9 research outputs found
Positive Orientation as a Predictor of Health Behavior during Chronic Diseases
Background: Positive orientation includes optimism, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. This research was conducted to determine whether positive orientation is an important predictor of health behaviors of patients with chronic movement disorders which require a rehabilitation program. Methods: The study involved 93 patients, including 46 women (49.5%) and 47 men (50.5%). The study utilized a standardized Positive Orientation Scale and a Health Behavior Inventory to measure the intensity of health-promoting behaviors. Results: The two variables of age and positive orientation were found to be predictors of overall healthy behavior, explaining a total of 22% variance of the dependent variable. Age was a predictor of preventative behavior (β = 0.37; R2 = 0.16). Its share in the prediction of this variable was significant (16%). The highest predictive value of positive mental attitude was having a positive orientation (β = 0.42; R2 = 0.17), which explained 17% of the variance of the dependent variable. However, age explained 14% of the variability of health practice results (β = 0.39; R2 = 0.14). Conclusion: The results of the research indicate the need to implement preventive programs with a positive orientation to modify the health behavior of chronically ill male and female patients
Modular Data Acquisition System for Recording Activity and Electrical Stimulation of Brain Tissue Using Dedicated Electronics
In this paper, we present a modular Data Acquisition (DAQ) system for simultaneous electrical stimulation and recording of brain activity. The DAQ system is designed to work with custom-designed Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) called Neurostim-3 and a variety of commercially available Multi-Electrode Arrays (MEAs). The system can control simultaneously up to 512 independent bidirectional i.e., input-output channels. We present in-depth insight into both hardware and software architectures and discuss relationships between cooperating parts of that system. The particular focus of this study was the exploration of efficient software design so that it could perform all its tasks in real-time using a standard Personal Computer (PC) without the need for data precomputation even for the most demanding experiment scenarios. Not only do we show bare performance metrics, but we also used this software to characterise signal processing capabilities of Neurostim-3 (e.g., gain linearity, transmission band) so that to obtain information on how well it can handle neural signals in real-world applications. The results indicate that each Neurostim-3 channel exhibits signal gain linearity in a wide range of input signal amplitudes. Moreover, their high-pass cut-off frequency gets close to 0.6Hz making it suitable for recording both Local Field Potential (LFP) and spiking brain activity signals. Additionally, the current stimulation circuitry was checked in terms of the ability to reproduce complex patterns. Finally, we present data acquired using our system from the experiments on a living rat鈥檚 brain, which proved we obtained physiological data from non-stimulated and stimulated tissue. The presented results lead us to conclude that our hardware and software can work efficiently and effectively in tandem giving valuable insights into how information is being processed by the brain
Modulatory effect of inulin with soya isoflavones on plasma lipid profile and liver SCD-18 index in rats with induced type-2 diabetes mellitus
Obesity and type-2 diabetes are often
associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD). Soya isoflavones act as antidiabetic agents
and protect against NAFLD. There are data suggesting
that inulin may increase the plasma concentration and
effect of soya isoflavones. The aim of the present study
was to compare the effect of soya isoflavones, as
opposed to the effect of soya isoflavones with inulin, on
plasma lipid profile, liver morphology, and liver fatty
acids in rats with induced type-2 diabetes mellitus.
Data were collected on thirty-six male Sprague-
Dawley rats divided into control and diabetic groups.
Animals in the diabetic (DM) group were on a high-fat
diet and were injected with low doses of streptozotocin.
Animals in the control groups were fed a regular diet and
were injected with a buffer. After the injections, the
animals were divided into three groups of nondiabetic
rats (nDM)-controls (c-nDM), rats treated with
isoflavones (IS-nDM), and rats treated with isoflavones
plus inulin (IS+IN-nDM)-and three parallel diabetic
(DM) subgroups: controls (c-DM), rats treated with
isoflavone (IS-DM), and rats treated with isoflavones
plus inulin (IS+IN-DM). Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis
were examined using hematoxylin-eosin staining and
Mallory鈥檚 trichrome methods respectively. Liver fatty
acids were extracted and analyzed by gas
chromatography. A lipid blood test was performed.
The study showed significant changes in liver fatty
acids, liver morphology, and plasma lipid profile. The
estimated SCD-18 index significantly decreased in both
the control and DM groups after isoflavone
supplementation. The level of liver steatosis and fibrosis
also decreased after isoflavone supplementation in the
DM groups. The plasma lipid profile showed increased
levels of HDL-C after isoflavone supplementation in the
DM groups.
These results support the protective use of
isoflavones in liver steatosis and as beneficial to plasma
lipid profile in individuals with diabetes. A novelty of
this work is its comparison of supplementation using
soya isoflavones with supplementation using both soya
isoflavones and inulin. Surprisingly, additional
supplementation with inulin modulates the positive
effect of isoflavone