2,584 research outputs found
Gender-related traits as predictors of alcohol use in male German and Spanish university students
This study examined instrumental (masculine
stereotyped) and expressive (feminine stereotyped) personality traits and alcohol use among men from Germany and Spain. Participants were 161 male university students (76 German, M-age=23 years; 77 Spanish, M-age=22 years), who
completed either a daytime or a nighttime drinking questionnaire, each including a Short Form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Poisson regression analyses with latent
predictors were conducted. The trait factors and their
interactions with nationality predicted daytime and nighttime alcohol use. The results add support to the assumption that alcohol use is associated with the construction of masculinity and that internalization of traditionally female attributes protects against health-risk behaviors such as alcohol consumption
Women and computers: effects of stereotype threat on attribution of failure
This study investigated whether stereotype threat can influence womenâs attributions of failure in a computer
task. Male and female college-age students (n = 86, 16â21 years old) from Germany were asked to work on a computer task and were hinted beforehand that in this task, either (a) men usually perform better than women do (negative threat condition), or (b) women usually perform better than men do (positive condition), or (c) they received no threat or gender-related information (control group). The final part of the task was prepared to provide an experience of failure: due to a faulty USB-memory stick, completion of the task was not possible. Results suggest a stereotype threat effect on womenâs attribution of failure: in the negative threat condition, women attributed the failure more internally (to their own inability), and men more externally (to the faulty technical equipment). In the positive and control conditions, no significant gender differences in attribution emerged
Experimental investigation of physical leaky barrier design implications on juvenile rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) movement
Rivers have been subject to the construction of numerous small-scale anthropogenic structures, causing alteration and fragmentation of habitats. Despite their impact on fish habitat selection, migration and swimming performance, more hydraulic structures are being added to riverine systems. These mainly have the purpose of harnessing renewable energy or mitigating the impact of flooding, as in the case of leaky barriers that are widely used for natural flood management. By providing a sustainable and cost-effective supplement to traditional hard engineering flood risk management methods, these channel-spanning wooden barriers are constructed using sustainable, local materials, intended to slow down surface water and groundwater flow, reduce flood peaks, and attenuate the flow reaching downstream communities. Despite their increasing popularity, little is known about the design implications on fish movement or hydrodynamics. Using scaled laboratory flume experiments we investigate how the physical design of four leaky barriers varying in porosity, length, provision of overhead cover, and color, impacts on fish movement and spatial usage, and the channel hydrodynamics. Our fish behavioral analysis reveals that juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) movement reduces with barrier presence. Upstream passage increases with barrier color but not cover, for shorter rather than longer leaky barriers, and for a non-porous barrier compared to its porous counterpart. Barrier specific flow alterations appear to play a secondary role compared to barrier color. Our study showed that physical barrier design and leaky barrier presence alter fish movement, and therefore care needs to be taken during the design of such natural flood management structures
A genetic validation study reveals a role of vitamin D metabolism in the response to interferon-alfa-based therapy of chronic hepatitis C
Background: To perform a comprehensive study on the relationship between vitamin D metabolism and the response to interferon-α-based therapy of chronic hepatitis C.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Associations between a functionally relevant polymorphism in the gene encoding the vitamin D 1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1-1260 rs10877012) and the response to treatment with pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN-α) and ribavirin were determined in 701 patients with chronic hepatitis C. In addition, associations between serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25[OH]D3) and treatment outcome were analysed. CYP27B1-1260 rs10877012 was found to be an independent predictor of sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients with poor-response IL28B genotypes (15% difference in SVR for rs10877012 genotype AA vs. CC, p = 0.02, OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.061â2.188), but not in patients with favourable IL28B genotype. Patients with chronic hepatitis C showed a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (25[OH]D3<20 ng/mL) during all seasons, but 25(OH)D3 serum levels were not associated with treatment outcome.
Conclusions/Significance: Our study suggests a role of bioactive vitamin D (1,25[OH]2D3, calcitriol) in the response to treatment of chronic hepatitis C. However, serum concentration of the calcitriol precursor 25(OH)D3 is not a suitable predictor of treatment outcome
Extraânigral pathological conditions are common in Parkinson's disease with freezing of gait: An in vivo positron emission tomography study
Cholinergic denervation has been associated with falls and slower gait speed and ÎČâamyloid deposition with greater severity of axial motor impairments in Parkinson disease (PD). However, little is known about the association between the presence of extraânigral pathological conditions and freezing of gait (FoG). Patients with PD (nâ=â143; age, 65.5â±â7.4 years, Hoehn and Yahr stage, 2.4â±â0.6; Montreal Cognitive Assessment score, 25.9â±â2.6) underwent [ 11 C]methylâ4âpiperidinyl propionate acetylcholinesterase and [ 11 C]dihydrotetrabenazine dopaminergic PET imaging, and clinical, including FoG, assessment in the dopaminergic âoffâ state. A subset of subjects (nâ=â61) underwent [ 11 C]Pittsburgh compoundâB ÎČâamyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Normative data were used to dichotomize abnormal ÎČâamyloid uptake or cholinergic deficits. Freezing of gait was present in 20 patients (14.0%). Freezers had longer duration of disease ( P â=â0.009), more severe motor disease ( P â<â0.0001), and lower striatal dopaminergic activity ( P â=â0.013) compared with nonâfreezers. Freezing of gait was more common in patients with diminished neocortical cholinergic innervation (23.9%, Ï 2 â=â5.56, P â=â0.018), but not in the thalamic cholinergic denervation group (17.4%, Ï 2 â=â0.26, P â=â0.61). Subgroup analysis showed higher frequency of FoG with increased neocortical ÎČâamyloid deposition (30.4%, Fisher Exact test: P â=â0.032). Frequency of FoG was lowest with absence of both pathological conditions (4.8%), intermediate in subjects with single extraânigral pathological condition (14.3%), and highest with combined neocortical cholinopathy and amyloidopathy (41.7%; CochranâArmitage trend test, Z â=â2.63, P â=â0.015). Within the group of freezers, 90% had at least one of the two extraânigral pathological conditions studied. Extraânigral pathological conditions, in particular the combined presence of cortical cholinopathy and amyloidopathy, are common in PD with FoG and may contribute to its pathophysiology. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder SocietyPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108363/1/mds25929.pd
Combination of terbium-161 with somatostatin receptor antagonistsâa potential paradigm shift for the treatment of neuroendocrine neoplasms
Purpose: The ÎČÂŻ-emitting terbium-161 also emits conversion and Auger electrons, which are believed to be effective in killing single cancer cells. Terbium-161 was applied with somatostatin receptor (SSTR) agonists that localize in the cytoplasm (DOTATOC) and cellular nucleus (DOTATOC-NLS) or with a SSTR antagonist that localizes at the cell membrane (DOTA-LM3). The aim was to identify the most favorable peptide/terbium-161 combination for the treatment of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs).
Methods: The capability of the 161Tb- and 177Lu-labeled somatostatin (SST) analogues to reduce viability and survival of SSTR-positive AR42J tumor cells was investigated in vitro. The radiopeptides' tissue distribution profiles were assessed in tumor-bearing mice. The efficacy of terbium-161 compared to lutetium-177 was investigated in therapy studies in mice using DOTATOC or DOTA-LM3, respectively.
Results: In vitro, [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-LM3 was 102-fold more potent than [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-LM3; however, 161Tb-labeled DOTATOC and DOTATOC-NLS were only 4- to fivefold more effective inhibiting tumor cell viability than their 177Lu-labeled counterparts. This result was confirmed in vivo and demonstrated that [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-LM3 was significantly more effective in delaying tumor growth than [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-LM3, thereby, prolonging survival of the mice. A therapeutic advantage of terbium-161 over lutetium-177 was also manifest when applied with DOTATOC. Since the nuclear localizing sequence (NLS) compromised the in vivo tissue distribution of DOTATOC-NLS, it was not used for therapy.
Conclusion: The use of membrane-localizing DOTA-LM3 was beneficial and profited from the short-ranged electrons emitted by terbium-161. Based on these preclinical data, [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-LM3 may outperform the clinically employed [177Lu]Lu-DOTATOC for the treatment of patients with NENs
Sulfated glycosaminoglycans inhibit transglutaminase 2 by stabilizing its closed conformation
Transglutaminases (TGs) catalyze the covalent crosslinking of proteins via isopeptide bonds. The most prominent isoform, TG2, is associated with physiological processes such as extracellular matrix (ECM) stabilization and plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of e.g. fibrotic diseases, cancer and celiac disease. Therefore, TG2 represents a pharmacological target of increasing relevance. The glycosaminoglycans (GAG) heparin (HE) and heparan sulfate (HS) constitute high-affinity interaction partners of TG2 in the ECM. Chemically modified GAG are promising molecules for pharmacological applications as their composition and chemical functionalization may be used to tackle the function of ECM molecular systems, which has been recently described for hyaluronan (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS). Herein, we investigate the recognition of GAG derivatives by TG2 using an enzyme-crosslinking activity assay in combination with in silico molecular modeling and docking techniques. The study reveals that GAG represent potent inhibitors of TG2 crosslinking activity and offers atom-detailed mechanistic insights
Konzeptpapier fĂŒr einen Modellstudiengang âGesundheitspĂ€dagogik und Gesundheitsdidaktikâ
Angesichts der immer stĂ€rker werdenden Diskussion um die Bedeutung von Gesundheit fĂŒr den schulischen und auĂerschulischen Bildungs- und Lernprozess und der Risiken wachsender gesundheitlicher Ungleichheit bei Kindern und Jugendlichen (Hurrelmann/Richter 2013, Lampert et al. 2019) ist die Etablierung eines Studienganges âGesundheitspĂ€dagogik und Gesundheitsdidaktikâ lĂ€ngst ĂŒberfĂ€llig und von besonderer Bedeutung fĂŒr gesundheitliche Chancengleichheit (Goldfriedrich & Hurrelmann, 2021a; 2021b). Dieses Konzeptpapier stellt einen Modellstudiengang vor, bei dem insbesondere die Vermittlungsebenen â also die gesundheitsdidaktischen Gegenstandsbereiche â im Vordergrund stehen. Die Ausarbeitungen des Entwurfs basieren auf der Grundlage politischer Bestrebungen, der bisherigen Forschung zur GesundheitspĂ€dagogik und Gesundheitsdidaktik, den Erkenntnissen der Erziehungs- und Gesundheitswissenschaften sowie wissenschaftlichen und interprofessionellen BeitrĂ€gen des Netzwerks Gesundheitsdidaktik (bestehend aus 33 Expert*innen aus 24 Fachbereichen)
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