71 research outputs found
Assessment of trend and etiological factors for cesarean delivery among women residing in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Background: Cesarean section (CS or C-section) is a surgical intervention and it is the 2nd commonest surgery performed on women in India after tubectomy operation. So, the study was conducted with objectives to assess the socio-demographic profile of recently delivered women and to assess the trend and etiological factors of cesarean delivery among women.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among recently delivered women of Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, India during April to September 2015. Pretested performa was used for study after informed consent. Total 200 women were selected for study.Results: Majority (56%) of women were belongs to 25 to 30 year. age group. Few (5%) of women were found illiterate. 31% women were delivered through cesarean section. Majority (63.5%) of women were delivered at Government hospitals. Most common reason (23%) for cesarean delivery was previous history of LSCS. Most preferred (33%) first choice of contraceptive method was barrier method.Conclusions: Commonest reasons for cesarean deliveries were previous history of LSCS, Oligohydramnios and prolonged labor. Most preferred first choice of contraceptive method was barrier method followed by Oral Contraceptive pills
Culture and the psychological impacts of natural disasters: Implications for disaster management and disaster mental health
In recent decades, natural disasters have caused extensive losses and damages to human psychological wellbeing, economy, and society. It has been argued that cultural factors such as social values, traditions, and attachment to a location influence communities facing and responding to natural disasters. However, the issue of culture in disaster mental health seems to have received limited attention in policy and practice. This review highlights the importance of cultural background in the assessment of vulnerability to the psychological impacts of disasters, disaster preparedness, and provision of disaster mental health services. In particular, this paper suggests the importance of cultural competence in the planning and delivery of effective disaster mental health services. In order to address the varying circumstances of people with different cultural backgrounds, disaster mental health services must be developed in a culturally sensitive manner. Development of culturally competent disaster mental health services requires significant changes in policy making, administration, and direct service provisio
A combinatorial model for reversible rational maps over finite fields
We study time-reversal symmetry in dynamical systems with finite phase space,
with applications to birational maps reduced over finite fields. For a
polynomial automorphism with a single family of reversing symmetries, a
universal (i.e., map-independent) distribution function R(x)=1-e^{-x}(1+x) has
been conjectured to exist, for the normalized cycle lengths of the reduced map
in the large field limit (J. A. G. Roberts and F. Vivaldi, Nonlinearity 18
(2005) 2171-2192). We show that these statistics correspond to those of a
composition of two random involutions, having an appropriate number of fixed
points. This model also explains the experimental observation that,
asymptotically, almost all cycles are symmetrical, and that the probability of
occurrence of repeated periods is governed by a Poisson law.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages with 1 figure; to be published in Nonlinearit
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Independent modulation of engagement and connectivity of the facial network during affect processing by CACNA1C and ANK3 risk genes for bipolar disorder
IMPORTANCE: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) indicate that single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the CACNA1C and ANK3 genes increase the risk for bipolar disorder (BD). The genes influence neuronal firing by modulating calcium and sodium channel functions, respectively. Both genes modulate γ-aminobutyric acid-transmitting interneuron function and can thus affect brain regional activation and interregional connectivity.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the genetic risk for BD associated with 2 GWAS-supported risk single-nucleotide polymorphisms at CACNA1C rs1006737 and ANK3 rs10994336 is mediated through changes in regional activation and interregional connectivity of the facial affect-processing network.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional functional magnetic resonance imaging study at a research institute of 41 euthymic patients with BD and 46 healthy participants, all of British white descent.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Blood oxygen level-dependent signal and effective connectivity measures during the facial affect-processing task.
RESULTS: In healthy carriers, both genetic risk variants were independently associated with increased regional engagement throughout the facial affect-processing network and increased effective connectivity between the visual and ventral prefrontal cortical regions. In contrast, BD carriers of either genetic risk variant exhibited pronounced reduction in ventral prefrontal cortical activation and visual-prefrontal effective connectivity.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Our data demonstrate that the effect of CACNA1C rs1006737 and ANK3 rs10994336 (or genetic variants in linkage disequilibrium) on the brain converges on the neural circuitry involved in affect processing and provides a mechanism linking BD to genome-wide genetic risk variants
Social anxiety, voice confrontation and voice recognition: a bilingual exploration
Many people dislike the sound of their voices, especially when listening back to audio recordings (voice confrontation). Previous research reports that disliking the sound of one's voice is associated with elevated levels of social anxiety. The present study investigated the relationship between social anxiety and voice dislike and voice misrecognition among a bilingual population: Arabic (L1) and English (L2). Participants (N = 176) completed self-report measures of social anxiety and own voice liking. Additionally, they performed a novel own voice recognition task, assessing their ability to recognise a recording of their voice, differentiating it from digitally altered versions of the same recording. Social anxiety symptomatology was associated with disliking the sound of one's voice, with a larger effect for L1 than L2. Social anxiety was also associated with own voice misrecognition, but only for L1. Highly negative evaluations about the sound of one's voice may represent a vulnerability for social anxiety disorder
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Understanding Mental Health Needs and Predictors of Anxiety in Emirati Female Students in Higher Education
The prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and stress range between 5% to 70% globally. Many students experience these mental health conditions as they go through transitional periods in life, such as starting higher education. This study aimed to explore mental health concerns, specifically depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of sleep, in Emirati female university students, a topic that has been understudied in the Middle East. We used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess 23 bilingual (Arabic/English) female adolescent Emirati students in the UAE. The data was analyzed using a multiple regression analysis. We found that most participants had normal levels of depression and stress, but over 60% of them had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Additionally, a substantial majority reported poor sleep quality. Stress was a significant predictor of anxiety, explaining 53.3% of the variance in anxiety scores. Although other factors influence anxiety, stress seems to be a substantial contributor. This study investigates the pervasive issue of anxiety among adolescent Emirati female students, with stress emerging as a major contributing factor. The preliminary findings underscore the imperative for additional research. Our exploration provides a roadmap for a comprehensive evaluation of mental health concerns within this population, offering valuable insights into potential preventive and intervention strategies that warrant further investigation.The authors have no funding to disclose
Examination of the predictive value of structural magnetic resonance scans in bipolar disorder:a pattern classification approach
Background - Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Patients are further disadvantaged by delays in accurate diagnosis ranging between 5 and 10 years. We applied Gaussian process classifiers (GPCs) to structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data to evaluate the feasibility of using pattern recognition techniques for the diagnostic classification of patients with BD. Method - GPCs were applied to gray (GM) and white matter (WM) sMRI data derived from two independent samples of patients with BD (cohort 1: n = 26; cohort 2: n = 14). Within each cohort patients were matched on age, sex and IQ to an equal number of healthy controls. Results - The diagnostic accuracy of the GPC for GM was 73% in cohort 1 and 72% in cohort 2; the sensitivity and specificity of the GM classification were respectively 69% and 77% in cohort 1 and 64% and 99% in cohort 2. The diagnostic accuracy of the GPC for WM was 69% in cohort 1 and 78% in cohort 2; the sensitivity and specificity of the WM classification were both 69% in cohort 1 and 71% and 86% respectively in cohort 2. In both samples, GM and WM clusters discriminating between patients and controls were localized within cortical and subcortical structures implicated in BD. Conclusions - Our results demonstrate the predictive value of neuroanatomical data in discriminating patients with BD from healthy individuals. The overlap between discriminative networks and regions implicated in the pathophysiology of BD supports the biological plausibility of the classifiers
The impact of the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype on neural correlates of sad facial affect processing in patients with bipolar disorder and their relatives
Background - The Met allele of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) valine-to-methionine (Val158Met) polymorphism is known to affect dopamine-dependent affective regulation within amygdala-prefrontal cortical (PFC) networks. It is also thought to increase the risk of a number of disorders characterized by affective morbidity including bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders. The disease risk conferred is small, suggesting that this polymorphism represents a modifier locus. Therefore our aim was to investigate how the COMT Val158Met may contribute to phenotypic variation in clinical diagnosis using sad facial affect processing as a probe for its neural action. Method - We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activation in the amygdala, ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) and ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC) during sad facial affect processing in family members with BD (n=40), MDD and anxiety disorders (n=22) or no psychiatric diagnosis (n=25) and 50 healthy controls. Results - Irrespective of clinical phenotype, the Val158 allele was associated with greater amygdala activation and the Met allele with greater signal change in the vmPFC and vlPFC. Signal changes in the amygdala and vmPFC were not associated with disease expression. However, in the right vlPFC the Met158 allele was associated with greater activation in all family members with affective morbidity compared with relatives without a psychiatric diagnosis and healthy controls. Conclusions - Our results suggest that the COMT Val158Met polymorphism has a pleiotropic effect within the neural networks subserving emotional processing. Furthermore the Met158 allele further reduces cortical efficiency in the vlPFC in individuals with affective morbidity
Increased salience of gains versus decreased associative learning differentiate bipolar disorder from schizophrenia during incentive decision making
Background Abnormalities in incentive decision making, typically assessed using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), have been reported in both schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). We applied the Expectancy-Valence (E-V) model to determine whether motivational, cognitive and response selection component processes of IGT performance are differentially affected in SZ and BD. Method Performance on the IGT was assessed in 280 individuals comprising 70 remitted patients with SZ, 70 remitted patients with BD and 140 age-, sex-and IQ-matched healthy individuals. Based on the E-V model, we extracted three parameters, 'attention to gains or loses', 'expectancy learning' and 'response consistency', that respectively reflect motivational, cognitive and response selection influences on IGT performance. Results Both patient groups underperformed in the IGT compared to healthy individuals. However, the source of these deficits was diagnosis specific. Associative learning underlying the representation of expectancies was disrupted in SZ whereas BD was associated with increased incentive salience of gains. These findings were not attributable to non-specific effects of sex, IQ, psychopathology or medication. Conclusions Our results point to dissociable processes underlying abnormal incentive decision making in BD and SZ that could potentially be mapped to different neural circuits
The impact of the CACNA1C gene polymorphism on frontolimbic function in bipolar disorder
Genome-wide association studies in bipolar disorder (BD)1 have implicated a single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs1006737, G right arrow A) in the CACNA1C gene, which encodes for the alpha 1c (CAV1.2) subunit of the voltage-gated, L-type calcium channel. Neuroimaging studies of healthy individuals report that this risk allele modulates brain function within limbic (amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus) and hippocampal regions during tasks of reward processing2, 3 and episodic memory. Moreover, animal studies suggest that the CaV1.2 L-type calcium channels influence emotional behaviour through enhanced neurotransmission via the lateral amygdala pathway. On the basis of this evidence, we tested the hypotheses that the CACNA1C rs1006737 risk allele will modulate neural responses within predefined prefrontal and subcortical regions of interest during emotional face processing and that this effect would be amplified in BD patients
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