5,045 research outputs found
Stigma and attitudes on epilepsy - A study with secondary school students
Purpose: To evaluate whether an inappropriate attitude towards a person having an epileptic seizure contributes to the stigma found in society and whether an appropriate attitude helps to diminish it in the short term; to perform a long term investigation about information remembered and stigma perception after an educational lecture. Method. This study was performed in two steps: Step 1. students of first year of high school of two schools in Campinas completed a questionnaire including the Stigma Scale of Epilepsy following a seizure demonstration. They were divided into three groups: a) one group had a demonstration of proper attitudes towards someone having an epileptic seizure; b) one group was shown incorrect procedures; c) control group. After the completion of the questionnaire, an educational lecture about epilepsy was given. Step 2: six months later, the questionnaire was re-administered. Results: The comparison between the four groups (step 1 and step 2) show a significant difference (Anova (3,339)=2.77; p=0.042). Pairwise comparison using Fisher's Least-Significant-Difference Test showed a significant difference between the group shown incorrect procedures (step 1) versus step 2, and the control group (step 1) versus step 2, but no difference between the group shown correct procedures (step 1) versus step 2. Discussion: Exhibiting proper attitudes towards a person experiencing an epileptic seizure may cause significant differences among the subjects' degrees of stigma towards people with epilepsy. It is therefore fundamental that there should be de-stigmatization campaigns provided, to correct information and provide appropriate education
Between private and public: AIDS, health care capitalism, and the politics of respectability in 80s America
The AIDS crisis in the US in the 1980s radically transformed the relationship
between sexual minorities and capitalism. Opportunistic infections given free rein in human
bodies by HIV rendered employees visible to employers and to health care providers as an
economic risk, and set the stage for battles between health capitalists, politicians, and AIDS
activists over access to health care. Health capitalism in eighties America was both an arena
of integration of queer Americans into mainstream society and also a political cul-de-sac,
blunting the radical possibilities of sexual politics that were alive in the years before the
AIDS crisis.
In this article I focus on activist groups, primarily ACT UP, Gay Men’s Health Crisis,
National Gay Rights Advocates, and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the liberal
politicians who led legislative battles at federal and state level to force the health care system
to respond to AIDS. In shifting our gaze from the Reagan administration and the religious
right as the primary foils to AIDS activism, we can gain new insights into the direction of
liberal politics in an era of supposed conservative ascendancy. An understanding of how
AIDS activists and their allies negotiated questions of health access suggests health care
activism was in part a marker of class privilege, as gay activists and liberal Democrats openly
embraced a medical model for sexual minorities that lifted them above the stigma of a public
welfare system and integrated them further into heteronormative capitalism
Quantifying interspecific variation in dispersal ability of noctuid moths using an advanced tethered flight technique
This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordDispersal plays a crucial role in many aspects of species' life histories, yet is often difficult to measure directly. This is particularly true for many insects, especially nocturnal species (e.g. moths) that cannot be easily observed under natural field conditions. Consequently, over the past five decades, laboratory tethered flight techniques have been developed as a means of measuring insect flight duration and speed. However, these previous designs have tended to focus on single species (typically migrant pests), and here we describe an improved apparatus that allows the study of flight ability in a wide range of insect body sizes and types. Obtaining dispersal information from a range of species is crucial for understanding insect population dynamics and range shifts. Our new laboratory tethered flight apparatus automatically records flight duration, speed, and distance of individual insects. The rotational tethered flight mill has very low friction and the arm to which flying insects are attached is extremely lightweight while remaining rigid and strong, permitting both small and large insects to be studied. The apparatus is compact and thus allows many individuals to be studied simultaneously under controlled laboratory conditions. We demonstrate the performance of the apparatus by using the mills to assess the flight capability of 24 species of British noctuid moths, ranging in size from 12-27Â mm forewing length (~40-660Â mg body mass). We validate the new technique by comparing our tethered flight data with existing information on dispersal ability of noctuids from the published literature and expert opinion. Values for tethered flight variables were in agreement with existing knowledge of dispersal ability in these species, supporting the use of this method to quantify dispersal in insects. Importantly, this new technology opens up the potential to investigate genetic and environmental factors affecting insect dispersal among a wide range of species.Rothamsted Research receives grant aided support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. H.B.C.J. was funded by a BBSRC Quota studentship awarded to J.W.C. and J.K.H
Parasites and epilepsy: Understanding the determinants of epileptogenesis
There is a large body of evidence suggesting that parasites could be a major preventable risk factor for epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries. We review potentially important substrates for epileptogenesis in parasitic diseases. Taenia solium is the most widely known parasite associated with epilepsy, and the risk seems determined mainly by the extent of cortical involvement and the evolution of the primary cortical lesion to gliosis or to a calcified granuloma. For most parasites, however, epileptogenesis is more complex, and other favorable host genetic factors and parasite-specific characteristics may be critical. In situations where cortical involvement by the parasite is either absent or minimal, parasite-induced epileptogenesis through an autoimmune process seems plausible. Further research to identify important markers of epileptogenesis in parasitic diseases will have huge implications for the development of trials to halt or delay onset of epilepsy
Retinal nerve fibre layer thinning is associated with drug resistance in epilepsy.
Retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness is related to the axonal anterior visual pathway and is considered a marker of overall white matter 'integrity'. We hypothesised that RNFL changes would occur in people with epilepsy, independently of vigabatrin exposure, and be related to clinical characteristics of epilepsy
High Energy Cosmic Rays From Supernovae
Cosmic rays are charged relativistic particles that reach the Earth with
extremely high energies, providing striking evidence of the existence of
effective accelerators in the Universe. Below an energy around
eV cosmic rays are believed to be produced in the Milky Way while above that
energy their origin is probably extragalactic. In the early '30s supernovae
were already identified as possible sources for the Galactic component of
cosmic rays. After the '70s this idea has gained more and more credibility
thanks to the the development of the diffusive shock acceleration theory, which
provides a robust theoretical framework for particle energization in
astrophysical environments. Afterwards, mostly in recent years, much
observational evidence has been gathered in support of this framework,
converting a speculative idea in a real paradigm. In this Chapter the basic
pillars of this paradigm will be illustrated. This includes the acceleration
mechanism, the non linear effects produced by accelerated particles onto the
shock dynamics needed to reach the highest energies, the escape process from
the sources and the transportation of cosmic rays through the Galaxy. The
theoretical picture will be corroborated by discussing several observations
which support the idea that supernova remnants are effective cosmic ray
factories.Comment: Final draft of a chapter in "Handbook of Supernovae" edited by Athem
W. Alsabti and Paul Murdi
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