The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. part xiv- effect of bedrest on plasma levels and urinary excretion of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids

Bed rest effect on plasma levels and urinary excretion of hydroxycorticosteroid

A Group Intervention for Individuals With Obesity and Comorbid Binge Eating Disorder: Results From a Feasibility Study.

Purpose: A common challenge among a subgroup of individuals with obesity is binge eating, that exists on a continuum from mild binge eating episodes to severe binge eating disorder (BED). BED is common among bariatric patients and the prevalence of disordered eating and ED in bariatric surgery populations is well known. Conventional treatments and assessment of obesity seldom address the underlying psychological mechanisms of binge eating and subsequent obesity. This study, titled PnP (People need People) is a psychoeducational group pilot intervention for individuals with BED and obesity including patients with previous bariatric surgery. Design, feasibility, and a broad description of the study population is reported. Material and Methods: A total of 42 patients were from an obesity clinic referred to assessment and treatment with PnP in a psychoeducational group setting (3-hour weekly meetings for 10 weeks). Of these, 6 (14.3%) patients had a previous history of bariatric surgery. Feasibility was assessed by tracking attendance, potentially adverse effects and outcome measures including body mass index (BMI), eating disorder pathology, overvaluation of shape and weight, impairment, self-reported childhood difficulties, alexithymia, internalized shame as well as health related quality of life (HRQoL). Results: All 42 patients completed the intervention, with no adverse effects and a high attendance rate with a median attendance of 10 sessions, 95% CI (8.9,9.6) and 0% attrition. Extent of psychosocial impairment due to eating disorder pathology, body dissatisfaction and severity of ED symptoms were high among the patients at baseline. Additionally, self-reported childhood difficulties, alexithymia, and internalized shame were high among the patients and indicate a need to address underlying psychological mechanisms in individuals with BED and comorbid obesity. Improvement of HRQoL and reduction of binge eating between baseline and the end of the intervention was observed with a medium effect. Conclusion: This feasibility study supports PnP as a potential group psychoeducational intervention for patients living with BED and comorbid obesity. Assessments of BED and delivery of this intervention may optimize selection of candidates and bariatric outcomes. These preliminary results warrant further investigation via a randomized control trial (RCT) to examine the efficacy and effectiveness of PnP

Health promotion, disease prevention and periodic health checks: perceptions and practice among family physicians in eastern Mediterranean region

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the current practices and perceptions of family physicians regarding health promotion, disease prevention including periodic screening and health checks in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Methods: A multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in six countries of EMR, from September 2014 to March 2015. Family Physicians who were currently practicing in different countries of EMR were invited to participate in the study through email. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS 19 and logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 100 physicians data was included in the final analysis. The majority were female physicians (76%): 63% were 25 to 35 years of age. Approximately 53% of Family physicians always recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. The common screening question asked to patients in medical history was related to their blood pressure (86%). Almost all (99%) of the Family physicians believe they should conduct periodic health checks. Those who had postgraduate training in Family Medicine (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.39-1.67) and attended CME sessions regularly (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93), are more likely to recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. Conclusion: Periodic screening and health check is an important strategy to prevent disease and maintain health. It is an underutilized practice and a great need exists for its implementation in family practice

Estimation of fetal weight in pregnancies past term

Introduction: The aim of the study was to investigate the accuracy of estimating fetal weight with ultrasound in pregnancies past term, using the eSnurra algorithm. Material and methods: In all, 419 women with pregnancy length of 290 days, attending a specialist consultation at Stavanger University Hospital, Norway, were included in a prospective observational study. Fetal weight was estimated using biparietal diameter (BPD) and abdominal circumference (AC). The algorithm implemented in an electronic calculation (eSnurra) was used to compute estimated fetal weight (EFW). Results were compared with birthweight (BW). Results: The mean interval between the ultrasound examination and birth was 2 days (SD 1.4). The median difference between BW and EFW was −6 g (CI −40 to +25 g) and the median percentage error was –0.1% (95% CI −1.0 to 0.6%). The median absolute difference was 190 g (95% CI 170–207 g). The BW was within 10% of EFW in 83% (95% CI 79–87%) of cases and within 15% of EFW in 94% (95% CI 92–96%) of cases. Limits of agreement (95%) were from −553 g to +556 g. Using 5% false‐positive rates, the sensitivity in detecting macrosomic and small for gestational age fetuses was 54% (95% CI 35–72%) and 49% (95% CI 35–63%), respectively. Conclusion: The accuracy of fetal weight estimation was good. Clinicians should be aware of limitations related to prediction at the upper and lower end, and the importance of choosing appropriate cut‐off levels.publishedVersio

Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search and Variable Neighbourhood Search for the minimum labelling spanning tree problem

This paper studies heuristics for the minimum labelling spanning tree (MLST) problem. The purpose is to find a spanning tree using edges that are as similar as possible. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the minimum labelling spanning tree problem seeks a spanning tree whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. This problem has been shown to be NP-hard. A Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and a Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) are proposed in this paper. They are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature: the Modified Genetic Algorithm and the Pilot Method. Nonparametric statistical tests show that the heuristics based on GRASP and VNS outperform the other algorithms tested. Furthermore, a comparison with the results provided by an exact approach shows that we may quickly obtain optimal or near-optimal solutions with the proposed heuristics

Resistance of Dictyostelium discoideum membranes to saponin permeabilization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Saponin is a mild detergent commonly used to permeabilize cells prior to immunofluorescence labeling of intracellular proteins. It has previously been used to that effect in <it>Dictyostelium discoideum </it>amoebae.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We show that saponin, contrary to Triton X-100 or alcohol, permeabilizes at best incompletely membranes of <it>Dictyostelium</it>. In cells exposed to osmotic stress, almost complete resistance to saponin permeabilization was observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Saponin should be used with special care to permeabilize <it>Dictyostelium </it>membranes. This unsusual property is presumably linked to the specific sterol composition of <it>Dictyostelium </it>membranes. It may also represent an adaptation of <it>Dictyostelium </it>to harsh conditions or to natural compounds encountered in its natural environment.</p

Application of Global Positioning System and questionnaires data for the study of driver behavior on two-lane rural roads

This paper is a preprint of a paper accepted by IET Intelligent Transport Systems and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. When the final version is published, the copy of record will be available at IET Digital LibraryMethodologies based on naturalistic observation provide the most accurate data for studying drivers' behaviour. This study presents a new methodology to obtain naturalistic data related to drivers' behaviour in a road segment. It is based on the combination of using global positioning system data and drivers' questionnaires. The continuous speed profiles along a road segment and the characteristics of drivers, of their trips and the type of their vehicles can be obtained for a great amount of drivers. It has already been successfully used for several studies, such as the development of models to estimate operating speed profile in two-lane rural road segments; or the characterisation of driving styles. These operating speed models have been the key for the development of a new geometric design consistency model, allowing an easier road safety evaluation. Besides, knowledge on the human factors that influence speed choice may be useful for road safety media campaigns and education programs designers, and also for the improvement of intelligent driver assistance systems.The authors thank 'Centre for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works (CEDEX)' of the 'Spanish Ministry of Public Works' that partially subsidizes the research. We also wish to thank to the 'General Directorate of Public Works, Urban Projects and Housing' of the 'Infrastructure, Territory and Environment Department' of the 'Valencian Government', to the 'Valencian Provincial Council' and to the 'General Directorate of Traffic' of the 'Ministry of the Interior' for their cooperation in field data gathering.Pérez Zuriaga, AM.; Camacho Torregrosa, FJ.; Campoy Ungria, JM.; García García, A. (2013). Application of Global Positioning System and questionnaires data for the study of driver behavior on two-lane rural roads. IET Intelligent Transport Systems. 7(2):182-189. doi:10.1049/iet-its.2012.0151S18218972Fourie, M., Walton, D., & Thomas, J. A. (2011). Naturalistic observation of drivers’ hands, speed and headway. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 14(5), 413-421. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2011.04.009Gibreel, G. M., Easa, S. M., & El-Dimeery, I. A. (2001). Prediction of Operating Speed on Three-Dimensional Highway Alignments. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 127(1), 21-30. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-947x(2001)127:1(21)Fitzpatrick, K., & Collins, J. M. (2000). Speed-Profile Model for Two-Lane Rural Highways. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1737(1), 42-49. doi:10.3141/1737-06Bella, F. (2008). Driving simulator for speed research on two-lane rural roads. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(3), 1078-1087. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2007.10.015Van Nes, N., Houtenbos, M., & Van Schagen, I. (2008). Improving speed behaviour: the potential of in-car speed assistance and speed limit credibility. IET Intelligent Transport Systems, 2(4), 323. doi:10.1049/iet-its:20080036Warner, H. W., & Åberg, L. (2006). Drivers’ decision to speed: A study inspired by the theory of planned behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 9(6), 427-433. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2006.03.004Goldenbeld, C., & van Schagen, I. (2007). The credibility of speed limits on 80km/h rural roads: The effects of road and person(ality) characteristics. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 39(6), 1121-1130. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2007.02.012Zuriaga, A. M. P., García, A. G., Torregrosa, F. J. C., & D’Attoma, P. (2010). Modeling Operating Speed and Deceleration on Two-Lane Rural Roads with Global Positioning System Data. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2171(1), 11-20. doi:10.3141/2171-02Ottesen, J. L., & Krammes, R. A. (2000). Speed-Profile Model for a Design-Consistency Evaluation Procedure in the United States. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1701(1), 76-85. doi:10.3141/1701-10Park, P. Y., Miranda-Moreno, L. F., & Saccomanno, F. F. (2010). Estimation of speed differentials on rural highways using hierarchical linear regression models. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 37(4), 624-637. doi:10.1139/l10-002Wasielewski, P. (1984). Speed as a measure of driver risk: Observed speeds versus driver and vehicle characteristics. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 16(2), 89-103. doi:10.1016/0001-4575(84)90034-4Williams, A. F., Kyrychenko, S. Y., & Retting, R. A. (2006). Characteristics of speeders. Journal of Safety Research, 37(3), 227-232. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2006.04.001Lajunen, T., Karola, J., & Summala, H. (1997). Speed and Acceleration as Measures of Driving Style in Young Male Drivers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 85(1), 3-16. doi:10.2466/pms.1997.85.1.3Af Wåhlberg, A. E. (2006). Speed choice versus celeration behavior as traffic accident predictor. Journal of Safety Research, 37(1), 43-51. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2005.10.01

Determination of the Hurst Exponent by Use of Wavelet Transforms

We propose a new method for (global) Hurst exponent determination based on wavelets. Using this method, we analyze synthetic data with predefined Hurst exponents, fracture surfaces and data from economy. The results are compared with those obtained from Fourier spectral analysis. When many samples are available, the wavelet and Fourier methods are comparable in accuracy. However, when one or only a few samples are available, the wavelet method outperforms the Fourier method by a large margin.Comment: 10 pages RevTeX, 13 Postscript figures. Some additional material compared to previous versio

Third order dielectric susceptibility in a model quantum paraelectric

In the context of perovskite quantum paraelectrics, we study the effects of a quadrupolar interaction $J_q$, in addition to the standard dipolar one $J_d$. We concentrate here on the nonlinear dielectric response $\chi_{P}^{(3)}$, as the main response function sensitive to quadrupolar (in our case antiquadrupolar) interactions. We employ a 3D quantum four-state lattice model and mean-field theory. The results show that inclusion of quadrupolar coupling of moderate strength ($J_q \sim {{1}\over{4}} J_d$) is clearly accompanied by a double change of sign of $\chi_{P}^{(3)}$ from negative to positive, near the quantum temperature $T_Q$ where the quantum paraelectric behaviour sets in. We fit our $\chi_{P}^{(3)}$ to recent experimental data for SrTiO$_3$, where the sign change is identified close to $T_Q \sim 37 K$.Comment: 22 page