Efficacy of a self-help manual in increasing resilience in carers of adults with depression in Thailand

Caring for a person with a mental illness can have adverse effects on caregivers; however, little is known about how best to help such caregivers. The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of a cognitive behaviour therapy-guided self-help manual in increasing resilience in caregivers of individuals with depression, in comparison to caregivers who receive routine support only. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted, following CONSORT guidelines, with 54 caregivers allocated to parallel intervention (self-help manual) (n = 27) or control (standard support) (n = 27) groups. Resilience was assessed at baseline, post-test (week 8), and follow up (week 12). Intention-to-treat analyses were undertaken. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated a significant difference in resilience scores between the three time points, showing a large effect. Pairwise comparisons between intervention and control groups indicated resilience to be significantly different between baseline and post-test, and between baseline and follow up, but not between post-test and follow up. Overall, the intervention group showed a slightly greater increase in resilience over time than the control group; however, the time–group interaction was not significant. Guided self-help is helpful in improving caregivers’ resilience and could be used as an adjunct to the limited support provided to carers by mental health nurses and other clinicians

Revisit Sparse Polynomial Interpolation based on Randomized Kronecker Substitution

In this paper, a new reduction based interpolation algorithm for black-box multivariate polynomials over finite fields is given. The method is based on two main ingredients. A new Monte Carlo method is given to reduce black-box multivariate polynomial interpolation to black-box univariate polynomial interpolation over any ring. The reduction algorithm leads to multivariate interpolation algorithms with better or the same complexities most cases when combining with various univariate interpolation algorithms. We also propose a modified univariate Ben-or and Tiwarri algorithm over the finite field, which has better total complexity than the Lagrange interpolation algorithm. Combining our reduction method and the modified univariate Ben-or and Tiwarri algorithm, we give a Monte Carlo multivariate interpolation algorithm, which has better total complexity in most cases for sparse interpolation of black-box polynomial over finite fields

Pleasant and unpleasant odour-face combinations influence face and odour perception: An event-related potential study.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Odours alter evaluations of concurrent visual stimuli. However, neural mechanisms underlying the effects of congruent and incongruent odours on facial expression perception are not clear. Moreover, the influence of emotional faces on odour perception is not established. We investigated the effects of one pleasant and one unpleasant odour paired with happy and disgusted faces, on subjective ratings and ERP responses to faces. Participants rated the pleasantness of happy and disgusted faces that appeared during 3 s pleasant or unpleasant odour pulses, or without odour. Odour pleasantness and intensity ratings were recorded in each trial. EEG was recorded continuously using a 128-channel system. Happy and disgusted faces paired with pleasant and unpleasant odour were rated as more or less pleasant, respectively, compared to the same faces presented in the other odour conditions. Odours were rated as more pleasant when paired with happy faces, and unpleasant odour was rated more intense when paired with disgusted faces. Unpleasant odour paired with disgusted faces also decreased inspiration. Odour-face interactions were evident in the N200 and N400 components. Our results reveal bi-directional effects of odours and faces, and suggest that odour-face interactions may be represented in ERP components. Pairings of unpleasant odour and disgusted faces resulted in stronger hedonic ratings, ERP changes, increased odour intensity ratings and respiratory adjustment. This finding likely represents heightened adaptive responses to multimodal unpleasant stimuli, prompting appropriate behaviour in the presence of danger

Basic Module Theory over Non-Commutative Rings with Computational Aspects of Operator Algebras

The present text surveys some relevant situations and results where basic Module Theory interacts with computational aspects of operator algebras. We tried to keep a balance between constructive and algebraic aspects.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the AADIOS 2012 conference, to be published in Lecture Notes in Computer Scienc

Pleasant and Unpleasant Odors Influence Hedonic Evaluations of Human Faces: An Event-Related Potential Study

open access journalOdors can alter hedonic evaluations of human faces, but the neural mechanisms of such effects are poorly understood. The present study aimed to analyze the neural underpinning of odor-induced changes in evaluations of human faces in an odor-priming paradigm, using event-related potentials (ERPs). Healthy, young participants (N = 20) rated neutral faces presented after a 3 s pulse of a pleasant odor (jasmine), unpleasant odor (methylmercaptan), or no-odor control (clean air). Neutral faces presented in the pleasant odor condition were rated more pleasant than the same faces presented in the no-odor control condition, which in turn were rated more pleasant than faces in the unpleasant odor condition. Analysis of face-related potentials revealed four clusters of electrodes significantly affected by odor condition at specific time points during longlatency epochs (600950 ms). In the 620640 ms interval, two scalp-time clusters showed greater negative potential in the right parietal electrodes in response to faces in the pleasant odor condition, compared to those in the no-odor and unpleasant odor conditions. At 926 ms, face-related potentials showed greater positivity in response to faces in the pleasant and unpleasant odor conditions at the left and right lateral frontal-temporal electrodes, respectively. Our data shows that odor-induced shifts in evaluations of faces were associated with amplitude changes in the late (>600) and ultra-late (>900 ms) latency epochs. The observed amplitude changes during the ultralate epoch are consistent with a left/right hemisphere bias towards pleasant/unpleasant odor effects. Odors alter evaluations of human faces, even when there is a temporal lag between presentation of odors and faces. Our results provide an initial understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying effects of odors on hedonic evaluations

Simultaneous odour-face presentation strengthens hedonic evaluations and event-related potential responses influenced by unpleasant odour

open access articleOdours alter evaluations of concurrently presented visual stimuli, such as faces. Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) is known to affect evaluative priming in various sensory modalities. However, effects of SOA on odour priming of visual stimuli are not known. The present study aimed to analyse whether subjective and cortical activation changes during odour priming would vary as a function of SOA between odours and faces. Twenty-eight participants rated faces under pleasant, unpleasant, and no-odour conditions using visual analogue scales. In half of trials, faces appeared one-second after odour offset (SOA 1). In the other half of trials, faces appeared during the odour pulse (SOA 2). EEG was recorded continuously using a 128-channel system, and event-related potentials (ERPs) to face stimuli were evaluated using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Faces presented during unpleasant-odour stimulation were rated significantly less pleasant than the same faces presented one-second after offset of the unpleasant odour. Scalp-time clusters in the late-positive-potential (LPP) time-range showed an interaction between odour and SOA effects, whereby activation was stronger for faces presented simultaneously with the unpleasant odour, compared to the same faces presented after odour offset. Our results highlight stronger unpleasant odour priming with simultaneous, compared to delayed, odour-face presentation. Such effects were represented in both behavioural and neural data. A greater cortical and subjective response during simultaneous presentation of faces and unpleasant odour may have an adaptive role, allowing for a prompt and focused behavioural reaction to a concurrent stimulus if an aversive odour would signal danger, or unwanted social interaction

A compendium and functional characterization of mammalian genes involved in adaptation to Arctic or Antarctic environments

Many mammals are well adapted to surviving in extremely cold environments. These species have likely accumulated genetic changes that help them efficiently cope with low temperatures. It is not known whether the same genes related to cold adaptation in one species would be under selection in another species. The aims of this study therefore were: to create a compendium of mammalian genes related to adaptations to a low temperature environment; to identify genes related to cold tolerance that have been subjected to independent positive selection in several species; to determine promising candidate genes/pathways/organs for further empirical research on cold adaptation in mammals

Potential opportunities and challenges of deploying next generation sequencing and CRISPR-cas systems to support diagnostics and surveillance towards malaria control and elimination in Africa

Recent developments in molecular biology and genomics have revolutionized biology and medicine mainly in the developed world. The application of next generation sequencing (NGS) and CRISPR-Cas tools is now poised to support endemic countries in the detection, monitoring and control of endemic diseases and future epidemics, as well as with emerging and re-emerging pathogens. Most low and middle income countries (LMICs) with the highest burden of infectious diseases still largely lack the capacity to generate and perform bioinformatic analysis of genomic data. These countries have also not deployed tools based on CRISPR-Cas technologies. For LMICs including Tanzania, it is critical to focus not only on the process of generation and analysis of data generated using such tools, but also on the utilization of the findings for policy and decision making. Here we discuss the promise and challenges of NGS and CRISPR-Cas in the context of malaria as Africa moves towards malaria elimination. These innovative tools are urgently needed to strengthen the current diagnostic and surveillance systems. We discuss ongoing efforts to deploy these tools for malaria detection and molecular surveillance highlighting potential opportunities presented by these innovative technologies as well as challenges in adopting them. Their deployment will also offer an opportunity to broadly build in-country capacity in pathogen genomics and bioinformatics, and to effectively engage with multiple stakeholders as well as policy makers, overcoming current workforce and infrastructure challenges. Overall, these ongoing initiatives will build the malaria molecular surveillance capacity of African researchers and their institutions, and allow them to generate genomics data and perform bioinformatics analysis in-country in order to provide critical information that will be used for real-time policy and decision-making to support malaria elimination on the continent