Obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a neurobiological disorder. The disorder OCD is now the fourth most common psychiatric disorder among Americans. (Adams & Burke, 1999) Two percent of adults have some level of OCD and many others have experienced signs at some point. (Campost & Leckaman, 1999) The number of children that have this disorder is one out of two hundred. (Black) The causes of OCD can be physical or emotional or both. (Barlow, 2002) Treatments for OCD include Cognitive Behavior therapy, Visual Reality therapy, medications, social skills training, support groups and individual and family therapy. (Lutz, 2002) Neurological disorders associated with OCD are Tourette Syndrome (TS), Dsymorphic Disorder, Trichotillomania, and depression. OCD is a disabling disorder that can destroy a person\u27s life. (Journal of Mental Health, 2005) Early intervention can be the difference between a productive individual and a person who is incapacitated and unable to function. It also causes social and personal destruction

An in-ministry training program for probationary pastors of the Florida Conference, United Methodist Church

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1510/thumbnail.jp

Substrate and inhibitor recognition by phosphorylase kinase and protein phosphatase-1

An essential mechanism of regulation for many cellular processes is reversible phosphorylation. The phosphorylation state of a protein is determined via a dynamic equilibrium between protein kinase(s) and protein phosphatase(s). A classical example is the interconversion of glycogen phosphorylase. Phosphorylase kinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of glycogen phosphorylase converting it from the inactive b&barbelow; form, to the active a&barbelow; form. Protein phosphatase-1 dephosphorylates phosphorylase a&barbelow; converting it to phosphorylase b&barbelow;. One goal is to understand the specificity of phosphorylase kinase and protein phosphatase-1 for phosphorylase. A second goal is to understand the regulation of phosphorylase kinase by specific inhibitory domains;Previous peptide studies have shown that basic residues N-terminal to the phosphorylatable serine in phosphorylase are known positive determinants for phosphorylase kinase recognition. New studies with peptide substrates indicate that a basic residue C-terminal to the phosphorylatable serine of phosphorylase is another specificity determinant for phosphorylase kinase;Phosphorylase kinase is a member of the calcium/calmodulin regulated protein kinase family. Protein kinases in this family are intrasterically regulated by an autoinhibitory domain in the C-terminus. The C-terminus of phosphorylase kinase, PhK86, has two autoinhibitory regions, PhK13 and PhK5. Residues of PhK13 important for the inhibition of phosphorylase kinase have been identified. All the residues necessary for inhibition are localized in the N-terminal half of PhK13. One residue, cysteine 308, is particularly important. An expression system and purification scheme was developed in an attempt to obtain an intact C-terminus of the catalytic subunit of phosphorylase kinase that could be suitable for future structural studies;Little is known about the substrate specificity of protein phosphatase-1. Phosphorylase a&barbelow; is the best known protein substrate for protein phosphatase-1. Mutants of phosphorylase a&barbelow; were studied with protein phosphatase-1. Recognition of the phosphorylase a&barbelow; mutant, I13G, by protein phosphatase-1 was altered. No detectable activity was observed in this mutant after phosphorylation. The basic residue C-terminal to the phosphoserine residue 14 of phosphorylase a&barbelow; was found to be a positive determinant for protein phosphatase-1 recognition of phosphorylase

INTERACTIONS OF SEAGRASS BEDS AND THE WATER COLUMN: EFFECTS OF BED SIZE AND HYDRODYNAMICS

NOTE: If you have problems opening the file, save the document to your computer and then try opening it.Beds of seagrass and other submersed angiosperms have been shown to reduce water velocities and water-column dissolved nutrient and seston concentrations. In eutrophic waters, these effects could reduce algal biomass, enhancing light availability to the surface of the leaves and therefore, increasing seagrass growth. Small seagrass beds (1-10m diameter) should have little influence on water flow and water quality, but there is little research on the effect of bed size on these factors. To investigate the effects of seagrass bed size on these interactions, I developed a numerical ecosystem simulation model and used a spatial simulation model. I also conducted mesocosm and field measurements to determine if the expected relationships were evident in reality. I measured water quality, sediment characteristics, epiphyton mass, and hydrodynamic characteristics across beds of the seagrass Ruppia maritima L. in mesohaline Chesapeake Bay. I also measured net community nutrient uptake in mesocosms. Field measurements of water transport and nutrients were used to calibrate a spatial model of water and nutrient flow through Ruppia beds. This model was used to determine the potential effects of water flow velocity and bed size on nutrient gradients. An ecosystem simulation model was constructed and used to investigate the effects of nutrient supply rates and grazer densities on epiphytic algae and macrophyte growth. Simulation model results showed the controlling effect of nutrient loading rate on epiphytic algal and Potamogeton perfoliatus L. biomass. Potamogeton growth rate was highest at low nutrient loading rates, which allowed the angiosperms to reduce nutrients to levels that reduced algal growth. Grazer effects were greatest at intermediate loading rates. Spatial modeling simulations showed the potential influence of bed size and current velocity on water quality changes in shallow water. In the field, ammonium and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) decreased, and dissolved oxygen increased with distance into large (> 300 m diameter) beds of one meter tall, moderate density Ruppia. Water quality was little changed in beds smaller than 100 m wide. Epiphyton mass was generally variable, but decreased with distance into beds under low dissolved nutrient conditions in the fall of 2001. Epiphyton dry weight was related to total suspended solids. Large, dense, seagrass beds in shallow water, may have a gradient of trophic conditions from outside to inside, while the surrounding water should dictate conditions in small beds

Factors affecting color appearance and measurement by psychophysical methods

Chromatic adaptation has been studied by applying methods of direct scaling to color appearances of stimuli perceived under different conditions of adaptation. This study differs from previous work in a number of ways. The color appearances of surface color stimuli were scaled by both magnitude estimation and magnitude production psychophysical methods. Changes in color appearances resulting from variations in correlated color temperature of adapting illumination, luminance factors of samples, illuininance, and surround induction conditions were scaled by a group of seven observers who had been trained to describe their perceptions in a uniform manner. This factorial approach to chromatic adaptation- influences on color appearance has yielded information about changes throughout a color solid rather than a single planar section of that solid. A distinction was made between absolute and relative attributes of color appearance. valuations of both internal and external consistency indicate that the data generated have relatively high precision and validity. The results indicate that chromatic adaptation induces smooth, continuous changes in color appearance. The nature of these changes depends upon correlated color temperature, luminance factor, and illuminance of surface color stimuli. Saturation, or colorfulness, is most susceptible to change and is highly dependent upon luminance factor and illuminance in addition to color temperature. These dependencies are systematic and explicit in the results presented here. Hue appearance of a given sample depends primarily upon color temperature of adapting illumination. Little or no change in hue was found for the range of variation in illuminance and luminance factor included in this study. In general, the hues of' all stimuli change with adaptation but there are important exceptions. The results do not support a linear model for the chromatic adaptation process

Testing Colour-Appearance Models: Guidelines for Coordinated Research

These guidelines provide an overview of the many issues involved in generating visual data that can be used to evaluate the performance of colour-appearance models. the three main sections of these guidelines outline the parameters that must be evaluated and controlled in experimental setups for colour-appearance experiments, suggested psychophysical techniques for gathering the data, and some suggested techniques for data analysis. Experimental parameters addressed include models to be tested, illumination conditions, background and surround conditions, types of stimuli to be used, and issues relating to viewing technique. the psychophysical techniques of magnitude estimation, matching, and direct model testing (paired comparison) are described. Data analysis techniques for the evaluation of colour-appearance scales, corresponding-colours data, and model performance scales are suggested

Low-Frequency Radio Transients in the Galactic Center

We report the detection of a new radio transient source, GCRT J1746-2757, located only 1.1 degrees north of the Galactic center. Consistent with other radio transients toward the Galactic center, this source brightened and faded on a time scale of a few months. No X-ray counterpart was detected. We also report new 0.33 GHz measurements of the radio counterpart to the X-ray transient source, XTE J1748-288, previously detected and monitored at higher radio frequencies. We show that the spectrum of XTE J1748-288 steepened considerably during a period of a few months after its peak. We also discuss the need for a more efficient means of finding additional radio transients

Tonic TCR Signaling Inversely Regulates the Basal Metabolism of CD4

The contribution of self-peptide-MHC signaling in CD

Bias effects of short- and long-term color memory for unique objects

Are objects remembered with a more saturated color? Some of the evidence supporting this statement comes from research using “memory colors”—the typical colors of particular objects, for example, the green of grass. The problematic aspect of these findings is that many different exemplars exist, some of which might exhibit a higher saturation than the one measured by the experimenter. Here we avoid this problem by using unique personal items and comparing long- and short-term color memory matches (in hue, value, and chroma) with those obtained with the object present. Our results, on average, confirm that objects are remembered as more saturated than they are

Usefulness of multimodal MR imaging in the differential diagnosis of HaNDL and acute ischemic stroke

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Syndrome of transient Headache and Neurological Deficits with cerebrospinal fluid Lymphocitosis (HaNDL) is a rare disease which can present with focal neurological deficits and mimic stroke. A neurologist-on-duty faced with a HaNDL patient in the first hours might erroneously decide to use thrombolytic drugs, a non-innocuous treatment which has no therapeutic effect on this syndrome.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We present a case where neuroimaging, together with the clinical picture, led to a presumed diagnosis of HaNDL avoiding intravenous thrombolysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This report shows the usefulness of multimodal MR imaging in achieving early diagnosis during an acute neurological attack of HaNDL. Our experience, along with that of others, demonstrates that neuroimaging tests reveal the presence of cerebral hypoperfusion in HaNDL syndrome</p