Unstable Gaze in Functional Dizziness: A Contribution to Understanding the Pathophysiology of Functional Disorders

Objective: We are still lacking a pathophysiological mechanism for functional disorders explaining the emergence and manifestation of characteristic, severely impairing bodily symptoms like chest pain or dizziness. A recent hypothesis based on the predictive coding theory of brain function suggests that in functional disorders, internal expectations do not match the actual sensory body states, leading to perceptual dysregulation and symptom perception. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the account of internal expectations and sensory input on gaze stabilization, a physiologically relevant parameter of gaze shifts, in functional dizziness. Methods: We assessed gaze stabilization in eight functional dizziness patients and 11 healthy controls during two distinct epochs of large gaze shifts: during a counter-rotation epoch (CR epoch), where the brain can use internal models, motor planning, and resulting internal expectations to achieve internally driven gaze stabilization; and during an oscillation epoch (OSC epoch), where, due to terminated motor planning, no movement expectations are present, and gaze is stabilized by sensory input alone. Results: Gaze stabilization differed between functional patients and healthy controls only when internal movement expectations were involved [F(1,17) = 14.63, p = 0.001, and partial η(2) = 0.463]: functional dizziness patients showed reduced gaze stabilization during the CR (p = 0.036) but not OSC epoch (p = 0.26). Conclusion: While sensory-driven gaze stabilization is intact, there are marked, well-measurable deficits in internally-driven gaze stabilization in functional dizziness pointing at internal expectations that do not match actual body states. This experimental evidence supports the perceptual dysregulation hypothesis of functional disorders and is an important step toward understanding the underlying pathophysiology

Effect of maternal age on maternal and neonatal outcomes after assisted reproductive technology

Objective: To compare the effect of maternal age on assisted reproductive technology (ART) and spontaneous conception (SC) pregnancies regarding maternal and neonatal complications. Design: Nordic retrospective population-based cohort study. Data from national ART registries were cross-linked with national medical birth registries. Setting: Not applicable. Patient(s): A total of 300,085 singleton deliveries: 39,919 after ART and 260,166 after SC. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP), placenta previa, cesarean delivery, preterm birth (PTB; = 28 weeks). Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were calculated. Associations between maternal age and outcomes were analyzed. Result(s): The risk of placenta previa (AOR 4.11-6.05), cesarean delivery (AOR 1.18-1.50), PTB (AOR 1.23-2.19), and LBW (AOR 1.44-2.35) was significantly higher in ART than in SC pregnancies for most maternal ages. In both ART and SC pregnancies, the risk of HDP, placenta previa, cesarean delivery, PTB, LBW, and SGA changed significantly with age. The AORs for adverse neonatal outcomes at advanced maternal age (>35 years) showed a greater increase in SC than in ART. The change in risk with age did not differ between ART and SC for maternal outcomes at advanced maternal age. Conclusion(s): Having singleton conceptions after ART results in higher maternal and neonatal outcome risks overall, but the impact of age seems to be more pronounced in couples conceiving spontaneously. (C) 2016 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Peer reviewe

Coffee, Fast Food, and the Desire for Romantic Love in Contemporary China: Branding and Marketing Trends in Popular Chinese-Language Literature

A popular, 1999 Taiwanese novel published for the Chinese book market set off a twofold transcultural trend: one in real life and one in literature. To explore this phenomenon, this paper considers the rising popularity of coffee culture and of “Western” food culture, as well as the increasingly important role that consumption and brand names play in popular literature on the Chinese mainland. I argue that desire, the power of imagination, and the transcultural qualities of the products in question constitute the crucial links between the two trends. Like other cultural products, such as lifestyle magazines, guidebooks, and movies, literary texts (especially successful ones) not only explain to consumers how to integrate new objects of consumption into their daily lives. They also provide ways of bestowing meaning on new forms of consumption and experience. Cultural products call upon consumers to fulfil their desires through imagination. The products concerned all have a global dimension, but are also firmly rooted in the Chinese reality. This gives them a certain vagueness and, at the same time, distinct meanings that render them particularly convenient for meeting the desires of a well-off, fashionable, cosmopolitan, and lifestyle-oriented part of the urban Chinese population: the xiaozi (petty bourgeois)

Livsomstilling ved kombinert syns- og hørselsnedsettelse/døvblindhet. : EN VEILEDER TIL PRAKSIS SOM STØTTERPROSESSEN

indre arbeid over tid». Dette var resultatet av et skandinavisk prosjekt som med utgangspunkt iAnn-Christine Gullacksens modell for livsomstilling ved langvarig sykdom og funksjonsnedsettelse,undersøkte hvordan livsomstilling arter seg for personer som utvikler en alvorlig grad av kombinertsyns- og hørselsnedsettelse / døvblindhet. Kunnskapen vi fikk gjennom undersøkelsen, resulterte ien modell for livsomstilling ved kombinert syns- og hørselsnedsettelse / døvblindhet. Informantene iprosjektet var i alderen 25 til 65 år. Det vil si at kunnskapen om livsomstilling i denne sammenhengprimært er relatert til denne aldersgruppen.Livsomstillingsmodellen gir en tankeramme som kan hjelpe oss til å forstå det omfattende og komplekseforandringsarbeidet som personer med syns- og hørselsnedsettelse / døvblindhet gjennomgår.Den kan være til hjelp både for den enkelte og pårørende, der man kjenner seg igjen i en prosesssom til tider kan oppleves som uoverskuelig. Når man er kjent med hvor en person befinner segi omstillingsprosessen, har fagpersoner større mulighet til å kunne tilby riktig støtte til rett tid. Itillegg kan en felles tankeramme som tar utgangspunkt i den individuelle prosessen, være til hjelp idet tverrfaglige samarbeidet.Denne veilederen bygger på kunnskap fra prosjektet. I tillegg har vi bragt inn kompetanse som eropparbeidet om kombinert syns- og hørselsnedsettelse / døvblindhet gjennom mange års arbeid ipraksisfeltet. Sist, men ikke minst har referansegruppen vært viktig i arbeidet med veilederen

Livsomställning vid kombinerad syn- och hörselnedsättning/dövblindhet : ett inre arbete över tid

Boken är dessutom utgiven på Engelska, Danska, Norsk