Psychogenic Stuttering Following a Gastric Bypass Operation: Case Report

We evaluated a 44-year-old female with bipolar affective disorder who presented with a 4-month history of severe stuttering and vague neurologic complaints. She had lost 200 pounds after gastric bypass surgery two years before. A childhood sexual-abuse victim, she admits that she hid in her weight for most of her life. Neurological evaluation of this patient was negative, and speech-pathology evaluation revealed highly atypical stuttering. Gastric bypass patients with a history of psychiatric disorders and childhood sexual abuse may be particularly vulnerable to somatoform disorders

Beyond deficit-based models of learners' cognition: Interpreting engineering students' difficulties with sense-making in terms of fine-grained epistemological and conceptual dynamics

Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students' troubles with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as epistemology: students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder them from activating and integrating productive knowledge they have. In this case study of an engineering major solving problems (about content from his introductory physics course) during a clinical interview, we show that "Jim" has all the mathematical and conceptual knowledge he would need to solve a hydrostatic pressure problem that we posed to him. But he reaches and sticks with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We argue that his lack of mathematical sense-making-specifically, translating and reconciling between mathematical and everyday/common-sense reasoning-stems in part from his epistemological views, i.e., his views about the nature of knowledge and learning. He regards mathematical equations as much more trustworthy than everyday reasoning, and he does not view mathematical equations as expressing meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not view reconciling between common sense and mathematical formalism as either necessary or plausible to accomplish. We, however, avoid a potential "deficit trap"-substituting an epistemological deficit for a concepts/skills deficit-by incorporating multiple, context-dependent epistemological stances into Jim's cognitive dynamics. We argue that Jim's epistemological stance contains productive seeds that instructors could build upon to support Jim's mathematical sense-making: He does see common-sense as connected to formalism (though not always tractably so) and in some circumstances this connection is both salient and valued.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Engineering Educatio

Natural history of irritable bowel syndrome

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73897/1/j.1365-2036.2004.01929.x.pd

Late onset of Huntington's disease

Twenty-five patients with late-onset Huntington's disease were studied; motor impairment appeared at age 50 years or later. The average age at onset of chorea was 57.5 years, with an average age at diagnosis of 63.1 years. Approximately 25% of persons affected by Huntington's disease exhibit late onset. A preponderance of maternal transmission was noted in late-onset Huntington's disease. The clinical features resembled those of mid-life onset Huntington's disease but progressed more slowly. Neuropathological evaluation of two cases reveal less severe neuronal atrophy than for mid-life onset disease

Effects of a 12-week suspension versus traditional resistance training program on body composition, bioimpedance vector patterns, and handgrip strength in older men: A randomized controlled trial

This investigation aimed to compare the effects of suspension training versus traditional resistance exercise using a combination of bands and bodyweight on body composition, bioimpedance vector patterns, and handgrip strength in older men. Thirty-six older men (age 67.4 ± 5.1 years, BMI 27.1 ± 3.3 kg/m2) were randomly allocated into suspension training (n = 12), traditional training (n = 13), or non-exercise (n = 11) groups over a 12-week study period. Body composition was assessed using conventional bioelectrical impedance analysis and classic and specific bioelectric impedance vector analysis, and handgrip strength was measured with a dynamometer. Results showed a significant (p < 0.05) group by time interaction for fat mass, fat-free mass, total body water, skeletal muscle index, classic and specific bioelectrical resistance, classic bioelectrical reactance, phase angle, and dominant handgrip strength. Classic and specific vector displacements from baseline to post 12 weeks for the three groups were observed. Handgrip strength increased in the suspension training group (p < 0.01, ES: 1.50), remained stable in the traditional training group, and decreased in the control group (p < 0.01, ES: −0.86). Although bodyweight and elastic band training helps to prevent a decline in muscle mass and handgrip strength, suspension training proved more effective in counteracting the effects of aging in older men under the specific conditions studied

Systematic Review of the Predictors of Recurrent Hemorrhage After Endoscopic Hemostatic Therapy for Bleeding Peptic Ulcers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73351/1/j.1572-0241.2008.02070.x.pd

Meta-analysis: re-treatment of genotype I hepatitis C nonresponders and relapsers after failing interferon and ribavirin combination therapy

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2010; 32: 969–983The efficacy of re-treating genotype I hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who failed combination therapy with interferon/pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin remains unclear.To quantify sustained virological response (SVR) rates with different re-treatment regimens through meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Randomized controlled trials of genotype I HCV treatment failure patients that compared currently available re-treatment regimens were selected. Two investigators independently extracted data on patient population, methods and results. The pooled relative risk of SVR for treatment regimens was computed using a random effects model.Eighteen RCTs were included. In nonresponders to standard interferon/ribavirin, re-treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN combination therapy improved SVR compared with standard PEG-IFN combination therapy (RR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.09–2.04), but SVR rates did not exceed 18% in most studies. In relapsers to standard interferon/ribavirin, re-treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN or prolonged CIFN improved SVR (RR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.16–2.14) and achieved SVR rates of 43–69%.In genotype I HCV treatment failure patients who received combination therapy, re-treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN combination therapy is superior to re-treatment with standard combination therapy, although SVR rates are variable for nonresponders (≤18%) and relapsers (43–69%). Re-treatment may be appropriate for select patients, especially relapsers and individuals with bridging fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79170/1/j.1365-2036.2010.04427.x.pd

Electron spin resonance of nitrogen-vacancy centers in optically trapped nanodiamonds

Using an optical tweezers apparatus, we demonstrate three-dimensional control of nanodiamonds in solution with simultaneous readout of ground-state electron-spin resonance (ESR) transitions in an ensemble of diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers. Despite the motion and random orientation of NV centers suspended in the optical trap, we observe distinct peaks in the measured ESR spectra qualitatively similar to the same measurement in bulk. Accounting for the random dynamics, we model the ESR spectra observed in an externally applied magnetic field to enable d.c. magnetometry in solution. We estimate the d.c. magnetic field sensitivity based on variations in ESR line shapes to be ~50 microTesla/Hz^1/2. This technique may provide a pathway for spin-based magnetic, electric, and thermal sensing in fluidic environments and biophysical systems inaccessible to existing scanning probe techniques.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figures for manuscript and supporting informatio

Analysis of the 3d6 4s(6D)4f-5g Supermultiplet of Fe I in Laboratory and Solar Infrared Spectra

The combined laboratory and solar analysis of the highly-excited subconfigurations 4f and 5g of Fe I has allowed us to classify 87 lines of the 4f-5g supermultiplet in the spectral region 2545-2585 cm-1. The level structure of these JK-coupled configurations is predicted by semiempirical calculations and the quadrupolic approximation. Semiempirical gf-values have been calculated and are compared to gf values derived from the solar spectrum. The solar analysis has shown that these lines, which should be much less sensitive than lower excitation lines to departures from LTE and to temperature uncertainties, lead to a solar abundance of iron which is consistent with the meteoritic value (A_Fe = 7.51).Comment: ApJ (in press). 14 pages. LaTeX AAS macros. 6 figures on request from [email protected]. LUND-GN-94-