Konstruksi religiositas Kristen dalam internet : studi atas interaksi Gereja perkotaan dengan internet serta religiositas yang terbentuk

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Clinical perspectives on secular trends of intervertebral foramen diameters in an industrialized European society

Low back pain origins have been a matter of great controversy. While spinal stenosis is now radiologically traceable, the alteration of intervertebral foramen is less clear. The aim of this study was to assess "secular trends"-alterations occurring from one generation to the next-in osseous intervertebral foramina of the major vertebral segments in an industrialized society, and to discuss their possible clinical implication. The macerated "maximum intervertebral foramen width" and "intervertebral foramen height" of all major vertebral levels in 71 non-pathologic Swiss adult skeletons from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, with known individual age and sex and similar geographic and socio-economic background, were measured by sliding caliper at validated landmarks. A secular trend of the increase in "maximum intervertebral foramen width" is found for most levels, with females showing a more prominent alteration. Additionally, the non-pathologic "maximum intervertebral foramen width" does not change with respect to individual age, nor is a significant side difference detectable. "Intervertebral foramen height," hereby defined as the difference of the dorsal vertebral body height minus pedicle height, demonstrates for most levels, and either sex, an insignificant negative secular trend. Neither stature nor skeletal robustness vary significantly through time within this particular sample. The results of this study, despite obvious inadequacies of methods used, exclude secular narrowing of the "maximum intervertebral foramen width" as the only cause of radiculopathy or spinal stenosis. Furthermore, we found a mild insignificant decrease of the clinically more relevant "intervertebral foramen height." Nevertheless, the detected short-time variability of the bony intervertebral foramen, independent of individual stature, skeletal robustness or age, argues for an enhanced focus on the understanding of clinically relevant changes of spinal morphology from generation to generation

The longitudinal and interactive effects of HIV status, stimulant use, and host genotype upon neurocognitive functioning

BACKGROUND: Both HIV-1 infection and illicit stimulant use can adversely impact neurocognitive functioning, and these effects can be additive. However, significant variability exists such that as-of-yet unidentified exogenous and endogenous factors affect ones risk for neurocognitive impairment. Both HIV and stimulant literature indicates that host genetic variants in immunologic and dopamine-related genes are one such factor. In this study the individual and interactive effects of HIV status, stimulant use, and genotype upon neurocognitive functioning was examined longitudinally over a 10 year period. METHODS: 952 Caucasian HIV+ and HIV− cases from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study were included. All cases had at least two comprehensive neurocognitive evaluations between 1985 and 1995. Pre-HAART data was examined in order to avoid the confounding effect of variable drug regimens. Linear mixed models were used, with neurocognitive domain scores as the outcome variables. RESULTS: No 4-way interactions were found, indicating that HIV and stimulant use do not interact over time to affect neurocognitive functioning as a function of genotype. Multiple 3-way interactions were found that involved genotype and HIV status. All immunologic-related genes found to interact with HIV status affected neurocognitive functioning in the expected direction; however, only CCL2 and CCL3 affected HIV+ individuals specifically. Dopamine-related genetic variants generally affected HIV-negative individuals only. Neurocognitive functioning among HIV+ individuals who also used stimulants was not significantly different from those who did not use stimulants. CONCLUSION: The findings support the role of immunologic-related genetic differences in CCL2 and CCL3 in neurocognitive functioning among HIV+ individuals; however their impact is minor. Consistent with findings from another cohort, DA-related genetic differences do not appear to impact the longitudinal neurocognitive functioning of HIV+ individuals