Comparison of the CBA-H and SF-36 for the screening of the psychological and behavioural variables in chronic dialysis patients

The aim of the study was to perform an analysis of the emotional reactions, perception of stressful life and behavioural changes related to Haemodialysis (HD) in order to identify those variables that can improve lifestyle and the adherence to treatment. Some psycho- metric assessment, such as the Cognitive Behavioural Assessment, Hospital Form, (CBA- H) and the Health Survey (SF-36), which provides two indexes: the Physical Component Score (PCS) and the Mental Component Score (MCS), are suitable to assess a patient’s psychological and behavioural style and their health-related quality of life. The study involved 37 Italian out-patients with end-stage renal disease under HD therapy. We calcu- lated the Spearman correlation between variables of CBA-H, SF-36, age and time on HD. We also performed a multivariate linear regression using the CBA-H variables as predictors and PCS and MCS as dependent variables. From the CBA-H, 95% of participants self- reported psychological characteristics comparable to Type A personality, which identifies an anxious, hyperactive and hostile subject. Physical limitations were found to be directly pro- portional to the time on dialysis (rs = -0.42). The condition of perceived stress worsens the state of mental health (rs = -0.68) and general health perception (rs = -0.44). The condition of vital exhaustion correlates both the PCS and the MCS (p<0.01) with possible outcomes of physical and mental illness. The psychological wellbeing of a dialyzed patient could be due to the combination of several factors, including life parameters, the positive perception of psychosocial outcomes, and the perceived quality of life. A multidisciplinary team (neurolo- gists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nurses) is essential to plan effective psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions to improve a mind-body integration

Electro-chemical deposition of zinc oxide nanostructures by using two electrodes

One of the most viable ways to grow nanostructures is electro deposition. However, most electrodeposited samples are obtained by three-electrode electrochemical cell. We successfully use a much simpler two-electrode cell to grow different ZnO nanostructures from common chemical reagents. Concentration, pH of the electrolytes and growth parameters like potentials at the electrodes, are tailored to allow fast growth without complexity. Morphology and surface roughness are investigated by Scanning Electron and Air Force Microscopy (SEM and AFM) respectively, crystal structure by X-Ray Diffraction measurements (XRD) and ZnO stoichiometry by core level photoemission spectroscopy (XPS)

Reward-Related Dorsal Striatal Activity Differences between Former and Current Cocaine Dependent Individuals during an Interactive Competitive Game

Cocaine addiction is characterized by impulsivity, impaired social relationships, and abnormal mesocorticolimbic reward processing, but their interrelationships relative to stages of cocaine addiction are unclear. We assessed blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signal in ventral and dorsal striatum during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in current (CCD; n = 30) and former (FCD; n = 28) cocaine dependent subjects as well as healthy control (HC; n = 31) subjects while playing an interactive competitive Domino game involving risk-taking and reward/punishment processing. Out-of-scanner impulsivity-related measures were also collected. Although both FCD and CCD subjects scored significantly higher on impulsivity-related measures than did HC subjects, only FCD subjects had differences in striatal activation, specifically showing hypoactivation during their response to gains versus losses in right dorsal caudate, a brain region linked to habituation, cocaine craving and addiction maintenance. Right caudate activity in FCD subjects also correlated negatively with impulsivity-related measures of self-reported compulsivity and sensitivity to reward. These findings suggest that remitted cocaine dependence is associated with striatal dysfunction during social reward processing in a manner linked to compulsivity and reward sensitivity measures. Future research should investigate the extent to which such differences might reflect underlying vulnerabilities linked to cocaine-using propensities (e.g., relapses)