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Factors Similar (factor + similar)
Selected AbstractsAlbino corpus cardiacum extracts induce morphometric gregarization in isolated albino locusts, Locusta migratoria, that are deficient in corazoninPHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2007SEIJI TANAKA Abstract The neuropeptide [His7]-corazonin, present in the central nervous system and corpus cardiacum, is known to mimic a ,gregarizing' effect on phase-related morphometric ratios (hind femur length/maximum head width and fore wing length/hind femur length) when injected into locusts reared in isolation. However, an albino strain is known to exhibit phase-specific changes in these ratios in response to rearing density, although it is deficient in [His7]-corazonin. To examine whether there is a second factor responsible for this phenomenon, perhaps a corazonin-like factor that has lost its dark-colour inducing activity, methanol extracts of corpora cardiaca taken from crowd-reared albino nymphs of Locusta migratoria are injected into isolated-reared second-stadium albino nymphs and reared to adults in isolation. The hind femur length/maximum head width and fore wing length/hind femur length ratios are significantly different from those of control oil-injected counterparts, and shift significantly towards the values typical for crowd-reared gregarized individuals. The results indicate that the corpora cardiaca contain a factor similar to [His7]-corazonin, although it has no dark-colour inducing activity. [source] Prevalence and correlates of alcoholism in community-dwelling elderly living in São Paulo, BrazilINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 10 2009Edson Shiguemi Hirata Abstract Objectives To assess the prevalence of alcoholism in elderly living in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) and investigate associated risk factors. Methods A total of 1,563 individuals aged 60 years or older, of both genders of three districts of different socioeconomic classes (high, medium and low) in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) were interviewed. The CAGE screening test for alcoholism was applied and a structured interview was used to assess associated sociodemographic and clinical factors. The tests Mini Mental State Examination, Fuld Object Memory Evaluation, The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly and Bayer-Activities of Daily Living Scale were used for cognitive and functional assessment. Results Prevalence of alcoholism was 9.1%. Multivariate regression analysis showed that alcoholism was associated with male gender, ,mulatto' ethnicity, smoking, and cognitive and functional impairment. In addition, the younger the individual and the lower the schooling level, the higher the risk for alcoholism. Conclusions The results obtained in this study show that alcoholism is highly frequent in the community-dwelling elderly living in São Paulo, and that it is associated with socio-demographic and clinical risk factors similar to those reported in the literature. This suggests that alcoholism in the elderly of a developing country shares the same basic characteristics seen in developed countries. These findings suggest that it is essential for health services and professional to be prepared to meet this demand that will significantly grow in the next years, especially in developing countries, where the rates of population aging are higher than those of developed countries. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] What can we learn by computing 13C, chemical shifts for X-ray protein models?ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 7 2009Yelena A. Arnautova The room-temperature X-ray structures of ubiquitin (PDB code 1ubq) and of the RNA-binding domain of nonstructural protein 1 of influenza A virus (PDB code 1ail) solved at 1.8 and 1.9,Å resolution, respectively, were used to investigate whether a set of conformations rather than a single X-ray structure provides better agreement with both the X-ray data and the observed 13C, chemical shifts in solution. For this purpose, a set of new conformations for each of these proteins was generated by fitting them to the experimental X-ray data deposited in the PDB. For each of the generated structures, which show R and Rfree factors similar to those of the deposited X-ray structure, the 13C, chemical shifts of all residues in the sequence were computed at the DFT level of theory. The sets of conformations were then evaluated by their ability to reproduce the observed 13C, chemical shifts by using the conformational average root-mean-square-deviation (ca-r.m.s.d.). For ubiquitin, the computed set of conformations is a better representation of the observed 13C, chemical shifts in terms of the ca-r.m.s.d. than a single X-ray-derived structure. However, for the RNA-binding domain of nonstructural protein 1 of influenza A virus, consideration of an ensemble of conformations does not improve the agreement with the observed 13C, chemical shifts. Whether an ensemble of conformations rather than any single structure is a more accurate representation of a protein structure in the crystal as well as of the observed 13C, chemical shifts is determined by the dispersion of coordinates, in terms of the all-atom r.m.s.d. among the generated models; these generated models satisfy the experimental X-ray data with accuracy as good as the PDB structure. Therefore, generation of an ensemble is a necessary step to determine whether or not a single structure is sufficient for an accurate representation of both experimental X-ray data and observed 13C, chemical shifts in solution. [source] Neuropsychological symptom dimensions in bipolar disorder and schizophreniaBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 1-2 2007Pál Czobor Background:, While neurocognitive (NC) impairments have been well documented in schizophrenia (SZ), there is limited data as to whether similar impairments are present in other persistent mental illnesses. Recent data indicate that NC impairments may be manifested in bipolar disorder (BPD) and that they persist across disease states, including euthymia. An important question is whether a comparable structure of NC impairments is present in the 2 diagnostic groups. Objective:, In a previous factor analytic study, we identified 6 factors to describe the basic underlying structure of neuropsychological (NP) functioning in SZ: Attention, Working Memory, Learning, Verbal Knowledge, Non-Verbal Functions, Ideational Fluency. The goal of this study was to investigate whether this factor structure is generalizable for BPD. Methods:, The BPD sample included patients (n = 155) from an ongoing longitudinal study evaluating BPD at the time of hospitalization for relapse and at multiple time points over the following 2 years. The SZ sample included patients (n = 250) from a 3-year study. For the current examination the baseline NP evaluations were selected for both samples. Results:, Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in the BPD sample yielded factors similar to those identified in the SZ sample. The coefficients of congruence ranged between 0.66,0.90 for the individual factors, indicating a good overall correspondence between the factor structures in the 2 diagnostic groups. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis with education level, full scale-IQ, gender and ethnicity as covariates indicated that SZ patients had markedly worse performance on the Attention and Non-Verbal Functioning factors compared to the BPD patients. Conclusions:, Together, these data suggest that while the same underlying factor structure describes NP functioning in both groups, the profile of impairments appears to vary with the diagnosis. [source] | ||||||||||