290 research outputs found
The effect of clinical, demographic and lifestyle factors on executive function in middle aged and older women
Social Phobia symptoms across the adult lifespan
Background: This study investigated symptom patterns that might distinguish between individuals with and without a diagnosis of Social Phobia (SP) across the adult lifespan
Platelet release of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Venous thromboembolism (VTE) following breast cancer chemotherapy is common. Chemotherapy-induced alterations in markers of haemostasis occur during chemotherapy. In this study we investigated the changes in serum and plasma VEGF, together with platelet release of VEGF and related these to the development of VTE at 3 months.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Serum and plasma VEGF, together with platelet release of VEGF were measured prior to chemotherapy and at 24 hours; four-, eight days and three months following commencement of chemotherapy in early and advanced breast cancer patients and in age and sex matched controls. Duplex ultrasound imaging was performed after one month or if symptomatic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 123 patients 9.8% developed VTE within three months. Serum and plasma VEGF were increased in advanced breast cancer as was platelet release of VEGF. Prior to chemotherapy a 100 Ī¼g/ml increase in serum VEGF was associated with a 40% increased risk of VTE, while a 10 Ī¼g/ml increase in plasma VEGF was associated with a 20% increased risk of VTE. Serum VEGF showed a different response to chemotherapy in those who developed VTE.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A group of patients at risk of VTE could be identified, allowing targeted thrombopropylaxis. Whether or not the response in VEGF during chemotherapy has any angiogenic significance remains to be elucidated.</p
Development and Validation of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory
Background: Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among elderly people, although infrequently the subject of systematic research in this age group. One important limitation is the lack of a widely accepted instrument to measure dimensional anxiety in both normal old people and old people with mental health problems seen in various settings. Accordingly, we developed and tested of a short scale to measure anxiety in older people. Methods:We generated a large number of potential items de novo and by reference to existing anxiety scales, and then reduced the number of items to 60 through consultation with a reference group consisting of psychologists, psychiatrists and normal elderly people. We then tested the psychometric properties of these 60 items in 452 normal old people and 46 patients attending a psychogeriatric service. We were able to reduce the number of items to 20. We chose a 1-week perspective and a dichotomous response scale. Results: Cronbach's alpha for the 20-item Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) was 0.91 among normal elderly people and 0.93 in the psychogeriatric sample. Concurrent validity with a variety of other measures was demonstrated in both the normal sample and the psychogeriatric sample. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability were found to be excellent. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated a cut-point of 10/11 for the detection of DSM-IV Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in the psychogeriatric sample, with 83% of patients correctly classified with a specificity of 84% and a sensitivity of 75%. Conclusions: The GAI is a new 20-item self-report or nurse-administered scale that measures dimensional anxiety in elderly people. It has sound psychometric properties. Initial clinical testing indicates that it is able to discriminate between those with and without any anxiety disorder and between those with and without DSM-IV GAD
Predictors of ļ¬nancial capacity performance in older adults using the Financial Competence Assessment Inventory
Background
An Observed Correlation Between Thermal and Non-Thermal Emission in Gamma-Ray Bursts
Recent observations by the Gamma-ray Space Telescope have confirmed
the existence of thermal and non-thermal components in the prompt photon
spectra of some Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Through an analysis of six bright
Fermi GRBs, we have discovered a correlation between the observed photospheric
and non-thermal -ray emission components of several GRBs using a
physical model that has previously been shown to be a good fit to the Fermi
data. From the spectral parameters of these fits we find that the
characteristic energies, and , of these two components are
correlated via the relation which varies from
GRB to GRB. We present an interpretation in which the value of index
indicates whether the jet is dominated by kinetic or magnetic energy. To date,
this jet composition parameter has been assumed in the modeling of GRB outflows
rather than derived from the data
The Fermi GBM Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Catalog: Four Years Of Data
In this catalog we present the updated set of spectral analyses of GRBs
detected by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) during its first four years
of operation. It contains two types of spectra, time-integrated spectral fits
and spectral fits at the brightest time bin, from 943 triggered GRBs. Four
different spectral models were fitted to the data, resulting in a compendium of
more than 7500 spectra. The analysis was performed similarly, but not
identically to Goldstein et al. 2012. All 487 GRBs from the first two years
have been re-fitted using the same methodology as that of the 456 GRBs in years
three and four. We describe, in detail, our procedure and criteria for the
analysis, and present the results in the form of parameter distributions both
for the observer-frame and rest-frame quantities. The data files containing the
complete results are available from the High-Energy Astrophysics Science
Archive Research Center (HEASARC).Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
L-theanine in the adjunctive treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial
Partial or non-response to antidepressants in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is common in clinical settings, and adjunctive biological interventions may be required. Adjunctive herbal and nutraceutical treatments are a novel and promising treatment option. L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid derived most-commonly from tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves, which may be beneficial in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disturbance as suggested by preliminary evidence. We conducted a 10-week study (consisting of an 8-week double-blind placebo-controlled period, and 1-week pre-study and 2-week post-study single-blinded observational periods) involving 46 participants with a DSM-5 diagnosis of GAD. Participants received adjunctive L-theanine (450ā900 mg) or matching placebo with their current stable antidepressant treatment, and were assessed on anxiety, sleep quality, and cognition outcomes. Results revealed that adjunctive L-theanine did not outperform placebo for anxiety reduction on the HAMA (p = 0.73) nor insomnia severity on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI; p = 0.35). However, LT treated participants reported greater self-reported sleep satisfaction than placebo (ISI item 4; p = 0.015). Further, a separation in favour of L-theanine was noted on the ISI in those with non-clinical levels of insomnia symptoms (ISI ā¤ 14; p = 0.007). No significant cognitive effects (trail making time and the modified emotional Stroop) were revealed. While this preliminary study did not support the efficacy of L-theanine in the treatment of anxiety symptoms in GAD, further studies to explore the application of L-theanine in sleep disturbance are warranted
Experts' Judgments of Management Journal Quality:An Identity Concerns Model
Many lists that purport to gauge the quality of journals in management and organization studies (MOS) are based on the judgments of experts in the field. This article develops an identity concerns model (ICM) that suggests that such judgments are likely to be shaped by the personal and social identities of evaluators. The model was tested in a study in which 168 editorial board members rated 44 MOS journals. In line with the ICM, respondents rated journal quality more highly to the extent that a given journal reflected their personal concerns (associated with having published more articles in that journal) and the concerns of a relevant ingroup (associated with membership of the journalās editorial board or a particular disciplinary or geographical background). However, judgesā ratings of journals in which they had published were more favorable when those journals had a low-quality reputation, and their ratings of journals that reflected their geographical and disciplinary affiliations were more favorable when those journals had a high-quality reputation. The findings are thus consistent with the view that identity concerns come to the fore in journal ratings when there is either a need to protect against personal identity threat or a meaningful opportunity to promote social identity
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