11 research outputs found
β-Amyloid neurotoxicity is mediated by a glutamate-triggered excitotoxic cascade in rat nucleus basalis
Arbetsmiljöarbete och effekter en kunskapsöversikt
Work environment improvements and effects a literature review This report addresses the question 'Do work-environment improvements have any effects?' The aim was to produce a summary of knowledge that includes the methodological problems of measuring and evaluating effects, as well as literature reviews of effects from work environment improvement efforts on musculoskeletal health, health promotion, and economy. Results show that published literature reviews do not give unambiguous support for health benefits of interventions against musculoskeletal problems, when only studies using natural science criteria with experimental or quasi-experimental design are included. There are, on the other hand, many case studies in the so called 'grey' literature that report positive effects. Further, results show that health promotion interventions, and especially physical activity, have a positive effect on low back pain. Workplace interventions to increase physical activity are effective and lead to increased physical activity amongst employees. More studies are needed, however, at the organisational level. There is some support for the profitability of work-environment investments at the organisational level; even though there are few studies and methodological problems. The review also indicates that the financial benefits come mostly from quality and productivity improvements and, to a lesser extent from reductions in costs related to sickness absenteeism. While more recent literature reviews of the effects of health promotion interventions seem to show a stronger effect than older studies, comparisons of older versus more recent studies of interventions against musculoskeletal problems give a more ambiguous picture. Often, the focus of these reviews is on study design with less priority on the quality of the interventions themselves. Multifactorial interventions are particularly difficult to evaluate. At the same time, many studies and research reviews emphasise the need for multifactorial approaches as necessary for successful intervention. Inclusion criteria in literature reviews that only consider experimental designs in organisational interventions exclude studies with good interventions that can't be evaluated with traditional experimental methods. Difficulties in proving the effectiveness of interventions depends on views of what constitutes good scientific quality in the studies. This shows a need for a critical examination of the assumptions used for knowledge generation in this area. Conclusions are that work-environment improvement efforts have effects that are clear in some cases but are difficult to show in others. Effect evaluation poses large methodological challenges. These difficulties are considered to be an important cause of the lack of clear evidence, especially in the area of interventions against musculoskeletal problems. There is a need for new non-experimental research strategies that are suited to today's complex systems and an increased focus on practical, well conducted multifactorial interventions. Key words: Intervention, health promotion, ergonomics, economy, methodology, researchDetta arbete har inriktats mot frågeställningen om arbetsmiljöarbete har några effekter. Syftet har varit att göra en kunskapssammanställning som omfattar en beskrivning och problematisering av metodiken att mäta eller utvärdera effekter, samt litteraturöversikter om vad arbetsmiljöarbete har för belastningsergonomiska, hälsofrämjande och ekonomiska effekter. Resultaten visar att publicerade litteraturöversikter inte ger säkra belägg för att belastningsergonomiska interventioner har effekter på besvärsförekomst, i de fall enbart studier inkluderats utifrån naturvetenskapliga kriterier med krav på experimentell eller kvasi-experimentell metodik. Däremot finns ett flertal fallstudier och så kallad grå litteratur som i högre grad rapporterar positiva effekter. Vidare framgår det att hälsofrämjande interventioner, och speciellt fysisk aktivitet har en positiv effekt på ländryggsbesvär. Interventioner på arbetsplatser för att öka den fysiska aktiviteten är effektiva och ger en ökad fysisk aktivitet hos arbetstagarna. Fler studier behövs emellertid på organisationsnivå. Det finns visst belägg för att arbetsmiljösatsningar ofta är lönsamma på organisationsnivå, även om studierna är få och uppvisar metodbrister. Det finns flera indikationer på att lönsamheten i huvudsak härrör från produktivitets- och kvalitetsförbättringar, och i mindre grad från minskade frånvarokostnader. Nya litteraturöversikter om hälsofrämjande interventioner tycks uppvisa starkare effekter än gamla, medan jämförelser mellan äldre och nyare studier om belastningsergonomiska interventioner ger en mer mångtydig bild. Ofta ligger fokus på utvärderingsdesign, samtidigt som kvaliteten hos interventionens genomförande och utformning i sig inte ges samma prioritet. Interventioner med multifaktoriella insatser blir synnerligen svåra och komplexa att utvärdera, samtidigt som det i många studier och forskningsöversikter betonas att en förutsättning för framgång i förändringsarbetet är att man arbetar med en mångfald av insatser. Inklusionskriterier i litteraturöversikter som förutsätter experimentella upplägg i organisationsinterventioner selekterar bort studier med goda interventioner som inte kan utvärderas med traditionella metoder. Svårigheten att identifiera effekter av interventioner bedöms bero på synen om vad som utmärker god vetenskaplig kvalitet hos studier. Detta visar på behovet att närmare kritiskt granska förutsättningarna för kunskapsbildning inom området. Slutsatsen är att arbetsmiljöarbete i vissa fall har effekter men att det i andra fall är svårt att påvisa effekter. Effektutvärdering innebär stora metodologiska svårigheter. Dessa svårigheter bedöms vara en viktig orsak till bristen på underlag, speciellt inom det belastningsergonomiska området. Det finns ett stort behov av nya icke experimentella undersökningsstrategier som är anpassade till dagens komplexa system, såväl som ett behov av starkare fokus på praktiskt väl genomförda multifaktoriella interventioner
Suppression of kindling epileptogenesis in rats by intrahippocampal cholinergic grafts
Selective immunolesioning of the basal forebrain cholinergic system by 192 IgG-saporin, which leads to a dramatic loss of the cholinergic innervation in cortical and hippocampal regions, facilitates the development of hippocampal kindling in rats. The aim of the present study was to explore whether grafted cholinergic neurones are able to reverse the lesion-induced increase of seizure susceptibility. Intraventricular 192 IgG-saporin was administered to rats which 3 weeks later were implanted with rat embryonic, acetylcholine-rich septal-diagonal band tissue ('cholinergic grafts') or cortical tissue/vehicle ('sham grafts') bilaterally into the hippocampal formation. After 3 months, the grafted animals as well as non-lesioned control rats were subjected to daily hippocampal kindling stimulations. In the animals with cholinergic grafts, which had reinnervated the hippocampus and dentate gyrus bilaterally, there was a marked suppression of the development of seizures as compared with the hyperexcitable, sham-grafted rats. This effect was significantly correlated to the density of the graft-derived cholinergic innervation of the host hippocampal formation. The kindling rate in the rats with cholinergic grafts was similar to that in non-lesioned controls. These results provide further evidence that the intrinsic basal forebrain cholinergic system dampens kindling epileptogenesis and demonstrate that this function can be exerted also by grafted cholinergic neurones
Huntingtin Protein Colocalizes with Lesions of Neurodegenerative Diseases: An Investigation in Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and Pick's Diseases
Stereological analysis of the reorganization of the dentate gyrus following entorhinal cortex lesion in mice
The differential involvement of subcortical nuclei in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type.
Approach to Neurotoxicity using Human iPSC Neurons: Consortium for Safety Assessment using Human iPS Cells
Athenian eye cups in context.
Since the late 1970s, scholars have explored Athenian eye cups within the presumed context of the symposion, privileging a hypothetical Athenian viewer and themes of masking and play. Such emphases, however, neglect chronology and distribution, which reveal the complexity of the pottery trade during the late sixth and the fifth centuries B.C.E. Although many eye cups have been found in Athens—namely on the Acropolis and mainly from late in the series—the majority come from funerary, sanctuary, and domestic contexts to the west and east. Most of the earliest, largest, and highest-quality examples were exported to Etruria, where the symposion as the Athenians knew it did not exist. Workshops and traders were clearly aware of their audiences at home and abroad and shifted production and distribution of vases to suit. The Etruscan consumers of eye cups made conscious choices regarding their purchase and use. Tomb assemblages from Vulci and elsewhere reveal their multivalent significance: they are emblematic of banqueting in life and death, apotropaic entities, likely with ritual uses. Rather than being signs of hellenization in a foreign culture, Athenian eye cups—like all Greek vases—were brought into Etruria, then integrated, manipulated, and even transformed to suit local needs and beliefs