Psychological factors and brain magnetic resonance imaging metrics associated with fatigue in persons with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND Besides demographics and clinical factors, psychological variables and brain-tissue changes have been associated with fatigue in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Identifying predictors of fatigue could help to improve therapeutic approaches for pwMS. Therefore, we investigated predictors of fatigue using a multifactorial approach. METHODS 136 pwMS and 49 normal controls (NC) underwent clinical, neuropsychological, and magnetic resonance imaging examinations. We assessed fatigue using the "Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions", yielding a total, motor, and cognitive fatigue score. We further analyzed global and subcortical brain volumes, white matter lesions and microstructural changes (examining fractional anisotropy; FA) along the cortico striatal thalamo cortical (CSTC) loop. Potential demographic, clinical, psychological, and magnetic resonance imaging predictors of total, motor, and cognitive fatigue were explored using multifactorial linear regression models. RESULTS 53% of pwMS and 20% of NC demonstrated fatigue. Besides demographics and clinical data, total fatigue in pwMS was predicted by higher levels of depression and reduced microstructural tissue integrity in the CSTC loop (adjusted R2 = 0.52, p < 0.001). More specifically, motor fatigue was predicted by lower education, female sex, higher physical disability, higher levels of depression, and self-efficacy (adjusted R2 = 0.54, p < 0.001). Cognitive fatigue was also predicted by higher levels of depression and lower self-efficacy, but in addition by FA reductions in the CSTC loop (adjusted R2 = 0.45, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that depression and self-efficacy strongly predict fatigue in MS. Incremental variance in total and cognitive fatigue was explained by microstructural changes along the CSTC loop, beyond demographics, clinical, and psychological variables

Numerical and experimental development of integrated electrostatic precipitator concepts for small-scaled biomass furnaces

Forschung Burgenlan

Oral contraceptives and antibiotics : A cross-sectional study about patients knowledge in general practice

Background The evidence regarding oral contraceptives and its effectiveness with concomitant ingestion of antibiotics is conflicting. Until evidence becomes clearer, patients should be aware of this possible interaction. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and the source of information about this interaction in GP patients in Austria. Methods Within the framework of the APRES study, 20 Austrian GPs were purposefully selected from among a GP research network and were asked to recruit 200 patients each. The patient cohort was asked to complete a questionnaire. Subsequent analysis included descriptive statistics, statistical tests and logistic regression models. Findings Overall, 3280 questionnaires could be used for analysis. Of these, 29.7 % (n=974) of patients acknowledged an awareness of the interaction of antibiotics with OCPs. Women under the age of 46 years acknowledged this interaction in 52.3 % of cases. Positive associations for the belief in an existing interaction in women were identified with age (OR 2.2) and having read the package inserts (OR 1.6). Further, belief was recognized in males based on age (OR 2.5) and tertiary education (OR 2.0). The main source of information regarding antibiotics was the GP (55.9 %). Conclusions Less than one-third of all participants and half of the women in the reproductive age acknowledged an interaction between antibiotics and OCPs. Since the GP is the main source of information, this finding depicts a large potential for knowledge transfer within the primary health care setting. A multifaceted strategy is needed at both the population and the GP level to improve awareness and to address these educational gaps.(VLID)486714

Association between Regional Tissue Oxygenation and Body Temperature in Term and Preterm Infants Born by Caesarean Section

Body temperature (BT) management remains a challenge in neonatal intensive care, especially during resuscitation after birth. Our aim is to analyze whether there is an association between the BT and cerebral and peripheral tissue oxygen saturation (crSO2/cTOI and prSO2), arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), and heart rate (HR). The secondary outcome parameters of five prospective observational studies are analyzed. We include preterm and term neonates born by Caesarean section who received continuous pulse oximetry and near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring during the first 15 min, and a rectal BT measurement once in minute 15 after birth. Four-hundred seventeen term and 169 preterm neonates are included. The BT did not correlate with crSO2/cTOI and SpO2. The BT correlated with the HR in all neonates (&rho; = 0.210, p &lt; 0.001) and with prSO2 only in preterm neonates (&rho; = &minus;0.285, p = 0.020). The BT was lower in preterm compared to term infants (36.7 [36.4&ndash;37.0] vs. 36.8 [36.6&ndash;37.0], p = 0.001) and prevalence of hypothermia was higher in preterm neonates (29.5% vs. 12.0%, p &lt; 0.001). To conclude, the BT did not correlate with SpO2 and crSO2/cTOI, however, there was a weak positive correlation between the BT and the HR in the whole cohort and a weak correlation between the BT and prSO2 only in preterm infants. Preterm neonates had a statistically lower BT and suffered significantly more often from hypothermia during postnatal transition

Preschool children fail primate prosocial game because of attentional task demands

Various nonhuman primate species have been tested with prosocial games (i.e. derivates from dictator games) in order to better understand the evolutionary origin of proactive prosociality in humans. Results of these efforts are mixed, and it is difficult to disentangle true species differences from methodological artifacts. We tested 2- to 5-year-old children with a costly and a cost-free version of a prosocial game that differ with regard to the payoff distribution and are widely used with nonhuman primates. Simultaneously, we assessed the subjects' level of Theory of Mind understanding. Prosocial behavior was demonstrated with the prosocial game, and did not increase with more advanced Theory of Mind understanding. However, prosocial behavior could only be detected with the costly version of the game, whereas the children failed the cost-free version that is most commonly used with nonhuman primates. A detailed comparison of the children's behavior in the two versions of the game indicates that the failure was due to higher attentional demands of the cost-free version, rather than to a lack of prosociality per se. Our results thus show (i) that subtle differences in prosociality tasks can substantially bias the outcome and thus prevent meaningful species comparisons, and (ii) that like in nonhuman primates, prosocial behavior in human children does not require advanced Theory of Mind understanding in the present context. However, both developmental and comparative psychology accumulate increasing evidence for the multidimensionality of prosocial behaviors, suggesting that different forms of prosociality are also regulated differentially. For future efforts to understand the evolutionary origin of prosociality it is thus crucial to take this heterogeneity into account