Data for: Alexithymia in College-Aged Students

A total of 547 participants were collected from 48 postsecondary institutions. The Normative Male Alexithymia Scale and Toronto Alexithymia Scale were used to measure normal and clinical alexithymia accordingly. Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help was used to measure help-seeking behavior. Participants filled out these questionnaires as well as demographic information through an online survey

Multicenter study on the prevalence of sexual symptoms in male hypo- and hyperthyroid patients

Context: Thyroid hormones have a dramatic effect on human behavior. However, their role on sexual behavior and performance has seldom been investigated in men. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in patients with hyper- and hypothyroidism and their resolution after normalization of thyroid hormone levels. Design and Setting: We conducted a multicenter prospective study at endocrinology and andrology clinics in university hospitals. Patients: The study included 48 adult men, 34 with hyperthyroidism and 14 with hypothyroidism. Main Outcome Measures: Subjects were screened for hypoactive sexual desire (HSD), erectile dysfunction (ED), premature ejaculation (PE), and delayed ejaculation (DE) on presentation and 8-16 wk after recovery from the thyroid hormone disorder. Results: In hyperthyroid men, HSD, DE, PE, and ED prevalence was 17.6, 2.9, 50, and 14.7%, whereas in hypothyroid men, the prevalence of HSD, DE, and ED was 64.3% and of PE was 7.1%. After thyroid hormone normalization in hyperthyroid subjects, PE prevalence fell from 50 to 15%, whereas DE was improved in half of the treated hypothyroid men. Significant changes were found in the subdomains of the International Index of Erectile Function; ejaculation latency time doubled after treatment of hyperthyroidism (from 2.4 +/- 2.1 to 4.0 +/- 2.0 min), whereas for hypothyroid men it declined significantly, from 21.8 +/- 10.9 to 7.4 +/- 7.2 (P < 0.01 for both). TSH and thyroid hormone levels normalized rapidly after treatment, and changes in circulating sex steroids partially reflected the changes in SHBG levels. Conclusions: In summary, most patients with thyroid hormone disorders experience some sexual dysfunctions, which can be reversed by normalizing thyroid hormone levels. Despite the associated changes in sex hormone levels, the high prevalence of ejaculatory disorders and their prompt reversibility suggest a direct involvement of thyroid hormones in the physiology of ejaculation

Ontogenetic profile and thyroid hormone regulation of type-1 and type-8 glucose transporters in rat Sertoli cells.

The glucose transporters (GLUTs) gene encode glycoproteins responsible for facilitating transfer of glucose across plasma membrane. In testis, different members of this family are present. In particular the main GLUT mRNA expression within the adult testis is the type 8, while type 1 is more expressed in prepubertal testis. Thyroid hormone, which receptors and function have been characterized in the testis, plays a crucial role in the cellular energetic metabolism. In fact, in the immature Sertoli cells, GLUT1 is up regulated by l-triiodothyronine (T(3)). The aim of this paper is to investigate the expression profile of GLUT1 and GLUT8 in the testis during development and in adulthood and analyse the role of T(3) on their expression. To analyse the expression of GLUT8 and GLUT1 we performed Northern blot and RT-PCR experiments in the whole testis and in Sertoli cells from rats of different ages. Treatments in vivo and in vitro with T(3) were used to study the effect of thyroid hormones on GLUT1 and GLUT8 expression. The activity of the rat GLUT1 promoter and its regulation by T(3) was studied with transient transfections in gonadal and non-gonadal cell lines and in primary Sertoli cell cultures. GLUT8 is expressed at a low level in the prepubertal testis and Sertoli cells and does not appear to be under T(3) control. GLUT1 is the predominant form in immature Sertoli cells. The effect of T(3) on its mRNA accumulation was quantified and confirmed by RT-PCR (control: 0.65 +/- 0.17; T(3): 1.23 +/- 0.04, arbitrary units, p < 0.05). However, transfection experiments showed that T(3) does not directly regulate GLUT1 promoter in any cell line tested. This is confirmed by the evidence that, upon extensive analysis, the rat GLUT1 promoter and the first intron sequence do not shows any thyroid responsive elements. Our data demonstrate that GLUT1 and GLUT8 are both expressed in prepubertal testis, but only GLUT1 is regulated by T(3). In addition, we found that the effect of T(3) cannot be attributed to its action on GLUT1 promote

Uncovering investment management performance using SPIVA

Which performs better, passive or active funds management, a question that both fund managers and academics fiercely debate. Why does fund size matter? These are a number of typical questions that puzzle practitioners and academics alike. To date, the data has been shown to be somewhat problematic. This paper exploits the SPIVA and passive fund datasets with several novel methods in order to build a foundation for unbiased fund performance analysis and comparison. For this, we address a number of questions including: passive versus active management, fund size, time horizon and fund style on performance. We find that in general, passive funds outperform active funds due to lower management costs, larger funds tend to perform better and funds with longer (3+ years) records of accomplishment tend to perform better. Short termism tends to have a significant detrimental effect on performance. We introduce Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments to show that competition has a significant effect on fund performance. Furthermore, this demonstrates that SPIVA data has a significant dynamic panel time series that was largely ignored by prior research. This integrated dataset and associated methods that we illustrate here, provide both academic researchers and industry analysts alike with an environment to investigate and potentially draw conclusions about the fund factors that affect performance without the inherent limitations of the original sources

Differential effects of PXD101 (belinostat) on androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer models.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are promising epigenetic cancer chemotherapeutics rapidly approaching clinical use. In this study, we tested using in vitro and in vivo models the differential biological effects of a novel HDAC inhibitor [belinostat (PXD101)], in a wide panel of androgen-sensitive and androgen-independent tumor cells. Belinostat significantly increased acetylation of histones H3 and H4. Belinostat potently inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cell lines (IC50 range from 0.5 to 2.5 mu M) with cytotoxic activity preferentially against tumor cells. This agent induced G(2)/M arrest and increased significantly the percentage of apoptosis mainly in androgen-sensitive tumor cells confirming its growth-inhibitory effects. The cell death mechanisms were studied in three different prostate cancer cell lines with different androgen dependence and expression of androgen receptor; LAPC-4 and 22rv1 (androgen-dependent and expressing androgen receptor) and PC3 (androgen-independent not expressing androgen receptor). Belinostat induced the expression of p21 and p27, acetylation of p53 and G(2)/M arrest associated with Bcl2 and Bcl-XI downmodulation and significant reduction of survivin, IAPs and Akt/pAkt and increased caspase-8 and -9 expression/activity. Belinostat effectiveness was dependent on the androgen receptor (AR), since the stable transfection of AR greatly increased the efficacy of this HDAC inhibitor. These observations were correlated using in vivo models. We demonstrated that belinostat preferentially resulted in antitumor effect in androgen-dependent tumor cells expressing AR. Our findings provide evidence that belinostat may be a promising anticancer drug for prostate cancer expressing AR, supporting its clinical role in prostate cancer

Bisexuality among a cohort of university students: prevalence and psychological distress

Sociocultural prejudices and pressures may impair the mental health of bisexual people. We aim to evaluate psychological status according to sexual orientation in a sample of Italian university students, with specific attention to bisexuality and its frequency. Among a recruited sample of 551 university students, we found the following percentages for sexual orientation: heterosexuals 96.9% (n = 534), homosexuals 1.1% (n = 6), bisexuals 2% (n = 11). The cross-sectional analysis for psychological symptoms, with the Symptoms Check List-90 Revised (SCL-90-R), revealed that bisexual subjects have statistically significant higher scores on some symptomatic scales compared to heterosexuals. In particular, obsession-compulsion, paranoid ideation, hostility were significantly higher in bisexuals. Therefore, if heterosexual or homosexual orientation are not specified by particular psychological symptoms, bisexuality is characterized by a strong link with some facets of psychological distress, which are likely caused by a peculiar double stigma. In conclusion, through a specific psychometric tool, we found an association between bisexuality and various forms of psychological suffering. This evidence should further encourage clinicians to accurately assess the psychological health in young bisexual people

Bisexuality among a cohort of university students: prevalence and psychological distress

Sociocultural prejudices and pressures may impair the mental health of bisexual people. We aim to evaluate psychological status according to sexual orientation in a sample of Italian university students, with specific attention to bisexuality and its frequency. Among a recruited sample of 551 university students, we found the following percentages for sexual orientation: heterosexuals 96.9% (n = 534), homosexuals 1.1% (n = 6), bisexuals 2% (n = 11). The cross-sectional analysis for psychological symptoms, with the Symptoms Check List-90 Revised (SCL-90-R), revealed that bisexual subjects have statistically significant higher scores on some symptomatic scales compared to heterosexuals. In particular, obsession-compulsion, paranoid ideation, hostility were significantly higher in bisexuals. Therefore, if heterosexual or homosexual orientation are not specified by particular psychological symptoms, bisexuality is characterized by a strong link with some facets of psychological distress, which are likely caused by a peculiar double stigma. In conclusion, through a specific psychometric tool, we found an association between bisexuality and various forms of psychological suffering. This evidence should further encourage clinicians to accurately assess the psychological health in young bisexual people