Analysis of healthy sitting behavior: Interface pressure distribution and subcutaneous tissue oxygenation

Pressure ulcers are a large problem in individuals who use a wheelchair for their mobility and have limited trunk stability and motor function. Because no relation between interface pressure and pressure ulcer development has been established and no clinical threshold for pressure ulcer development can be given, looking at the sitting behavior of nondisabled individuals is important. Nondisabled individuals do not develop pressure ulcers because they continuously shift posture. We analyzed the sitting behavior of 25 nondisabled male subjects by using a combination of interface pressure measurement and subcutaneous tissue oxygenation measurement by means of the Oxygen to See. These subjects shifted posture on average 7.8 +/- 5.2 times an hour. These posture shifts were merely a combination of posture shifts in the frontal and sagittal plane. Subcutaneous oxygen saturation increased on average 2.2% with each posture adjustment, indicating a positive effect of posture shifts on tissue viability. The results of this study can be used as a reference for seating interventions aimed at preventing pressure ulcers. Changing the sitting load at least every 8 minutes is recommended for wheelchair users

Validation of the ISP131001 sensor for mobile peripheral body temperature measurement

Previous studies have indicated that temperature regulation is related to social behavior (for an overview, see IJzerman et al., 2015; IJzerman & Hogerzeil, 2017). However, precise causal relationships between temperature and social behaviors are unclear. These links may be better understood by frequently measuring temperature in daily life and mapping those measurements onto social behaviors. The primary purpose of the present study was to enable such studies by validating a new wireless temperature sensor, the ISP131001 from Insight SiP, for human peripheral temperature measurement in daily life. In our exploratory dataset, we found moderately high correlations between two ISP131001 sensors and a comparison sensor ('r' = .82 for the average of our two ISP sensors). These correlations replicated in our confirmatory dataset ('r' = .94 for the average of our two ISP sensors). A secondary purpose of this report is the inclusion of a standard set of relevant measures for social thermoregulation research. We believe that this standard protocol of measures be included in all future social thermoregulation studies in order to facilitate and encourage data re-use and aggregation across studies

The influence of stride-length on plantar foot-pressures and joint moments

AbstractPurposeJoint moments have been acknowledged as key factors in understanding gait abnormalities. Gait velocity is further known to affect joint moments and foot pressures. Keeping gait velocity constant is thus a strategy to cancel out the influence of different preferred gait speed between groups. But even if gait velocity is controlled, individuals can choose different stride length–stride frequency combinations to cope with an imposed gait velocity.ScopeTo understand the influence of stride frequency–stride length on joint moments and plantar pressures.MethodsTwenty healthy young adults had to cross an 8m walkway with a walking speed of 1.3ms−1. The wooden walkway was equipped with a force and a pressure platform. While walking speed was kept constant each participant walked with five different imposed stride lengths (SL): preferred (SL0); with a decrease of 10% (SL−10); with a decrease of 20% (SL−20); with an increase of 10% (SL+10) and with an increase of 20% (SF+20).ResultsAnkle and knee joint moments significantly decreased with a decrease in SL. A significant (p<.05) lower peak pressure was achieved with a decreased SL under the heel, toes and midfoot.Discussion/conclusionThe results showed that a change in stride lengths alters both, joint moments and foot pressures with clinically interesting indications. Redistribution of joint moments in the elderly for example might rather result from decreased SL than from age

PCN94 - Cost-effectiveness and preference for follow-up scenarios following breast cancer

OBJECTIVES: About one in every eight women in The Netherlands develops breast cancer. Every year, 11,000 new cases are registered and about 3500 women die of breast cancer. Prognosis after primary treatment for patients with breast cancer is improving. This leads to an increased number of patients in follow-up, which leads to increased workload. One of the main goals of follow-up is to improve the survival of patients. This study aims to determine a more individualized follow-up by modelling costeffectiveness of various follow-up scenarios and by determining individual preferences by using a discrete choice experiment (DCE). METHODS: A discrete-event state-transition model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of all scenarios for all patient groups. In addition, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was designed to establish patient preferences. The DCE incorporated three process attributes (duration of follow-up, frequency and type of consult) and data were collected in a sample of 125 breast cancer patients. Patients had to complete all 18 choice sets that were generated from the three attributes. RESULTS: The modelling study revealed recommendations for follow-up in different age categories. Patients younger than 40 and patients with unfavorable tumor characteristics (>3 lymph nodes, tumor size >2 cm) can benefit from a more intensive follow-up of five or possibly ten years. Patients older than 40 but younger than 70 years old sometimes benefit from a more intensive follow-up; e.g. when younger than 50 and tumor size >2 cm. The DCE, however, showed that patients chose maximum levels of follow-up independent from age and their individual clinical risk profile. Duration of follow-up and type of consult (either hospital visit or telephone) weighted approximately 0.43 and 0.50 respectively. The frequency of follow-up (either once or twice a year) was least important (0.07). CONCLUSIONS: The model showed that follow-up may be individualized according to risk profile and age. However, patients preferred long and intensive follow-up strategies after breast cancer treatment. Taking into account individual patient preferences it may be recommended to reduce the frequency of follow-up to once a year. The service delivery by nurse practioners is well appreciated and another means for improving cost-effective follow-up

Perceptual symbols of creativity: Coldness elicits referential, warmth elicits relational creativity

Research in the cognitive and social psychological science has revealed the pervading relation between body and mind. Physical warmth leads people to perceive others as psychological closer to them and to be more generous towards others. More recently, physical warmth has also been implicated in the processing of information, specifically through perceiving relationships (via physical warmth) and the distancing from others (via coldness). In addition, social psychological work has linked social cues (such as mimicry and power cues) to creative performance. The present work integrates these two literatures, by providing an embodied model of creative performance through relational (warm = relational) and referential (cold = distant) processing. The authors predict and find that warmth cues lead to greater creativity when 1) creating drawings, 2) categorizing objects, and 3) coming up with gifts for others. In contrast, cold cues lead to greater creativity, when 1) breaking set in a metaphor recognition task, 2) coming up with new pasta names, and 3) being abstract in coming up with gifts. Effects are found across different populations and age groups. The authors report implications for theory and discuss limitations of the present work. Keywords: Embodied Grounding, Warmth, Social Relations, Processing Styles, Creativit

Is comfort food really good for the soul? A Replication of Troisi and Gabriel's (2011) Study 2

The supplementary file contains the questionnaires and scales, consent form, and methodology used.</p

Improved Efficacy of First-Line Imatinib in Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST):The Dutch GIST Registry Data

BACKGROUND: Patients with unresectable and metastasized gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) experienced a remarkable improvement of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after the introduction of imatinib. Our hypothesis is that the outcomes of treatment with imatinib are even better nowadays compared with the registration trials that were performed two decades ago. To study this, we used real-life data from a contemporary registry.METHODS: A multicenter, retrospective study was performed by exploring clinical data from a prospective real-life clinical database, the Dutch GIST Registry (DGR). Patients with advanced GIST treated with first-line imatinib were included and PFS (primary outcome) and OS (secondary outcome) were analyzed. Results of our study were compared with published results of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 62005 trial, which marked the first era of imatinib in the treatment of GIST.RESULTS: Overall, 420 of the 435 patients treated with imatinib in the DGR had recorded response evaluation and were included in the analysis. During a median follow-up of 35.0 months (range 2.0-136.0), progression of GIST was eventually observed in 217 patients (51.2%). The DGR cohort showed a longer median PFS (33.0 months, 95% confidence interval [CI] 28.4-37.6) compared with the EORTC 62005 trial (an estimated PFS of 19.5 months). Additionally, the median OS of 68.0 months (95% CI 56.1-80.0) was longer than the exposed median OS (46.8 months) published in the long-term follow-up results of the EORTC 62005 trial (median follow-up duration 10.9 years).CONCLUSION: This study provides an update on outcomes of imatinib in the treatment of advanced GIST patients and demonstrates improved clinical outcomes since the first randomized studies of imatinib 2 decades ago. Furthermore, these results represent outcomes in real-world clinical practice and can serve as a reference when evaluating effectiveness of imatinib in patients with advanced GIST.</p

The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology through a Distributed Collaborative Network

Concerns have been growing about the veracity of psychological research. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions, or attempt to replicate prior research, in large, diverse samples. The PSA’s mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time-limited), efficient (in terms of re-using structures and principles for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in terms of participants and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside of the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance our understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematically examining its generalizability

Early response evaluation using F-18-FDG-PET/CT does not influence management of patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) treated with palliative intent

Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of F-18-FDG-PET/CT on treatment decision making in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients.Methods This study retrospectively evaluated F-18-FDG-PET/CT scans to monitor response of metastatic GIST patients treated with palliative intent. Data from the Dutch GIST Registry was used. Early scans ( 10 weeks after start of treatment) were scored on the impact in change of treatment.Results Sixty-one PET/CTscans were performed for treatment evaluation in 39 patients with metastatic GIST of which 36 were early scans and 25 were late scans. Early PET/CT scans led to a change in management in 5.6 % of patients and late PET/CT scans led to a change in management in 56 % of patients. Change in management was more often seen after scans with lack of metabolic response (48 % vs. 11 % in scans with metabolic response, p = 0.002). Neither metabolic response nor change in treatment were more often seen in patients with KIT mutations compared to patients with non-KIT mutations (metabolic response 65 % KIT vs. 46 % non-KIT, p = 0.33, and change in management 28 % KIT vs. 21 % nonKIT, p = 0.74).Conclusion(18)F-FDG-PET/CT is not recommended for early response evaluation in an unselected patient population with metastatic GIST, since it does not influence treatment decisions. F-18-FDG- PET/ CT, however, can be useful for late response assessment, especially in case of indeterminate CT results.Imaging- and therapeutic targets in neoplastic and musculoskeletal inflammatory diseas