The role of inhibitory G proteins and regulators of G protein signaling in the in vivo control of heart rate and predisposition to cardiac arrhythmias

Inhibitory heterotrimeric G proteins and the control of heart rate. The activation of cell signaling pathways involving inhibitory heterotrimeric G proteins acts to slow the heart rate via modulation of ion channels. A large number of Regulators of G protein signalings (RGSs) can act as GTPase accelerating proteins to inhibitory G proteins and thus it is important to understand the network of RGS\G-protein interaction. We will review our recent findings on in vivo heart rate control in mice with global genetic deletion of various inhibitory G protein alpha subunits. We will discuss potential central and peripheral contributions to the phenotype and the controversies in the literature

Interoceptive sensitivity as a proxy for emotional intensity and its relationship with perseverative cognition

Technical advancement in military cyber defense poses increased cognitive demands on cyber officers. In the cyber domain, the influence of emotion on decision-making is rarely investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess psychophysiological correlation with perseverative cognitions during emotionally intensive/stressful situations in cyber military personnel. In line with parallel research on clinical samples high on perseverative cognition, we expected a decreased interoceptive sensitivity in officers with high levels of perseverative cognition.Interoceptive sensitivity as a proxy for emotional intensity and its relationship with perseverative cognitionpublishedVersio

Post-operative atrial fibrillation: a maze of mechanisms

Post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most frequent complications of cardiac surgery and an important predictor of patient morbidity as well as of prolonged hospitalization. It significantly increases costs for hospitalization. Insights into the pathophysiological factors causing POAF have been provided by both experimental and clinical investigations and show that POAF is ‘multi-factorial’. Facilitating factors in the mechanism of the arrhythmia can be classified as acute factors caused by the surgical intervention and chronic factors related to structural heart disease and ageing of the heart. Furthermore, some proarrhythmic mechanisms specifically occur in the setting of POAF. For example, inflammation and beta-adrenergic activation have been shown to play a prominent role in POAF, while these mechanisms are less important in non-surgical AF. More recently, it has been shown that atrial fibrosis and the presence of an electrophysiological substrate capable of maintaining AF also promote the arrhythmia, indicating that POAF has some proarrhythmic mechanisms in common with other forms of AF. The clinical setting of POAF offers numerous opportunities to study its mechanisms. During cardiac surgery, biopsies can be taken and detailed electrophysiological measurements can be performed. Furthermore, the specific time course of POAF, with the delayed onset and the transient character of the arrhythmia, also provides important insight into its mechanisms

Using fuzzy-trace theory to understand and improve health judgments, decisions, and behaviors: A literature review.

Fuzzy-trace theory is a dual-process model of memory, reasoning, judgment, and decision making that contrasts with traditional expectancy-value approaches. We review the literature applying fuzzy-trace theory to health with three aims: evaluating whether the theory’s basic distinctions have been validated empirically in the domain of health; determining whether these distinctions are useful in assessing, explaining, and predicting health-related psychological processes; and determining whether the theory can be used to improve health judgments, decisions, or behaviors, especially in comparison to other approaches

The Development and Evaluation of a Psycho-education Booklet for Genetic Aortic Disorders

Introduction:Genetic aortic disorders (GA disorders) refer to a group of heritable conditions where the main artery of the heart, the aorta is affected. The commonality of GA disorders is the increased risk of serious cardiac complications such as an aortic tear or rupture. Affected individuals face multiple and complex medical and lifestyle challenges. Improving the individual’s understanding of the diagnosis, treatment, and associated impacts, is essential to facilitate coping, decision-making, and self-management. Evidence also show that patients who are more involved in the treatment of their chronic disease report improved health and psychological distress (Barlow et al., 2002). Currently available psycho-educational resources, however, are insufficient for those recently diagnosed with a GA disorder. The current thesis describes the development and evaluation of an evidence-based psycho-education booklet for patients recently diagnosed with a GA disorder Development:A patient psycho-educational booklet was developed based on a literature review, expert consultation, and guided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, 1999) recommendations. Evaluation:A mixed method design was implemented. Twenty individuals with a diagnosis of a GA disorder, mean age = 49 years, equal number of males and females, with varying stages of disease and treatment, were recruited to complete the patient evaluation questionnaire. A further seven individuals were recruited for patient group interviews. Nine clinicians with expertise in GA disorders completed the clinician evaluation questionnaire. Results: The overall findings of the evaluation indicated that the information booklet was very well-received by the patient group and was considered informative, easy to read, practical, and a highly valuable resource. Overall, the clinicians endorsed the booklet as an extremely useful information resource about GA disorders and associated topics and supported giving the booklet to patients at the time of diagnosis and approved its ongoing use in consultations. The majority of clinicians commended the content as suitably pitched for the intended audience, and the format as appropriate in length, booklet size, layout and graphics. Conclusion:This study aimed to develop and pilot evaluate a patient psycho-education booklet specifically for those recently diagnosed with a GA disorder. The evaluation showed that the booklet was considered very positively in its clarity, usefulness, and acceptability by the patients with a diagnosis of a GA disorder, and of usefulness, benefit, and acceptability by health professionals who provide medical support for patients with GA disorders. To our knowledge, this will be the first psycho-education booklet developed and evaluated for an Australian audience

Media framing of prescription drug coverage following a recall

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs receives significant attention from academic researchers. Advertising, however, is not the only way prescription drugs are discussed in the public sphere. Many Americans learn about science through mass media. Additionally, researchers believe readers place more trust in editorial content than in advertisements. This study took a quantitative and qualitative approach to content analysis of prescription drug coverage to examine the effects of the highly publicized and controversial Vioxx recall on the news. Significant changes in framing, drugs mentioned, and prominence of story placement were shown. There were no changes in sources used in prescription drug coverage, and the absence of personal stories in news coverage was an important discovery, which may help explain the drop in prominence of articles in newspapers

Recovery From Heart Attack, Biomedicalization, and the Production of a Contingent Health Citizenship

In this article, I explore the experience of recovery from a heart attack through an analytic autoethnography. I discuss the tensions inherent in biomedical subjectivities of health and ill-health during cardiac recovery through three key themes: (a) the transfer of responsibility and becoming a subject “at risk,” (b) technologies of biomedicine and the disciplining of subjectivities, and (c) the transformation of a body toward a new pharmaceuticalized bodily normal. Through an analysis driven by the biomedicalization thesis of Clarke, alongside work on biopower and the governmentality of health by Foucault, Rose, and Rabinow, I seek to provide new insights into the process of cardiac recovery and the relationship between individual experience and broader socio-political processes. Key to this analysis is a focus on the contingent subjectivities brought into being through biomedicalization that constitute a new form of health citizenship that is otherwise not accounted for in narratives of recovery

A learning design to support the emotion regulation of investors

We describe an approach to reducing systematic bias in financial decision-making. We explicitly reject an approach based on the transmission of propositional knowledge. Rather we develop a learning design which is founded in recent research on the role of emotions and their regulation in financial decision-making. We describe a pedagogic approach which supports the development of emotion-regulation skills in a serious game environment and supports their translation into ‘real-world’ tradin