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Effect Specific (effect + specific)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Health services use in women with a history of bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 1 2005
Ruth H. Striegel-Moore PhD
Abstract Objective The current study examined health services use during the past 12 months in a sample of young women with a history of an adolescent eating disorder (bulimia nervosa [BN] or binge eating disorder [BED]). Method A community sample of 1,582 young women (mean age = 21.5 years) was classified, based on a screening interview (and, for eating disorder diagnosis, confirmatory diagnostic interview), into one of three groups: BN or BED (n = 67), other psychiatric disorder (n = 443), and no adolescent psychiatric disorder (n = 1,072). Results A history of BN/BED in adolescence was associated with elevated health services use, but this was a general effect associated with having a psychiatric disorder, not an effect specific to the diagnosis of an eating disorder. Total service days, outpatient psychotherapy visits, and emergency department visits were elevated in the combined group of BN/BED and other psychiatric disorder participants relative to the healthy comparison group. The women with BN/BED did not differ significantly from the women with a non,eating-related psychiatric disorder in the use of these services. Discussion The similarity of health services use in young women with BN or BED and those with other psychiatric disorders underscores the clinical and economic impact of these eating disorders. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Near-field imaging of ultrathin magnetic films with in-plane magnetization

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY, Issue 3 2003
W. Dickson
Summary A new approach to near-field magneto-optical imaging was developed capable of visualization of in-plane magnetization of ultrathin magnetic structures. The approach relies on the magneto-optical effect specific for thin magnetic layers and employs near-field transmission measurements of longitudinal and/or transverse magneto-optical effect arising from the presence of thin film interfaces. The near-field magneto-optical contrast of in-plane domain structure of ultrathin Co film has been demonstrated in different polarization configurations. [source]

Effects of d -Cycloserine on Extinction and Reconditioning of Ethanol-Seeking Behavior in Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2009
Peter A. Groblewski
Background:,d -Cycloserine (DCS), a partial N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor agonist, has been shown to enhance the extinction of both cocaine and amphetamine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). However, there have been no reports of the effects of DCS on the extinction of ethanol-conditioned behaviors in mice. Thus, the current experiments examined the effects of DCS on the extinction and subsequent reconditioning of ethanol-induced CPP in mice. Methods:, Male DBA/2J mice received either 2 or 4 pairings of ethanol (2 g/kg) with a conditioned stimulus (CS+) floor cue (and an equal number of saline pairings with a CS, floor cue on alternate days) resulting in either a weak or strong ethanol CPP, respectively. Following conditioning of a strong ethanol CPP mice received saline or 30 mg/kg DCS prior to each of the twelve 30-minute choice extinction trials administered at 48-hour intervals. Mice that had received conditioning of a weak ethanol CPP received saline, 30 or 60 mg/kg DCS immediately before each of the six 30-minute choice extinction trials. Following successful ethanol CPP extinction, mice received reconditioning trials similar to the initial conditioning trials. A final experiment examined the effects 12 DCS pre-exposures (15, 30, and 60 mg/kg) on initial conditioning of ethanol CPP. Results:, First, we showed that 2 doses of DCS (30 and 60 mg/kg) did not have aversive properties that could confound the effects on extinction of CPP (Experiment 1). Second, we showed that DCS (30 and 60 mg/kg) had no effect on the rate of extinction of either strong (Experiment 2) or weak (Experiment 3) ethanol-induced CPP. Interestingly, DCS administered during extinction interfered with reconditioning of ethanol-induced CPP,an effect specific to reconditioning, as DCS pre-exposure did not influence initial ethanol CPP conditioning (Experiment 4). Conclusions:, These experiments show that although DCS showed no effect on extinction behavior, when given during extinction it interfered with subsequent reconditioning of ethanol CPP. The mechanisms of this effect were not, however, due to nonspecific interference with learning because repeated DCS pre-exposures did not impair initial conditioning of ethanol CPP. [source]

Are delayed-start design trials to show neuroprotection in Parkinson's disease fundamentally flawed?

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 6 2008
Carl E. Clarke BSc, FRCP
Abstract Considerable effort has gone into preclinical neuroprotection research in Parkinson's disease (PD) and several large clinical trials have been mounted, but no agent has been conclusively shown to be protective. The latest innovation in PD neuroprotection trial design is the delayed-start design trial. If patients with early PD do better after 12 to 18 months of immediate drug therapy compared to those in whom it is delayed for 6 to 9 months, this is attributed to a neuroprotective effect. However, delayed-start design trials may be fundamentally flawed. It has been suggested that physiological mechanisms compensating for the loss of dopaminergic neurones in early PD may be deleterious and that immediate treatment may prevent such mechanisms and thereby be neuroprotective. If this hypothesis is correct, any drug with a symptomatic effect will be neuroprotective in early PD and delayed-start design trials will show this generic effect, not a neuroprotective effect specific to the drug. Delayed-start design trials require patients to potentially stay untreated for 6 to 9 months. This may lead to the selection of slowly progressive types of PD, such as that in younger patients and those with tremor-dominant disease, so the results may not be generalizable to the majority of patients. Delayed-start design trials are powered to find small differences in total UPDRS score which may not be clinically significant; larger and longer placebo-controlled trials are required to confirm the clinical significance of their findings. These arguments add to the growing tide of opinion for a fundamental rethink of our policy toward neuroprotection research in PD. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society [source]