The effect of massed and spaced presentation and practice on repetition priming

This review examines the current literature with regard to repetition priming and practice. The empirical research and theoretical accounts of repetition priming reviewed indicate that repetition priming increases with practice. The review also indicates that an effect for the type of presentation of the stimuli during an experiment exists and that this effect may moderate the influence of practice on repetition priming. The variations in experimental design between studies are discussed, providing a possible explanation for contrasting findings within repetition priming research. Further research is identified and discussed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Massed and Spaced presentation and practice on repetition priming. To facilitate this, a lexical decision task was used. Sixty participants comprising 30 university students and 30 members of the general public were asked to decide whether a letter string was a word or nonword. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Massed presentation, Spaced presentation and Superspaced presentation. A total of 630 trials were presented to each participant comprising 300 new words, 270 nonwords and 20 old words which were repeated 3 times during the testing phase. The results indicated that the amount of priming increased with practice thus supporting the hypothesis that the amount of repetition priming would increase with increasing repetitions. It was also found that the Massed-Spaced effect may not be an issue. This finding was not congruent with the hypothesis that as spacing increases, the amount of increase in repetition priming would be reduced. Future research was recommended to clarify any advantage of the type of presentation on an implicit memory task

Predicted Coverage and Immuno-Safety of a Recombinant C-Repeat Region Based Streptococcus pyogenes Vaccine Candidate

The C-terminal region of the M-protein of Streptococcus pyogenes is a major target for vaccine development. The major feature is the C-repeat region, consisting of 35-42 amino acid repeat units that display high but not perfect identity. SV1 is a S. pyogenes vaccine candidate that incorporates five 14mer amino acid sequences (called J14i variants) from differing C-repeat units in a single recombinant construct. Here we show that the J14i variants chosen for inclusion in SV1 are the most common variants in a dataset of 176 unique M-proteins. Murine antibodies raised against SV1 were shown to bind to each of the J14i variants present in SV1, as well as variants not present in the vaccine. Antibodies raised to the individual J14i variants were also shown to bind to multiple but different combinations of J14i variants, supporting the underlying rationale for the design of SV1. A Lewis Rat Model of valvulitis was then used to assess the capacity of SV1 to induce deleterious immune response associated with rheumatic heart disease. In this model, both SV1 and the M5 positive control protein were immunogenic. Neither of these antibodies were cross-reactive with cardiac myosin or collagen. Splenic T cells from SV1/CFA and SV1/alum immunized rats did not proliferate in response to cardiac myosin or collagen. Subsequent histological examination of heart tissue showed that 4 of 5 mice from the M5/CFA group had valvulitis and inflammatory cell infiltration into valvular tissue, whereas mice immunised with SV1/CFA, SV1/alum showed no sign of valvulitis. These results suggest that SV1 is a safe vaccine candidate that will elicit antibodies that recognise the vast majority of circulating GAS M-types

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

The differential secretion of FSH and LH : regulation through genes, feedback and packaging

International audienc

BMP-4 interacts with activin and GnRH to modulate gonadotropin secretion in LbetaT2 gonadotropes

International audienc

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) (nouveaux modulateurs de la synthèse et de la libération de l'hormone folliculo-stimulante (FSH))

TOURS-BU Sciences Pharmacie (372612104) / SudocSudocFranceUnited KingdomFRG

Activin activates various signaling pathways in pituitary cells but only the Smad pathway is involved in activin-induced FSH expression

International audienc

Les Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs): nouveaux modulateurs de la synthèse et de la libération de l'hormone folliculo-stimulante (FSH)

National audienc

Is Bone Morphogenetic Protein-inhibited follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion mediated through Smad pathway?

International audienc