70 research outputs found
Socioeconomic conditions and number of pain sites in women
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Women in deprived socioeconomic situations run a high pain risk. Although number of pain sites (NPS) is considered highly relevant in pain assessment, little is known regarding the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and NPS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population comprised 653 women; 160 recurrence-free long-term gynecological cancer survivors, and 493 women selected at random from the general population. Demographic characteristics and co-morbidity over the past 12 months were assessed. Socioeconomic conditions were measured by Socioeconomic Condition Index (SCI), comprising education, employment status, income, ability to pay bills, self-perceived health, and satisfaction with number of close friends. Main outcome measure NPS was recorded using a body outline diagram indicating where the respondents had experienced pain during the past week. Chi-square test and forward stepwise logistic regression were applied.</p> <p>Results and Conclusion</p> <p>There were only minor differences in SCI scores between women with 0, 1-2 or 3 NPS. Four or more NPS was associated with younger age, higher BMI and low SCI. After adjustment for age, BMI and co-morbidity, we found a strong association between low SCI scores and four or more NPS, indicating that there is a threshold in the NPS count for when socioeconomic determinants are associated to NPS in women.</p
Does Speaking Two Dialects in Daily Life Affect Executive Functions? An Event-Related Potential Study
Whether using two languages enhances executive functions is a matter of debate. Here, we
take a novel perspective to examine the bilingual advantage hypothesis by comparing bidialect
with mono-dialect speakers’ performance on a non-linguistic task that requires executive
control. Two groups of native Chinese speakers, one speaking only the standard Chinese
Mandarin and the other also speaking the Southern-Min dialect, which differs from the
standard Chinese Mandarin primarily in phonology, performed a classic Flanker task. Behavioural
results showed no difference between the two groups, but event-related potentials
recorded simultaneously revealed a number of differences, including an earlier P2 effect in
the bi-dialect as compared to the mono-dialect group, suggesting that the two groups
engage different underlying neural processes. Despite differences in the early ERP component,
no between-group differences in the magnitude of the Flanker effects, which is an
index of conflict resolution, were observed in the N2 component. Therefore, these findings
suggest that speaking two dialects of one language does not enhance executive functions.
Implications of the current findings for the bilingual advantage hypothesis are discussed
Generation of multiple focal spot and focal hole segments using phase modulated cylindrically polarized annular multi-Gaussian beam
Top-down control is not lost in the attentional blink: evidence from intact endogenous cuing.
The attentional blink (AB) refers to the finding that performance on the second of two targets (T1 and T2) is impaired when the targets are presented at a target onset asynchrony (TOA) of less than 500 ms. One account of the AB assumes that the processing load of T1 leads to a loss of top-down control over stimulus selection. The present study tested this account by examining whether an endogenous spatial cue that indicates the location of a following T2 can facilitate T2 report even when the cue and T2 occur within the time window of the AB. Results from three experiments showed that endogenous cuing had a significant effect on T2 report, both during and outside of the AB; this cuing effect was modulated by both the cue-target onset asynchrony and by cue validity, while it was invariant to the AB. These results suggest that top-down control over target selection is not lost during the AB. © 2007 Springer-Verlag
Repetitive H-Wave® device stimulation and program induces significant increases in the range of motion of post operative rotator cuff reconstruction in a double-blinded randomized placebo controlled human study
Immediate reconstruction with implants in women with invasive breast cancer does not affect oncological safety in a matched cohort study
New evidence links changing shelf phytoplankton communities to boundary currents in southeast Tasmania
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