315 research outputs found
Measurement invariance across chronic conditions: a systematic review and an empirical investigation of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQā¢).
To examine whether lack of measurement invariance (MI) influences mean comparisons among different disease groups, this paper provides (1) a systematic review of MI in generic constructs across chronic conditions and (2) an empirical analysis of MI in the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ™)
2098 Magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla to quantify regional myocardial blood flow after myocardial infarction: comparison with 13N-ammonia positron emission tomography and microspheres
Assessment of proximal outcomes of self-management programs : translation and psychometric evaluation of a German version of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQtm)
Purpose This paper describes the translation, cultural adaption, and psychometric evaluation of a German version of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ™), a widely used generic instrument assessing a wide range of proximal outcomes of self-management programs.Methods The translation was carried out according to international standards and included forward and backward translations. Comprehensibility and content validity were tested using cognitive interviews with 10 rehabilitation inpatients. Psychometric properties were examined in rehabilitation inpatients (n = 1,202) with a range of chronic conditions. Factorial validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis; concurrent validity was explored by correlations with comparator scales.Results The items of the German heiQ™ were well understood by rehabilitation inpatients. The structure of the eight heiQ™ scales was replicated after minor adjustment. heiQ™ scales had higher correlations with comparator scales with similar constructs, particularly mental health concepts than with physical health. Moreover, all heiQ™ scales differentiated between individuals across different levels of depression.Conclusion The German heiQ™ is comprehensible for German-speaking patients suffering from different types of chronic conditions; it assesses relevant outcomes of self-management programs in a reliable and valid manner. Further studies involving its practical application are warranted.<br /
Effect of Deep Brain Stimulation on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients with Medically Refractory Tourette Syndrome
Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Reveals Auditory and Frontal Cortical Regions Involved with Speech Perception and Loudness Adaptation
Considerable progress has been made in the treatment of hearing loss with
auditory implants. However, there are still many implanted patients that
experience hearing deficiencies, such as limited speech understanding or
vanishing perception with continuous stimulation (i.e., abnormal loudness
adaptation). The present study aims to identify specific patterns of cerebral
cortex activity involved with such deficiencies. We performed O-15-water
positron emission tomography (PET) in patients implanted with electrodes
within the cochlea, brainstem, or midbrain to investigate the pattern of
cortical activation in response to speech or continuous multi-tone stimuli
directly inputted into the implant processor that then delivered electrical
patterns through those electrodes. Statistical parametric mapping was
performed on a single subject basis. Better speech understanding was
correlated with a larger extent of bilateral auditory cortex activation. In
contrast to speech, the continuous multi-tone stimulus elicited mainly
unilateral auditory cortical activity in which greater loudness adaptation
corresponded to weaker activation and even deactivation. Interestingly,
greater loudness adaptation was correlated with stronger activity within the
ventral prefrontal cortex, which could be up-regulated to suppress the
irrelevant or aberrant signals into the auditory cortex. The ability to detect
these specific cortical patterns and differences across patients and stimuli
demonstrates the potential for using PET to diagnose auditory function or
dysfunction in implant patients, which in turn could guide the development of
appropriate stimulation strategies for improving hearing rehabilitation.
Beyond hearing restoration, our study also reveals a potential role of the
frontal cortex in suppressing irrelevant or aberrant activity within the
auditory cortex, and thus may be relevant for understanding and treating
tinnitus
2098 Magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla to quantify regional myocardial blood flow after myocardial infarction: comparison with 13N-ammonia positron emission tomography and microspheres
Recommended from our members
Online Handbook of Argumentation for AI: Volume 3
Editors: Federico Castagna, Francesca Mosca, Jack Mumford, Stefan Sarkadi and Andreas Xydis.This volume contains revised versions of the papers selected for the third volume of the Online Handbook of Argumentation for AI (OHAAI). Previously, formal theories of argument and argument interaction have been proposed and studied, and this has led to the more recent study of computational models of argument. Argumentation, as a field within artificial intelligence (AI), is highly relevant for researchers interested in symbolic representations of knowledge and defeasible reasoning. The purpose of this handbook is to provide an open access and curated anthology for the argumentation research community. OHAAI is designed to serve as a research hub to keep track of the latest and upcoming PhD-driven research on the theory and application of argumentation in all areas related to AI
Perfusion defect size predicts engraftment but not early retention of intra-myocardially injected cardiosphere-derived cells after acute myocardial infarction
Therapeutic cell retention and engraftment are critical for myocardial regeneration. Underlying mechanisms, including the role of tissue perfusion, are not well understood. In Wistar Kyoto rats, syngeneic cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) were injected intramyocardially, after experimental myocardial infarction. CDCs were labeled with [18F]-FDG (nĀ =Ā 7), for quantification of 1-h retention, or with sodium-iodide-symporter gene (NIS; nĀ =Ā 8), for detection of 24-h engraftment by reporter imaging. Perfusion was imaged simultaneously. Infarct size was 37Ā Ā±Ā 9 and 38Ā Ā±Ā 9% of LV in FDG and NIS groups. Cell signal was located in the infarct border zone in all animals. No significant relationship was observed between infarct size and 1-h CDC retention (rĀ =Ā ā0.65; PĀ =Ā 0.11). However, infarct size correlated significantly with 24-h engraftment (rĀ =Ā 0.75; PĀ =Ā 0.03). Residual perfusion at the injection site was not related to cell retention/engraftment. Larger infarcts are associated with improved CDC engraftment. This observation encourages further investigation of microenvironmental conditions after ischemic damage and their role in therapeutic cell survival
Development of short form questionnaires for the assessment of work capacity in cardiovascular rehabilitation patients
- ā¦