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Generalized Effect (generalized + effect)
Selected AbstractsEffects of alcoholism severity and smoking on executive neurocognitive functionADDICTION, Issue 1 2009Jennifer M. Glass ABSTRACT Aims Neurocognitive deficits in chronic alcoholic men are well documented. Impairments include memory, visual,spatial processing, problem solving and executive function. The cause of impairment could include direct effects of alcohol toxicity, pre-existing cognitive deficits that predispose towards substance abuse, comorbid psychiatric disorders and abuse of substances other than alcohol. Cigarette smoking occurs at higher rates in alcoholism and has been linked to poor cognitive performance, yet the effects of smoking on cognitive function in alcoholism are often ignored. We examined whether chronic alcoholism and chronic smoking have effects on executive function. Methods Alcoholism and smoking were examined in a community-recruited sample of alcoholic and non-alcoholic men (n = 240) using standard neuropsychological and reaction-time measures of executive function. Alcoholism was measured as the average level of alcoholism diagnoses across the study duration (12 years). Smoking was measured in pack-years. Results Both alcoholism and smoking were correlated negatively with a composite executive function score. For component measures, alcoholism was correlated negatively with a broad range of measures, whereas smoking was correlated negatively with measures that emphasize response speed. In regression analyses, both smoking and alcoholism were significant predictors of executive function composite. However, when IQ is included in the regression analyses, alcoholism severity is no longer significant. Conclusions Both smoking and alcoholism were related to executive function. However, the effect of alcoholism was not independent of IQ, suggesting a generalized effect, perhaps affecting a wide range of cognitive abilities of which executive function is a component. On the other hand, the effect of smoking on measures relying on response speed were independent of IQ, suggesting a more specific processing speed deficit associated with chronic smoking. [source] Mechanisms of protection by the betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase/betaine system in HepG2 cells and primary mouse hepatocytes,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 5 2007Cheng Ji Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) regulates homocysteine levels in the liver. We previously reported that the alteration of BHMT is associated with alcoholic liver steatosis and injury. In this study, we tested whether BHMT protects hepatocytes from homocysteine-induced injury and lipid accumulation. Both BHMT transfectants of HepG2 cells and primary mouse hepatocytes with suppressed BHMT were generated. Comparisons were made between the cell models with respect to their response to homocysteine treatments. Homocysteine metabolism was impaired in HepG2 cells, and the expression of BHMT in HepG2 cells ameliorated the impairment and stabilized the levels of intracellular homocysteine after the addition of exogenous homocysteine. BHMT expression inhibited homocysteine-induced glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and homocysteine-induced cell death. A betaine treatment protected primary mouse hepatocytes from a homocysteine-induced increase in GRP78 and cell death but not a tunicamycin-induced increase. Homocysteine induced greater CHOP expression (2.7-fold) in BHMT small interfering RNA (siRNA),transfected cells than in a control (1.9-fold). Homocysteine-induced cell death was increased by 40% in the siRNA-treated cells in comparison with the control. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) expression was higher and triglycerides and cholesterol were lower in HepG2 expressing BHMT. In primary mouse hepatocytes, homocysteine induced the accumulation of triglycerides and cholesterol, which was reduced in the presence of betaine. Betaine partially reduced homocysteine-induced sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 expression in HepG2 cells and increased S-adenosylmethionine in primary mouse hepatocytes. Conclusion: The BHMT/betaine system directly protects hepatocytes from homocysteine-induced injury but not tunicamycin-induced injury, including an endoplasmic reticulum stress response, lipid accumulation, and cell death. This system also exhibits a more generalized effect on liver lipids by inducing ApoB expression and increasing S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine. (HEPATOLOGY 2007.) [source] EFFECT OF MILK PASTEURIZATION ON FLAVOR PROPERTIES OF SEVEN COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FRENCH CHEESE TYPESJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 4 2010DELORES H. CHAMBERS ABSTRACT Previous research on matched pairs of experimental cheese showed that heat treatment of milk affected flavor properties. However, whether pasteurization has a generalized effect or whether the effect is specific to certain cheese varieties is not known. Experienced, highly trained sensory panelists developed flavor profiles for seven commercially available French cheeses (Brie, Coulommier, Camembert, Saint Nectaire, Muenster, Chèvre and Bleu) for which versions made from pasteurized or unpasteurized milk were commercially available. Raw-milk cheese had stronger odor properties. Soft cheeses with white rind (Brie, Coulommier, Camembert and Saint Nectaire) as well as Chèvre and Bleu were affected similarly by heat treatment of milk, but the sensory characteristics of Muenster cheese did not follow the pattern of other cheeses. These results suggest that many, but not all, cheese types show similar changes in sensory attributes as a result of using pasteurized rather than raw milk. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This study gives manufacturers and researchers information on flavor differences that exist between similar cheese types made from raw or pasteurized milk. Researchers and manufacturers can use that information in order to develop pasteurized-milk cheese that has the traditional full-flavored characteristics of its raw-milk counterpart. [source] Action Mechanisms of the Secondary Metabolite Euplotin C: Signaling and Functional Role in EuplotesTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008FRANCESCA TRIELLI ABSTRACT. Among secondary metabolites, the acetylated hemiacetal sesquiterpene euplotin C has been isolated from the marine, ciliated protist Euplotes crassus, and provides an effective mechanism for reducing populations of potential competitors through its cytotoxic properties. However, intracellular signaling mechanisms and their functional correlates mediating the ecological role of euplotin C are largely unknown. We report here that, in E. vannus (an Euplotes morphospecies that does not produce euplotin C and shares with E. crasssus the same interstitial habitat), euplotin C rapidly increases the intracellular concentration of both Ca2+ and Na+, suggesting a generalized effect of this metabolite on cation transport systems. In addition, euplotin C does not induce oxidative stress, but modulates the electrical properties of E. vannus through an increase of the amplitude of graded action potentials. These events parallel the disassembling of the ciliary structures, the inhibition of cell motility, the occurrence of aberrant cytoplasmic vacuoles, and the rapid inhibition of phagocytic activity. Euplotin C also increases lysosomal pH and decreases lysosomal membrane stability of E. vannus. These results suggest that euplotin C exerts a marked disruption of those homeostatic mechanisms whose efficiency represents the essential prerequisite to face the challenges of the interstitial environment. [source] The influence of social factors and implicit racial bias on a generalized own-race effectAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Pamela M. Walker The current study sought to determine whether the experimentally reported ,own-race effect' is other-race specific, or whether it is a generalized effect. The perceptual processing of own- versus two groups of other-race faces was therefore explored in White and South Asian individuals. Participants completed a computer-based discrimination task of White, South Asian and Black face-morphs. Results showed a generalized own-race effect for White and South Asian participants discriminating own- versus other-race (White/South Asian and Black) faces, such that individuals demonstrated a perceptual discrimination advantage for own- versus other-race faces in general. These findings were linked to implicit racial bias and other-race individuating experience, demonstrating that social variables play an important role in the magnitude of the own-race effect. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Treating sleep disturbance in infants: What generalizes?BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS, Issue 1 2009Dione Healey When treating infant sleep problems implementing treatment procedures at bedtime-only might be easier and more efficient than requiring parents to implement procedures throughout the night, but only if improvements at bedtime generalize to later in the night. This study investigated the immediate and generalized effect of treating bedtime settling problems and later night waking in infants and whether it was parent or child behavior that generalized. Parents recorded sleep problems of seven infants (6,20 months) who exhibited chronic sleep disturbance, then implemented a graduated checking procedure at bedtime-only (Setting 1). A multiple-baseline across-settings and participants design was employed. Immediate (in Setting 1) and any generalized effects (in Setting 2) on wakings and other changes in parent and child behavior were assessed by diary information and all-night infra-red video recordings. Clinically significant reductions in sleep problems were evident for five out of seven infants, but these were not consistently observed until parents generalized their use of the procedure throughout the night. There was no evidence that the infants generalized changes in self-soothing from bedtime to later. It is concluded that changes in infant sleep problems are unlikely to occur unless parents actually alter their management of the problems across all settings in which the problems occur. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||