Sex and Age-Related Differences in Neuroticism and Allostatic Load Index in Urban Patients with General Anxiety Disorder Treated with Alprazolam

Introduction: Allostatic Load (AL) index proposes indicators for the functioningof the main potentially stress-affected systems. Sex differences instress response and stress-related diseases susceptibility have been describedfor the general population. In this observational study we describe the effectsof sex and age on allostatic load variables, in a cohort of patients with generalanxiety disorders and neuroticism treated with alprazolam during 12 weeks,before and after treatment. Methods: Patients with general (DSM IV) anxietydisorders with >6 in Hamilton scale, Allostatic load (>1 Crimmins and SeemanAL modified criteria) and neuroticism >18 (NEO-FFI inventory), wereincluded. All patients completed psychiatric assessment, allostatic load indexdetermination before (−1 week) and after 12 weeks of treatment with alprazolam(0.25 - 1 mg/t.i.d). Allostatic load parameters comprised cardiovascular,metabolic and inflammatory variables. Univariate analysis (two-wayANOVA), Student?s t-test (related variables) and Pearson correlations weredetermined. Results: Fifty-four patients, 35 females (48.6 ± 11.7 years) and 19males (44.2 ± 12.8 years) with general anxiety disorder were included; 28 patientswith <50 years (60.7% females), and 26 with ≥50 years (69.2% females).Younger patients (<50 years) (two-way ANOVA, p = 0.02) were significantlyassociated with lower allostatic load index after treatment. However, womenshowed higher anxiety levels in both, before (Two-way ANOVA, p = 0.059)and after treatment (two-way ANOVA, p = 0.005), with a significantly betterprofile than men in many individual AL variables, particularly cardiovascular(systolic blood pressure), obesity (body mass index), and lipids (higher HDLlevels). After treatment a higher reduction of fibrinogen levels was found inmen (two-way ANOVA, p = 0.02). Conclusions: In this preliminary analysiswe described sex and age differences in psychiatry aspects and allostatic loadindexes in patients with general anxiety disorders in the short-term treatmentwith alprazolam. These considerations remark the need of pondering sex andage differences during the use of drugs for protracted periods.Fil: D`Alessio, Luciana. Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche. Unidad Ejecutora de Estudios en Neurociencias y Sistemas Complejos. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Alta Complejidad en Red El Cruce Dr. Néstor Carlos Kirchner Samic. Unidad Ejecutora de Estudios en Neurociencias y Sistemas Complejos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Unidad Ejecutora de Estudios en Neurociencias y Sistemas Complejos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Soria, Carlos A.. Henri Laborit Institute Of Biosciences; ArgentinaFil: Remedi, Carolina. Henri Laborit Institute Of Biosciences; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Roldán, Emilio J. A.. Instituto de Neurobiología IDNEU; Argentin

Internationalisation, cultural distance and country characteristics: a Bayesian analysis of SME's financial performance

Relying on the accounting data of a panel of 403 Italian manufacturing SMEs collected over a period of 5 years, we find results suggesting that multinationality per se does not impact on the economic performance of international small and medium sized firms. It is the characteristics of the country selected i.e. the political hazard, the financial stability and the economic performance that significantly influence SMEs financial performance. The management implication for small and medium sized firms selecting and entering new geographic markets is significant, since our results show that for SMEs it is the market selection process that really matters and not the degree of multinationality

Semantic and Phonemic Verbal Fluency Performance in Patients with General Anxiety Disorders and Allostatic Load under Alprazolam Treatment

Purpose: Anxiety disorders are frequently associated with chronic stress with possible cognitive consequences. The aim of this study was to determine the verbal fluency performance in a cohort of patients with anxiety disorders and allostatic load, treated with alprazolam during 12 weeks. Methods: Patients with GAD (general anxiety disorders, DSM IV), with >6 in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), neuroticism > 18 (NEO-FFI inventory), and normal Mini-Mental State Examination were included. Clinical and Psychiatric examination, Allostatic Load Index and cognitive assessment were analyzed before and after 12 weeks of treatment. The phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tests were determined in all patients. The scoring for each fluency task was determined by counting the number of correct words. The total score from each semantic and phonemic verbal task was analyzed comparing the individual score with normal data controlled by age and sex. Patients with scores > −2 standard deviation (SD) from normative data were considered impaired. Results: Fifty-four patients completed the semantic verbal fluency test before treatment and fifty patients completed after treatment. According to the z-scores before treatment 7 patients of 54 (12.9%) had verbal fluency impairments. After treatment none patients showed semantic verbal fluency deficits but 3 patients of 50 (6%) showed phonemic impairments. Impaired group was significantly associated with an older age before treatment (p = 0.033) and with a similar tendency but not significant (p = 0.09) after treatment (Student t test). Conclusion: In this study older age factor was associated with verbal fluency impairment in GAD patients. Stratified treatments.Fil: Soria, Carlos Alberto. Institute of Biosciences Henri Laborit; ArgentinaFil: Remedi, Carolina. Institute of Biosciences Henri Laborit; ArgentinaFil: D`alessio, Luciana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Roldán, Emilio J. A.. Dirección Científica Gador S. A.; Argentin

The Space Density of Extended Ultraviolet (XUV) Disks in the Local Universe and Implications for Gas Accretion on to Galaxies

We present results of the first unbiased search for extended UV (XUV)-disk galaxies undertaken to determine the space density of such galaxies. Our sample contains 561 local (0.001 < z < 0.05) galaxies that lie in the intersection of available GALEX deep imaging (exposure time > 1.5 x 10^4 s) and SDSS DR7 footprints. We explore modifications to the standard classification scheme for our sample that includes both disk- and bulge-dominated galaxies. Visual classification of each galaxy in the sample reveals an XUV-disk frequency of up to 20% for the most nearby portion of our sample. On average over the entire sample (out to z=0.05) the frequency ranges from a hard limit of 4% to 14%. The GALEX imaging allows us to detect XUV-disks beyond 100 Mpc. The XUV regions around XUV-disk galaxies are consistently bluer than the main bodies. We find a surprisingly high frequency of XUV emission around luminous red (NUV-r > 5) and green valley (3 < NUV-r < 5) galaxies. The XUV-disk space density in the local universe is > 1.5-4.2 x 10^-3 Mpc^-3. Using the XUV emission as an indicator of recent gas accretion, we estimate that the cold gas accretion rate onto these galaxies is > 1.7-4.6 x 10^-3 Msun Mpc^-3 yr^-1. The number of XUV-disks in the green valley and the estimated accretion rate onto such galaxies points to the intriguing possibility that 7%-18% of galaxies in this population are transitioning away from the red sequence.Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures, ApJ in Pres

A back-to-front derivation: the equal spacing of quantum levels is a proof of simple harmonic oscillator physics

The dynamical behaviour of simple harmonic motion can be found in numerous natural phenomena. Within the quantum realm of atomic, molecular and optical systems, two main features are associated with harmonic oscillations: a finite ground-state energy and equally spaced quantum energy levels. Here it is shown that there is in fact a one-to-one mapping between the provision of equally spaced quantum energy levels and simple harmonic motion. The analysis establishes that the Hamiltonian of any system featuring quantized energy levels in an evenly spaced, infinite set must have a quadratic dependence on a pair of canonically conjugate variables. Moreover, specific physical inferences can be drawn. For example, exploiting this 'back-to-front' derivation, and based on the known existence of photons, it can be proved that an electromagnetic energy density is quadratic in both the electric and magnetic fields

Heme oxygenase 1 improves glucoses metabolism and kidney histological alterations in diabetic rats

One important concern in the treatment of diabetes is the maintenance of glycemic levels and the prevention of diabetic nephropathy. Inducible heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is a rate-limiting enzyme thought to have antioxidant and cytoprotective roles. the goal of the present study was to analyze the effect of HO-1 induction in chronically hyperglycemic rats. the hyperglycemic rats were divided into two groups: one group, called STZ, was given a single injection of streptozotocin; and the other group was given a single streptozotocin injection as well as daily injections of hemin, an HO-1 inducer, over 60 days (STZ + HEME). A group of normoglycemic, untreated rats was used as the control (CTL).Body weight, diuresis, serum glucose levels, microalbuminuria, creatinine clearance rate, urea levels, sodium excretion, and lipid peroxidation were analyzed. Histological alterations and immunohistochemistry for HO-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were assessed. After 60 days, the STZ group exhibited an increase in blood glucose, diuresis, urea, microalbuminuria, and sodium excretion. There was no weight gain, and there was a decrease in creatinine clearance in comparison to the CTL group. in the STZ + HEME group there was an improvement in the metabolic parameters and kidney function, a decrease in blood glucose, serum urea, and microalbuminuria, and an increase of creatinine clearance, in comparison to the STZ group.There was glomerulosclerosis, collagen deposition in the STZ rats and increase in iNOS and HO-1 expression. in the STZ + HEME group, the glomerulosclerosis and fibrosis was prevented and there was an increase in the expression of HO-1, but decrease in iNOS expression and lipid peroxidation. in conclusion, our data suggest that chronic induction of HO-1 reduces hyperglycemia, improves glucose metabolism and, at least in part, protects the renal tissue from hyperglycemic injury, possibly through the antioxidant activity of HO-1.Universidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Div Nephrol, Dept Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Morphol Dept, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Div Nephrol, Dept Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Morphol Dept, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Real-time thermo-optical analysis of polymer samples by quantitative polarized optical microscopy

An experimental setup using a polarized optical microscope fitted with a detection module capable of measuring the cross-polarized transmitted light intensity and the transmitted light intensity of the polymer sample being analyzed, together with an accompanying calculation procedure, is proposed in order to characterize in real-time thermal transitions and degree of crystallinity, as well as birefringence (which is a measure of orientation) and turbidity. The experimental assessment of the technique was carried out studying commercial poly(ethylene terephthalate) multifilaments with different crystallinity and stretching levels and by direct comparison with the features of conventional DSC curves obtained under similar experimental conditions. While an excellent correlation was found between the type and temperature ranges of thermal events as detected by thermal and optical techniques, the measured birefringence was shown to be sensitive to distinct filament stretching levels, but unaffected by geometrical factors. Contrarily, turbidity is influenced by the latterThe authors would like to acknowledge UNIFI, ECOFABRIL and DOW, Brazil, for donating materials, as well as Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) for scholarship to L. A. Bicalho, grant BJT 019/2012 to J. M. J. Silva, grant PVE 30484/2013-01 to J. A. Covas and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) for a PQ scholarship 311790/2013-5 to S. V. Canevarolo. The assistance of the technicians from DEMa is also gratefully acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio