A break from pain! Interruption management in the context of pain

Activity interruptions, namely temporary suspensions of an ongoing task with the intention to resume it later, are common in pain. First, pain is a threat signal that urges us to interrupt ongoing activities in order to manage the pain and its cause. Second, activity interruptions are used in chronic pain management. However, activity interruptions by pain may carry costs for activity performance. These costs have recently started to be systematically investigated. We review the evidence on the consequences of activity interruptions by pain for the performance of the interrupted activity. Further, inspired by literature on interruptions from other research fields, we suggest ways to improve interruption management in the field of pain, and provide a future research agenda

Metabolizable Energy of Ration Added with Nanocapsule of Turmeric Extract on Broiler Chicken

This study was aimed to develop nanoparticle formulation using turmeric extract and industrialchitosan as the polymer and sodium-tripolyphosphate as cross linker, to evaluate its ability to improvetrue metabolizable energy on broiler chicken. Forty eight of broiler chickens with an average bodyweight of 900 g, were randomly divided into 8 treatments (one treatment was fasted and 7 were fedration plus feed additive), containing six birds per treatment. The formulation of nanoparticle in thisstudy used ionic gelation method. Method used to evaluate the metabolizable energy was totalcollection. Chickens were fasted one day before and after they were treated with rations. Nitrogen, grossenergy and total weight of feed and excreta or ileal digesta released were analyzed to calculate the truemetabolizable energy of the ration. It was found that the basal ration added with nanocapsule 0.1% hadtrue metabolizable energy (3370.66 kcal/kg) significantly higher (P<0.05) than basal ration (3214.85kcal/kg). The result of this study concluded that formulation of nanocapsule using turmeric extract andindustrial chitosan as the polymer and sodium-tripolyphosphate as cross linker was potential to increasetrue metabolizable energy so it can be an alternative for broiler chicken feed additive

Effects of activity interruptions by pain on pattern of activity performance - an experimental investigation

Background and aims: Suspending an ongoing activity with the intention to resume it again later is a natural response to pain. This response facilitates coping with the pain, but it may also have negative consequences for the resumption and performance of the activity. For example, people with pain problems are often forced to take a break from doing their household chores because of their pain. They might delay resuming their chore, eventually needing longer time to finish it. We investigated how activity interruptions by pain influence the pattern of subsequent activity performance. We expected that when an activity is interrupted by pain (compared to non-pain), people spend longer time away from the activity, need longer time to complete it, and are less motivated to perform it. Methods: Sixty healthy volunteers performed an ongoing task that required them to make joystick movements in different directions according to a specific rule. Occasionally, participants received either a painful electrocutaneous stimulus or a non-painful and non-aversive auditory stimulus (between-subjects) as an interruption cue. The interruption cue was followed by the temporary suspension of the ongoing task and the initiation of a different activity (interruption task). The latter required the categorization of cards and had a maximum duration, but participants could also stop it earlier by pressing a button. We measured time away from the (interrupted) ongoing task, total time to complete the ongoing task (including the interruptions) and self-reported motivation to perform both the ongoing as well as the interruption task. Results: Groups did not differ in the time away from the ongoing task, total time to complete the ongoing task, or self-reported motivation to perform the two tasks. Conclusions: Activity interruptions by pain did not impair the pattern of activity performance more than activity interruptions by non-pain. Potential explanations and suggestions for future research are discussed

Design and development of a low temperature, inductance based high frequency ac susceptometer

We report on the development of an induction based low temperature high frequency ac susceptometer capable of measuring at frequencies up to 3.5 MHz and at temperatures between 2 K and 300 K. Careful balancing of the detection coils and calibration have allowed a sample magnetic moment resolution of $5\times10^{-10} Am^2$ at 1 MHz. We will discuss the design and characterization of the susceptometer, and explain the calibration process. We also include some example measurements on the spin ice material CdEr$_2$S$_4$ and iron oxide based nanoparticles to illustrate functionality

Penanaman Nilai-nilai Kejujuran melalui Pendidikan Anti Korupsi di SMA 6 Kota Semarang

. Korupsi di Indonesia bagaikan suatu “penyakit†yang sukar disembuhkan dan merupakan suatu fenomena yang kompleks. Untuk memberantas korupsi di Indonesia tidak cukup hanya dengan melakukan suatu tindakan represif, namun yang lebih mendasar lagi adalah melakukan tindakan preventif atau pencegahan. Salah satu upaya yang dapat dilakukan melalui tindakan preventif ini adalah dengan menumbuhkan kepedulian untuk melawan berbagai tindakan korupsi, dan sekaligus juga mendidik generasi muda dengan menanamkan nilai-nilai etika dan moral yang diperlukan dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat. Banyak hal yang dapat dilakukan, misalnya melalui kampanye publik, maupun melalui penanaman nilai-nilai moral dan etika yang dapat dimasukkan dalam kurikulum pada berbagai level terutama pada level pendidikan awal seperti SD, SMP dan SMA. Dengan upaya ini diharapkan mereka dapat tumbuh menjadi generasi yang “bersih†dan “anti korupsi†sekaligus menjadi contoh bagi generasi sesudahnya dan sebelumnya. Kesadaran dan kepedulian masyarakat perlu ditumbuhkan melalui berbagai cara, antara lain dengan mencanangkan â€Gerakan Anti Korupsiâ€, yang menandai komitmen berbagai elemen masyarakat dalam memberantas korupsi

POTENSI PENGGUNAAN KITOSAN RANTAI PENDEK SEBAGAI PEMBAWA DALAM PENGHANTARAN GEN; EVALUASI IN VITRO

Gene therapy involves the introduction of DNA or ribonucleic acid (RNA) into the target cell either to express or suppress the biosynthesis of proteins. The success of gene therapy is highly dependent on a suitable carrier system that can efficiently deliver genes in to specific desired cell with minimum cytotoxicity on target cells. Chitosan is interesting to be used as a gene carrier because it has a high positive charge and low toxicity to cells. Positive charge chitosan can form complexes with the plasmid. DNA complexes provide protection against enzymes degradation and promote internalization of plasmids that have been condensed. In this study the complex formation of chitosan-pEFneo-GFP and chitosan / TPP-pEFneo-GFP is by complex coaservation method. The results of complex analysis with a 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis for 30 minutes 100Volt showed that the complex was stayed in the well and the plasmids did not migrate like plasmids which were dissolved in the water and buffer solvent. Stability evaluation in storage at room temperature for 14 days showed that the complex with chitosan concentration 0.02%-0.04% were the most stable, so that transfection analysis performed for the complex with chitosan concentration of 0.02%-0.04%. Transfection results showed that chitosan is able to protect plasmid and promote the internalization of plasmid into the nucleus and then expressed as a green luminescence. From these results chitosan potentially be developed as a carrier system in gene delivery

Monte Carlo Simulations of Some Dynamical Aspects of Drop Formation

In this work we present some results from computer simulations of dynamical aspects of drop formation in a leaky faucet. Our results, which agree very well with the experiments, suggest that only a few elements, at the microscopic level, would be necessary to describe the most important features of the system. We were able to set all parameters of the model in terms of real ones. This is an additional advantage with respect to previous theoretical works.Comment: 7 pages (Latex), 6 figures (PS) Accepted to publication in Int. J. Mod. Phys. C Source Codes at http://www.if.uff.br/~arlim

Population-level consequences of complementary sex determination in a solitary parasitoid

BACKGROUND: Sex determination mechanisms are known to be evolutionarily labile but the factors driving transitions in sex determination mechanisms are poorly understood. All insects of the Hymenoptera are haplodiploid, with males normally developing from unfertilized haploid eggs. Under complementary sex determination (CSD), diploid males can be produced from fertilized eggs that are homozygous at the sex locus. Diploid males have near-zero fitness and thus represent a genetic load, which is especially severe under inbreeding. Here, we study mating structure and sex determination in the parasitoid Cotesia vestalis to investigate what may have driven the evolution of two complementary sex determination loci in this species.RESULTS: We genotyped Cotesia vestalis females collected from eight fields in four townships in Western Taiwan. 98 SNP markers were developed by aligning Illumina sequence reads of pooled DNA of eight different females against a de novo assembled genome of C. vestalis. This proved to be an efficient method for this non-model species and provides a resource for future use in related species. We found significant genetic differentiation within the sampled population but variation could not be attributed to sampling locations by AMOVA. Non-random mating was detected, with 8.1% of matings between siblings. Diploid males, detected by flow cytometry, were produced at a rate of 1.4% among diploids.CONCLUSIONS: We think that the low rate of diploid male production is best explained by a CSD system with two independent sex loci, supporting laboratory findings on the same species. Fitness costs of diploid males in C. vestalis are high because diploid males can mate with females and produce infertile triploid offspring. This severe fitness cost of diploid males combined with non-random mating may have resulted in evolution from single locus CSD to CSD with two independent loci.</p

Sub-optimal presentation of painful facial expressions enhances readiness for action and pain perception following electrocutaneous stimulation

Observation of others’ painful facial expressions has been shown to facilitate behavioral response tendencies and to increase pain perception in the observer. However, in previous studies, expressions were clearly visible to the observer and none of those studies investigated the effect of presence of peripheral stimulation on response tendencies. This study focuses on the effect of sub-optimal presentation of painful facial expressions in the presence and absence of an electrocutaneous stimulus. Twenty-two healthy individuals categorized arrow targets which were preceded by a sub-optimally presented facial expression (painful, happy, or neutral in different blocks). On half of the trials, aversive electrocutaneous stimulation was delivered to the wrist of the non-dominant hand between the presentation of facial expression and target (an arrow directing to right or left). Participants’ task was to indicate direction of the arrow as soon as it appears on the screen by pressing the corresponding key on the keyboard and to rate their pain at the end of block. Analysis showed that responses were faster to targets preceded by aversive stimulation than to targets not preceded by stimulation, especially following painful expressions. Painfulness ratings were higher following painful expressions than following happy expressions. These findings suggest that sub-optimally presented painful expressions can enhance readiness to act to neutral, non-pain-related targets after aversive stimulation and can increase pain perception

Gene expression profiling in C57BL/6J and A/J mouse inbred strains reveals gene networks specific for brain regions independent of genetic background

Abstract Background We performed gene expression profiling of the amygdala and hippocampus taken from inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J and A/J. The selected brain areas are implicated in neurobehavioral traits while these mouse strains are known to differ widely in behavior. Consequently, we hypothesized that comparing gene expression profiles for specific brain regions in these strains might provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of human neuropsychiatric traits. We performed a whole-genome gene expression experiment and applied a systems biology approach using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Results We were able to identify modules of co-expressed genes that distinguish a strain or brain region. Analysis of the networks that are most informative for hippocampus and amygdala revealed enrichment in neurologically, genetically and psychologically related pathways. Close examination of the strain-specific gene expression profiles, however, revealed no functional relevance but a significant enrichment of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the probe sequences used for array hybridization. This artifact was not observed for the modules of co-expressed genes that distinguish amygdala and hippocampus. Conclusions The brain-region specific modules were found to be independent of genetic background and are therefore likely to represent biologically relevant molecular networks that can be studied to complement our knowledge about pathways in neuropsychiatric disease