, Atrophy, and Cognition: Evidence for Emerging Amyloid Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip S. Insel

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Aβ pathology is associated with longitudinal changes of brain metabolism, atrophy, and cognition, in cognitively healthy elders. However, Aβ information is usually measured cross-sectionally and dichotomized to classify subjects as Aβ-positive or Aβ-negative, making it difficult to evaluate when brain and cognitive changes occur with respect to emerging Aβ pathology. In this study, we use longitudinal Aβ information to combine the level and rate of change of Aβ to estimate the time to Aβ-positivity for each subject and test this temporal proximity to significant Aβ pathology for associations with brain structure, metabolism, and cognition.Methods: In 89 cognitively healthy elders with up to 10 years of follow-up, we estimated the points at which rates of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET, MRI, and cognitive and functional decline begin to accelerate with respect to the time to Aβ-positivity. Points of initial acceleration in rates of decline were estimated using mixed-effects models with penalized regression splines.Results: Acceleration of rates of FDG PET were observed to occur 20+ years before the conventional threshold for Aβ-positivity. Subtle signs of cognitive dysfunction were observed 10+ years before Aβ-positivity.Conclusions: Aβ may have subtle associations with other hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease before Aβ biomarkers reach conventional thresholds for Aβ-positivity. Therefore, we propose that emerging Aβ pathology occurs many years before cognitively healthy elders reach the current threshold for Aβ positivity (preclinical AD. To allow prevention in the earliest disease stages, AD clinical trials may be designed to also include subjects with Aβ biomarkers in the sub-threshold range.

  10. Uncertainty principle for angular position and angular momentum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franke-Arnold, Sonja; Barnett, Stephen M; Yao, Eric; Leach, Jonathan; Courtial, Johannes; Padgett, Miles

    2004-01-01

    The uncertainty principle places fundamental limits on the accuracy with which we are able to measure the values of different physical quantities (Heisenberg 1949 The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory (New York: Dover); Robertson 1929 Phys. Rev. 34 127). This has profound effects not only on the microscopic but also on the macroscopic level of physical systems. The most familiar form of the uncertainty principle relates the uncertainties in position and linear momentum. Other manifestations include those relating uncertainty in energy to uncertainty in time duration, phase of an electromagnetic field to photon number and angular position to angular momentum (Vaccaro and Pegg 1990 J. Mod. Opt. 37 17; Barnett and Pegg 1990 Phys. Rev. A 41 3427). In this paper, we report the first observation of the last of these uncertainty relations and derive the associated states that satisfy the equality in the uncertainty relation. We confirm the form of these states by detailed measurement of the angular momentum of a light beam after passage through an appropriate angular aperture. The angular uncertainty principle applies to all physical systems and is particularly important for systems with cylindrical symmetry

  11. Airmanship on the Ground: How the Aviation Industry Can Fundamentally Change the Way First Responders Manage Complex Emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-03-01

    pushback on the part of many in the medical profession was profound when the subject was first broached. As stated in the work of Gordon, Mendenhall...changing that future approach. Asking police and fire agencies to completely change their pre-shift procedure will likely cause pushback amongst all levels

  12. A vascular mechanism to explain thermally mediated variations in deep-body cooling rates during the immersion of profoundly hyperthermic individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldwell, Joanne N; van den Heuvel, Anne M J; Kerry, Pete; Clark, Mitchell J; Peoples, Gregory E; Taylor, Nigel A S

    2018-04-01

    What is the central question of this study? Does the cold-water immersion (14°C) of profoundly hyperthermic individuals induce reductions in cutaneous and limb blood flow of sufficient magnitude to impair heat loss relative to the size of the thermal gradient? What is the main finding and its importance? The temperate-water cooling (26°C) of profoundly hyperthermic individuals was found to be rapid and reproducible. A vascular mechanism accounted for that outcome, with temperature-dependent differences in cutaneous and limb blood flows observed during cooling. Decisions relating to cooling strategies must be based upon deep-body temperature measurements that have response dynamics consistent with the urgency for cooling. Physiologically trivial time differences for cooling the intrathoracic viscera of hyperthermic individuals have been reported between cold- and temperate-water immersion treatments. One explanation for that observation is reduced convective heat delivery to the skin during cold immersion, and this study was designed to test both the validity of that observation, and its underlying hypothesis. Eight healthy men participated in four head-out water immersions: two when normothermic, and two after exercise-induced, moderate-to-profound hyperthermia. Two water temperatures were used within each thermal state: temperate (26°C) and cold (14°C). Tissue temperatures were measured at three deep-body sites (oesophagus, auditory canal and rectum) and eight skin surfaces, with cutaneous vascular responses simultaneously evaluated from both forearms (laser-Doppler flowmetry and venous-occlusion plethysmography). During the cold immersion of normothermic individuals, oesophageal temperature decreased relative to baseline (-0.31°C over 20 min; P immersed in cold rather than in temperate water (P immersion, whereas pronounced constriction was evident during both immersions when subjects were hyperthermic, with the colder water eliciting a greater vascular

  13. The changing strategic roles for warehousing in an emerging economy: case study in Ukraine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Boer, S.J.; Voordijk, Johannes T.

    2014-01-01

    The increasing globalisation of the world economy is having a profound impact on logistics. Emerging economies are experiencing rapid developments that affect their warehousing facilities. The purpose of this study is to explore the strategic roles that warehousing plays and the changes therein.

  14. Change Blindness in Pigeons (Columba livia: the Effects of Change Salience and Timing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walter Troy Herbranson

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Change blindness is a well-established phenomenon in humans, in which plainly visible changes in the environment go unnoticed. Recently a parallel change blindness phenomenon has been demonstrated in pigeons. The reported experiment follows up on this finding by investigating whether change salience affects change blindness in pigeons the same way it affects change blindness in humans. Birds viewed alternating displays of randomly generated lines back-projected onto three response keys, with one or more line features on a single key differing between consecutive displays. Change salience was manipulated by varying the number of line features that changed on the critical response key. Results indicated that change blindness is reduced if a change is made more salient, and this matches previous human results. Furthermore, accuracy patterns indicate that pigeons’ effective search area expanded over the course of a trial to encompass a larger portion of the stimulus environment. Thus, the data indicate two important aspects of temporal cognition. First, the timing of a change has a profound influence on whether or not that change will be perceived. Second, pigeons appear to engage in a serial search for changes, in which additional time is required to search additional locations.

  15. The effect of consumer pressure and abiotic stress on positive plant interactions are mediated by extreme climatic events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filazzola, Alessandro; Liczner, Amanda Rae; Westphal, Michael; Lortie, Christopher J

    2018-01-01

    Environmental extremes resulting from a changing climate can have profound implications for plant interactions in desert communities. Positive interactions can buffer plant communities from abiotic stress and consumer pressure caused by climatic extremes, but limited research has explored this empirically. We tested the hypothesis that the mechanism of shrub facilitation on an annual plant community can change with precipitation extremes in deserts. During years of extreme drought and above-average rainfall in a desert, we measured plant interactions and biomass while manipulating a soil moisture gradient and reducing consumer pressure. Shrubs facilitated the annual plant community at all levels of soil moisture through reductions in microclimatic stress in both years and herbivore protection in the wet year only. Shrub facilitation and the high rainfall year contributed to the dominance of a competitive annual species in the plant community. Precipitation patterns in deserts determine the magnitude and type of facilitation mechanisms. Moreover, shrub facilitation mediates the interspecific competition within the associated annual community between years with different rainfall amounts. Examining multiple drivers during extreme climate events is a challenging area of research, but it is a necessary consideration given forecasts predicting that these events will increase in frequency and magnitude. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  16. Some basic facts about climate change: global warming and greenhouse effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaudhry, Q.

    1993-01-01

    Climate change is one of the most profound challenges facing humidity today, Growing awareness of the problems inspired a surge of research in the relevant fields. but most of it in the form of highly technical reports which are not always comprehensible to non specialists. As a results, they often lack the authoritative but accessible information that they really need to understand the whole issue of this climate change. In this article answers to some of the very basic questions arising in the minds of general reader regarding the climate change are given. (author)

  17. Young Voices on Climate Change: The Paul F-Brandwein 2010 NSTA Lecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherry, Lynne

    2011-01-01

    Lynne Cherry Brandwein Lecture March 2010 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference, Philadelphia, PA. Young Voices on Climate Change: Inspired and Empowered Youth Tackle Climate Science and Find Climate Solutions. As a child, Lynne Cherry was profoundly connected to the natural world and a special place. She watched the destruction…

  18. Intergroup Contact and Social Change: Implications of Negative and Positive Contact for Collective Action in Advantaged and Disadvantaged Groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reimer, Nils Karl; Becker, Julia C; Benz, Angelika; Christ, Oliver; Dhont, Kristof; Klocke, Ulrich; Neji, Sybille; Rychlowska, Magdalena; Schmid, Katharina; Hewstone, Miles

    2017-01-01

    Previous research has shown that (a) positive intergroup contact with an advantaged group can discourage collective action among disadvantaged-group members and (b) positive intergroup contact can encourage advantaged-group members to take action on behalf of disadvantaged outgroups. Two studies investigated the effects of negative as well as positive intergroup contact. Study 1 ( n = 482) found that negative but not positive contact with heterosexual people was associated with sexual-minority students' engagement in collective action (via group identification and perceived discrimination). Among heterosexual students, positive and negative contacts were associated with, respectively, more and less LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) activism. Study 2 ( N = 1,469) found that only negative contact (via perceived discrimination) predicted LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) students' collective action intentions longitudinally while only positive contact predicted heterosexual/cisgender students' LGBT activism. Implications for the relationship between intergroup contact, collective action, and social change are discussed.

  19. Accentuate the Positive: Positive Sentiments and Status in Task Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianchi, Alison J.; Lancianese, Donna A.

    2007-01-01

    We explore the capacity of positive sentiments, those enduring affective states one achieves when one likes another, to impact status structures. Do positive sentiments combine with existing aspects of interaction to create status hierarchies and potentially change the social order, or do they moderate the effects of extant structure by dampening…

  20. The Times They Are Changing?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The Times They Are Changing? presents a series of readings that critically examine whether the recent financial crisis will have short-lived implications for welfare states or will usher in a new era of substantial reform and retrenchment of social policies in welfare states around the world....... Contributors include policy researchers and academics from several countries in Western Europe, as well as the South Pacific and USA. Various national and regional case studies reveal the profound impact the financial crisis is having on policies implemented by welfare states as well as on our perceptions...

  1. Cortical perfusion response to an electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in profoundly deaf patients: Study with technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime single photon emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Scao, Y.; Robier, A.; Beuter, P.; Baulieu, J.L.; Pourcelot, L.

    1992-01-01

    Brain activation procedures associated with single photon emission tomography (SPET) have recently been developed in healthy controls and diseased patients in order to help in their diagnosis and treatment. We investigated the effects of a promontory test (PT) on the cerebral distribution of technetium-99m hexamethyl-propylene amine oxime ( 99m Tc-HMPAO) in 7 profoundly deaf patients, 6 PT+ and PT-. The count variation in the temporal lobe was calculated on 6 coronal slices using the ratio (R stimulation -R deprivation )/R deprivation where R=counts in the temporal lobe was observed in all patients and was higher in all patients with PT+ than in the patient with PT-. The problems of head positioning and resolution of the system were taken into account, and we considered that the maximal count increment was related to the auditory cortex response to the stimulus. Further clinical investigations with high-resolution systems have to be performed in order to validate this presurgery test in cochlear implant assessment. (orig.)

  2. Teen options for change: an intervention for young emergency patients who screen positive for suicide risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Cheryl A; Gipson, Polly Y; Horwitz, Adam G; Opperman, Kiel J

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has documented the feasibility of screening in emergency departments for adolescent suicide risk. This randomized trial examined the effectiveness of Teen Options for Change (TOC), an intervention for adolescents seeking general medical emergency services who screen positive for suicide risk. Participants were 49 youths, ages 14 to 19, seeking services for nonpsychiatric emergencies. They screened positive for suicide risk because of recent suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or depression plus substance abuse. Youths were randomly assigned to the TOC intervention or to enhanced treatment as usual. Depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation were assessed at baseline and two months later. Adolescents assigned to TOC showed greater reductions in depression than adolescents assigned to the comparison group (Cohen's d=1.07, a large effect size). Hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse outcomes trended positively (nonsignificantly), with small to moderate effect sizes. TOC may be a promising, brief intervention for adolescents seeking emergency services and at risk of suicide.

  3. Relabelling behaviour : The effects of psycho-education on the perceived severity and causes of challenging behaviour in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poppes, P.; Putten, van der Annette; Post, W.; Frans, N.; ten Brug, A.; van Es, A.; Vlaskamp, C.

    2016-01-01

    BackgroundPrevalence rates of challenging behaviour are high in children and adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Moreover, many of these behaviours are observed daily. Direct support staff report that most challenging behaviour identified has little impact on the

  4. Estimation of pulmonary hypertension by perfusion lung scintigraphy: Gravitational effect of postural changes between the lateral decubitus positions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Masao; Fujii, Tadashige; Hirayama, Jiro; Okubo, Shinichi; Sekiguchi, Morie

    1990-01-01

    To estimate pulmonary hypertension in patients with various heart diseases, we devised a new method using perfusion lung scintigraphy with 99m Tc-labelled macroaggregated albumin. In this method, changes in the distribution of pulmonary perfusion caused by gravitational effects, namely, changes in the total count ratios of the right lung against the left lung between right and left lateral decubitus positions (rt/lt), were assessed in 62 patients and in 10 normal subjects. The rt/lt ratios were calculated as indices of the above changes. They correlated significantly with mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) (γ=-0.62, P<0.001), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (γ=-0.63, P<0.001) and pulmonary arteriolar resistance (γ=0.50, P<0.001) in all subjects. In 17 patients with valvular heart diseases, the ratio correlated significantly with mPAP (γ=-0.84, P<0.001). In 10 patients with various heart diseases, the U/S ratio, i.e. the index of changes in the count ratios of the upper field against the lower field for the right lung following postural change from the uprigth to the supine position, was also obtained as well as the rt/lt ratio. The latter evidenced a better correlation with mPAP (γ=-0.90, P<0.001) than the former (γ=-0.64, P<0.05). We conclude that this method is valuable as a noninvasive approach for the estimation of pulmonary hypertension. (orig.)

  5. A State-of-the-Art Survey of Indoor Positioning and Navigation Systems and Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilson Sakpere

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The research and use of positioning and navigation technologies outdoors has seen a steady and exponential growth. Based on this success, there have been attempts to implement these technologies indoors, leading to numerous studies. Most of the algorithms, techniques and technologies used have been implemented outdoors. However, how they fare indoors is different altogether. Thus, several technologies have been proposed and implemented to improve positioning and navigation indoors. Among them are Infrared (IR, Ultrasound, Audible Sound, Magnetic, Optical and Vision, Radio Frequency (RF, Visible Light, Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR/Inertial Navigation System (INS and Hybrid. The RF technologies include Bluetooth, Ultra-wideband (UWB, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID and Near Field Communication (NFC. In addition, positioning techniques applied in indoor positioning systems include the signal properties and positioning algorithms. The prevalent signal properties are Angle of Arrival (AOA, Time of Arrival (TOA, Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA and Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI, while the positioning algorithms are Triangulation, Trilateration, Proximity and Scene Analysis/ Fingerprinting. This paper presents a state-of-the-art survey of indoor positioning and navigation systems and technologies, and their use in various scenarios. It analyses distinct positioning technology metrics such as accuracy, complexity, cost, privacy, scalability and usability. This paper has profound implications for future studies of positioning and navigation.

  6. Impacts of fire and climate change on long-term nitrogen availability and forest productivity in the New Jersey Pine Barrens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melissa S. Lucash; Robert M. Scheller; Alec M. Kretchun; Kenneth L. Clark; John. Hom

    2014-01-01

    Increased wildfires and temperatures due to climate change are expected to have profound effects on forest productivity and nitrogen (N) cycling. Forecasts about how wildfire and climate change will affect forests seldom consider N availability, which may limit forest response to climate change, particularly in fire-prone landscapes. The overall objective of this study...

  7. Positive Youth Action towards Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buttigieg, Karen; Pace, Paul

    2013-01-01

    This study focuses on the experiences of young people who are leaders of change in the environmental field. This study views environmental activism as a personal commitment towards pro-environmental behaviour. The motivations and challenges of such work are viewed as important to learn more not only about volunteering in environmental…

  8. Changes in Chinese Education under Globalisation and Market Economy: Emerging Issues and Debates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Shibao; Guo, Yan; Beckett, Gulbahar; Li, Qing; Guo, Linyuan

    2013-01-01

    Fuelled by forces of globalisation, China has gradually shifted from a centrally planned economy to the "socialist market economy". This study examines changes in Chinese education under globalisation and market economy, focusing on the teaching and living conditions of teachers. The study reveals that the profound transformation of…

  9. Opening Science : The Evolving Guide on How the Internet is Changing Research, Collaboration and Scholarly Publishing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bartling, Sönke; Friesike, S.C.

    2014-01-01

    Modern information and communication technologies, together with a cultural upheaval within the research community, have profoundly changed research in nearly every aspect. Ranging from sharing and discussing ideas in social networks for scientists to new collaborative environments and novel

  10. Negative and positive life events are associated with small but lasting change in neuroticism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeronimus, B F; Ormel, J; Aleman, A; Penninx, B W J H; Riese, H

    2013-11-01

    High neuroticism is prospectively associated with psychopathology and physical health. However, within-subject changes in neuroticism due to life experiences (LEs) or state effects of current psychopathology are largely unexplored. In this 2-year follow-up study, four hypotheses were tested: (1) positive LEs (PLEs) decrease and negative LEs (NLEs) increase neuroticism; (2) LE-driven change in neuroticism is partly long-lasting; and (3) partly independent of LE-driven changes in anxiety/depression; and (4) childhood adversity (before age 16 years) moderates the influence of NLEs/PLEs on neuroticism scores in adult life. Data came from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety [NESDA, n = 2981, mean age 41.99 years (s.d. = 13.08), 66.6% women]. At follow-up (T₂) we assessed PLEs/NLEs with the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) over the prior 24 months and categorized them over recent and distant PLE/NLE measures (1-3 and 4-24 months prior to T₂ respectively) to distinguish distant NLE/PLE-driven change in trait neuroticism (using the Dutch version of the Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Five Factor Inventory, NEO-FFI) from state deviations due to changes in symptoms of depression (self-rated version of the 30-item Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, IDS-SR30) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI). Distant NLEs were associated with higher and distant PLEs with lower neuroticism scores. The effects of distant LEs were weak but long-lasting, especially for distant PLEs. Distant NLE-driven change in neuroticism was associated with change in symptoms of anxiety/depression whereas the effect of distant PLEs on neuroticism was independent of any such changes. Childhood adversity weakened the impact of distant NLEs but enhanced the impact of distant PLEs on neuroticism. Distant PLEs are associated with small but long-lasting decreases in neuroticism regardless of changes in symptom levels of anxiety/depression. Long-lasting increases in neuroticism

  11. Simultaneous versus Sequential Intratympanic Steroid Treatment for Severe-to-Profound Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Myung Hoon; Lim, Won Sub; Park, Joo Hyun; Kwon, Joong Keun; Lee, Tae-Hoon; An, Yong-Hwi; Kim, Young-Jin; Kim, Jong Yang; Lim, Hyun Woo; Park, Hong Ju

    2016-01-01

    Severe-to-profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) has a poor prognosis. We aimed to compare the efficacy of simultaneous and sequential oral and intratympanic steroids for this condition. Fifty patients with severe-to-profound SSNHL (>70 dB HL) were included from 7 centers. The simultaneous group (27 patients) received oral and intratympanic steroid injections for 2 weeks. The sequential group (23 patients) was treated with oral steroids for 2 weeks and intratympanic steroids for the subsequent 2 weeks. Pure-tone averages (PTA) and word discrimination scores (WDS) were compared before treatment and 2 weeks and 1 and 2 months after treatment. Treatment outcomes according to the modified American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) criteria were also analyzed. The improvement in PTA and WDS at the 2-week follow-up was 23 ± 21 dB HL and 20 ± 39% in the simultaneous group and 31 ± 29 dB HL and 37 ± 42% in the sequential group; this was not statistically significant. Complete or partial recovery at the 2-week follow-up was observed in 26% of the simultaneous group and 30% of the sequential group; this was also not significant. The improvement in PTA and WDS at the 2-month follow-up was 40 ± 20 dB HL and 37 ± 35% in the simultaneous group and 41 ± 25 dB HL and 48 ± 41% in the sequential group; this was not statistically significant. Complete or partial recovery at the 2-month follow-up was observed in 33% of the simultaneous group and 35% of the sequential group; this was also not significant. Seven patients in the sequential group did not need intratympanic steroid injections for sufficient improvement after oral steroids alone. Simultaneous oral/intratympanic steroid treatment yielded a recovery similar to that produced by sequential treatment. Because the addition of intratympanic steroids can be decided upon based on the improvement after an oral steroid, the sequential regimen can be recommended to avoid unnecessary

  12. Feasibility, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability of the Modified Ashworth Scale and Modified Tardieu Scale in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Waninge, A.; Rook, R.A.; Dijkhuizen, A.; Gielen, E.; van der Schans, C.P.

    2011-01-01

    Caregivers of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) often describe the quality of the daily movements of these persons in terms of flexibility or stiffness. Objective outcome measures for flexibility and stiffness are muscle tone or level of spasticity. Two instruments

  13. How do the features of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy contribute to positive therapeutic change? A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cairns, Victoria; Murray, Craig

    2015-05-01

    The exploration of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy through qualitative investigation is a growing area of interest within current literature, providing valuable understanding of the process of change experienced by those engaging in this therapeutic approach. This meta-synthesis aims to gain a deeper understanding of how the features of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy contribute to positive therapeutic change. Noblit and Hare's (1988) 7-step meta-ethnography method was conducted in order to synthesize the findings of seven qualitative studies. The process of reciprocal translation identified the following five major themes: i) Taking control through understanding, awareness and acceptance; ii) The impact of the group; (iii) Taking skills into everyday life; (iv) Feelings towards the self; (v) The role of expectations. The synthesis of translation identified the higher order concept of "The Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Journey to Change", which depicts the complex interaction between the five themes in relation to how they contribute to positive therapeutic change. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research, theory and their implications for clinical practice.

  14. The false positive exercise test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moritani, Kohshiro; Matsuda, Yasuo; Ozaki, Masaharu; Ogawa, Hiroshi; Ichiyama, Masaji; Matsuda, Masako; Kusukawa, Reizo

    1986-01-01

    Exercise tests with sublingual nitroglycerin were performed on 7 patients with true positive and 8 patients with false positive exercise test results. Four of 7 patients with true positive changes and 8 patients with false positive changes underwent exercise cardiac scintigraphy. Scintigrams showed perfusion defects in 4 patients with true positive outcomes, and no perfusion defect in 8 patients with false positive outcomes. Exercise tests with sublingual nitroglycerin were performed with the same load as that without nitroglycerin. In all 7 patients with true positive exercise test results, ST segment depression observed in the control exercise test was not observed in the nitroglycerin exercise test. In the false positive patients, ST segment depression observed in the control exercise test remained unchanged in 7 of 8 patients receiving nitroglycerin. Exercise tests with sublingual nitroglycerin as well as exercise cardiac scintigraphy are valuable tods in differentiating false positive from true positive patients. Furthermore, these data suggest that ST segment depression in the false positive patients may not be related to myocardial ischemia. (author)

  15. Changes in digestive enzyme activity, intestine morphology, mucin characteristics and tocopherol status in mink kits (Mustela neovision) during the weaning period

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hedemann, Mette Skou; Clausen, T.N.; Jensen, Søren Krogh

    2011-01-01

    Weaning of livestock mammals is often associated with digestive problems related to profound changes in the physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. This study was undertaken to study the developmental changes in the gastrointestinal tract of mink kits during the period of 34 to 59 days of age. ...

  16. Mammographic density changes following discontinuation of tamoxifen in premenopausal women with oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Won Hwa; Cho, Nariya; Kim, Young-Seon; Yi, Ann

    2018-04-06

    To evaluate the changes in mammographic density after tamoxifen discontinuation in premenopausal women with oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancers and the underlying factors METHODS: A total of 213 consecutive premenopausal women with breast cancer who received tamoxifen treatment after curative surgery and underwent three mammograms (baseline, after tamoxifen treatment, after tamoxifen discontinuation) were included. Changes in mammographic density after tamoxifen discontinuation were assessed qualitatively (decrease, no change, or increase) by two readers and measured quantitatively by semi-automated software. The association between % density change and clinicopathological factors was evaluated using univariate and multivariate regression analyses. After tamoxifen discontinuation, a mammographic density increase was observed in 31.9% (68/213, reader 1) to 22.1% (47/213, reader 2) by qualitative assessment, with a mean density increase of 1.8% by quantitative assessment compared to density before tamoxifen discontinuation. In multivariate analysis, younger age (≤ 39 years) and greater % density decline after tamoxifen treatment (≥ 17.0%) were independent factors associated with density change after tamoxifen discontinuation (p density change with a mean density increase of 1.8%, which was associated with younger age and greater density change after tamoxifen treatment. • Increased mammographic density after tamoxifen discontinuation can occur in premenopausal women. • Mean density increase after tamoxifen discontinuation was 1.8%. • Density increase is associated with age and density decrease after tamoxifen.

  17. Becoming a normal guy: Men making sense of long-term bodily changes following bariatric surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groven, Karen Synne; Galdas, Paul; Solbrække, Kari Nyheim

    2015-01-01

    To date, research on bodily changes following bariatric surgery has focused predominantly on women, leaving the long-term experience of men relatively unexplored. In this paper, we draw on interviews with men who have undergone an irreversible gastric bypass procedure to explore their bodily changes more than 4 years post-surgery. We apply a phenomenological framework that draws on Leder's perspectives on the "disappearing" and "dys-appearing" body, combined with a gender-sensitive lens that draws on Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity and Robertson's conceptions of embodied masculinity. Our principal finding was that the men negotiated their bodily changes following bariatric surgery in profoundly ambivalent ways. Although they enthusiastically praised the surgery for improving their health, self-esteem, and social functioning, they also emphasized their efforts to cope with post-surgical side effects and life-threatening complications. Our analysis elaborates on their efforts to adjust to and come to terms with these changes, focusing on episodes of hypoglycemia, severe pain and internal herniation, and the significance of physical activity and exercise. Our findings point to the need to acknowledge men's ways of making sense of profound and ongoing bodily changes following bariatric surgery and how these negotiations are closely intertwined with masculine ideals of embodiment and social value.

  18. Review of Positional Nystagmus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Ignacio BENITO-OREJAS

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction and objective: Any change of position of the head (dynamic or static can trigger a nystagmus or increase the spontaneous. This nystagmus we call it positional. We intend to review in this chapter its definition, clinical features, etiology and the way of exploring it. Method: narrative review. Results: Positional vertigo is the most frequent vestibular disorder, and most of the times of peripheral cause. Characteristics of nystagmus or its association with other neurological symptoms are sufficient grounds to request a magnetic resonance, which will provide additional information on very few occasions. Discussion: The study of the positional nystagmus as a procedure to rule out central pathology has lost much of its relevance. Signs that Nylén defined mixed findings peripheral and central, making complex classification. Conclusion: Regardless of how to bring the patient change position (very slow or fast, if it appears an atypical nystagmus should rule out a central origin.

  19. Relabelling Behaviour. The Effects of Psycho-Education on the Perceived Severity and Causes of Challenging Behaviour in People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poppes, P.; van der Putten, A.; Post, W.; Frans, N.; ten Brug, A.; van Es, A.; Vlaskamp, C.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Prevalence rates of challenging behaviour are high in children and adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Moreover, many of these behaviours are observed daily. Direct support staff report that most challenging behaviour identified has little impact on the person with PIMD and attribute challenging…

  20. Nanotechnological Inventions and Nanomaterials Produce A Profound Effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    VLASOV Vladimir Alexeevich

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The inventions in the area of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials produce a profound effect in construction, housing and communal services and adjacent economic fields as they allow us: to increase mechanical strength, coefficient of elasticity, alkali resistance and temperature of products vitrification; to obtain nanostructured coatings with the property of shape memory on the steel; to raise the dynamics of coal burning and its full burnout in the boilers of thermoelectric power station; to produce metal nanopowders with increased stored energy 10–15% etc. For example, the invention «Epoxy composition for high strength, alkali resistant structures» refers to epoxy composition used as a binder for production of high strength, thermal- and alkali-resistant glass-fiber material which can be applied in the manufacture process of construction reinforcement to strengthen concrete structures. The invention «The method to produce nanostructured reaction foil» can be used to join different materials including metal alloys, ceramics, amorphous materials and elements of microelectronic devices that are sensible to the heating. This process provides decreased labour-output ratio and energy consumption as well as the condition to manufacture foil with specified stored energy and high mechanical properties. The invention «The method of intensification of burning lowreactionary coal in the boilers of thermoelectric power station» refers to the thermal energy and can be implemented at the thermal plants. The increased dynamics of inflaming and burning leads to full burnout of powdered-coal low-reactionary fuel and decreased mechanical underfiring. The specialists may be also interested in the following inventions: fine dispersed organic suspension of carbon metal-containing nanostructures and the method to produce it; the dispersion of carbon nanotubes; the composition for reinforcement of building structures; the reinforced plate element made of

  1. ECA&D and E-OBS: High-resolution datasets for monitoring climate change and effects on viticulture in Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Photiadou Christiana; Fontes Natacha; Rocha Graça Antonio; Schrier Gerard van der

    2017-01-01

    Climate change and climate variability profoundly affect the production of wine. When facing a changing climate, the characteristics of wine produced in each region will change while the natural year-to-year variations in climate will increase variability of income for wine businesses and therefore affect profitability and economic resilience. The challenge posed to the viticulture community is thus to closely monitor these changes to be able to adapt business practices. The European Climate ...

  2. POSITIVE LIFE CHANGE AND RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY - A 3-STAGE LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF PRIMARY-CARE ATTENDERS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    LEENSTRA, AS; ORMEL, J; GIEL, R

    Background. The objective was to examine the relationship between positive life change (PLC) and recovery from depression and anxiety. Following Brown at al (1988, 1992), we hypothesised: (a) that an excess of PLC would be found in the 8-month period before recovery compared with base rates ('excess

  3. A Micro-Ethnographic Study of the Communication/Language Development in a Japanese Child with Profound Hearing Loss before and after Cochlear Implantation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kretschmer, Richard R.; Kretschmer, Laura; Kuwahara, Katsura; Truax, Roberta

    2010-01-01

    This study described the communication and spoken language development of a Japanese girl with profound hearing loss who used a cochlear implant from 19 months of age. The girl, Akiko, was born in Belgium where her family was living at that time. After she was identified as deaf at birth, she and her parents were provided with support services.…

  4. Gray Wave of the Great Transformation: A Satellite View of Urbanization, Climate Change, and Food Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imhoff, Marc Lee; Kamiell, Arnon Menahem

    2010-01-01

    Land cover change driven by human activity is profoundly affecting Earth's natural systems with impacts ranging from a loss of biological diversity to changes in regional and global climate. This change has been so pervasive and progressed so rapidly, compared to natural processes, scientists refer to it as "the great transformation". Urbanization or the 'gray wave' of land transformation is being increasingly recognized as an important process in global climate change. A hallmark of our success as a species, large urban conglomerates do in fact alter the land surface so profoundly that both local climate and the basic ecology of the landscape are affected in ways that have consequences to human health and economic well-being. Fortunately we have incredible new tools for planning and developing urban places that are both enjoyable and sustainable. A suite of Earth observing satellites is making it possible to study the interactions between urbanization, biological processes, and weather and climate. Using these Earth Observatories we are learning how urban heat islands form and potentially ameliorate them, how urbanization can affect rainfall, pollution, and surface water recharge at the local level and climate and food security globally.

  5. Supporting End of Life Decision Making: Case Studies of Relational Closeness in Supported Decision Making for People with Severe or Profound Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Joanne; Wilson, Erin; Hagiliassis, Nick

    2017-01-01

    Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) promotes the use of supported decision making in lieu of substitute decision making. To date, there has been a lack of focus on supported decision making for people with severe or profound intellectual disability, including for end of life decisions.…

  6. Existence of Positive Solutions to Singular -Laplacian General Dirichlet Boundary Value Problems with Sign Changing Nonlinearity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiying Wei

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available By using the well-known Schauder fixed point theorem and upper and lower solution method, we present some existence criteria for positive solution of an -point singular -Laplacian dynamic equation on time scales with the sign changing nonlinearity. These results are new even for the corresponding differential (=ℝ and difference equations (=ℤ, as well as in general time scales setting. As an application, an example is given to illustrate the results.

  7. POSITIONING STRATEGIES DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shakhshir Ghassan

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The positioning strategy has suffered serious changes in the last few decades, being influenced by the rapid development of competition and the growing focus on specific traits belonging to the market, to the consumer or to the product. The purpose of this paper is to present the developments of theoretical positioning strategies and the orientation from more simple, product oriented strategies, to ones more oriented towards the client and with a briefer period of time. The world is moving in a much faster pace than in the past, thanks to communication development so companies are obliged to adopt more specific strategies in order for them to be effective. This essay represents a literary review presenting a documentary research within the scientific articles and strategy and positioning books. The paper begins with the analysis of company strategies and the marketing strategies in general. The first author to group the product positioning strategies is Porter with his three generic strategies. Following the development of brands and because of the lack of competitiveness in the simple generic positioning strategies, this paper has also presented the newer positioning strategies proposed by Kotler, Treacy & Wiersema, and also more complex ones such as Bowman's Strategy Clock and Blankson and Kalafatis positioning strategy based on the type of the consumer. The fast expansion of local brands in all categories has led to mistakes in positioning strategies, categories also presented in the current essay. The results of this study show that new positioning strategies are more and more based on the consumer and market segments and on the product specification - which have also evolved in the last decades. Adaptability to fast changes in the competitive market will represent the future positioning strategies.

  8. Effect of changes in PCO2 and body positions on intraocular pressure during general anaesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hvidberg, A; Kessing, S V; Fernandes, A

    1981-08-01

    Elevated arterial carbon dioxide tension, induced by the administration of CO2 via the respiratory air or by hypoventilation, entailed a gradual increase in the IOP in patients without eye diseases under general anaesthesia. A sudden cessation of CO2 administration or hyperventilation caused such a rapid, simultaneous fall in IOP to values below the initial level that the pressure variations must be of vascular nature, presumably related to changes in choroidal blood volume. The above-mentioned procedures always cause a change in the central venous pressure (CVP) simultaneously with the IOP changes. Alterations of the CVP induced by hydrostatic factors in postural changes, placing the head 15 degrees above or below the horizontal level while keeping the PaCO2 constant, caused IOP changes of the same configuration and magnitude as described above. It is concluded, therefore, that presumably the CO2-conditioned IOP changes are due predominantly to changes in central venous pressure, being one link in a CO2-conditioned action upon the general circulation, entailing passive secondary changes in the choroidal venous blood volume and thereby an influence upon the IOP. On the basis of the present results it appears rational to recommend hyperventilation to keep the PaCO2 between 25 and 30 mm and a 15 degree anti-Trendelenburg position in operations on the eye under general anaesthesia, since both procedures afford a low central venous pressure and consequently a low pressure in the posterior segment of the eye, with its attendant advantages as regards vitreous complications and the insertion of intraocular lenses. Owing to the risk of an unacceptable fall in BP in the combined procedure, a frequent checking of the BP is needed.

  9. Climate change and atopic dermatitis: is there a link?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Giang Huong; Andersen, Louise Kronborg; Davis, Mark Denis P

    2018-06-05

    Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease with a growing health concern, because of its high prevalence and associated low quality of life. The etiology of AD is multifactorial with interaction between various factors such as genetic predisposition, immune, and importantly, environmental factors. Since climate change is associated with a profound shift in environmental factors, we suggest that AD is being influenced by climate change. This review highlights the effects of ultraviolet light, temperature, humidity, pollens, air pollutants, and their interaction between them contributing to the epidemiology and pathophysiology of AD. © 2018 The International Society of Dermatology.

  10. CULTURAL CHANGES IN INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION: THE CASE OF STUDENTS IN ETHNIC TRIQUI UAIM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco A. Romero-Leyva

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Globalization processes have overflowed their colonial influence in all societies that are now separate share ways of living and coexist without the need for physical contact between individuals themselves within it. There are many aspects that transform but it is noteworthy that language as a means of human communication changes every day because communications exercised through virtual networks that have become the ideal and most usual to communicate with each other perverting language and sometimes changing their habits or cultural practices causing profound cultural changes that alter the identity.

  11. Global climate change and vector-borne diseases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginsberg, H.S.

    2002-01-01

    Global warming will have different effects on different diseases because of the complex and idiosynchratic interactions between vectors, hosts, and pathogens that influence transmission dynamics of each pathogen. Human activities, including urbanization, rapid global travel, and vector management, have profound effects on disease transmission that can operate on more rapid time scales than does global climate change. The general concern about global warming encouraging the spread of tropical diseases is legitimate, but the effects vary among diseases, and the ecological implications are difficult to predict.

  12. Osseous changes and condyle position in TMJ tomograms: impact of RDC/TMD clinical diagnoses on agreement between expected and actual findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiese, Mie; Wenzel, Ann; Hintze, Hanne; Petersson, Arne; Knutsson, Kerstin; Bakke, Merete; List, Thomas; Svensson, Peter

    2008-08-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of clinical TMJ diagnosis, gender, and age on the agreement between expected and actual radiographic findings. A total of 204 patients with TMJ symptoms were examined using the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC/TMD). Expected radiographic findings were recorded. TMJ tomograms in closed and open mouth position were assessed for osseous changes and condyle position. Expected and actual findings were compared. Logistic regression analyses were performed with agreement on radiographic findings as the dependent variable and with clinical RDC/TMD diagnoses, gender and age as the independent variables. The number of radiographic findings was mostly underestimated. A clinical diagnosis of osteoarthritis and age increased the chance of overestimating osseous changes. Disc displacement and age decreased the chance of agreement on certain condyle positions. Tomography often revealed unexpected findings. It was not possible to select particular patient groups who would benefit more or less from a radiographic examination.

  13. Vital mitochondrial functions show profound changes during yeast culture ageing

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Volejníková, Andrea; Hlousková, Jana; Sigler, Karel; Pichová, Alena

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 13, č. 1 (2013), s. 7-15 ISSN 1567-1356 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA301/07/0339; GA MŠk ME09043; GA MŠk 1M0570 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : Saccharomyces cerevisiae * chronological ageing * mitochondria Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 2.436, year: 2013

  14. The management of children with Down syndrome and profound hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phelan, E; Pal, R; Henderson, L; Green, K M J; Bruce, I A

    2016-01-01

    Although, the association between Down syndrome (DS) and conductive hearing loss is well recognized, the fact that a small proportion of these children may have a severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss that could benefit from cochlear implantation (CI) is less well understood. The management of significant co-morbidities in children with DS can delay initial diagnosis of hearing impairment and assessment of suitability for CI can likewise be challenging, due to difficulties conditioning to behavioural hearing tests. We performed a retrospective case note review of three children with DS referred to the Manchester Cochlear Implant Programme. Three illustrative cases are described including CI in a 4 years old. Using conventional outcome measurement instruments, the outcome could be considered to be suboptimal with a Categories of Auditory Performance score of 4 at 6 months post-op and at last follow up. In part, this is likely to reflect the delay in implantation, but the role of cognitive impairment must be considered. The cases described emphasize the importance of comprehensive radiological and audiological assessment in children with DS being considered for CI. The influence of cognitive impairment upon outcome of CI must be taken into account, but should not be considered a contra-indication to implantation in children with DS. Benefit that might be considered limited when quantified using existing general outcome measurement instruments, may have a significant impact upon psychosocial development and quality of life in children with significant cognitive impairment, or other additional needs.

  15. Woman to Woman: Coming Together for Positive Change--Using Empowerment and Popular Education to Prevent HIV in Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, Lisa; Wallerstein, Nina; Lucero, Julie; Fredine, Heidi Grace; Keefe, Joanna; O'Connell, JoAnne

    2006-01-01

    HIV risk is the product of social, cultural, economic, and interpersonal forces that create sex-role definitions and expectations that can lead to gender inequalities in health. Woman to Woman: Coming Together for Positive Change is an HIV/AIDS prevention intervention that takes into account that choices and actions may be constrained by poverty,…

  16. Different percentages of false-positive results obtained using five methods for the calculation of reference change values based on simulated normal and ln-normal distributions of data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Flemming; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Fraser, Callum G

    2016-01-01

    a homeostatic set point that follows a normal (Gaussian) distribution. This set point (or baseline in steady-state) should be estimated from a set of previous samples, but, in practice, decisions based on reference change value are often based on only two consecutive results. The original reference change value......-positive results. The aim of this study was to investigate false-positive results using five different published methods for calculation of reference change value. METHODS: The five reference change value methods were examined using normally and ln-normally distributed simulated data. RESULTS: One method performed...... best in approaching the theoretical false-positive percentages on normally distributed data and another method performed best on ln-normally distributed data. The commonly used reference change value method based on two results (without use of estimated set point) performed worst both on normally...

  17. Cortical perfusion response to an electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in profoundly deaf patients: Study with technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime single photon emission tomography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Le Scao, Y.; Robier, A.; Beuter, P. (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 37 - Tours (France). Dept. of Otorhinolaryngology); Baulieu, J.L.; Pourcelot, L. (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 37 - Tours (France). Dept. of Nuclear Medicine)

    1992-04-01

    Brain activation procedures associated with single photon emission tomography (SPET) have recently been developed in healthy controls and diseased patients in order to help in their diagnosis and treatment. We investigated the effects of a promontory test (PT) on the cerebral distribution of technetium-99m hexamethyl-propylene amine oxime ({sup 99m}Tc-HMPAO) in 7 profoundly deaf patients, 6 PT+ and PT-. The count variation in the temporal lobe was calculated on 6 coronal slices using the ratio (R{sub stimulation}-R{sub deprivation})/R{sub deprivation} where R=counts in the temporal lobe was observed in all patients and was higher in all patients with PT+ than in the patient with PT-. The problems of head positioning and resolution of the system were taken into account, and we considered that the maximal count increment was related to the auditory cortex response to the stimulus. Further clinical investigations with high-resolution systems have to be performed in order to validate this presurgery test in cochlear implant assessment. (orig.).

  18. Cortical perfusion response to an electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in profoundly deaf patients: study with technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime single photon emission tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Scao, Y; Robier, A; Baulieu, J L; Beutter, P; Pourcelot, L

    1992-01-01

    Brain activation procedures associated with single photon emission tomography (SPET) have recently been developed in healthy controls and diseased patients in order to help in their diagnosis and treatment. We investigated the effects of a promontory test (PT) on the cerebral distribution of technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) in 7 profoundly deaf patients, 6 PT+ and one PT-. The count variation in the temporal lobe was calculated on 6 coronal slices using the ratio (Rstimulation-Rdeprivation)/Rdeprivation where R = counts in the temporal lobe/whole-brain count. A count increase in the temporal lobe was observed in all patients and was higher in all patients with PT+ than in the patient with PT-. The problems of head positioning and resolution of the system were taken into account, and we considered that the maximal count increment was related to the auditory cortex response to the stimulus. Further clinical investigations with high-resolution systems have to be performed in order to validate this presurgery test in cochlear implant assessment.

  19. Moving Beyond the “Lump-Sum”: A Case Study of Partnership for Positive Social Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Bunde-Birouste

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Based on a foundation of an integrated sport program for positive social change and health promotion, this paper presents a case study of the relationship between a corporate sponsor (JP Morgan, and a community-based health promotion/social change organization (Football United. The paper articulates the various issues that arise in management of such a program, and the involvement of sponsors in its operation. Illustrated through the JP Morgan - Football United case study, the paper explores: the difficulties of maintaining a program that remains faithful to the expectations and demands of each stakeholder group involved; the challenges involved in harnessing support for a program when moving beyond the one-dimensional transfer of funds; the different needs and expectations of/for volunteers this type of complex health promotion intervention. This case study has been written to propose that an “integrated partnership” between a corporate body and a social change organization can produce significant advantages beyond the scope of uncomplicated financial contribution The key feature documented is that corporate investment can move beyond abstract “lump-sum” social responsibility, towards targeted contributions to detailed outcomes through sustainable and meaningful involvement in a health promotion framework. This in turn equates to funding stability and a more empowering partnership for the health promotion/social change organization.

  20. A good read : A study into the use and effects of multi-sensory storytelling; a storytelling method for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    ten Brug, Annet

    2015-01-01

    In order to include persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) into our storytelling culture, multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) has been developed. In a multi-sensory book, verbal text is supported by sensory stimuli, the form and content of the book are adjusted to the

  1. Feasibility, Test-Retest Reliability, and Interrater Reliability of the Modified Ashworth Scale and Modified Tardieu Scale in Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waninge, A.; Rook, R. A.; Dijkhuizen, A.; Gielen, E.; van der Schans, C. P.

    2011-01-01

    Caregivers of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) often describe the quality of the daily movements of these persons in terms of flexibility or stiffness. Objective outcome measures for flexibility and stiffness are muscle tone or level of spasticity. Two instruments used to grade muscle tone and spasticity are the…

  2. Frequency of Pathological Changes in Lungs of Bodies with Positive Postmortem Toxicology Results for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Babak Mostafazadeh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The pattern of drug abuse in Iran has dramatically changed in recent years, turning from the traditional opioids [opium, opium dross, and refined opium dross (Shireh] into drugs with newer forms. The present study is aimed at investigating the frequency of pathological changes in the lungs of bodies with positive postmortem toxicology results for narcotics and psychotropic substances autopsied in the forensic dissection hall of Tehran, Iran [the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization (LMO]. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample consisted of 153 bodies, which had been referred to the LMO with positive results in postmortem toxicology for narcotics and psychotropic substances. Results: We found that narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were used more in men than women. Moreover, the average age of death due to drug use was 36 years old. In addition, methamphetamine was the mostly-used type of substances, and smoking was the most widely used method to use the drugs. Besides, the dominant consistency and color of the lungs of half of the bodies investigated were elastic brown-gray. Moreover, the most common pathologic changes observed in the lungs of the bodies investigated were congestion and edema. Conclusion: Given the prevalence of pathological changes in the lungs of the examined bodies and congestion, edema, and pulmonary hemorrhage, the results of the present study can be particularly effective in determining the drug use and the resultant death in the absence of any previous records and/or a negative result of toxicology.

  3. An NF-Y-dependent switch of positive and negative histone methyl marks on CCAAT promoters.

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    Giacomo Donati

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Histone tails have a plethora of different post-translational modifications, which are located differently in "open" and "closed" parts of genomes. H3K4me3/H3K79me2 and H4K20me3 are among the histone marks associated with the early establishment of active and inactive chromatin, respectively. One of the most widespread promoter elements is the CCAAT box, bound by the NF-Y trimer. Two of NF-Y subunits have an H2A-H2B-like structure. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We established the causal relationship between NF-Y binding and positioning of methyl marks, by ChIP analysis of mouse and human cells infected with a dominant negative NF-YA: a parallel decrease in NF-Y binding, H3K4me3, H3K79me2 and transcription was observed in promoters that are dependent upon NF-Y. On the contrary, changes in the levels of H3K9-14ac were more subtle. Components of the H3K4 methylating MLL complex are not recruited in the absence of NF-Y. As for repressed promoters, NF-Y removal leads to a decrease in the H4K20me3 mark and deposition of H3K4me3. CONCLUSIONS: Two relevant findings are reported: (i NF-Y gains access to its genomic locations independently from the presence of methyl histone marks, either positive or negative; (ii NF-Y binding has profound positive or negative consequences on the deposition of histone methyl marks. Therefore NF-Y is a fundamental switch at the heart of decision between gene activation and repression in CCAAT regulated genes.

  4. The health impacts of women's low control in their living environment: A theory-based systematic review of observational studies in societies with profound gender discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennington, Andy; Orton, Lois; Nayak, Shilpa; Ring, Adele; Petticrew, Mark; Sowden, Amanda; White, Martin; Whitehead, Margaret

    2018-05-01

    We conducted a systematic review of observational evidence on the health impacts of women's low control/autonomy in the living environment in societies with profound gender discrimination and gender bias. Thirty observational studies of varying methodological quality were included. Overall, the evidence suggests that women's lower control or autonomy (for example lack of freedom of movement outside the home, lack of authority to access healthcare for sick children) was associated with poorer mental and physical health for women and higher morbidity and mortality for their children, after adjusting for their socioeconomic circumstances. Further studies are needed to disentangle and understand the pathways between low control and health outcomes in contexts of profound gender discrimination. This systematic review has highlighted the general low quality of the evidence base on this research question. It identifies the pressing need for high quality, longitudinal studies in the future. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. The development of the Florentine silk industry: a positive response to the crisis of the fourteenth century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Tognetti

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The development of the silk industry in Renaissance Florence was a response to the profound economic changes wrought by the demographic crisis of the fourteenth century. The decrease in the available labour supply, the rise in labour costs, changes in demand and consumption, encouraged entrepreneurs in Florence to direct their manufacturing interests towards the production of expensive high-quality goods. The Florentine silk industry was born in the last decades of the fourteenth century, and in the fifteenth century quickly developed into a dynamic industry capable of producing large quantities of luxury fabrics for export to all the principal European markets.

  6. Becoming a normal guy: Men making sense of long-term bodily changes following bariatric surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen Synne Groven

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: To date, research on bodily changes following bariatric surgery has focused predominantly on women, leaving the long-term experience of men relatively unexplored. In this paper, we draw on interviews with men who have undergone an irreversible gastric bypass procedure to explore their bodily changes more than 4 years post-surgery. We apply a phenomenological framework that draws on Leder's perspectives on the “disappearing” and “dys-appearing” body, combined with a gender-sensitive lens that draws on Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity and Robertson's conceptions of embodied masculinity. Findings: Our principal finding was that the men negotiated their bodily changes following bariatric surgery in profoundly ambivalent ways. Although they enthusiastically praised the surgery for improving their health, self-esteem, and social functioning, they also emphasized their efforts to cope with post-surgical side effects and life-threatening complications. Our analysis elaborates on their efforts to adjust to and come to terms with these changes, focusing on episodes of hypoglycemia, severe pain and internal herniation, and the significance of physical activity and exercise. Conclusions: Our findings point to the need to acknowledge men's ways of making sense of profound and ongoing bodily changes following bariatric surgery and how these negotiations are closely intertwined with masculine ideals of embodiment and social value.

  7. Simulation of Model Force-Loading with Changing Its Position in the Wind Tunnel Test Section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. T. Bui

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available When planning and implementing an aerodynamic experiment, model sizes and its position in the test section of the wind tunnel (WT play very important role. The paper focuses on the value variations of the aerodynamic characteristics of a model through changing its position in the WT test section and on the attenuation of the velocity field disturbance in front of the model. Flow around aerodynamic model profile in the open test section of the low-speed WT T-500 is simulated at BMSTU Department SM3. The problem is solved in a two-dimensional case using the ANSYS Fluent package. The mathematical model of flow is based on the Reynolds equations closed by the SST turbulence model. The paper also presents the results of the experiment. Experiments conducted in WT T-500 well correlate with the calculated data and show the optimal position in the middle of the test section when conducting the weighing and drainage experiments. Disturbance of tunnel dynamic pressure (velocity head and flow upwash around the model profile and circular cylinder in the WT test section is analyzed. It was found that flow upstream from the front stagnation point on the body weakly depends on the Reynolds number and obtained results can be used to assess the level of disturbances in the flow around a model by incompressible airflow.

  8. The Changing Nature of Theory and Practice in Marketing: on the Value of Synchrony

    OpenAIRE

    O'Driscoll, Aidan; Murray, John

    1998-01-01

    Any academic discipline with a closely associated area of professional endeavour is profoundly affected by the relationship between its theory and practice. Synchrony in theory and practice adds value to the management of enterprise and to the advance of the discipline. Mindful of this assertion, this article explores the changing nature of theory and practice in marketing. It examines current trends in marketing practice which are occurring as a result of change in markets, technology and or...

  9. Cerebral vasoreactivity in response to a head-of-bed position change is altered in patients with moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregori-Pla, Clara; Cotta, Gianluca; Blanco, Igor; Zirak, Peyman; Giovannella, Martina; Mola, Anna; Fortuna, Ana; Durduran, Turgut; Mayos, Mercedes

    2018-01-01

    Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can impair cerebral vasoreactivity and is associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease. Unfortunately, an easy-to-use, non-invasive, portable monitor of cerebral vasoreactivity does not exist. Therefore, we have evaluated the use of near-infrared diffuse correlation spectroscopy to measure the microvascular cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to a mild head-of-bed position change as a biomarker for the evaluation of cerebral vasoreactivity alteration due to chronic OSA. Furthermore, we have monitored the effect of two years of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on the cerebral vasoreactivity. CBF was measured at different head-of-bed position changes (supine to 30° to supine) in sixty-eight patients with OSA grouped according to severity (forty moderate to severe, twenty-eight mild) and in fourteen control subjects without OSA. A subgroup (n = 13) with severe OSA was measured again after two years of CPAP treatment. All patients and controls showed a similar CBF response after changing position from supine to 30° (p = 0.819), with a median (confidence interval) change of -17.5 (-10.3, -22.9)%. However, when being tilted back to the supine position, while the control group (p = 0.091) and the mild patients with OSA (p = 0.227) recovered to the initial baseline, patients with moderate and severe OSA did not recover to the baseline (9.8 (0.8, 12.9)%, p < 0.001) suggesting altered cerebral vasoreactivity. This alteration was correlated with OSA severity defined by the apnea-hypopnea index, and with mean nocturnal arterial oxygen saturation. The CBF response was normalized after two years of CPAP treatment upon follow-up measurements. In conclusion, microvascular CBF response to a head-of-bed challenge measured by diffuse correlation spectroscopy suggests that moderate and severe patients with OSA have altered cerebral vasoreactivity related to OSA severity. This may normalize after two years of CPAP

  10. Changes in Allergy Symptoms and Depression Scores Are Positively Correlated In Patients With Recurrent Mood Disorders Exposed to Seasonal Peaks in Aeroallergens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teodor T. Postolache

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Although growing evidence supports an association between allergy, allergens and depression, it remains unknown if this relationship is between “states” (possible triggers or “traits” (possible vulnerabilities. We hypothesized that patients with recurrent mood disorders who are sensitized to tree pollen (as determined by allergen specific IgE antibodies, in comparison to those who are not sensitized, would report larger negative changes in mood during exposure to tree pollen in spring. We also hypothesized that differences between high and low tree pollen periods in self reported allergy symptoms would correlate positively with differences in self reported depression scores. We present 1-year preliminary data on the first 51 patients with unipolar or bipolar disorder (age: 19-63 years, 65% female, twelve patients were tree-pollen IgE positive. Ratings of mood and allergic disease status were performed once during the peak airborne pollen counts and once during the period of low airborne pollen counts, as reported by two local pollen counting stations. Linear regression models were developed to examine associations of changes in depression scores (dependent variable with tree pollen sensitization, changes in the allergy symptom severity score, adjusted for gender and order of testing. We did not confirm the hypothesized relationship between a specific tree pollen sensitization and changes in mood during tree pollen exposure. We did confirm the hypothesized positive relationship between the changes in allergy symptoms and changes in subjects' depression scores (adjusted p<0.05. This result is consistent with previous epidemiological evidence connecting allergy with depression, as well as our recent reports of increased expression of cytokines in the prefrontal cortex in victims of suicide and in experimental animals sensitized and exposed to tree pollen. A relationship between changes in allergy symptom scores and changes in depression

  11. Parents as experts : the position of parents of children with profound multiple disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Geeter, K.I.; Poppes, P.; Vlaskamp, C.

    2002-01-01

    Background Parents of children with disabilities are increasingly considered as experts in the field of care. Their expertise can deliver an important contribution towards planning their child's care and education. The law is increasingly taking this factor into consideration. On the one hand,

  12. Cochlear implantation in autistic children with profound sensorineural hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachowska, Magdalena; Pastuszka, Agnieszka; Łukaszewicz-Moszyńska, Zuzanna; Mikołajewska, Lidia; Niemczyk, Kazimierz

    2016-11-19

    Cochlear implants have become the method of choice for the treatment of severe-to-profound hearing loss in both children and adults. Its benefits are well documented in the pediatric and adult population. Also deaf children with additional needs, including autism, have been covered by this treatment. The aim of this study was to assess the benefits from cochlear implantation in deafened children with autism as the only additional disability. This study analyzes data of six children. The follow-up time was at least 43 months. The following data were analyzed: medical history, reaction to music and sound, Ling's six sounds test, onomatopoeic word test, reaction to spoken child's name, response to requests, questionnaire given to parents, sound processor fitting sessions and data. After cochlear implantation each child presented other communication skills. In some children, the symptoms of speech understanding were observed. No increased hyperactivity associated with daily use cochlear implant was observed. The study showed that in autistic children the perception is very important for a child's sense of security and makes contact with parents easier. Our study showed that oral communication is not likely to be a realistic goal in children with cochlear implants and autism. The implantation results showed benefits that varied among those children. The traditional methods of evaluating the results of cochlear implantation in children with autism are usually insufficient to fully assess the functional benefits. These benefits should be assessed in a more comprehensive manner taking into account the limitations of communication resulting from the essence of autism. It is important that we share knowledge about these complex children with cochlear implants. Copyright © 2016 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  13. Prediction of nucleosome positioning based on transcription factor binding sites.

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    Xianfu Yi

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The DNA of all eukaryotic organisms is packaged into nucleosomes, the basic repeating units of chromatin. The nucleosome consists of a histone octamer around which a DNA core is wrapped and the linker histone H1, which is associated with linker DNA. By altering the accessibility of DNA sequences, the nucleosome has profound effects on all DNA-dependent processes. Understanding the factors that influence nucleosome positioning is of great importance for the study of genomic control mechanisms. Transcription factors (TFs have been suggested to play a role in nucleosome positioning in vivo. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, the minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR feature selection algorithm, the nearest neighbor algorithm (NNA, and the incremental feature selection (IFS method were used to identify the most important TFs that either favor or inhibit nucleosome positioning by analyzing the numbers of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs in 53,021 nucleosomal DNA sequences and 50,299 linker DNA sequences. A total of nine important families of TFs were extracted from 35 families, and the overall prediction accuracy was 87.4% as evaluated by the jackknife cross-validation test. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the notion that TFs are more likely to bind linker DNA sequences than the sequences in the nucleosomes. In addition, our results imply that there may be some TFs that are important for nucleosome positioning but that play an insignificant role in discriminating nucleosome-forming DNA sequences from nucleosome-inhibiting DNA sequences. The hypothesis that TFs play a role in nucleosome positioning is, thus, confirmed by the results of this study.

  14. Binaural auditory outcomes in patients with postlingual profound unilateral hearing loss: 3 years after cochlear implantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mertens, Griet; Kleine Punte, Andrea; De Bodt, Marc; Van de Heyning, Paul

    2015-01-01

    The value of cochlear implants (CI) in patients with profound unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and tinnitus has recently been investigated. The authors previously demonstrated the feasibility of CI in a 12- month outcome study in a prospective UHL cohort. The aim of this study was to investigate the binaural auditory outcomes in this cohort 36 months after CI surgery. The 36-month outcome was evaluated in 22 CI users with postlingual UHL and severe tinnitus. Twelve subjects had contralateral normal hearing (single-sided deafness - SSD group) and 10 subjects had a contralateral, mild to moderate hearing loss and used a hearing aid (asymmetric hearing loss - AHL group). Speech perception in noise was assessed in two listening conditions: the CIoff and the CIon condition. The binaural summation effect (S0N0), binaural squelch effect (S0NCI) and the combined head shadow effect (SCIN0) were investigated. Subjective benefit in daily life was assessed by means of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). At 36 months, a significant binaural summation effect was observed for the study cohort (2.00, SD 3.82 dB; p binaural effect was not significant 12 months after CI surgery. A binaural squelch effect was significant for the AHL subgroup at 12 months (2.00, SD 4.38 dB; p < 0.05). A significant combined head shadow and squelch effect was also noted in the spatial configuration SCIN0 for the study cohort (4.00, SD 5.89 dB; p < 0.01) and for the AHL subgroup (5.67, SD 6.66 dB; p < 0.05). The SSQ data show that the perceived benefit in daily life after CI surgery remains stable up to 36 months at CIon. CI can significantly improve speech perception in noise in patients with UHL. The positive effects of CIon speech perception in noise increase over time up to 36 months after CI surgery. Improved subjective benefit in daily life was also shown to be sustained in these patients. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  15. Variation of Bragg curve characteristic induced by changing the position of inhomogeneous material: Geant4 simulation study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, So-Hyun; Jung, Won-Gyun; Suh, Tae-Suk [Catholic University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Hong-Seok; Choi, Byeong-Oak [Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Rah, Jeong-Eun; Park, Sun-Gyong; Lee, Se-Byeong [National Cancer Center, Ilsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-02-15

    When proton beam passes through the human body, the stopping power and the depth-dose distribution of the proton are influenced by the relative location among adjacent materials or the difference in material conditions. Our study demonstrates the effect of inhomogeneous materials placed in the Plateau and Bragg peak regions of the Bragg curve in water. We evaluated the Bragg peak position, range, penumbra and integrated doses by using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The positions of inhomogeneities were selected as the proximal 36% and 50% points of the maximum dose, which indicates the location at entrance regions of the Plateau and the Bragg peak, respectively. Bone (density {rho} = 1.85 g/cm{sup 3}) and adipose tissue (density {rho} = 0.92 g/cm{sup 3}) were selected as inhomogeneous materials. The thickness of each material was varied by 0.1 cm between 0.1 cm and 1.0 cm. In addition, the initial energy of the proton beam was changed in 30 MeV steps between 108 MeV and 220 MeV. The effects of inhomogeneous conditions were performed for various parameters: Bragg peak position, range, penumbra width, full width at half maximum and dose of Bragg curve. A dose perturbation was observed in the region of the Bragg peak and inhomogeneous material, especially, When the bone equivalent material was inserted within the Bragg curve. However, there were no significant variations in the other parameters, except for the dose perturbation depending on the inserted location of each material. This study shows the characteristic changes in the Bragg curve due to inhomogeneous materials.

  16. Fast-food-based hyper-alimentation can induce rapid and profound elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase in healthy subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kechagias, S; Ernersson, A; Dahlqvist, O; Lundberg, P; Lindström, T; Nystrom, F H

    2008-05-01

    To study the effect of fast-food-based hyper-alimentation on liver enzymes and hepatic triglyceride content (HTGC). Prospective interventional study with parallel control group. University Hospital of Linköping, Sweden. 12 healthy men and six healthy women with a mean (SD) age of 26 (6.6) years and a matched control group. Subjects in the intervention group aimed for a body weight increase of 5-15% by eating at least two fast-food-based meals a day with the goal to double the regular caloric intake in combination with adoption of a sedentary lifestyle for 4 weeks. Weekly changes of serum aminotransferases and HTGC measured by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at baseline and after the intervention. Subjects in the intervention group increased from 67.6 (9.1) kg to 74.0 (11) kg in weight (p19 U/l, men >30 U/l) during the intervention. Sugar (mono- and disaccharides) intake during week 3 correlated with the maximal ALT/baseline ALT ratio (r = 0.62, p = 0.006). HTGC increased from 1.1 (1.9)% to 2.8 (4.8)%, although this was not related to the increase in ALT levels. ALT levels were unchanged in controls. Hyper-alimentation per se can induce profound ALT elevations in less than 4 weeks. Our study clearly shows that in the evaluation of subjects with elevated ALT the medical history should include not only questions about alcohol intake but also explore whether recent excessive food intake has occurred.

  17. Targeting superoxide dismutase to endothelial caveolae profoundly alleviates inflammation caused by endotoxin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shuvaev, Vladimir V; Kiseleva, Raisa Yu; Arguiri, Evguenia; Villa, Carlos H; Muro, Silvia; Christofidou-Solomidou, Melpo; Stan, Radu V; Muzykantov, Vladimir R

    2018-02-28

    Inflammatory mediators binding to Toll-Like receptors (TLR) induce an influx of superoxide anion in the ensuing endosomes. In endothelial cells, endosomal surplus of superoxide causes pro-inflammatory activation and TLR4 agonists act preferentially via caveolae-derived endosomes. To test the hypothesis that SOD delivery to caveolae may specifically inhibit this pathological pathway, we conjugated SOD with antibodies (Ab/SOD, size ~10nm) to plasmalemmal vesicle-associated protein (Plvap) that is specifically localized to endothelial caveolae in vivo and compared its effects to non-caveolar target CD31/PECAM-1. Plvap Ab/SOD bound to endothelial cells in culture with much lower efficacy than CD31 Ab/SOD, yet blocked the effects of LPS signaling with higher efficiency than CD31 Ab/SOD. Disruption of cholesterol-rich membrane domains by filipin inhibits Plvap Ab/SOD endocytosis and LPS signaling, implicating the caveolae-dependent pathway(s) in both processes. Both Ab/SOD conjugates targeted to Plvap and CD31 accumulated in the lungs after IV injection in mice, but the former more profoundly inhibited LPS-induced pulmonary inflammation and elevation of plasma level of interferon-beta and -gamma and interleukin-27. Taken together, these results indicate that targeted delivery of SOD to specific cellular compartments may offer effective, mechanistically precise interception of pro-inflammatory signaling mediated by reactive oxygen species. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. On the interaction between drugs of abuse and adolescent social behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trezza, V.; Baarendse, P.J.J.; Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.

    2014-01-01

    Rationale Social factors influence drug abuse. Conversely, drugs of abuse alter social behavior. This is especially pertinent during post-weaning development, when there are profound changes in the social repertoire, and the sensitivity to the positive and negative effects of drugs of abuse is

  19. The development and change study of cost accounting in the IT environment

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zilian Li; Qiumei Hu

    2015-01-01

    Relative to costs of computerized accounting, the cost accounting information further to get rid of the shackles of artificial accounting, reflecting a pure information management thinking, which contains a richer content, and traditional cost accounting theory a profound impact on the system. Clear understanding of the environment in the IT development process cost accounting will help us actively to promote cost accounting change, innovation and development.

  20. Biocrusts in the context of global change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Sasha C.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Ochoa-Hueso, Raul; Kuske, Cheryl; Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony N.; Darby, Brian; Sinsabaugh, Bob; Oliver, Mel; Sancho, Leo; Belnap, Jayne

    2016-01-01

    A wide range of studies show global environmental change will profoundly affect the structure, function, and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. The research synthesized here underscores that biocrust communities are also likely to respond significantly to global change drivers, with a large potential for modification to their abundance, composition, and function. We examine how elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, climate change (increased temperature and altered precipitation), and nitrogen deposition affect biocrusts and the ecosystems they inhabit. We integrate experimental and observational data, as well as physiological, community ecology, and biogeochemical perspectives. Taken together, these data highlight the potential for biocrust organisms to respond dramatically to environmental change and show how changes to biocrust community composition translate into effects on ecosystem function (e.g., carbon and nutrient cycling, soil stability, energy balance). Due to the importance of biocrusts in regulating dryland ecosystem processes and the potential for large modifications to biocrust communities, an improved understanding and predictive capacity regarding biocrust responses to environmental change are of scientific and societal relevance.

  1. Changes in HDL-c concentrations after 16 weeks of combined training in postmenopausal women: characteristics of positive and negative responders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diniz, Tiego A; Rossi, Fabricio E; Fortaleza, Ana Claudia Souza; Neves, Lucas Melo; Christofaro, Diego Giulliano Destro; Buonani, Camila; Lira, Fabio S; Campos, Eduardo Zapaterra; Prado, Wagner Luiz do; Freitas, Ismael Forte

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the individual characteristics of body composition and metabolic profile that could explain interindividual variation in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) concentrations in response to 16 weeks of combined strength plus aerobic (combined) training in postmenopausal women. The participants were divided into tertiles based on percentage of changes in HDL-c concentrations after combined training. Only women in the upper tertile (positive responders: Δ > 10.4%; n = 19) and lower tertile (negative responders: Δ < -1.4%; n = 19) were considered for analyses. The total body fat (BF), trunk fat (TF), android fat (AF), gynoid fat, and lean body mass were estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The metabolic profile - glucose, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL-c, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) - were assessed. After 16 weeks, both positive and negative responders presented similar improvement in body composition, such as a decrease in percentage and kilograms of BF, TF, and AF, and increase in lean body mass (p value for time < 0.05). As expected, there was an effect of time and also a significant interaction (time vs. group) (p value < 0.001) in the improvement of HDL-c, with higher values for positive responders. Regarding metabolic profile, there were significant interactions (time vs. group) for triacylglycerol (p value = 0.032) and VLDL (p value = 0.027) concentrations, with lower values for positive responders. Our results suggests there is heterogeneity in combined training-induced HDL-c changes in postmenopausal women, and the positive responders were those who presented more pronounced decreases in triacylglycerol and VLDL concentrations.

  2. Do Theory of Mind and Executive Function Deficits Underlie the Adverse Outcomes Associated with Profound Early Deprivation?: Findings from the English and Romanian Adoptees Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colvert, Emma; Rutter, Michael; Kreppner, Jana; Beckett, Celia; Castle, Jenny; Groothues, Christine; Hawkins, Amanda; Stevens, Suzanne; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J. S.

    2008-01-01

    Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Function (EF) have been associated with autism and with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and hence might play a role in similar syndromes found following profound early institutional deprivation. In order to examine this possibility the current study included a group of 165 Romanian adoptees, of…

  3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY IN CHANGING MARKET ENVIRONMENT : Case: Belgian Brewery Van Honsebrouck in Russia

    OpenAIRE

    Louckx, Yulia

    2014-01-01

    The efficient distribution strategy formulation becomes vital to the success and survival of any organization, especially when it is involved in international trade. Today’s world is particularly challenging due to rapidly changing market conditions. Therefore, in order to able to compete, satisfy customers, and meet the needs of other stakeholders profitably, it is crucial for any company to make profound market environment analyses, react to changes in the market and adjust strategies accor...

  4. Citizen Journalism and Digital Voices: Instituting a Collaborative Process between Global Youth, Technology and Media for Positive Social Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Worley, Robin

    2011-01-01

    Millions of youths in developing countries are described by UNICEF as "invisible and excluded." They live at the margins of society, facing challenges to their daily existence, powerless to make positive changes. But the emergence of citizen journalism and digital storytelling may offer these youths a chance to share their voices and…

  5. Climate change, conflict and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowles, Devin C; Butler, Colin D; Morisetti, Neil

    2015-10-01

    Future climate change is predicted to diminish essential natural resource availability in many regions and perhaps globally. The resulting scarcity of water, food and livelihoods could lead to increasingly desperate populations that challenge governments, enhancing the risk of intra- and interstate conflict. Defence establishments and some political scientists view climate change as a potential threat to peace. While the medical literature increasingly recognises climate change as a fundamental health risk, the dimension of climate change-associated conflict has so far received little attention, despite its profound health implications. Many analysts link climate change with a heightened risk of conflict via causal pathways which involve diminishing or changing resource availability. Plausible consequences include: increased frequency of civil conflict in developing countries; terrorism, asymmetric warfare, state failure; and major regional conflicts. The medical understanding of these threats is inadequate, given the scale of health implications. The medical and public health communities have often been reluctant to interpret conflict as a health issue. However, at times, medical workers have proven powerful and effective peace advocates, most notably with regard to nuclear disarmament. The public is more motivated to mitigate climate change when it is framed as a health issue. Improved medical understanding of the association between climate change and conflict could strengthen mitigation efforts and increase cooperation to cope with the climate change that is now inevitable. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

  6. Changes in background impair fluency-triggered positive affect: a cross-cultural test using a mere-exposure paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishii, Keiko

    2011-04-01

    This study examined whether repeated exposure would enhance positive evaluations when only a part of a stimulus (e.g., the central object) was identical to a previously presented stimulus. Japanese and American participants were exposed to photographs of animals with scenery, then asked their preferences for each of four types of photographs of animals (photographs of animals with the original scenery, photographs of animals without scenery, photographs of animals with novel scenery, and photographs of animals not depicted previously). Finally, their recognition of the animals presented in the exposure phase was tested. Members of both groups showed the mere-exposure effect for the first two types of stimuli, irrespective of stimulus recognition accuracy, whereas this effect was not observed for animals presented with novel scenery. This suggests that changes in background impair positive affect as a result of repeated exposure.

  7. Exploring the Multifaceted Topic of Climate Change in Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I. W.; Mills, E. W.; Nugnes, K. A.; Stimach, A. E.

    2015-12-01

    As the effects of climate change become more profound, climate literacy becomes increasingly important. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) responds to this need through the publication of Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate. Both publications incorporate the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the USGCRP's Third National Climate Assessment. Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive, multidisciplinary information related to various topics. Additionally, each chapter closes with a For Further Exploration essay, which addresses specific topics that complement a chapter concept. Web Resources, which encourage additional exploration of chapter content, and Scientific Literature, from which chapter content was derived can also be found at the conclusion of each chapter. Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics, including the scientific principles that govern Earth's climate system and basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate the system. Released in fall 2015, Living With Our Changing Climate takes a more narrow approach and investigates human and ecosystem vulnerabilities to climate change, the role of energy choices in affecting climate, actions humans can take through adaption, mitigation, and policy to lessen vulnerabilities, and psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial. While Living With Our Changing Climate is intended for programs looking to add a climate element into their curriculum, Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course. In a 2015 survey of California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students using Our Changing Climate, 82% found it comfortable to read and utilized its interactive components and resources. Both ebooks illuminate the multidisciplinary aspect of climate change, providing the opportunity for a more sustainable future.

  8. MRI of the sacroiliac joints in spondyloarthritis: the added value of intra-articular signal changes for a 'positive MRI'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laloo, Frederiek; Herregods, N; Jaremko, J L; Verstraete, K; Jans, L

    2018-05-01

    To determine if intra-articular signal changes at the sacroiliac joint space on MRI have added diagnostic value for spondyloarthritis, when compared to bone marrow edema (BME). A retrospective study was performed on the MRIs of sacroiliac joints of 363 patients, aged 16-45 years, clinically suspected of sacroiliitis. BME of the sacroiliac joints was correlated to intra-articular sacroiliac joint MR signal changes: high T1 signal, fluid signal, ankylosis and vacuum phenomenon (VP). These MRI findings were correlated with final clinical diagnosis. Sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), likelihood ratios (LR), predictive values and post-test probabilities were calculated. BME had SN of 68.9%, SP of 74.0% and LR+ of 2.6 for diagnosis of spondyloarthritis. BME in absence of intra-articular signal changes had a lower SN and LR+ for spondyloarthritis (SN = 20.5%, LR+ 1.4). Concomitant BME and high T1 signal (SP = 97.2%, LR + = 10.5), BME and fluid signal (SP = 98.6%, LR + = 10.3) or BME and ankylosis (SP = 100%) had higher SP and LR+ for spondyloarthritis. Concomitant BME and VP had low LR+ for spondyloarthritis (SP = 91%, LR + =0.9). When BME was absent, intra-articular signal changes were less prevalent, but remained highly specific for spondyloarthritis. Our results suggest that both periarticular and intra-articular MR signal of the sacroiliac joint should be examined to determine whether an MRI is 'positive' or 'not positive' for sacroiliitis associated with spondyloarthritis.

  9. Nucleosome Positioning and Epigenetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwab, David; Bruinsma, Robijn

    2008-03-01

    The role of chromatin structure in gene regulation has recently taken center stage in the field of epigenetics, phenomena that change the phenotype without changing the DNA sequence. Recent work has also shown that nucleosomes, a complex of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer, experience a sequence dependent energy landscape due to the variation in DNA bend stiffness with sequence composition. In this talk, we consider the role nucleosome positioning might play in the formation of heterochromatin, a compact form of DNA generically responsible for gene silencing. In particular, we discuss how different patterns of nucleosome positions, periodic or random, could either facilitate or suppress heterochromatin stability and formation.

  10. [Social change in the physician's role and medical practice caused by managed care in Switzerland].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, P C; Denz, M D

    2000-03-01

    Switzerland is the first European country where health maintenance organizations (HMOs) characterised by capitation (per capita lumpsum) and gatekeeping were implemented according to the HMO staff model known in the USA. The development of managed health care in Switzerland relies on the belief that adequate economic incentives and competition result in cost reduction and high quality health care. Whether this is true or not--in any case the deregulation of legally accepted forms of health insurance and managed care result in profound changes in the Swiss health care system. Observations are made by using expert interviews and analysis of documents. The implementation of managed care induces socio-cultural changes of the medical profession which are as profound as the induced economic changes. We discuss conflicts of interests among physicians using four main dimensions of conflict: (1) control, (2) monopolization, (3) valuation, and (4) specialization. In the HMOs we observe pronounced conflicts of the physicians' role. The changes of the physicians' role in HMOs is on the one hand the result of new duties. On the other hand it expresses strategies of coping with the role conflict between the main clinical duties and the new obligation to control cost and to monitor treatment via gatekeeping. In HMOs the teamwork of doctors and the quality control of care promotes the satisfaction of physicians with their work, however, it can also have dysfunctional effects.

  11. Personal Services and Benefits Expenses in The FY 1996 Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position of the Other Defense Organizations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    1997-01-01

    .... Specifically, we reviewed the DoD Chief Financial Officers Other Defense Organizations Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position for the year ended September 30, 1996, to determine whether...

  12. The Influence of Globalization on the Change and Convergence of Social Security Transfer: An Empirical Analysis for OECD Counties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinyoung Hwang

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Using a cross-section of OECD countries, this paper examines the relationship between globalization and the change and convergence of social security transfer. Globalization has arguably had a profound impact on the use of social protection in states, since it is normally accompanied with increases in income inequality, polarization, and unemployment. In addition, globalization may lead to socio- economic policy harmonization across countries. The empirical results show that there exists a significant and positive relationship between social security transfer in GDP and the globalization index based on political, economic, and social integrations. Also, we found the convergence phenomenon of social security transfer in OECD countries, applying the traditional methodology of convergence and convergence. Therefore, there is evidence in OECD countries that globalization indirectly affects the convergence of social security transfer in addition to direct relation to social security transfer in GDP.

  13. Peer Instruction in introductory physics: A method to bring about positive changes in students’ attitudes and beliefs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n=441 in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture teaching methods, and the other three taught with Peer Instruction (PI. In two of the PI classes, student peer groups were constantly changing throughout the semester, while in the other PI class student groups remained fixed for the duration of the semester. The results of the pre- and post-test using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey showed that students in traditional lecture settings became significantly more novicelike in their beliefs about physics and learning physics over the course of a semester, a result consistent with what was reported in the literature. However, all three of the classes taught using the PI method improved student attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. In the PI class with fixed peer groups, students exhibited a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs than in the other PI class with changing peer groups. The study also looked at gender differences in student learning attitudes. Gender results revealed that female science majors in the PI classes achieved a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs after instruction than did male students.

  14. Contextual positive psychology: Policy recommendations for implementing positive psychology into schools.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph Ciarrochi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experiences. Given this, how should policy be used to regulate and evaluate these interventions? We review evidence that suggests these criticisms may be valid, but only for those interventions that focus almost exclusively on changing the content of people’s inner experience (e.g., make it more positive and personality (improving character strength, and overemphasize the idea that inner experience causes action. We describe a contextualized form of positive psychology that not only deals with the criticisms, but also has clear policy implications for how to best implement and evaluate positive education programs so that they do not do more harm than good.

  15. Repeated cross-sectional study of the longitudinal changes in attitudes toward interprofessional health care teams amongst undergraduate students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kururi, Nana; Makino, Takatoshi; Kazama, Hiroko; Tokita, Yoshiharu; Matsui, Hiroki; Lee, Bumsuk; Kanaizumi, Shiomi; Abe, Yumiko; Uchida, Yoko; Asakawa, Yasuyoshi; Shinozaki, Hiromitsu; Tozato, Fusae; Watanabe, Hideomi

    2014-07-01

    The interprofessional education (IPE) program at Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan, uses a lecture style for first-year students and a training style for third-year students. To investigate the comprehensive implications of IPE, the change pattern of attitudes toward health care teams was examined longitudinally in pre-qualified students. The modified Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (mATHCTS) was used. The overall mean score of the mATHCTS improved significantly after the training-style IPE in their third year. Two individual items in the factor "quality of care delivery" decreased significantly during the first year. In contrast, two individual items in the factor "patient-centered care" increased significantly during the third year. These changes over time were confirmed by analyses using regression factor scores. There are at least two independent attitudes toward collaborative practice (CP) or IPE in response to IPE interventions: the attitude toward "value of IPE for health care providers" may response negatively to IPE in the early stages, and the attitude toward "value of IPE for health care receivers" positively in the later stages. These findings suggest that the continuation of mandatory IPE, which must be designed on the basis of students' high expectations for IPE and CP on entry, may result in profound changes in attitudes amongst participating students.

  16. Adaptive Changes in the Perception of Fast and Slow Movement at Different Head Positions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panichi, Roberto; Occhigrossi, Chiara; Ferraresi, Aldo; Faralli, Mario; Lucertini, Marco; Pettorossi, Vito E

    2017-05-01

    This paper examines the subjective sense of orientation during asymmetric body rotations in normal subjects. Self-motion perception was investigated in 10 healthy individuals during asymmetric whole-body rotation with different head orientations. Both on-vertical axis and off-vertical axis rotations were employed. Subjects tracked a remembered earth-fixed visual target while rotating in the dark for four cycles of asymmetric rotation (two half-sinusoidal cycles of the same amplitude, but of different duration). The rotations induced a bias in the perception of velocity (more pronounced with fast than with slow motion). At the end of rotation, a marked target position error (TPE) was present. For the on-vertical axis rotations, the TPE was no different if the rotations were performed with a 30° nose-down, a 60° nose-up, or a 90° side-down head tilt. With off-vertical axis rotations, the simultaneous activation of the semicircular canals and otolithic receptors produced a significant increase of TPE for all head positions. This difference between on-vertical and off-vertical axis rotation was probably partly due to the vestibular transfer function and partly due to different adaptation to the speed of rotation. Such a phenomenon might be generated in different components of the vestibular system. The adaptive process enhancing the perception of dynamic movement around the vertical axis is not related to the specific semicircular canals that are activated; the addition of an otolithic component results in a significant increase of the TPE.Panichi R, Occhigrossi C, Ferraresi A, Faralli M, Lucertini M, Pettorossi VE. Adaptive changes in the perception of fast and slow movement at different head positions. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(5):463-468.

  17. Karyotypic changes through dysploidy persist longer over evolutionary time than polyploid changes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcial Escudero

    Full Text Available Chromosome evolution has been demonstrated to have profound effects on diversification rates and speciation in angiosperms. While polyploidy has predated some major radiations in plants, it has also been related to decreased diversification rates. There has been comparatively little attention to the evolutionary role of gains and losses of single chromosomes, which may or not entail changes in the DNA content (then called aneuploidy or dysploidy, respectively. In this study we investigate the role of chromosome number transitions and of possible associated genome size changes in angiosperm evolution. We model the tempo and mode of chromosome number evolution and its possible correlation with patterns of cladogenesis in 15 angiosperm clades. Inferred polyploid transitions are distributed more frequently towards recent times than single chromosome gains and losses. This is likely because the latter events do not entail changes in DNA content and are probably due to fission or fusion events (dysploidy, as revealed by an analysis of the relationship between genome size and chromosome number. Our results support the general pattern that recently originated polyploids fail to persist, and suggest that dysploidy may have comparatively longer-term persistence than polyploidy. Changes in chromosome number associated with dysploidy were typically observed across the phylogenies based on a chi-square analysis, consistent with these changes being neutral with respect to diversification.

  18. The current status of audiologic rehabilitation for profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Charles E; Eby, Thomas L

    2010-03-01

    Audiologic rehabilitation of individuals with profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) has traditionally been limited to the use of air-conduction contralateral routing of sound (CROS) hearing aids. Treatment for these individuals has expanded with new applications of the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), transcranial hearing aid (t-CROS), and the cochlear implant. In this article, the authors review the literature that addresses these various treatment options. Contemporary review Historical information is available that describes the limited efficacy of air-conduction CROS hearing aids in lifting hearing handicap associated with USNHL. Current investigations on providing cross hearing are generally focused on use of the BAHA. Little is known at present whether new developments in hearing aid technology can improve on conventional air-conduction CROS or t-CROS approaches. Interestingly, the cochlear implant seems to be a viable option for individuals with USNHL and tinnitus who also have intact auditory nerve pathways. There is indication in the literature that BAHA provides greater relief of hearing handicap associated with USNHL than CROS hearing aids; however, both have been found to provide limited patient satisfaction and seemingly fall short of restoring true sound localization. Adequate trials have not been performed comparing BAHA with the best CROS hearing aid technology. Transcranial hearing aids and cochlear implants are experimental methods to treat USNHL and hold promise, although there remains a lack of studies available to fully support this.

  19. China and the Changing Myanmar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun SUN

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The author argues that the democratic reform in Myanmar is rooted in profound internal and external factors. Since the beginning of the reform, the changes in Myanmar have taken tolls in a series of China’s existing interests inside the country. Economically, Chinese investments have come under increasing scrutiny, criticism, and even oppositions, threatening the viability of strategic projects such as the oil and gas pipelines. Politically, the initial success of the democratic reform in Myanmar raises questions about Beijing’s continuous resistance to reform. Strategically, the changes in Myanmar undercut China’s original blueprint about the strategic utilities of Myanmar for China at ASEAN, in the Indian Ocean and more broadly in the region. In light of the changes, China has adjusted its policy toward Myanmar. Not only has Beijing dramatically reduced its economic investments in Myanmar, it also cooled down the political ties while established relations with the democratic oppositions. At the same time, China also launched massive public relations campaigns inside Myanmar aimed at improving its image and relations with the local communities.

  20. Gender and Management - Changing Perceptions and Attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela On

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper is proposing a study on subjective factors (as changing attitudes or expectations that continue to influence female participation in decision making structures. The main objective of our research is to reveal some profound, less obvious causes of perpetuation of the gender imbalanced structures of most Romanian organizations. Expected influences of modernity on the relationship between the two genders are also questioned in order to verify the perpetuation of some social relations. We are also searching for consistency with other studies and reports on the similar subjective factors influencing the Romanian (or European female representation in different power structures.

  1. Comparison of photon organ and effective dose coefficients for PIMAL stylized phantom in bent positions in standard irradiation geometries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dewji, Shaheen; Hiller, Mauritius [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Reed, K.L. [Georgia Institute of Technology, Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Program, Atlanta, GA (United States)

    2017-08-15

    Computational phantoms with articulated arms and legs have been constructed to enable the estimation of radiation dose in different postures. Through a graphical user interface, the Phantom wIth Moving Arms and Legs (PIMAL) version 4.1.0 software can be employed to articulate the posture of a phantom and generate a corresponding input deck for the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code. In this work, photon fluence-to-dose coefficients were computed using PIMAL to compare organ and effective doses for a stylized phantom in the standard upright position with those for phantoms in realistic work postures. The articulated phantoms represent working positions including fully and half bent torsos with extended arms for both the male and female reference adults. Dose coefficients are compared for both the upright and bent positions across monoenergetic photon energies: 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 MeV. Additionally, the organ doses are compared across the International Commission on Radiological Protection's standard external radiation exposure geometries: antero-posterior, postero-anterior, left and right lateral, and isotropic (AP, PA, LLAT, RLAT, and ISO). For the AP and PA irradiation geometries, differences in organ doses compared to the upright phantom become more profound with increasing bending angles and have doses largely overestimated for all organs except the brain in AP and bladder in PA. In LLAT and RLAT irradiation geometries, energy deposition for organs is more likely to be underestimated compared to the upright phantom, with no overall change despite increased bending angle. The ISO source geometry did not cause a significant difference in absorbed organ dose between the different phantoms, regardless of position. Organ and effective fluence-to-dose coefficients are tabulated. In the AP geometry, the effective dose at the 45 bent position is overestimated compared to the upright phantom below 1 MeV by as much as 27% and 82% in the

  2. Simultaneous and spontaneous reversal of positional nystagmus; an unusual peripheral sign of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sertac Yetiser, MD

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Direction-changing positional nystagmus is generally thought to be of central origin. Reversal of initial positional nystagmus during maintaining the head position in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV is quite unusual and could be a sign of peripheral pathology. Vestibular reflex adaptation, simultaneous co-existence of canalolithiasis and cupulolithiasis in the same or both ears and changing in direction of debris movement have been proposed for the mechanism of this phenomenon. This can be a sign of simultaneous ampullopedal and ampulofugal flows during single head movement. This double-phase pattern of flow causing reversal of positional nystagmus could be related with the amount, location and dispersal of otolithic debris inside the membranous labyrinth. Four patients (3 lateral canal canalolithiasis and 1 posterior canal with reversing spontaneous nystagmus among 530 patients with BPPV have been identified in our clinic. They have been cured with standard re-positioning maneuvers. Endolymphatic reflux theory has been proposed as the underlying mechanism for unusual behavior of otolithic debris.

  3. POSITIONING STRATEGIES DEVELOPMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Shakhshir Ghassan

    2014-01-01

    The positioning strategy has suffered serious changes in the last few decades, being influenced by the rapid development of competition and the growing focus on specific traits belonging to the market, to the consumer or to the product. The purpose of this paper is to present the developments of theoretical positioning strategies and the orientation from more simple, product oriented strategies, to ones more oriented towards the client and with a briefer period of time. The world is moving in...

  4. Changes in position and quality of preferred nest box: effects on nest box use by laying hens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riber, Anja Brinch; Nielsen, Birte L.

    2013-01-01

    Using laying hens, we investigated whether position of a nest box, both within the pen and relative to other nest boxes, influenced the preference for a nest box, and how a sudden and marked change to the preferred box influenced the use of nest boxes by the hens. Groups (n=12) of 15 Isa Warren...... hens were housed in pens, each with five identical nest boxes in different positions: Two single (in a corner or not) and a triplet of nest boxes (one of which in a corner). The use of nest boxes was determined by the number of eggs laid daily in each box. Three experiments, each lasting 10 days, were...... carried out. First, the undisturbed use of each of the nest box types was investigated, and a strong preference (Peggs laid there. Second, each of the hen groups was moved to another pen allocated at random, and where...

  5. Changes in Ect2 Localization Couple Actomyosin-Dependent Cell Shape Changes to Mitotic Progression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Helen K.; Delabre, Ulysse; Rohn, Jennifer L.; Guck, Jochen; Kunda, Patricia; Baum, Buzz

    2012-01-01

    Summary As they enter mitosis, animal cells undergo profound actin-dependent changes in shape to become round. Here we identify the Cdk1 substrate, Ect2, as a central regulator of mitotic rounding, thus uncovering a link between the cell-cycle machinery that drives mitotic entry and its accompanying actin remodeling. Ect2 is a RhoGEF that plays a well-established role in formation of the actomyosin contractile ring at mitotic exit, through the local activation of RhoA. We find that Ect2 first becomes active in prophase, when it is exported from the nucleus into the cytoplasm, activating RhoA to induce the formation of a mechanically stiff and rounded metaphase cortex. Then, at anaphase, binding to RacGAP1 at the spindle midzone repositions Ect2 to induce local actomyosin ring formation. Ect2 localization therefore defines the stage-specific changes in actin cortex organization critical for accurate cell division. PMID:22898780

  6. Position detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayakawa, Toshifumi.

    1985-01-01

    Purpose: To enable to detect the position of an moving object in a control rod position detector, stably in a digital manner at a high accuracy and free from the undesired effects of circumstantial conditions such as the reactor temperature. Constitution: Coils connected in parallel with each other are disposed along the passage of a moving object and variable resistors and relays are connected in series with each of the coils respectively. Light emitting diodes is connected in series with the contacts of the respective relays. The resistance value of the variable resistors are adjusted depending on the changes in the circumstantial conditions and temperature distribution upon carrying out the positional detection. When the object is inserted into a coils, the relevant relay is deenergized, by which the relay contacts are closed to light up the diode. In the same manner, as the object is successively inserted into the coils, the diodes are lighted-up successively thereby enabling highly accurate and stable positional detection in a digital manner, free from the undesired effects of the circumstantial conditions. (Horiuchi, T.)

  7. Communication and marketing as climate change-intervention assets a public health perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maibach, Edward W; Roser-Renouf, Connie; Leiserowitz, Anthony

    2008-11-01

    The understanding that global climate change represents a profound threat to the health and well-being of human and nonhuman species worldwide is growing. This article examines the potential of communication and marketing interventions to influence population behavior in ways consistent with climate change prevention and adaptation objectives. Specifically, using a framework based on an ecologic model of public health, the paper examines: (1) the potential of communication and marketing interventions to influence population behaviors of concern, including support for appropriate public policies; (2) potential target audiences for such programs; and (3) the attributes of effective climate change messages. Communication and marketing interventions appear to have considerable potential to promote important population behavior change objectives, but there is an urgent need for additional translational research to effectively harvest this potential to combat climate change.

  8. Accumulation of histone variant H3.3 with age is associated with profound changes in the histone methylation landscape

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tvardovskiy, Andrey; Schwämmle, Veit; Kempf, Stefan J

    2017-01-01

    a causal relationship between H3 variant replacement and age-dependent changes in H3 methylation. Furthermore, the H3.3 level is drastically reduced in human hepatocarcinoma cells as compared to nontumoral hepatocytes, suggesting the potential utility of the H3.3 relative abundance as a biomarker...

  9. Control rod position detector for nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kudo, Mitsuru; Fujiwara, Hiroshi.

    1981-01-01

    Purpose: To improve the reliability of a control rod position detector by detecting a reactive code with a combination of control rod position change signals produced from vertical and horizontal axis decoders, generation an error signal and thus simultaneously detecting the operation of more than two lead switches. Constitution: Horizontal and vertical axis position signals responsive to changes in the control rod position are applied from lead switches connected in a predetermined matrix connection corresponding to the notches of the positions of respective position detecting probes, the reactive output from the decoder is detected by a reactive code detecting circuit, which in turn generates a fault signal, and the control rod position code converted in a notch number generating circuit is converted to a predetermined value indicating invalidity. Accordingly, a fault caused by the simultaneous operation of a plurality of failed lead switches can be effectively detected. (Yoshino, Y.)

  10. Changes of the Quinolones Resistance to Gram-positive Cocci Isolated during the Past 8 Years in the First Bethune Hospital

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jiancheng; Chen, Qihui; Yao, Hanxin; Zhou, Qi

    This study was to investigate the quinolones resistance to gram-positive cocci isolated in the First Bethune Hospital during the past 8 years. Disk diffusion test was used to study the antimicrobial resistance. The data were analyzed by WHONET 5 software according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococci (MRCNS) were 50.8%∼83.3% and 79.4%∼81.5%during the past 8 years, respectively. In recent 8 years, the quinolones resistance to gram-positive cocci had increased. Monitoring of the quinolones resistance to gram-positive cocci should be strengthened. The change of the antimicrobial resistance should be investigated in order to guide rational drug usage in the clinic and prevent bacterial strain of drug resistance from being transmitted.

  11. Metabolic changes in the pig liver during warm ischemia and reperfusion measured by microdialysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kannerup, Anne-Sofie; Funch-Jensen, Peter; Grønbaek, Henning

    2008-01-01

    AIM: Portal triad clamping can cause ischemia-reperfusion injury. The aim of the study was to monitor metabolic changes by microdialysis before, during, and after warm ischemia in the pigliver. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eight pigs underwent laparotomy followed by ischemia by Pringle's maneuver. One...... in transaminase levels was observed. CONCLUSIONS: During and after warm ischemia, there were profound metabolic changes in the pigliver observed with an increase in lactate, glucose, glycerol, and the lactate-pyruvate ratio. There were no differences between the four liver lobes, indicating the piglivers...

  12. What is the optimal anodal electrode position for inducing corticomotor excitability changes in transcranial direct current stimulation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Minji; Kim, Yun-Hee; Im, Chang-Hwan; Kim, Jung-Hoon; Park, Chang-hyun; Chang, Won Hyuk; Lee, Ahee

    2015-01-01

    Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) non-invasively modulates brain function by inducing neuronal excitability. The conventional hot spot for inducing the highest current density in the hand motor area may not be the optimal site for effective stimulation. In this study, we investigated the influence of the center position of the anodal electrode on changes in motor cortical excitability. We considered three tDCS conditions in 16 healthy subjects: (i) real stimulation with the anodal electrode located at the conventional hand motor hot spot determined by motor evoked potentials (MEPs); (ii) real stimulation with the anodal electrode located at the point with the highest current density in the hand motor area as determined by electric current simulation; and (iii) sham stimulation. Motor cortical excitability as measured by MEP amplitude increased after both real stimulation conditions, but not after sham stimulation. Stimulation using the simulation-derived anodal electrode position, which was found to be posterior to the MEP hot spot for all subjects, induced higher motor cortical excitability. Individual positioning of the anodal electrode, based on the consideration of anatomical differences between subjects, appears to be important for maximizing the effects of tDCS. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Ten-year changes in positive and negative marker food, fruit, vegetables, and salad intake in 9-10 year olds: SportsLinx 2000-2001 to 2010-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boddy, L M; Abayomi, J; Johnson, B; Hackett, A F; Stratton, G

    2014-06-01

    To investigate changes in intakes of 'negative' and 'positive' foods, fruit, vegetables, and salad in serial cohorts of 9-10-year-old children from 2000-2001 to 2010-2011. For this serial, cross-sectional study, children in school year 5 (9-10 years of age) completed the SportsLinx Lifestyles Survey [n = 30,239 (15,336 boys and 14,903 girls)]. Changes in positive and negative food scores, and the proportion of boys and girls reportedly consuming fruit, vegetables and salad on the previous day to surveying, were investigated annually from 2000 to 2011. The consumption of negative foods declined and positive foods increased significantly compared to baseline. Positive changes in fruit, vegetables and salad consumption were observed over time, with the most recent cohort more likely to consume fruit, vegetables and salad compared to the 2000-2001 baseline. Girls displayed more favourable positive and negative food scores and were more likely to consume fruit, salad and vegetables across several study years compared to boys. The consumption of negative and positive foods, fruit, vegetables, and salad has improved over the last 10 years. In addition, girls appear to have better positive and negative food scores, and were more likely to consume fruit, vegetables and salad, across a number of study years or cohorts compared to boys. These encouraging findings suggest that children's food intake has improved since 2000. Furthermore, the data indicate that boys and girls may require separate or different healthy eating messages to further improve food intake. © 2013 The Authors Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

  14. Patient position alters attenuation effects in multipinhole cardiac SPECT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmins, Rachel; Ruddy, Terrence D; Wells, R Glenn

    2015-03-01

    Dedicated cardiac cameras offer improved sensitivity over conventional SPECT cameras. Sensitivity gains are obtained by large numbers of detectors and novel collimator arrangements such as an array of multiple pinholes that focus on the heart. Pinholes lead to variable amounts of attenuation as a source is moved within the camera field of view. This study evaluated the effects of this variable attenuation on myocardial SPECT images. Computer simulations were performed for a set of nine point sources distributed in the left ventricular wall (LV). Sources were placed at the location of the heart in both an anthropomorphic and a water-cylinder computer phantom. Sources were translated in x, y, and z by up to 5 cm from the center. Projections were simulated with and without attenuation and the changes in attenuation were compared. A LV with an inferior wall defect was also simulated in both phantoms over the same range of positions. Real camera data were acquired on a Discovery NM530c camera (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) for five min in list-mode using an anthropomorphic phantom (DataSpectrum, Durham, NC) with 100 MBq of Tc-99m in the LV. Images were taken over the same range of positions as the simulations and were compared based on the summed perfusion score (SPS), defect width, and apparent defect uptake for each position. Point sources in the water phantom showed absolute changes in attenuation of ≤8% over the range of positions and relative changes of ≤5% compared to the apex. In the anthropomorphic computer simulations, absolute change increased to 20%. The changes in relative attenuation caused a change in SPS of position-dependent changes were removed with attenuation correction. Translation of a source relative to a multipinhole camera caused only small changes in homogeneous phantoms with SPS changing position-dependent changes in attenuation.

  15. Change for the better: an innovative model of care delivering positive patient and workforce outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cann, Tina; Gardner, Anne

    2012-01-01

    To evaluate patient and workforce outcomes following the implementation of the Practice Partnership Model of Care. Pre-test-post-test design. A 29-bed surgical ward at a tertiary-level regional hospital. Summary de-identified data from all patients and ward nursing staff in the study period. The Practice Partnership Model of Care has four main components: working in partnership; clinical handover at the bedside; comfort rounds; and environmental modifications. These reflect patient-centered and quality focused initiatives and use a total quality improvement framework that aims to transform care at the bedside. Patient outcomes: changes in patient safety (measured by numbers of medication errors and patient falls); satisfaction with care (use of the call bell system, number of complaints and compliments). Workforce outcomes: changes in staff satisfaction (measured through staff sick leave). A statistically significant reduction in use of nurse call bells (p=<0.001) post-implementation. Medication errors and patient falls reduced, with an overall reduction of 4% in staff sick leave. The Practice Partnership Model of Care positively affected patient and workforce outcomes, suggesting further exploration of this model in other hospital contexts is warranted.

  16. Short-Term and Long-Term Forecasting for the 3D Point Position Changing by Using Artificial Neural Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleni-Georgia Alevizakou

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Forecasting is one of the most growing areas in most sciences attracting the attention of many researchers for more extensive study. Therefore, the goal of this study is to develop an integrated forecasting methodology based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN, which is a modern and attractive intelligent technique. The final result is to provide short-term and long-term forecasts for point position changing, i.e., the displacement or deformation of the surface they belong to. The motivation was the combination of two thoughts, the insertion of the forecasting concept in Geodesy as in the most scientific disciplines (e.g., Economics, Medicine and the desire to know the future position of any point on a construction or on the earth’s crustal. This methodology was designed to be accurate, stable and general for different kind of geodetic data. The basic procedure consists of the definition of the forecasting problem, the preliminary data analysis (data pre-processing, the definition of the most suitable ANN, its evaluation using the proper criteria and finally the production of forecasts. The methodology gives particular emphasis on the stages of the pre-processing and the evaluation. Additionally, the importance of the prediction intervals (PI is emphasized. A case study, which includes geodetic data from the year 2003 to the year 2016—namely X, Y, Z coordinates—is implemented. The data were acquired by 1000 permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS stations. During this case study, 2016 ANNs—with different hyper-parameters—are trained and tested for short-term forecasting and 2016 for long-term forecasting, for each of the GNSS stations. In addition, other conventional statistical forecasting methods are used for the same purpose using the same data set. Finally the most appropriate Non-linear Autoregressive Recurrent network (NAR or Non-linear Autoregressive with eXogenous inputs (NARX for the forecasting of 3D point

  17. Predictors of pregnancy and changes in pregnancy incidence among HIV-positive women accessing HIV clinical care at 13 large UK clinics

    Science.gov (United States)

    HUNTINGTON, Susie E; THORNE, Claire; BANSI, Loveleen K; ANDERSON, Jane; NEWELL, Marie-Louise; TAYLOR, Graham P; PILLAY, Deenan; HILL, Teresa; TOOKEY, Pat A; SABIN, Caroline A

    2012-01-01

    Objectives To describe predictors of pregnancy and changes in pregnancy incidence among HIV-positive women accessing HIV clinical care. Methods Data were obtained through the linkage of two separate studies; the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort study (UK CHIC), a cohort of adults attending 13 large HIV clinics, and the National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood (NSHPC), a national surveillance study of HIV-positive pregnant women. Pregnancy incidence was measured using the proportion of women in UK CHIC with a pregnancy reported to NSHPC. Generalised estimating equations were used to identify predictors of pregnancy and assess changes in pregnancy incidence in 2000-2009. Results The number of women accessing care at UK CHIC sites increased as did the number of pregnancies (from 72 to 230). Older women were less likely to have a pregnancy (adjusted Relative Rate (aRR) 0.44 per 10 year increment in age [95% CI [0.41-0.46], ppregnancy increased over the study period (aRR 1.05 [1.03-1.07], ppregnancy rate among women accessing HIV clinical care increased in 2000-2009. HIV-positive women with, or planning, a pregnancy require a high level of care and this is likely to continue and increase as more women of older age have pregnancies. PMID:22713479

  18. Changes of hyoid bone position following treatment of class II div1 malocclusion with Farmand functional appliance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yassaei S

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Unlike other bones of the head and neck, hyoid bone has no bony articulations. It is connected to mandible, cranium and pharynx through muscles and ligaments. During treatment with functional appliance in patients with class II div1 malocclusion, mandible is positioned in inferior and anterior direction. Regarding the relation between hyoid and mandibular bone, alterations of hyoid bone position can be a result of functional appliance therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of hyoid bone position following treatment with Farmand functional appliance in patients with class II div 1 malocclusion. Materials and Methods: In this before-after clinical trial, 28 patients with class II div 1 malocclusion which were under treatment with Farmand functional appliance for 11 months were selected. Facial growth in vertical, normal or horizontal direction was determined by cephalometric measurement. Data were analyzed with Paired-t test to compare the differences of mean values pre and post treatment. Variance analysis was used to compare the three growth patterns. P<0.05 was considered as the limit of significance. Results: Hyoid bone shifted significantly forward in horizontal dimension (P<0.01 and non-significantly upward in vertical dimension. There was no significant difference among the three studied groups with respect to hyoid bone position alterations in horizontal dimension but significant difference was observed between horizontal and vertical growth pattern in vertical dimension (P<0.05. There was significant correlation between decrease of ANB angle and forward movement of hyoid bone. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, treatment with Farmand functional appliance (Fa II leads to significant alterations in the position and anterior displacement of the hyoid bone.

  19. Narrating personality change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lodi-Smith, Jennifer; Geise, Aaron C; Roberts, Brent W; Robins, Richard W

    2009-03-01

    The present research investigated the longitudinal relations between personality traits and narratives. Specifically, the authors examined how individual differences in 170 college students' narratives of personality change (a) were predicted by personality traits at the beginning of college, (b) related to actual changes and perceived changes in personality traits during college, and (c) related to changes in emotional health during college. Individual differences in narratives of personality trait change told in the 4th year of college fell into 2 dimensions: affective processing, characterized by positive emotions, and exploratory processing, characterized by meaning making and causal processing. Conscientious, open, and extraverted freshmen told exploratory stories of change as seniors. Emotionally healthy freshmen told stories of change that were high in positive affect. Both positive affective and exploratory stories corresponded to change in emotional stability and conscientiousness during college above and beyond the effects of perceived changes in these traits. In addition, both positive affective and exploratory narratives corresponded to increases in emotional health during college independent of the effects of changes in personality traits. These findings improve our understanding of how individuals conceptualize their changing identity over time.

  20. Habitat change influences mate search behaviour in three-spined sticklebacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heuschele, Jan; Salminen, Tiina; Candolin, Ulrika

    2012-01-01

    Mate choice is one of the main mechanisms of sexual selection, with profound implications for individual fitness. Changes in environmental conditions can cause individuals to alter their mate search behaviour, with consequences for mate choice. Human-induced eutrophication of water bodies...... is a global problem that alters habitat structure and visibility in aquatic ecosystems. We investigated whether changes in habitat complexity and male cue modality, visual or olfactory, influence mate search behaviour of female three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus. We allowed gravid females...... evaluation in the absence of visual stimulation. This reduced the rate of mate encounters and probably also the opportunity for choice. Our results show that changes in habitat structure and visibility can alter female mate searching, with potential consequences for the opportunity for sexual selection....

  1. Assessing and managing freshwater ecosystems vulnerable to global change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angeler, David G.; Allen, Craig R.; Birge, Hannah E.; Drakare, Stina; McKie, Brendan G.; Johnson, Richard K.

    2014-01-01

    Freshwater ecosystems are important for global biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. There is consensus in the scientific literature that freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to the impacts of environmental change, which may trigger irreversible regime shifts upon which biodiversity and ecosystem services may be lost. There are profound uncertainties regarding the management and assessment of the vulnerability of freshwater ecosystems to environmental change. Quantitative approaches are needed to reduce this uncertainty. We describe available statistical and modeling approaches along with case studies that demonstrate how resilience theory can be applied to aid decision-making in natural resources management. We highlight especially how long-term monitoring efforts combined with ecological theory can provide a novel nexus between ecological impact assessment and management, and the quantification of systemic vulnerability and thus the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change.

  2. Psychological resilience, pain catastrophizing, and positive emotions: perspectives on comprehensive modeling of individual pain adaptation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturgeon, John A; Zautra, Alex J

    2013-03-01

    Pain is a complex construct that contributes to profound physical and psychological dysfunction, particularly in individuals coping with chronic pain. The current paper builds upon previous research, describes a balanced conceptual model that integrates aspects of both psychological vulnerability and resilience to pain, and reviews protective and exacerbating psychosocial factors to the process of adaptation to chronic pain, including pain catastrophizing, pain acceptance, and positive psychological resources predictive of enhanced pain coping. The current paper identifies future directions for research that will further enrich the understanding of pain adaptation and espouses an approach that will enhance the ecological validity of psychological pain coping models, including introduction of advanced statistical and conceptual models that integrate behavioral, cognitive, information processing, motivational and affective theories of pain.

  3. Cochlear implantation: is hearing preservation necessary in severe to profound hearing loss?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derinsu, Ufuk; Serin, Gediz Murat; Akdaş, Ferda; Batman, Çağlar

    2011-03-01

    The goal of the cochlear implant surgery is to place the electrode array with minimal damage to preserve the residual hearing. Round-window insertion can be performed in a manner that is potentially less traumatic than the standard cochleostomy. The purpose of the study was to investigate audiological results of the round-window approach using standard electrode. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate our experience in patients with implanted through round window between January 2007 and March 2009. Sixty patients had undergone cochlear implant surgery through the round window with full insertion of a standard electrode array. Preoperative and postoperative pure-tone thresholds were measured for implanted ears in the range of 250 to 4000 Hz. Within these 60 cases, 31 patients had been evaluated. The population comprised 16 women and 15 men. The mean age was 15.96 years (range, 4-64 years). Follow-up times ranged from 6 to 26 months. Preservation of low-frequency hearing (250 and 500 Hz) was achieved in 27 (87%) of 31 patients. Complete hearing preservation (all frequencies) was accomplished in 11 patients (35.48%). No hearing could be determined postoperatively in 4 patients (12.9%), having preoperative thresholds of 120 dB at 250, 500, and 1000 Hz. Round-window approach has been widely used for preservation of residual hearing. In our patients with severe to profound hearing loss, we preserved residual hearing. Although the residual hearing cannot be sufficient for using additional acoustic stimulation, the preserved residual hearing means minimal damage and a more convenient cochlea, so this is promising for future development.

  4. A Glance on Diagnosis and Ttreatment of Profound Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojtaba Azimian

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available Multiple Sclerosis (M.S is one of the prevalent diseases of the central nervous system which cause disability in young adults. This appears as neural signs in different parts and various times. The main defect is local deterioration or destruction of myelin tissue in the brain and spinal cord. Profound fatigue is one the most common symptoms of this disease. Because MS is prevalent in middle ages, so the presence of this symptom affects the life and activity of the patient In these ages people have high amount of activities and this functional disorder creates many difficulties for daily works in patient. For this reason, fatigue problem in patients, always, have caught the attention of researchers. Despite numerous studies, still the exact reason for producing fatigue have not been mentioned But several mechanisms have been discussed, such as: autoimmune mechanism of the disease, Involvement and disorder of endocrine system, involvement of central nervous system and de-synchronization of autonom system. Among these, autoimmune mechanism is considered as a main role in producing fatigue. Lack of proper knowledge regarding exact fatigue mechanism several problems in its treatment. Evaluation is the first step for controlling fatigue, which is done through various tests. Clear and proper evaluation can be obtained by these tests. After evaluation, non-drug and finally drug procedures are helpful. In non-drug treatment the focus is on: sport exercises, suitable diet program, identification and improvement of the patient psychotic disorders, energy conservation methods. Finally, the use of drugs such as Amantadine, Pemoline and Modafini is recommended for fatigue treatment.

  5. Classic Bartter syndrome complicated with profound growth hormone deficiency: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adachi, Masanori; Tajima, Toshihiro; Muroya, Koji; Asakura, Yumi

    2013-12-30

    Classic Bartter syndrome is a salt-wasting tubulopathy caused by mutations in the CLCNKB (chloride channel Kb) gene. Although growth hormone deficiency has been suggested as a cause for persistent growth failure in patients with classic Bartter syndrome, in our opinion the diagnoses of growth hormone deficiency has been unconvincing in some reports. Moreover, Gitelman syndrome seems to have been confused with Bartter syndrome in some cases in the literature. In the present work, we describe a new case with CLCNKB gene mutations and review the reported cases of classic Bartter syndrome associated with growth hormone deficiency. Our patient was a Japanese boy diagnosed as having classic Bartter syndrome at eight months of age. The diagnosis of Bartter syndrome was confirmed by CLCNKB gene analysis, which revealed compound heterozygous mutations with deletion of exons 1 to 3 (derived from his mother) and ΔL130 (derived from his father). His medical therapy consisted of potassium (K), sodium chloride, spironolactone, and anti-inflammatory agents; this regime was started at eight months of age. Our patient was very short (131.1cm, -4.9 standard deviation) at 14.3 years and showed profoundly impaired growth hormone responses to pharmacological stimulants: 0.15μg/L to insulin-induced hypoglycemia and 0.39μg/L to arginine. His growth response to growth hormone therapy was excellent. The present case strengthens the association between classic Bartter syndrome and growth hormone deficiency. We propose that growth hormone status should be considered while treating children with classic Bartter syndrome.

  6. Salmonella epidemiology: A whirlwind of change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besser, John M

    2018-05-01

    The field of infectious disease epidemiology for Salmonella and other enteric pathogens is undergoing some of the most profound changes since the time of Kauffman and White. Rapid advances in "big data" technologies such as genomics and metagenomics are making it possible to monitor and control salmonellosis in new and exciting ways. Epidemiological methods are becoming increasingly robust through the routine use of standardized hypothesis-generating questionnaires, iterative open-ended interviewing, informational trace-backs and new modeling techniques for describing the attribution of disease to food sources. In addition, Salmonella epidemiology is facing important challenges and new opportunities due to the rapid adoption of culture independent diagnostic test panels by clinical laboratories. Where is this unprecedented wave of change taking us? This chapter will examine emerging trends in Salmonella epidemiology, and take a peek into the not-so-distant future. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  7. Changes in cardiac index and blood pressure on positioning children prone for scoliosis surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Z E; Görges, M; Cooke, E; Malherbe, S; Dumont, G A; Ansermino, J M

    2013-07-01

    In this prospective observational study we investigated the changes in cardiac index and mean arterial pressure in children when positioned prone for scoliosis correction surgery. Thirty children (ASA 1-2, aged 13-18 years) undergoing primary, idiopathic scoliosis repair were recruited. The cardiac index and mean arterial blood pressure (median (IQR [range])) were 2.7 (2.3-3.1 [1.4-3.7]) l.min(-1).m(-2) and 73 (66-80 [54-91]) mmHg, respectively, at baseline; 2.9 (2.5-3.2 [1.7-4.4]) l.min(-1).m(-2) and 73 (63-81 [51-96]) mmHg following a 5-ml.kg(-1) fluid bolus; and 2.5 (2.2-2.7 [1.4-4.8]) l.min(-1).m(-2) and 69 (62-73 [46-85]) mmHg immediately after turning prone. Turning prone resulted in a median reduction in cardiac index of 0.5 l.min(-1).m(-2) (95% CI 0.3-0.7 l.min(-1).m(-2), p=0.001), or 18.5%, with a large degree of inter-subject variability (+10.3% to -40.9%). The changes in mean arterial blood pressure were not significant. Strategies to predict, prevent and treat decreases in cardiac index need to be developed. © 2013 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  8. Positional change in blood pressure and 8-year risk of hypertension: the CARDIA Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Randal J; Liu, Kiang; Jacobs, David R; Bild, Diane E; Kiefe, Catarina I; Hulley, Stephen B

    2003-08-01

    To assess the relationship between positional blood pressure change and 8-year incidence of hypertension in a biracial cohort of young adults. Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study with complete data from year 2 (1987-1988), year 5 (1990-1991), year 7 (1992-1993), and year 10 (1995-1996) examinations were included (N = 2781). Participants were classified into 3 groups based on their year 2 systolic blood pressure response to standing: drop, a decrease in systolic blood pressure of more than 5 mm Hg; same, a change of between -5 and +5 mm Hg; and rise, more than 5-mm Hg increase. The number of participants in each group was as follows: drop, 741; same, 1590; and rise, 450. The 8-year incidence of hypertension was 8.4% in the drop group, 6.8% in the same group, and 12.4% in the rise group (P women, 2.47 (95% CI, 1.19-5.11), in white men, 2.17 (95% CI, 1.00-4.73), and in white women, 4.74 (95% CI, 1.11-20.30). A greater than 5-mm Hg increase in blood pressure on standing identified a group of young adults at increased risk of developing hypertension within 8 years. These findings support a physiologic link between sympathetic nervous system reactivity and risk of hypertension in young adults.

  9. Radiographic study of bone deformans on charged condylar head position in TMJ arthrosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    You, Dong Soo

    1983-01-01

    The author analyzed the morphologic changes of bone structure from 848 radiographics (424 joints) of 212 patients with temporomandibular joint arthrosis, which were obtained by the oblique-lateral transcranial projection and ortho pantomography. The interrelation of the bone changes and condylar head positions the results were as follows: 1. In the 212 patients with TMJ arthrosis, 210 patients (99.05%) show the condylar positional changes. Among them, 187 patients (89.05%) show the bone changes. 2. In TMJ arthrosis patients with bone changes, 108 patients (57.75%) show both the condylar positional changes and bone changes. 66 patients show the condylar positional changes bilaterally and bone changes unilaterally. On the other hand, 11 patients (5.88%) show the condylar positional changes unilaterally and bone change bilaterally. 3. The bone changes in the TMJ arthrosis patients with the condylar positional changes were as follows: There were the flattening of articular surface in 103 cases (26.55%) the erosion in 99 cases (25.52%), and the erosion in 88 cases (22.68%). There were not much differences among the three types of bone changes. And the deformity in 70 cases (18.04%), the sclerosis in 22 cases (5.67%), the marginal proliferation in 6 cases (1.55%) were seen. 4. The regions of bone changes in TMJ arthrosis patients with condylar positional changes were as follows: They occurred at the condyle head (51.04%), the articular eminence (39.20%) and the articular fossa (9.60%) in that order. The condylar positional changes and bone changes according to the regions were as follows: a) In the bone changes at the condylar head, the flattening (34.63%) was a most frequent finding and the deformity (27.63%) the erosion (34.63%) in the order. In the condylar positional changes, the downward positioning of condyle (41.44%) was a most frequent finding in the mouth closed state and the restricted movement within the articular fossa (35.46%) in the mouth open state. b) In

  10. Radiographic study of bone deformans on charged condylar head position in TMJ arthrosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    You, Dong Soo [Department of Oral Radiology, College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1983-11-15

    The author analyzed the morphologic changes of bone structure from 848 radiographics (424 joints) of 212 patients with temporomandibular joint arthrosis, which were obtained by the oblique-lateral transcranial projection and ortho pantomography. The interrelation of the bone changes and condylar head positions the results were as follows: 1. In the 212 patients with TMJ arthrosis, 210 patients (99.05%) show the condylar positional changes. Among them, 187 patients (89.05%) show the bone changes. 2. In TMJ arthrosis patients with bone changes, 108 patients (57.75%) show both the condylar positional changes and bone changes. 66 patients show the condylar positional changes bilaterally and bone changes unilaterally. On the other hand, 11 patients (5.88%) show the condylar positional changes unilaterally and bone change bilaterally. 3. The bone changes in the TMJ arthrosis patients with the condylar positional changes were as follows: There were the flattening of articular surface in 103 cases (26.55%) the erosion in 99 cases (25.52%), and the erosion in 88 cases (22.68%). There were not much differences among the three types of bone changes. And the deformity in 70 cases (18.04%), the sclerosis in 22 cases (5.67%), the marginal proliferation in 6 cases (1.55%) were seen. 4. The regions of bone changes in TMJ arthrosis patients with condylar positional changes were as follows: They occurred at the condyle head (51.04%), the articular eminence (39.20%) and the articular fossa (9.60%) in that order. The condylar positional changes and bone changes according to the regions were as follows: a) In the bone changes at the condylar head, the flattening (34.63%) was a most frequent finding and the deformity (27.63%) the erosion (34.63%) in the order. In the condylar positional changes, the downward positioning of condyle (41.44%) was a most frequent finding in the mouth closed state and the restricted movement within the articular fossa (35.46%) in the mouth open state. b) In

  11. Progressive Climate Change on Titan: Implications for Habitability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, J. M.; A. D. Howard

    2014-01-01

    Titan's landscape is profoundly shaped by its atmosphere and comparable in magnitude perhaps with only the Earth and Mars amongst the worlds of the Solar System. Like the Earth, climate dictates the intensity and relative roles of fluvial and aeolian activity from place to place and over geologic time. Thus Titan's landscape is the record of climate change. We have investigated three broad classes of Titan climate evolution hypotheses (Steady State, Progressive, and Cyclic), regulated by the role, sources, and availability of methane. We favor the Progressive hypotheses, which we will outline here, then discuss their implication for habitability.

  12. Accentuate the positive: nursing's challenge for 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Graham

    2016-12-14

    Few of us will forget the momentous events of 2016 - a remarkable year on so many fronts. Brexit, a new prime minister and the election of Donald Trump as US president stand out as defining events, but there have also been less dramatic developments that will have a profound impact on the future of nursing.

  13. [Effects of global change on soil fauna diversity: A review].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ting-Juan

    2013-02-01

    Terrestrial ecosystem consists of aboveground and belowground components, whose interaction affects the ecosystem processes and functions. Soil fauna plays an important role in biogeochemical cycles. With the recognizing of the significance of soil fauna in ecosystem processes, increasing evidences demonstrated that global change has profound effects on soil faunima diversity. The alternation of land use type, the increasing temperature, and the changes in precipitation pattern can directly affect soil fauna diversity, while the increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition can indirectly affect the soil fauna diversity by altering plant community composition, diversity, and nutrient contents. The interactions of different environmental factors can co-affect the soil fauna diversity. To understand the effects of different driving factors on soil fauna diversity under the background of climate change would facilitate us better predicting how the soil fauna diversity and related ecological processes changed in the future.

  14. Social Change and its Potential Impacts on Chinese Population Health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang, Hong

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available Within the past 25 years, China has experienced transformation of its economic system from a highly centralized planned economy toward a market oriented economic system. This process has led to massive and rapid changes in all aspects of society with profound effects on the population’s health in the large parts of the country. Along with the material prosperity, the living conditions of Chinese people, such as food, shelter, and sanitation status, have been improving steadily. People have more capability to purchase health related merchandise as well as health services. Overall the health status of most Chinese has improved but there are significant exceptions to this overall conclusion. These exceptions arise from increasing inequity of income, increases in unemployment rates, the decline of health insurance coverage, changes in demography, changes in social value, culture, health related behaviors, and the changes of health care systems.

  15. Game changing - tracing the positions, strategies and interaction modes of the German Länder towards the (ever expanding?) European Union

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Mads Christian Dagnis

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates how the positions, strategies and modes of interaction of the German Länder have changed over time in response to the process of Europeanization. By applying the method of process tracing within a theoretical framework of rational choice institutionalism, the article...... resulted in a more sceptical attitude of the Länder towards (the perceived ever expanding) European Union....

  16. Evaluation of vertebrobasilar artery changes in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Daopei; Zhang, Shuling; Zhang, Hongtao; Xu, Yuming; Fu, Shengqi; Yu, Meng; Ji, Peng

    2013-09-11

    The aim of this study was to investigate vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) lesions in elderly patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) by magnetic resonance angiography. VBA lesions in patients older than 65 years of age with BPPV were prospectively investigated by magnetic resonance angiography. Vascular risk factors, blood vessel changes, and vertigo severity were recorded. Age-matched individuals without BPPV were included in the control group. Of 126 patients screened for this study, 104 were included. Relevant comorbidities included diabetes (12 patients), hypertension (23 patients), and dyslipidemia (20 patients). Findings included left or right vertebral artery (VA) stenosis or occlusion (22 patients, 21.2%), VA tortuosity (25 patients, 24.0%), VA dominance (20 patients, 19.2%), basilar artery (BA) stenosis or occlusion (nine patients, 8.6%), and BA tortuosity (12 patients, 11.5%). These abnormal vessels differed between BPPV patients and the control group (all PVertigo did not differ between the abnormal VA and abnormal BA groups (P>0.05), but did differ between the normal group and the abnormal VA or BA group (PVertigo severity correlated with VA stenosis or occlusion, VA dominance, and unilateral or bilateral VA tortuosity. VBA tortuosity and VA dominance were common in BPPV patients and may contribute toward BPPV.

  17. The Financial Crisis and the Management of Change in the Banking Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra Micu

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In the last two decades the banking sector had been facing a series of profound changes. After a significant period of growth and wellbeing, the economy has faced a sudden and severe crisis. The main effect of the economic downturn implied a sharp decrease in the economic activity overall, and in the banking sector in particular, which led to millions of people losing their jobs. The article focuses on this heavily affected branch of the economy, and looks into the most efficient change management methods and turnaround strategies that enabled select organizations to remain competitive and overcome the multiple difficulties caused by the financial crisis.

  18. AEDT: A new concept for ecological dynamics in the ever-changing world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chesson, Peter

    2017-05-01

    The important concept of equilibrium has always been controversial in ecology, but a new, more general concept, an asymptotic environmentally determined trajectory (AEDT), overcomes many concerns with equilibrium by realistically incorporating long-term climate change while retaining much of the predictive power of a stable equilibrium. A population or ecological community is predicted to approach its AEDT, which is a function of time reflecting environmental history and biology. The AEDT invokes familiar questions and predictions but in a more realistic context in which consideration of past environments and a future changing profoundly due to human influence becomes possible. Strong applications are also predicted in population genetics, evolution, earth sciences, and economics.

  19. Assessing Resistance to Change During Shifting from Legacy to Open Web-Based Systems in the Air Transport Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brewer, Denise

    The air transport industry (ATI) is a dynamic, communal, international, and intercultural environment in which the daily operations of airlines, airports, and service providers are dependent on information technology (IT). Many of the IT legacy systems are more than 30 years old, and current regulations and the globally distributed workplace have brought profound changes to the way the ATI community interacts. The purpose of the study was to identify the areas of resistance to change in the ATI community and the corresponding factors in change management requirements that minimize product development delays and lead to a successful and timely shift from legacy to open web-based systems in upgrading ATI operations. The research questions centered on product development team processes as well as the members' perceived need for acceptance of change. A qualitative case study approach rooted in complexity theory was employed using a single case of an intercultural product development team dispersed globally. Qualitative data gathered from questionnaires were organized using Nvivo software, which coded the words and themes. Once coded, themes emerged identifying the areas of resistance within the product development team. Results of follow-up interviews with team members suggests that intercultural relationship building prior to and during project execution; focus on common team goals; and, development of relationships to enhance interpersonal respect, understanding and overall communication help overcome resistance to change. Positive social change in the form of intercultural group effectiveness evidenced in increased team functioning during major project transitions is likely to result when global managers devote time to cultural understanding.

  20. The U.S. National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy: A Model for Positive Organizational Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baur, Cynthia; Harris, Linda; Squire, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    This chapter presents the U.S. National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy and its unique contribution to public health and health care in the U.S. The chapter details what the National Action Plan is, how it evolved, and how it has influenced priorities for health literacy improvement work. Examples of how the National Action Plan fills policy and research gaps in health care and public health are included. The first part of the chapter lays the foundation for the development of the National Action Plan, and the second part discusses how it can stimulate positive organizational change to help create health literate organizations and move the nation towards a health literate society.

  1. Evaluating the Quality of the Interaction between Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities and Direct Support Staff: A Preliminary Application of Three Observation Scales from Parent-Infant Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hostyn, Ine; Petry, Katja; Lambrechts, Greet; Maes, Bea

    2011-01-01

    Background: Affective and reciprocal interactions with others are essential for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), but it is a challenge to assess their quality. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of instruments from parent-infant research to evaluate these interactions. Method: Eighteen videotaped…

  2. Differentiating characteristics of deafblindness and autism in people with congenital deafblindness and profound intellectual disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoevenaars-van den Boom, M A A; Antonissen, A C F M; Knoors, H; Vervloed, M P J

    2009-06-01

    In persons with deafblindness, it is hard to distinguish autism spectrum disorders from several deafblind specific behaviours caused by the dual sensory impairments, especially when these persons are also intellectually disabled. As a result, there is an over-diagnosis of autism in persons who are deafblind leading to unsuitable interventions. Autism as specified by the DSM-IV was studied in 10 persons with congenital deafblindness with profound intellectual disabilities. Behaviours of people with deafblindness and autism (n = 5) and of people with deafblindness without autism (n = 5) were observed in a semi-standardised assessment. All people with deafblindness showed impairments in social interaction, communication and language. In contrast to persons without autism, people with deafblindness and autism showed significantly more impairments in reciprocity of social interaction, quality of initiatives to contact and the use of adequate communicative signals and functions. No differences between the groups were found for quantity and persistence of stereotyped behaviour, quality of play and exploration and adequate problem-solving strategies. This study indicates that there are some possibilities to differentiate autism from behaviours specific for deafblindness. It also confirms the large overlap in overt behaviours between people with deafblindness and persons with autism.

  3. How life changes itself: the Read-Write (RW) genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, James A

    2013-09-01

    The genome has traditionally been treated as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) subject to change by copying errors and accidents. In this review, I propose that we need to change that perspective and understand the genome as an intricately formatted Read-Write (RW) data storage system constantly subject to cellular modifications and inscriptions. Cells operate under changing conditions and are continually modifying themselves by genome inscriptions. These inscriptions occur over three distinct time-scales (cell reproduction, multicellular development and evolutionary change) and involve a variety of different processes at each time scale (forming nucleoprotein complexes, epigenetic formatting and changes in DNA sequence structure). Research dating back to the 1930s has shown that genetic change is the result of cell-mediated processes, not simply accidents or damage to the DNA. This cell-active view of genome change applies to all scales of DNA sequence variation, from point mutations to large-scale genome rearrangements and whole genome duplications (WGDs). This conceptual change to active cell inscriptions controlling RW genome functions has profound implications for all areas of the life sciences. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. The profound effects of patient arm positioning on organ doses from CT procedures calculated using Monte Carlo simulations and deformable phantoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Haikuan; Gao, Yiming; Ding, Aiping; Caracappa, Peter F.; George Xu, X.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the organ dose differences caused by the arms-raised and arms-lowered postures for multidetector computed tomography procedures. Organ doses were calculated using computational phantoms and Monte Carlo simulations. The arm position in two previously developed adult male and female human phantoms was adjusted to represent 'raised' and 'lowered' postures using advanced BREP-based mesh surface geometries. Organ doses from routine computed tomography (CT) scan protocols, including the chest, abdomen-pelvis, and chest-abdomen-pelvis scans, were simulated at various tube voltages and reported in the unit of mGy per 100 mAs. The CT scanner model was based on previously tested work. The differences in organ dose per unit tube current between raised and lowered arm postures were studied. Furthermore, the differences due to the tube current modulation (TCM) for these two different postures and their impact on organ doses were also investigated. For a given scan parameter, a patient having lowered arms received smaller doses to organs located within the chest, abdomen or pelvis when compared with the patient having raised arms. As expected, this is caused by the attenuation of the primary X rays by the arms. However, the skin doses and bone surface doses in the patient having lowered arms were found to be 3.97-32.12 % larger than those in a patient having raised arms due to the fact that more skin and spongiosa were covered in the scan range when the arms are lowered. This study also found that dose differences become smaller with the increase in tube voltage for most of organs or tissues except the skin. For example, the liver dose differences decreased from -15.01 to -11.33 % whereas the skin dose differences increased from 21.53 to 25.24 % with tube voltage increased from 80 to 140 kVp. With TCM applied, the organ doses of all the listed organs in patient having lowered arms are larger due to the additional tube

  5. Effect of the Spanish Conquest on coastal change in Northwestern Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belknap, Daniel F.; Sandweiss, Daniel H.

    2014-06-01

    When Francisco Pizarro and his small band of Spanish conquistadores landed in northern Peru in A.D. 1532 to begin their conquest of the vast Inca Empire, they initiated profound changes in the culture, language, technology, economics, and demography of western South America. They also altered anthropogenically modulated processes of shoreline change that had functioned for millennia. Beginning with the extirpation of local cultures as a result of the Spanish Conquest, and continuing through today, the intersection of demography, economy, and El Niño-driven beach-ridge formation on the Chira beach-ridge plain of Northwestern Peru has changed the nature of coastal evolution in this region. A similar event may have occurred at about 2800 calibrated y B.P. in association with increased El Niño frequency.

  6. Ecological and evolutionary impacts of changing climatic variability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez, Diego P; Gianoli, Ernesto; Morris, William F; Bozinovic, Francisco

    2017-02-01

    While average temperature is likely to increase in most locations on Earth, many places will simultaneously experience higher variability in temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables. Although ecologists and evolutionary biologists widely recognize the potential impacts of changes in average climatic conditions, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential impacts of changes in climatic variability and extremes. We review the evidence on the impacts of increased climatic variability and extremes on physiological, ecological and evolutionary processes at multiple levels of biological organization, from individuals to populations and communities. Our review indicates that climatic variability can have profound influences on biological processes at multiple scales of organization. Responses to increased climatic variability and extremes are likely to be complex and cannot always be generalized, although our conceptual and methodological toolboxes allow us to make informed predictions about the likely consequences of such climatic changes. We conclude that climatic variability represents an important component of climate that deserves further attention. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  7. Changed planning for planned and unplanned change

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Woerkum, van C.; Aarts, N.; Herzele, Van A.

    2011-01-01

    Change, planned and unplanned, can be the product of events (change by chance), new language (change from societal interaction), and practices (track-bound change), and can involve many different societal actors. To position planning as an activity within this broader context, we present a model

  8. Visual advantage in deaf adults linked to retinal changes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte Codina

    Full Text Available The altered sensory experience of profound early onset deafness provokes sometimes large scale neural reorganisations. In particular, auditory-visual cross-modal plasticity occurs, wherein redundant auditory cortex becomes recruited to vision. However, the effect of human deafness on neural structures involved in visual processing prior to the visual cortex has never been investigated, either in humans or animals. We investigated neural changes at the retina and optic nerve head in profoundly deaf (N = 14 and hearing (N = 15 adults using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT, an in-vivo light interference method of quantifying retinal micro-structure. We compared retinal changes with behavioural results from the same deaf and hearing adults, measuring sensitivity in the peripheral visual field using Goldmann perimetry. Deaf adults had significantly larger neural rim areas, within the optic nerve head in comparison to hearing controls suggesting greater retinal ganglion cell number. Deaf adults also demonstrated significantly larger visual field areas (indicating greater peripheral sensitivity than controls. Furthermore, neural rim area was significantly correlated with visual field area in both deaf and hearing adults. Deaf adults also showed a significantly different pattern of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL distribution compared to controls. Significant correlations between the depth of the RNFL at the inferior-nasal peripapillary retina and the corresponding far temporal and superior temporal visual field areas (sensitivity were found. Our results show that cross-modal plasticity after early onset deafness may not be limited to the sensory cortices, noting specific retinal adaptations in early onset deaf adults which are significantly correlated with peripheral vision sensitivity.

  9. A Case of Profound Soft Tissue Infection of Lower Limb Contained Maggots after IV Abuse of Iranian

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Heidary

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Infections include soft tissue infections are notable reason for hospital admission among IDUs, owing to unsterile injection techniques and equipment, contamination of drugs with organisms, and poor hygiene. In present case report a patient with profound limb infection is introduced. Case: A 32 years old man was transferred to the emergency department. He was IDU with Iranian for 3 years. Gangrenous deformity of left lower extremity below the knee was seen. Live maggots were moving around the limb freely. The patient underwent before knee amputation (BKA to remove the infected tissues of the limb. Conclusion: In order to evaluate and treat the serious infectious disease problems, drug abuse treatment programs will need to develop appropriate procedures. It is important that physicians, nurses, and other health care providers become better educated about drug abuse. Workers in drug abuse treatment should be well informed about infectious diseases and other complications of drug abuse.

  10. DIAGNOSIS OF FINANCIAL POSITION STRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CĂRUNTU GENU ALEXANDRU

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of financial position structure aimed at issues that highlight on the one hand the economic relations between asset side and liability side and on the other hand the changes that are achieved as a result of internal and external factors. In order to establish the causes that led over time to changing the structure of financial position we analyze the structure of assets, liabilities and equity. The balance sheet is a summary representing only a snapshot at a certain time that changes continuously and through which are presented economic goods, rights and obligations of the company at year-end. The balance sheet is the universal working tool that contains information on the company's heritage and performance. To achieve its purpose, namely to generate profit in conditions of intense competition the firm constitutes a heritage structure, an economic fixed and circulating capital appropriate to future needs.

  11. Industry upheaval drives changes at EPRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zink, J.C.

    1996-01-01

    This article describes how the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is rethinking and modifying its program and business relationships with its members to reflect the significant changes occurring in the utility business. They are in the midst of changes as profound as any the (electric utility) industry has ever seen, according to Kurt Yeager, EPRI's new president and CEO. The renewed availability of natural gas for power generation, along with the development of more efficient gas turbines, have been important factors. The ability to better manage the delivery system has contributed to the arguments in favor of increased competition, although the application of the management tools, such as flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS), is not coming as quickly as many had expected. And new digitally controlled electrotechnologies have made electricity a growth business again, creating a third wave of growth driven by technologies that allow more precise and efficient control of industrial processes

  12. Body position and late postoperative nocturnal hypoxaemia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenberg-Adamsen, S; Stausholm, K; Edvardsen, L

    1997-01-01

    Thirteen patients were monitored for nocturnal body position (supine vs. side) and arterial oxygen saturation pre-operatively and on the second postoperative night after major abdominal surgery. The number of positional changes were significantly decreased after operation (p ... position than on the side (p movements....... towards more time spent in the supine position (p = 0.1). Individual mean arterial oxygen saturation decreased postoperatively (p positions (p = 0.9). Pre-operatively, episodic desaturations were significantly more frequent in the supine...

  13. Collective irrationality and positive feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolis, Stamatios C; Zabzina, Natalia; Latty, Tanya; Sumpter, David J T

    2011-04-26

    Recent experiments on ants and slime moulds have assessed the degree to which they make rational decisions when presented with a number of alternative food sources or shelter. Ants and slime moulds are just two examples of a wide range of species and biological processes that use positive feedback mechanisms to reach decisions. Here we use a generic, experimentally validated model of positive feedback between group members to show that the probability of taking the best of options depends crucially on the strength of feedback. We show how the probability of choosing the best option can be maximized by applying an optimal feedback strength. Importantly, this optimal value depends on the number of options, so that when we change the number of options the preference of the group changes, producing apparent "irrationalities". We thus reinterpret the idea that collectives show "rational" or "irrational" preferences as being a necessary consequence of the use of positive feedback. We argue that positive feedback is a heuristic which often produces fast and accurate group decision-making, but is always susceptible to apparent irrationality when studied under particular experimental conditions.

  14. Collective irrationality and positive feedback.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stamatios C Nicolis

    Full Text Available Recent experiments on ants and slime moulds have assessed the degree to which they make rational decisions when presented with a number of alternative food sources or shelter. Ants and slime moulds are just two examples of a wide range of species and biological processes that use positive feedback mechanisms to reach decisions. Here we use a generic, experimentally validated model of positive feedback between group members to show that the probability of taking the best of options depends crucially on the strength of feedback. We show how the probability of choosing the best option can be maximized by applying an optimal feedback strength. Importantly, this optimal value depends on the number of options, so that when we change the number of options the preference of the group changes, producing apparent "irrationalities". We thus reinterpret the idea that collectives show "rational" or "irrational" preferences as being a necessary consequence of the use of positive feedback. We argue that positive feedback is a heuristic which often produces fast and accurate group decision-making, but is always susceptible to apparent irrationality when studied under particular experimental conditions.

  15. Patient position alters attenuation effects in multipinhole cardiac SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timmins, Rachel; Ruddy, Terrence D.; Wells, R. Glenn

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Dedicated cardiac cameras offer improved sensitivity over conventional SPECT cameras. Sensitivity gains are obtained by large numbers of detectors and novel collimator arrangements such as an array of multiple pinholes that focus on the heart. Pinholes lead to variable amounts of attenuation as a source is moved within the camera field of view. This study evaluated the effects of this variable attenuation on myocardial SPECT images. Methods: Computer simulations were performed for a set of nine point sources distributed in the left ventricular wall (LV). Sources were placed at the location of the heart in both an anthropomorphic and a water-cylinder computer phantom. Sources were translated in x, y, and z by up to 5 cm from the center. Projections were simulated with and without attenuation and the changes in attenuation were compared. A LV with an inferior wall defect was also simulated in both phantoms over the same range of positions. Real camera data were acquired on a Discovery NM530c camera (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) for five min in list-mode using an anthropomorphic phantom (DataSpectrum, Durham, NC) with 100 MBq of Tc-99m in the LV. Images were taken over the same range of positions as the simulations and were compared based on the summed perfusion score (SPS), defect width, and apparent defect uptake for each position. Results: Point sources in the water phantom showed absolute changes in attenuation of ≤8% over the range of positions and relative changes of ≤5% compared to the apex. In the anthropomorphic computer simulations, absolute change increased to 20%. The changes in relative attenuation caused a change in SPS of <1.5 for the water phantom but up to 4.2 in the anthropomorphic phantom. Changes were larger for axial than for transverse translations. These results were supported by SPS changes of up to six seen in the physical anthropomorphic phantom for axial translations. Defect width was also seen to significantly increase. The

  16. Pedology: changes in the science, changes in the profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    The anthropocene can be characterized in part as a period of rising public awareness of the anthropogenic effects on the environment, exponential increases in knowledge and information, and an expanding role of policy makers in determining research agendas. These factors have had profound impacts on...

  17. Has the traditional social perception on nurses changed? Attribution of stereotypes and gender roles

    OpenAIRE

    Aranda Lopez, Maria; Castillo Mayén, María del Rosario; Montes Berges, Beatriz

    2015-01-01

    Nursing has traditionally been regarded as a female profession. However, in recent years there has been an increase of men. Despite this change, patriarchy still has a profound influence on how general population, patients and even nursing students perceive this occupation. Taking this background into account, the present research aims to analyze gender stereotype and gender role assignment to male and female nurses. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 121 participants from three grou...

  18. Energy: An endless story. The history of the energy issue and changing scenarios

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stuermer, M.

    1989-01-01

    Two oil crises and the reactor accident at Chernobyl have had a profound effect on the population in the USSR and its awareness of environmental issues and hazards. The contribution explains the energy policy and scenarios and the changes undergone in the USSR, the COMECON countries, in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf, in the Pacific Ocean area, in the North Sea area, and in the USA, also pointing out consequences for the current situation. (DG) [de

  19. Changes in the prevalence of alcohol use in rap song lyrics, 1979-97.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herd, Denise

    2005-09-01

    This paper explores the role of changing images of drinking and alcoholic beverage use in rap music from its beginnings in the United States in the late 1970s to the late 1990s. A sample of 341 rap music song lyrics released from 1979 to 1997 were selected using Billboard and Gavin rating charts. Song lyrics were coded for music genres, alcohol beverage types and brand names, drinking behaviors, drinking contexts, intoxication, attitudes towards alcohol and consequences of drinking. From 1979 to 1997, songs with references to alcohol increased fivefold (from 8 to 44%); those exhibiting positive attitudes rose from 43% to 73%; and brand name mentions increased from 46% to 71%. There were also significant increases in songs mentioning champagne and liquor (mainly expensive brand names) when comparing songs released after 1994 with those from previous years. In addition, there were significant increases in references to alcohol to signify glamour and wealth, and using alcohol with drugs and for recreational purposes. The findings also showed that alcohol use in rap music was much more likely to result in positive than negative consequences. Many of these findings are consistent with the idea that rap music has been profoundly affected by commercial forces and the marketing of alcoholic beverages. In addition, it is possible that the increase in references to alcoholic beverages in rap music, particularly spirits, is a reflection of a broader advertising culture which increasingly associates African Americans with alcohol use.

  20. Lethal effects of habitat degradation on fishes through changing competitive advantage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCormick, Mark I

    2012-10-07

    Coral bleaching has caused catastrophic changes to coral reef ecosystems around the world with profound ecological, social and economic repercussions. While its occurrence is predicted to increase in the future, we have little understanding of mechanisms that underlie changes in the fish community associated with coral degradation. The present study uses a field-based experiment to examine how the intensity of interference competition between juveniles of two species of damselfish changes as healthy corals degrade through thermal bleaching. The mortality of a damselfish that is a live coral specialist (Pomacentrus moluccensis) increased on bleached and dead coral in the presence of the habitat generalist (Pomacentrus amboinensis). Increased mortality of the specialist was indirectly owing to enhanced aggression by the generalist forcing the specialist higher up and further away from shelter on bleached and dead coral. Evidence from this study stresses the importance of changing interspecific interactions to community dynamics as habitats change.