Psychosocial and Biological Factors Contributing to Body Weight Gain in Schizophrenia

Overweight and obesity are frequently reported to be a significant issue in schizophrenia resulting in the inherent complications of these disorders. Body weight gain also commonly results from treatment with the most tolerable and efficacious pharmacological treatments, second-generation antipsychotics. However there are numerous other factors that contribute to increased body mass in individuals with schizophrenia prior to the initiation of treatment. With prior research indicating that individuals with schizophrenia have higher rates of overweight and obesity before treatment. Therefore this article provides a review of pertinent issues associated with body weight gain in schizophrenia in an attempt to delineate the impact of both the disease and treatment upon body weight gain. The results of the review indicate that body weight gain in schizophrenia occurs from both psychosocial and biological factors that are further compounded by antipsychotic treatment. The article concludes with recommendations for future research

Determination of Different Biological Factors on the Base of Dried Blood Spot Technology

It is well-known that distinct biological indices (analytes) have distinct variability. We try to use some mathematical algorithms to pick out a set of blood parameters which give an opportunity to retrieve the initial volume of the blood spotted, and use it to calculate exact concentrations of analyts interesting to a physician. For our analysis we used the database of biochemical blood parameters obtained in Russian Scientific Center of Roentgen-Radiology during 1995-2000, which includes more than 30000 of patients.Comment: 5 page

Extensions on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: The Influence of Biological Factors on Assessments of Impairment

Because the framers of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment were so prescient in their creation of this legislation, it behooves subsequent scholars to examine additional potential concerns that would not have entered the debate forty years ago. Huge advances have been made in the area of biological and genetic medical knowledge, and this progress could not have been foreseen at the time the original Amendment was written. Yet in the interim, such information has become much more accessible. It becomes important to raise these questions moving forward because political opponents may take advantage of these new concerns, as they arise, and use them for personal political advantage to the detriment of the legitimacy of American political governance. As a result, the concerns addressed in this Article regard future assessments of disability, and which factors concerning potential future vulnerability to particular diseases or impairments might warrant the determination of such disability. To be clear, these questions remain open in Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, and yet they concern important factors in deciding what constitutes sufficient disability to remove a President from office. This Article begins with an outline of some of these factors, provides two illustrative examples, and then concludes with suggestions about how to address some of the concerns

Extensions on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: The Influence of Biological Factors on Assessments of Impairment

Because the framers of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment were so prescient in their creation of this legislation, it behooves subsequent scholars to examine additional potential concerns that would not have entered the debate forty years ago. Huge advances have been made in the area of biological and genetic medical knowledge, and this progress could not have been foreseen at the time the original Amendment was written. Yet in the interim, such information has become much more accessible. It becomes important to raise these questions moving forward because political opponents may take advantage of these new concerns, as they arise, and use them for personal political advantage to the detriment of the legitimacy of American political governance. As a result, the concerns addressed in this Article regard future assessments of disability, and which factors concerning potential future vulnerability to particular diseases or impairments might warrant the determination of such disability. To be clear, these questions remain open in Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, and yet they concern important factors in deciding what constitutes sufficient disability to remove a President from office. This Article begins with an outline of some of these factors, provides two illustrative examples, and then concludes with suggestions about how to address some of the concerns

Relationship between psychological and biological factors and physical activity and exercise behaviour in Filipino students

The aim of the present study was threefold. Firstly, it investigated whether a general measure or specific measure of motivational orientation was better in describing the relationship between motivation and exercise behaviour. Secondly, it examined the relationship between the four most popular indirect methods of body composition assessment and physical activity and exercise patterns. Thirdly, the interaction between motivation and body composition on physical activity and exercise behaviour was explored in a sample of 275 Filipino male and female students. Males were found to have higher levels of exercise whereas females had higher levels of physical activity. Furthermore, general self-motivation together with body weight and percentage body fat were found to be the best predictor of exercise behaviour whereas the tension/pressure subscale of the ‘Intrinsic Motivation Inventory’ (IMI) was the best predictor of levels of physical activity. However, significant gender differences were observed. That is, for the males only self-motivation and for the females only body weight and BMI predicted exercise behaviour. Also, tension/pressure predicted physical activity levels for the females but not the males. No inverse relationship was found between the four body composition measures and exercise and physical activity behaviour. The results support the notion that the psychobiological approach might be particularly relevant for high intensity exercise situations but also highlights some important gender differences. Finally, the results of this study emphasise the need for more cross-cultural research

Social Motives and Their Development in Cultural Context

This paper deals with differences in social motives between cultures and with respect to their development. First, social motives are described as complex functional systems. Then aggressiveness and achievement motivation are dealt with as examples. Assumptions about biological factors are discussed and cultural differences are reported. Based on cross-cultural research, variations in early mother-child relations and in cultural norms and values are discussed as main sources of individual and cultural differences

Biological Factors in the STEM Gender Gap

The Gender gap in STEM is a long-term problem that has only recently been addressed. Research has just begun to delve into why so few women pursue university degrees in the STEM fields and even less enter the STEM workforce. This research will examine the evolutionary factors which contributed to the gender gap, such as offspring investment, greater investment in male offspring, and female risk aversion. Despite the fact that there are plenty of modern advances which should compensate for these factors, there are societal stigmas against women in the STEM workplace which allow the gender gap to continue. Societal forces such as the concept of women’s work, implicit bias, stereotypes against women, assumed motherhood for all women and the toxic STEM culture ensure that the gender gap is not alleviated. It will also explore the push back against the women going into the field. It is clear that there is a general belief that women do not belong in STEM and that those who dare pursue a career in STEM do so knowing full well that they will have to accommodate male peers and superiors. This research will attempt to explain why the STEM fields are not thought to be a place for women; why gender as a social construct has such an influence in academic and workplace politics and how this has lead to the discrepancies in gender percentages in the STEM workforce. Research will both delve into why men do not think women are good a STEM and why women have internalized the bias. While both of these issues arise from societal biases, the manifest in different ways, are processed differently and effect the respective genders differently. This research will address the gap in the literature, as all previous literature has addressed one facet of the gender gap and only done so from either an evolutionary or cultural point of view

Biological factors in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

For a number of years, clinicians and researchers have recognized the existence of a subgrouping of children who exhibit chronic and pervasive signs of inattention, impulsivity, and physical restlessness, as well as deficiencies in rule-governed behavior, which deviate significantly from age and gender expectations (Barkley; 1981; Ross & Ross, 1982; Wender, 1971). Since first being identified by Still (1902), this particular pattern of behavioral difficulties has undergone numerous changes in the diagnostic terminology used to describe it. Attention Deficit Disorder (with or without Hyperactivity), Hyperkinesis, Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood, Hyperactive Child Syndrome, Minimal Brain Damage, and Minimal Brain Dysfunction are some of the many labels that have been applied to this disorder in the past. With the arrival of the recently revised third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM III-R, American Psychiatric Association, 1987), this same behavioral constellation is now known as Attention Deficit- Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)