Replication and Meta-analysis of the Association between BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Cognitive Impairment in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) adversely affects cancer patients. We had previously demonstrated that the BDNF Val66Met genetic polymorphism is associated with lower odds of subjective CRCI in the multitasking and verbal ability domains among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. To further assess our previous findings, we evaluated the association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with subjective and objective CRCI in a temporally separate cohort of patients and pooled findings from both the original (n = 145) and current (n = 193) cohorts in a meta-analysis. Subjective CRCI was assessed using FACT-Cog. Objective CRCI was evaluated using computerized neuropsychological tests. Genotyping was carried out using Sanger sequencing. The association of BDNF Val66Met genotypes and CRCI was examined with logistic regression. A fixed-effect meta-analysis was conducted using the inverse variance method. In the meta-analysis (n = 338), significantly lower odds of CRCI were associated with Met allele carriers based on the global FACT-Cog score (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.94). Furthermore, Met allele carriers were at lower odds of developing impairment in the domains of memory (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17-0.70), multitasking (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.18-0.59), and verbal ability (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.24-0.88). Consistent with the previous study, lower odds of subjective CRCI among patients with the BDNF Met allele was observed after adjusting for potential confounders in the multitasking (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14-0.67) domain. In conclusion, carriers of the BDNF Met allele were protected against global subjective CRCI, particularly in the domains of memory, multitasking, and verbal ability. Our findings further contribute to the understanding of CRCI pathophysiology

The relationship between velocity utilization rate and pole vault performance

In the pole vault event, the velocity of approach is a highly vital factor. As velocity of approach improvements highly impact performance improvements. This study analysed the relationships between sprint running’s speed (SR), pole running (PR, without jump), and the pole vault approach (PVA, with real jump). Analysed too were the relationships between both the approach and performance’s respective running distance, velocity, and velocity utilization rates. Methods: Ten male pole vaulters were recruited. Measured was each 5-meter segment’s average velocity of his respective SR, PR, and PVA, along with the distance to maximum velocity. Results: The maximum average velocity of the PR’s 5m segments altogether was significantly positively correlated with pole vault (PV) performance; The maximum average velocity of the PR’s 5m segments altogether was significantly positively correlated with the last 5m PVA average velocity; The PVA velocity’s utilization rate was significantly negatively correlated with the difference between the distance to the PR’s maximum velocity and the PVA’s distance. Conclusion: The PR segment’s maximum speed capability can evaluate both a pole vaulter’s potential and pole vault-specific abilities. This study’s recruited pole vaulters’ respective approach distances were generally insufficient that resulted in a lower velocity utilization rate. Suggested is that in training, the pole vaulter could first find the distance required to reach the highest velocity upon starting from the PR test. Thus, this subsequently known distance could be applied in tandem with the pole vault’s approach to both improve the PVA’s utilization rate and reach the individual highest speed level

Factors Associated With Sleeping Quality and Behaviors Among University Students in Malaysia

Background and Objective Sleep is an important physiological process for humans. Students of tertiary institutions, especially those at the university, are often reported to have poor sleep quality due to changing social opportunities and increasing academic demands. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of poor sleeping quality and its relationship with academic performance and psychological distress among university students in Malaysia. Methods An online questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among students of tertiary institutions in Malaysia. The questionnaire consisted of respondents’ demographics, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Scale (MES) and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scales (DASS-21). Simple and multiple linear regression were used to identify the relationship between the independent and dependent variables (PSQI score and MES score). Results Of the 403 respondents, about three-fourths were poor-quality sleepers. The cumulative grade point average (CGPA) was the only factor with a significant linear and positive relationship with the PSQI score. Only the depression and anxiety scores showed a significant linear and positive relationship between the PSQI score and the MES score. Conclusions Poor sleep quality was prevalent among university students. Poor sleep was associated with better academic performance. Students with depression or anxiety were significantly associated with poor sleep quality and being a morning bird

Risk prediction of product-harm events using rough sets and multiple classifier fusion:an experimental study of listed companies in China

With the increasing of frequency and destructiveness of product-harm events, study on enterprise crisis management becomes essentially important, but little literature thoroughly explores the risk prediction method of product-harm event. In this study, an initial index system for risk prediction was built based on the analysis of the key drivers of the product-harm event's evolution; ultimately, nine risk-forecasting indexes were obtained using rough set attribute reduction. With the four indexes of cumulative abnormal returns as the input, fuzzy clustering was used to classify the risk level of a product-harm event into four grades. In order to control the uncertainty and instability of single classifiers in risk prediction, multiple classifier fusion was introduced and combined with self-organising data mining (SODM). Further, an SODM-based multiple classifier fusion (SB-MCF) model was presented for the risk prediction related to a product-harm event. The experimental results based on 165 Chinese listed companies indicated that the SB-MCF model improved the average predictive accuracy and reduced variation degree simultaneously. The statistical analysis demonstrated that the SB-MCF model significantly outperformed six widely used single classification models (e.g. neural networks, support vector machine, and case-based reasoning) and other six commonly used multiple classifier fusion methods (e.g. majority voting, Bayesian method, and genetic algorithm)

Association between screen viewing duration and sleep duration, Sleep quality, And excessive daytime sleepiness among adolescents in Hong Kong

© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Screen viewing is considered to have adverse impacts on the sleep of adolescents. Although there has been a considerable amount of research on the association between screen viewing and sleep, most studies have focused on specific types of screen viewing devices such as televisions and computers. The present study investigated the duration w ith which currently prevalent screen viewing devices (including televisions, personal computers, mobile phones, and portable video devices) are viewed in relation to sleep duration, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness among Hong Kong adolescents (N = 762). Television and computer viewing remain prevalent, but were not correlated with sleep variables. Mobile phone viewing was correlated with all sleep variables, while portable video device viewing was shown to be correlated only with daytime sleepiness. The results demonstrated a trend of increase in the prevalence and types of screen viewing and their effects on the sleep patterns of adolescents.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex