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Selected AbstractsPost-dexamethasone cortisol correlates with severity of depression before and during carbamazepine treatment in women but not menACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2001Elizabeth A. Osuch Objective: ,Previous studies show a state-dependent relationship between depression and post-dexamethasone suppression test (DST) cortisol level, as well as differences in DST response with age and gender. Method: ,In this study, 74 research in-patients with affective disorders were given the DST on placebo and in a subgroup following treatment with carbamazepine. Depression was evaluated twice daily with the Bunney,Hamburg (BH) rating scale. Data were examined for the total subject population, by gender and by menopausal status in women. Results: ,A robust positive correlation was observed between depression severity and post-DST cortisol in pre- and postmenopausal females, but not in males. This relationship persisted in women when restudied on a stable dose of carbamazepine (n=42). Conclusion: ,The pathophysiological implications of this selective positive relationship between severity of depression and post-DST cortisol in women, but not men, should be explored further. [source] Mini Nutritional Assessment in geriatric rehabilitation: Inter-rater reliability and relationship to body composition and nutritional biochemistryNUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 3 2007Sonja A. NEUMANN Abstract Aim:, To determine the inter-rater reliability of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and relationship with body composition and nutritional biochemistry among older Australians undergoing rehabilitation. Methods:, Thirty-eight adults aged ,65 years were prospectively and consecutively recruited from an Australian rehabilitation ward. Two dietitians independently administered the 18-item MNA to determine inter-rater reliability. MNA classifications (well nourished, at risk of malnutrition, malnourished) were compared with body composition (using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and serum albumin. These analyses were also performed for the short-form version of the MNA (six items). Results:, In this cross-sectional study, inter-rater reliability of the 18-item MNA score, estimated by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.833, while inter-rater reliability estimated by the weighted kappa index was 0.53. The two raters reached agreement on MNA classification for 26 of 38 cases (68%). Women classified as malnourished/at risk of malnutrition using the 18-item MNA had lower total body fat (11 kg vs 29 kg, P < 0.01) and per cent body fat (25% vs 40%, P < 0.01), compared with women classified as well nourished. Similar findings were not apparent for men, although men classified as malnourished/at risk of malnutrition had lower serum albumin (32 g/L vs 36 g/L, P = 0.04) compared with men classified as well nourished. Similar findings were evident for the short-form version of the MNA. Conclusion:, The MNA was found to be useful for identifying older women with lower body fat in the Australian rehabilitation setting. The 18-item MNA score has substantial inter-rater reliability, and fair inter-rater reliability when used according to the classifications. Inclusion of subjective and self-reported items in surveys can be problematic for optimal reliability as can the use of such items in a subject population that is experiencing rapid progress in recovery. [source] Knee pain in the ACL-deficient osteoarthritic knee and its relationship to quality of lifePHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2003Michael Hartwick Abstract Background and Purpose Pain during activities of daily living is a common presenting complaint of individuals with knee osteoarthritis and anterior cruciate ligament injury. Knee pain is also associated with a decrease in quality of life for people with osteoarthritis. The purpose of the present study was to examine the dose,response relationship between knee joint forces and painful symptoms, and whether the acute symptoms, were associated with individuals' quality of life. Method This was a cross-sectional cohort correlation study. Seventeen individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knees diagnosed with ipsilateral knee osteoarthritis completed the ACL quality of life questionnaire (ACL-QOL). The subjects also rated pain associated with each of five incremental isometric knee extension tests, proportional to their body weight. Analysis of variance was used to assess the association between pain and normalized torque. Linear regression was used to assess the correlation between the ACL-QOL score and the total pain experienced during the graded test. Results A strong relationship was found between the level of perceived knee pain and the amount of isometric torque produced (Pearson's r = 0.98; p<0.001). There was a statistically significant relationship between pain during the graded isometric test and the ACL-QOL (Pearson's r = ,0.56; p = 0.016). Conclusions Since knee joint compression is a function of active isometric knee extension torque, increased painful symptoms were associated with increased compression forces at the knee joint for these subjects. The relationship between pain provocation and disease-specific quality of life provides evidence for the proposed joint provocation test for this subject population. Weakness caused by osteoarthritis (OA) may, in part, be a negative conditioning response that would need to be overcome in rehabilitation. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] The Safety and Efficacy of Varenicline in Cocaine Using Smokers Maintained on Methadone: A Pilot StudyTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 5 2010James Poling PhD In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we compared varenicline (2 mg) to placebo for treatment for cocaine and tobacco dependence in 31 methadone-maintained subjects. Subjects received weekly counseling during the 12-week study participation. Our results indicate that varenicline is safe to give to this subject population, as there were no adverse events related to medication during this study. Varenicline was no more effective than placebo for abstinence from cocaine. Treatment with varenicline was associated with a reduced number of cigarettes smoked per day, even though subjects received only a brief education for smoking cessation. The self-report reduction in smoking was corroborated by CO levels and the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence. However, self-ratings of positive mood on the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule did significantly decrease in the varenicline group as compared to the placebo group, although this appears to be due to randomization differences related to lifetime depression diagnosis. These preliminary findings may point to potential therapeutic value of varenicline for smoking cessation in cocaine users maintained on methadone. (Am J Addict 2010;19:401,408) [source] Voluntary Association in Public Goods Experiments: Reciprocity, Mimicry and Efficiency,THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 506 2005Talbot Page We find that a process of voluntary association where individuals express a preference about whom they want to be associated with can create strong incentives to increase efficiency and contributions in provision of a public good. This process of endogenous group formation perfectly sorted contributions by the order of group formation. Comparison of middle and last period behaviour suggests that a majority of the subject population are conditional cooperators, with a minority of monetary payoff maximisers. The experiment illustrates that under favourable conditions, where the opportunities of entry and exit are symmetrically balanced, a process of voluntary association can mitigate the free-rider problem. [source] Serotonergic influences on life-history outcomes in free-ranging male rhesus macaquesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2007Sue Howell Several studies have demonstrated that nonhuman primate males with low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) exhibit antisocial behavior patterns. Included in these deleterious patterns are impulse control deficits associated with violence and premature death. No studies to date have longitudinally studied the long-term outcome of young subjects with low CSF 5-HIAA concentrations as they mature into adults. In this study we examined longitudinal relations among serotonergic and dopaminergic functioning, as reflected in CSF metabolite concentrations, aggression, age at emigration, dominance rank, and mortality in free-ranging rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) males. Our results indicate long-term consistency of individual differences in levels of 5-HIAA in CSF in the subject population from the juvenile period of development through adulthood. We found a significant negative correlation between 5-HIAA concentrations measured in juveniles and rates of high-intensity aggression in the same animals as adults. Further, CSF 5-HIAA concentrations were lower in juveniles that died than in animals that survived. For the young animals that migrated there was a positive correlation between CSF 5-HIAA concentration and age at emigration, whereas for the animals that remained in their troop until later in sexual maturity there was a negative correlation between CSF 5-HIAA concentration and age of emigration. After animals emigrated to a new troop, social dominance rank in the new troop was positively correlated with early family social dominance rank, but inversely correlated with juvenile CSF 5-HIAA concentrations. Taken together, our findings suggest that males with low central serotonin levels early in life delay migration and show high levels of violence and premature death, but the males that survive achieve high rank. These findings indicate that longitudinal measures of serotonergic and dopaminergic functioning are predictive of major life-history outcomes in nonhuman primate males. Low concentrations of CSF 5-HIAA are associated with negative life-history patterns characterized by social instability and excessive aggression, and positive life-history patterns characterized by higher dominance rank. Am. J. Primatol. 69:851,865, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Role of Allergy and Smoking in Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Polyposis,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 9 2008FACS, Steven M. Houser MD Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis: The article considers the interrelatedness of allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The negative impact of perennial allergy and tobacco use on polyposis in sinus surgery patients is explored. Study Design: A retrospective chart review, performed by the first author over a 6-year period, of patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery for CRS. Methods: The subjects' allergy status and smoking history are scrutinized by summary statistics and a multiple linear logistic model for predicting the presence of polyps. Results: High prevalence of perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) is seen in the subject population (56.4%). Both PAR and tobacco use are associated with nasal polyposis (P = .0073 and P = .0114, respectively). Conclusions: The close association of PAR and CRS suggests a possible causal link. Management of allergic rhinitis and tobacco cessation may provide greater control of chronic hyperplastic rhinosinusitis. [source] Neural activity related to the processing of increasing monetary reward in smokers and nonsmokersEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 3 2003C. Martin-Soelch Abstract This study investigated the processing of increasing monetary reward in nonsmoking and smoking subjects. The choice of the subject populations has been motivated by the observation of differences between nonsmokers and smokers in response to rewarding stimuli in a previous study. Subjects performed a pattern recognition task with delayed response, while rCBF was measured with [\mathrm{H}^{15}_{2}O] PET. Correct responses to the task were reinforced with three different amounts of monetary reward. The subjects received the sum of the rewards at the end of the experiment. The results show that a cortico-subcortical loop, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, the cingulate gyrus and the thalamus is involved in processing increasing monetary reward. Furthermore, the striatal response differentiates nonsmokers from smokers. Thus, we found significant correlations between rCBF increases in striatum and increasing monetary reward and between striatal rCBF increases and mood in nonsmokers, but not in smokers. Moreover, no significant mood changes among the different monetary rewards could be observed in smokers. We infer that the response of the striatum to reward is related to changes in subjective feelings. The differences between smokers and nonsmokers confirm our previous conclusions that the association between blood flow, performance, mood and amount of reward is more direct in nonsmokers. [source] Arginine test is not reliable for diagnosing cerebellar multiple system atrophyANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2010Raquel C. Gardner MD We evaluated the arginine growth hormone (GH) stimulation test for the diagnosis of cerebellar-type multiple system atrophy (MSAc) in patients with ataxia. Fourteen subjects with MSAc, 11 with idiopathic late-onset cerebellar ataxia (ILOCA), 10 with familial ataxia, and 10 healthy controls were tested. After pituitary GH deficiency was excluded, subjects underwent arginine testing. Peak serum GH response was analyzed. No significant differences in peak GH response were found between subject populations. Thirty-three percent of MSAc subjects mounted responses >10,g/l GH. Thirty-six percent of ILOCA subjects and 40 percent of healthy controls mounted responses <4,g/l GH. Arginine thus appears to be unreliable for the diagnosis of MSAc. ANN NEUROL 2010;67:404,408 [source] Magnetic survey in the investigation of sociopolitical change at a Late Bronze age fortress settlement in northwestern ArmeniaARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 1 2010Ian Lindsay Abstract The construction of large stone fortresses across much of northern Armenia during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500,1150 BC) represented a shift away from centuries of nomadic pastoralism, and also marked a profound transformation in the constitution of political authority and how social orders were mediated through the built environment. To date, however, little archaeological attention has been given to Late Bronze Age (LBA) settlements located outside the fortress citadels, partly due to the difficulty in detecting them from the surface. In this report we highlight results and observations from a magnetic gradiometry survey in northwestern Armenia where we test the hypothesis that an extensive LBA domestic complex existed at the base of the fortified hill at the site of Tsaghkahovit. The study surveyed four grids in the settlement area at the base of fortress. Three test units were excavated in three of the four survey areas to test selected anomalies. Two of the test units confirmed the presence of subsurface LBA deposits, including basalt stone walls, burned features, and a storage pit, appearing in the data as large dipoles. The spatial configurations of buildings revealed by the gradiometry surveys elucidate the extent of the Tsaghkahovit settlement and the formal differentiation of domestic and institutional spaces as new architectural traditions emerge during the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition. However, targeted subsurface tests also hint at the ephemeral nature of the domestic constructions suggesting the retention of mobility among subject populations under the authority of settled fortress elites. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The effect of age, gender, and body mass index on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of vildagliptin in healthy volunteersBRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Yan-Ling He What is already known about this subject ,,Vildagliptin is a new, potent, and selective inhibitor of DPP-4. ,,The efficacy and safety of vildagliptin in type 2 diabetes has been intensively studied in diverse subject populations. ,,There has been little information published about the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of vildagliptin. What this study adds ,,No clinically relevant changes in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics were observed between young and elderly, male and female, or high body mass index (BMI) and low BMI subjects. ,,The results suggest that no dose modification is necessary for vildagliptin based on the age, gender, or BMI of a subject. Aims To evaluate the effect of age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of vildagliptin. Methods Forty healthy subjects received a single oral dose of 100 mg vildagliptin to assess the effects of age, gender, and BMI on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, reflected by the time course of inhibition of DPP-4 activity, of vildagliptin. Results Peak concentration and exposure (AUC(0,,)) of vildagliptin were 17% (90% CI 2, 35%) and 31% (90% CI 18, 45%) higher in elderly vs. young subjects. Renal clearance was reduced by 32% (90% CI 17, 45%) in elderly subjects. The pharmacokinetics of vildagliptin were not significantly influenced by gender or BMI. Inhibition of DPP-4 activity was similar regardless of age, gender, or BMI. Conclusions The pharmacokinetics of a single oral 100 mg dose of vildagliptin were not affected by gender and BMI. Exposure to vildagliptin was higher in elderly patients, but this was not associated with any difference in the effect of DPP-4 inhibition. Based on these results, no vildagliptin dose adjustment is necessary for age, gender, or BMI. [source] | |||||||||||||