Aging and scaling laws in β\beta-hydroquinone-clathrate

The dielectric permittivity of the orientational glass methanol(x=0.73)-$\beta$-hydroquinone-clathrate has been studied as function of temperature and waiting time using different temperature-time-protocols. We study aging, rejuvenation and memory effects in the glassy phase and discuss similarities and differences to aging in spin-glasses. We argue that the diluted methanol-clathrate, although conceptually close to its magnetic pendants, takes an intermediate character between a true spin-glass and a pure random field system

Identification of the regions involved in phonological assembly using a novel paradigm.

Here we adopt a novel strategy to investigate phonological assembly. Participants performed a visual lexical decision task in English in which the letters in words and letterstrings were delivered either sequentially (promoting phonological assembly) or simultaneously (not promoting phonological assembly). A region of interest analysis confirmed that regions previously associated with phonological assembly, in studies contrasting different word types (e.g. words versus pseudowords), were also identified using our novel task that controls for a number of confounding variables. Specifically, the left pars opercularis, the superior part of the ventral precentral gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus were all recruited more during sequential delivery than simultaneous delivery, even when various psycholinguistic characteristics of the stimuli were controlled. This suggests that sequential delivery of orthographic stimuli is a useful tool to explore how readers, with various levels of proficiency, use sublexical phonological processing during visual word recognition

Neurocognitive deficits in depression: a systematic review of cognitive impairment in the acute and remitted state

Previous research suggests a broad range of deficits in major depressive disorder. Our goal was to update the current assumptions and investigate the extent of cognitive impairment in depression in the acute and remitted state. A systematic review of the existing literature between 2009 and 2019 assessing the risk of bias within the included studies was performed. Of the 42 articles reviewed, an unclear risk of bias was shown overall. The risk of bias mainly concerned the sample selection, inadequate remedial measures, as well as the lack of blinding the assessors. In the acute phase, we found strong support for impairment in processing speed, learning, and memory. Follow-up studies and direct comparisons revealed less pronounced deficits in remission, however, deficits were still present in attention, learning and memory, and working memory. A positive correlation between the number of episodes and cognitive deficits as well as depression severity and cognitive deficits was reported. The results also demonstrate a resemblance between the cognitive profiles in bipolar disorder and depression. Comparisons of depression with schizophrenia led to unclear results, at times suggesting an overlap in cognitive performance. The main findings support the global deficit hypothesis and align with results from prior meta-analyses and reviews. Recommendations for future research are also presented

The relationship between physical activity, physical fitness and overweight in adolescents: a systematic review of studies published in or after 2000

Background: Not only in adults but also in children and adolescents, obesity increases the risk for several health disorders. In turn, many factors including genetic variations and environmental influences (e.g. physical activity) increase the risk of obesity. For instance, 25 to 40 percent of people inherit a predisposition for a high body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize current cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and to identify mediator and moderator effects by evaluating the interaction between these three parameters. Methods: The electronic academic databases PubMed, SportDiscus, WEB OF KNOWLEDGE and Ovid were searched for studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (cross-sectional studies) and in adolescents up to 23 years old (longitudinal studies) published in English in or after 2000. Results: Twelve cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies were included. Only four studies analyzed the interaction among physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and reported inconsistent results. All other studies analyzed the relationship between either physical activity and overweight, or between fitness and overweight. Overweight—here including obesity—was inversely related to physical activity. Similarly, all studies reported inverse relations between physical fitness and overweight. Mediator and moderator effects were detected in the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity. Overall, a distinction of excessive body weight as cause or effect of low levels of physical activity and fitness is lacking. Conclusions: The small number of studies on the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies that would reveal 1) the causality between physical activity and overweight / fitness and overweight and 2) the causal interrelationships among overweight, physical activity and fitness. These results must be carefully interpreted given the lack of distinction between self-reported and objective physical activity and that studies analyzing the metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease were not considered. The importance of physical activity or fitness in predicting overweight remains unknown

Aging and memory effects in beta-hydrochinone-clathrate

The out-of-equilibrium low-frequency complex susceptibility of the orientational glass methanol(73%)-beta-hydrochinone-clathrate is studied using temperature-stop protocols in aging experiments . Although the material does not have a sharp glass transition aging effects including rejuvenation and memory are found at low temperatures. However, they turn out to be much weaker, however, than in conventional magnetic spin glasses.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 6 eps-figures include

Longitudinal associations of health-related behavior patterns in adolescence with change of weight status and self-rated health over a period of 6 years: results of the MoMo longitudinal study

Background Promoting a healthy lifestyle especially in adolescents is important because health-related behaviors adopted during adolescence most often track into adulthood. Longitudinal studies are necessary for identifying health-related risk groups of adolescents and defining target groups for health-promoting interventions. Multiple health behavior research may represent a useful approach towards a better understanding of the complexity of health-related behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association of health-related behavior patterns with change of weight status and self-rated health in adolescents in Germany. Methods Within the framework of the longitudinal German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) and the Motorik-Modul (MoMo), four clusters of typical health-related behavior patterns of adolescents have been previously identified. Therefor the variables "physical activity" , "media use" and "healthy nutrition" were included. In the current study longitudinal change of objectively measured weight status (N=556) and self-rated health (N=953) in the four clusters was examined. Statistical analyses comprised T-tests for paired samples, McNemar tests, multinomial logistic regression analysis and two-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Results The prevalence of overweight increased in all four clusters. The health-related behavior pattern of low activity level with high media use and low diet quality had the strongest increase in prevalence of overweight, while the smallest and non-significant increase was found with the behavior pattern of a high physical activity level and average media use and diet quality. Only some significant relationships between health-related behaviour patterns and change in self-rated health were observed. Conclusions High-risk patterns of health-related behavior were identified. Further, cumulative as well as compensatory effects of different health-related behaviors on each other were found. The information gained in this study contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of health-related behavior and its impact on health parameters and may facilitate the development of targeted prevention programs

Neurocognitive Deficits in First-Episode and Chronic Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review from 2009 to 2022

Cognitive impairment in patients suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders has been discussed as a strong predictor for multiple disease outcome variables, such as response to psychotherapy, stable relationships, employment, and longevity. However, the consistency and severity of cognitive deficits across multiple domains in individuals with first-episode and chronic psychotic disorders is still undetermined. We provide a comprehensive overview of primary research from the years 2009 to 2022. Based on a Cochrane risk assessment, a systematic synthesis of 51 out of 3669 original studies was performed. Impairment of cognitive functioning in patients diagnosed with first-episode psychotic disorders compared with healthy controls was predicted to occur in all assessed cognitive domains. Few overall changes were predicted for chronically affected patients relative to those in the first-episode stage, in line with previous longitudinal studies. Our research outcomes support the hypothesis of a global decrease in cognitive functioning in patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders, i.e., the occurrence of cognitive deficits in multiple cognitive domains including executive functioning, memory, working memory, psychomotor speed, and attention. Only mild increases in the frequency of cognitive impairment across studies were observed at the chronically affected stage relative to the first-episode stage. Our results confirm and extend the outcomes from prior reviews and meta-analyses. Recommendations for psychotherapeutic interventions are provided, considering the broad cognitive impairment already observed at the stage of the first episode. Based on the risk of bias assessment, we also make specific suggestions concerning the quality of future original studies

Phase II trial of raltitrexed ('Tomudex') in advanced small-cell lung cancer.

Raltitrexed, a thymidylate synthase inhibitor, was given to 21 patients with advanced small-cell lung cancer, at a dose of 3 mg m(-2) as a 15-min intravenous infusion at 21-day intervals. All of the patients had extensive disease and 17 had received prior therapy. Patients with disease refractory to primary chemotherapy were excluded. Forty-one treatment cycles were given (median two, range one to four). The drug was well tolerated. No objective tumour response was documented. The patients had chemoresistant disease, as shown by a response in only one of ten patients who went on to receive alternative cytotoxic regimens. We conclude that raltitrexed given in this schedule is inactive as second line therapy for small-cell lung cancer

Family health climate scale (FHC-scale): Development and validation

Background: The family environment is important for explaining individual health behaviour. While previous research mostly focused on influences among family members and dyadic interactions (parent-child), the purpose of this study was to develop a new measure, the Family Health Climate Scale (FHC-Scale), using a family-based approach. The FHC is an attribute of the whole family and describes an aspect of the family environment that is related to health and health behaviour. Specifically, a questionnaire measuring the FHC (a) for nutrition (FHC-NU) and (b) for activity behaviour (FHC-PA) was developed and validated. Methods: In Study 1 (N = 787) the FHC scales were refined and validated. The sample was randomly divided into two subsamples. With random sample I exploratory factor analyses were conducted and items were selected according to their psychometric quality. In a second step, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using the random sample II. In Study 2 (N = 210 parental couples) the construct validity was tested by correlating the FHC to self-determined motivation of healthy eating and physical activity as well as the families’ food environment and joint physical activities. Results: Exploratory factor analyses with random sample I (Study 1) revealed a four (FHC-NU) and a three (FHC-PA) factor model. These models were cross-validated with random sample II and demonstrated an acceptable fit [FHC-PA: χ2 = 222.69, df = 74, p < .01; χ2/df = 3.01; CFI = .96; SRMR = .04; RMSEA = .07, CI .06/.08; FHC-NU: χ2 = 278.30, df = 113, p < .01, χ2/df = 2.46, CFI = .96; SRMR = .04; RMSEA = .06, CI .05/.07]. The perception of FHC correlated (p < .01) with the intrinsic motivation of healthy eating (r = .42) and physical activity (r = .56). Moreover, parental perceptions of FHC-NU correlated with household soft drink availability (r = −.31) and perceptions of FHC-PA with the frequency of joint physical activities with the child (r = .51). These patterns were found on the intraindividual and interindividual level. Conclusions: Two valid instruments measuring the FHC within families were developed. The use of different informants’ ratings demonstrated that the FHC is a family level variable. The results confirm the high relevance of the FHC for individuals’ health behaviour. The FHC and the measurement instruments are useful for examining health-related aspects of the family environment