Changes in the Papez Circuit in early stages of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of demenMa. Neuronal and synapMc losses occur iniMally and predominantly in the medial temporal lobe structures including hippocampus, amygdala and thalamus, structures that belong to the Papez circuit. The integrity of the connecMons amongst them is essenMal for episodic memory, which is specifically impaired in AD. For this reason we have invesMgated the degeneraMon paRern of subcorMcal structures and its relaMon to early stages of AD, i.e. Mild CogniMve Impairment (MCI), both in the amnesic and mulMdomain types using structural magneMc resonance imaging (using a 3T GE scanner) and VBM‐DARTEL

Grapheme-color synesthetes show peculiarities in their emotional brain: cortical and subcortical evidence from VBM analysis of 3D-T1 and DTI data

Grapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which viewing achromatic letters/numbers leads to automatic and involuntary color experiences. In this study, voxel-based morphometry analyses were performed on T1 images and fractional anisotropy measures to examine the whole brain in associator grapheme-color synesthetes. These analyses provide new evidence of variations in emotional areas (both at the cortical and subcortical levels), findings that help understand the emotional component as a relevant aspect of the synesthetic experience. Additionally, this study replicates previous findings in the left intraparietal sulcus and, for the first time, reports the existence of anatomical differences in subcortical gray nuclei of developmental grapheme-color synesthetes, providing a link between acquired and developmental synesthesia. This empirical evidence, which goes beyond modality-specific areas, could lead to a better understanding of grapheme-color synesthesia as well as of other modalities of the phenomenon

Predictors of weight gain in a Mediterranean cohort: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra Study 1

BACKGROUND: High consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks has been associated with weight gain and obesity in the United States. This trend may also be affecting populations with different eating patterns who increasingly are adopting typical US dietary patterns. OBJECTIVE: We assessed whether the consumption of sweetened drinks and other food items increased the likelihood of weight gain in a Mediterranean population. DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort analysis of 7194 men and women with a mean age of 41 y who were followed-up for a median of 28.5 mo with mailed questionnaires. Dietary exposure was assessed with a previously validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: During follow-up, we observed that 49.5% of the participants increased their weight (x weight gain: 0.64 kg; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.73 kg). In the participants who had gained > or =3 kg in the 5 y before baseline, the adjusted odds ratio of subsequent weight gain for the fifth quintile compared with the first quintile of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption was 1.6 (95% CI: 1.2, 2.1; P for trend = 0.02). This association was absent in the participants who had not gained weight in the 5-y period before baseline. The consumption of hamburgers, pizza, and sausages (as a proxy for fast-food consumption) was also independently associated with weight gain (adjusted odds ratio for the fifth compared with the first quintile = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.4; P for trend = 0.05). We also found a significant, but weaker, association between weight gain and both red meat and sweetened fruit juice consumption. CONCLUSION: In a Mediterranean cohort, particularly in the participants who had already gained weight, an increased consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and of hamburgers, pizza, and sausages was associated with a higher risk of additional subsequent weight gain

Facilitating children's self-concept: A rationale and evaluative study

This study reports on the design and effectiveness of the Exploring Self-Concept program for primary school children using self-concept as the outcome measure. The program aims to provide a procedure that incorporates organisation, elaboration, thinking, and problem-solving strategies and links these to children's multidimensional self-concept. The results of this research support the notion that teachers and guidance counsellors need to establish a nonthreatening framework that allows them to discuss with children a range of relevant issues related to peer pressure, parent relations, self-image, body image, gender bias, media pressure, values and life goals, in a systematic, objective and cooperative manner. Within the paper, notions associated with self-concept maturation, 'crystallisation' of self-concept beliefs, cognitive differentiation and self-concept segmentation are reviewed

Remote Monitoring of Forest Insect Defoliation -A Review-

<p><em>Aim of study:</em> This paper reviews the global research during the last 6 years (2007-2012) on the state, trends and potential of remote sensing for detecting, mapping and monitoring forest defoliation caused by insects.<br /><em>Area of study:</em> The review covers research carried out within different countries in Europe and America.<br /><em>Main results:</em> A nation or region wide monitoring system should be scaled in two levels, one using time-series with moderate to coarse resolutions, and the other with fine or high resolution. Thus, MODIS data is increasingly used for early warning detection, whereas Landsat data is predominant in defoliation damage research. Furthermore, ALS data currently stands as the more promising option for operative detection of defoliation.<br />Vegetation indices based on infrared-medium/near-infrared ratios and on moisture content indicators are of great potential for mapping insect pest defoliation, although NDVI is the most widely used and tested.<br /><em>Research highlights:</em> Among most promising methods for insect defoliation monitoring are Spectral Mixture Analysis, best suited for detection due to its sub-pixel recognition enhancing multispectral data, and use of logistic models as function of vegetation index change between two dates, recommended for predicting defoliation.<br /><strong>Key words:</strong> vegetation damage; pest outbreak; spectral change detection.</p

Characterization of Activated Carbons by the BET Equation — An Alternative Approach

The adsorption isotherms of nitrogen at 77 K have been determined on two series of activated carbons and two samples of activated carbon fibres. The carbons were highly microporous and contained varying amounts of different forms of microporosity. Characterization of the carbons was undertaken using an alternative linear form of the BET equation and the results of the BET parameters obtained have been compared with those obtained from the usual classical linear form of the equation. The surface areas calculated from the two linear forms were similar while the C values were quite different. The C values obtained from the alternative linear form appeared to be more reasonable, being consistent with and related to the microporous character of these carbons. The alternative linear form gave BET plots which were more sensitive to deviations from linearity allowing the relative pressure range for the application of the BET equation to be determined without any ambiguity and more precisely