Deficient sustained attention to response task and P300 characteristics in early Huntington’s disease

Evidence for the extent and nature of attentional impairment in premanifest and manifest Huntington’s disease (HD) is inconsistent. Understanding such impairments may help to better understand early functional changes in HD and could have consequences concerning care for HD patients. We investigated attentional control in both early and premanifest HD. We studied 17 early HD subjects (mean age: 51 years), 12 premanifest HD subjects (mean age: 43 years), and 15 healthy controls (mean age: 51 years), using the sustained attention to response task (SART), a simple Go/No-go test reflecting attentional and inhibitory processes through reaction time (RT) and error rates. Simultaneously recorded EEG yielded P300 amplitudes and latencies. The early HD group made more Go errors (p < 0.001) and reacted slower (p < 0.005) than the other groups. The RT pattern during the SART was remarkably different for early HD subjects compared to the other two groups (p < 0.005), apparent as significant post-error slowing. P300 data showed that for early HD the No-go amplitude was lower than for the other two groups (p < 0.05). Subjects with early HD showed a reduced capacity to effectively control attention. They proved unable to resume the task directly after having made an error, and need more time to return to pre-error performance levels. No attentional control deficits were found for the premanifest HD group

Job Stress and the rate of reported incidents among workers’ Isfahan Steel Company: the role of mediator work pressure

Background and aimsNegative job stress puts harmful effects on physical and psychological health of workers. However, the effects of stress can be mediated by other variables. This study examines the relationship between job stress, work pressure and the rate of reported incidents.      Methodsstatistical research community included all workers of Isfahan Steel Company in the winter 1388 that among them, 189 individuals were selected as sample using stratified random sampling method (from the list of workers per sector) and they responded to questionnaires including 10 questions of job stress, 4 questions of work pressure and 22 questions of the rate of reported incidents. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical regression.   ResultsResults showed that there was a significant internal correlation among study variables (job stress, work pressure and the rate of reported incidents) (p<0.05). In addition, regression analysis showed that job stress on the rate of incidents reported directly and indirectly through perception of job pressure was effective (p<0.05). Similarly, in the inverse mediation analysis, job stress mediated relationship between work pressure and the rate of reported incidents (p<0.05).ConclusionReducing job stress by changing workers’ perceptions of work pressure can lower the rate of reported incidents and also the reduction of work pressure perception by improving job stress  can be effective in incidence of occupational accidents