White matter abnormalities in adults with bipolar disorder type-II and unipolar depression

Discerning distinct neurobiological characteristics of related mood disorders such as bipolar disorder type-II (BD-II) and unipolar depression (UD) is challenging due to overlapping symptoms and patterns of disruption in brain regions. More than 60% of individuals with UD experience subthreshold hypomanic symptoms such as elevated mood, irritability, and increased activity. Previous studies linked bipolar disorder to widespread white matter abnormalities. However, no published work has compared white matter microstructure in individuals with BD-II vs. UD vs. healthy controls (HC), or examined the relationship between spectrum (dimensional) measures of hypomania and white matter microstructure across those individuals. This study aimed to examine fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), axial diffusivity (AD), and mean diffusivity (MD) across BD-II, UD, and HC groups in the white matter tracts identified by the XTRACT tool in FSL. Individuals with BD-II (n = 18), UD (n = 23), and HC (n = 24) underwent Diffusion Weighted Imaging. The categorical approach revealed decreased FA and increased RD in BD-II and UD vs. HC across multiple tracts. While BD-II had significantly lower FA and higher RD values than UD in the anterior part of the left arcuate fasciculus, UD had significantly lower FA and higher RD values than BD-II in the area of intersections between the right arcuate, inferior fronto-occipital and uncinate fasciculi and forceps minor. The dimensional approach revealed the depression-by-spectrum mania interaction effect on the FA, RD, and AD values in the area of intersection between the right posterior arcuate and middle longitudinal fasciculi. We propose that the white matter microstructure in these tracts reflects a unique pathophysiologic signature and compensatory mechanisms distinguishing BD-II from UD

What is behind a summary-evaluation decision?

Research in psychology has reported that, among the variety of possibilities for assessment methodologies, summary evaluation offers a particularly adequate context for inferring text comprehension and topic understanding. However, grades obtained in this methodology are hard to quantify objectively. Therefore, we carried out an empirical study to analyze the decisions underlying human summary-grading behavior. The task consisted of expert evaluation of summaries produced in critically relevant contexts of summarization development, and the resulting data were modeled by means of Bayesian networks using an application called Elvira, which allows for graphically observing the predictive power (if any) of the resultant variables. Thus, in this article, we analyzed summary-evaluation decision making in a computational framewor

The effects of imaginal and verbal strategies on prose comprehension in adults

Includes bibliographical references (p. 12-13)Supported in part by the National Institute of Education under Contract No. US-NIE-C-400-76-011

The Effects of Exposure to Heavy Metal Ions on Cytochrome b5 and Components of the Mixed-Function Oxidases from the Digestive Gland Microsomes of the Mollusc Monodonta turbinata

LT50 values obtained for Monodontaturbinata exposed to heavy metal ions were as follows: 25.2 days after exposure to final concentration of 1.0ppm Cd+2; 21.2 days for 0.1ppm Hg+2; 25.2 for 0. 5ppm Cr+3 and 16.8 days for 0.5ppm Cr+6, compared to 32.8 days for the control. The final concentrations of metal ions in the mollusc tissue increased by 20 times in the Hg+2, and by 10 times in the Cd+2 treated Monodonta, compared to the untreated control. The normal contents of cytochromes be and P450 in Monodontaturbinata digestive gland microsomes were 195±51 and 58±20 nmol/mg protein, respectively. NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity was 5.9±3.0 nmol/min/mg protein. Exposure to all heavy metal ions had a destructive effect on the two hemoproteins, especially on cytochrome P450, and a pronounced impact on NADPH-cytochrome c activity which was reduced to about 50% in the treated mollusc. No alarming concentrations of metal ions could be detected in Monodontaturbinata collected from different sites along Israel Mediterranean coast.</jats:p