Self-conscious emotions in patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain: a brief report.

OBJECTIVE: The role of self-conscious emotions (SCEs) including shame, guilt, humiliation and embarrassment are of increasing interest within health. Yet, little is known about SCEs in the experience of chronic pain. This study explored prevalence and experience of SCEs in chronic pain patients compared to controls and assessed the relationship between SCEs and disability in pain patients. DESIGN AND MEASURES: Questionnaire assessment comparing musculoskeletal pain patients (n=64) and pain-free control participants (n=63). Pain was assessed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire; disability, using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire; and six SCEs derived from three measures (i) Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 yielding subscales of shame, guilt, externalisation and detachment (ii) The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and (iii) The Pain Self-Perception Scale assessing mental defeat. RESULTS: Significantly greater levels of shame, guilt, fear of negative evaluation and mental defeat were observed in chronic pain patients compared to controls. In the pain group, SCE variables significantly predicted affective pain intensity; only mental defeat was significantly related to disability. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the prevalence of negative SCEs and their importance in assessment and management of chronic pain. The role of mood in this relationship is yet to be explored

Effects on Freshwater Organisms of Magnetic Fields Associated with Hydrokinetic Turbines

Underwater cables will be used to transmit electricity between turbines in an array (interturbine cables), between the array and a submerged step-up transformer (if part of the design), and from the transformer or array to shore. All types of electrical transmitting cables (as well as the generator itself) will emit EMF into the surrounding water. The electric current will induce magnetic fields in the immediate vicinity, which may affect the behavior or viability of animals. Because direct electrical field emissions can be prevented by shielding and armoring, we focused our studies on the magnetic fields that are unavoidably induced by electric current moving through a generator or transmission cable. These initial experiments were carried out to evaluate whether a static magnetic field, such as would be produced by a direct current (DC) transmitting cable, would affect the behavior of common freshwater fish and invertebrates

Salmonella prevalence serotypes and patterns of antimicrobial resistance in cohorts of nursery and finishing pigs

Salmonella are now being monitored by the Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA for purposes of process control in slaughter plants, and as a sentinel organism for emerging antimicrobial resistance (I). Public concerns about the emergence of foodborne bacteria with multi-resistant phenotypes, and about the use of antimicrobials in food animals, are increasing. Despite considerable research, the epidemiology of asymptomatic Salmonella in pigs is poorly understood (2). The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between nursery prevalence of Salmonella and finisher prevalence, and to describe patterns of antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistant Salmonella in modern swine rearing facilities

The acute angiogenic signalling response to low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction

This study investigated protein kinase activation and gene expression of angiogenic factors in response to low-load resistance exercise with or without blood flow restriction (BFR). In a repeated measures cross-over design, six males performed four sets of bilateral knee extension exercise at 20% 1RM (reps per set = 30:15:15:continued to fatigue) with BFR (110 mmHg) and without (CON). Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis before, 2 and 4 h post-exercise. mRNA expression was determined using real-time RT-PCR. Protein phosphorylation/expression was determined using Western blot. p38MAPK phosphorylation was greater (p = 0.05) at 2 h following BFR (1.3 ± 0.8) compared to CON (0.4 ± 0.3). AMPK phosphorylation remained unchanged. PGC-1α mRNA expression increased at 2 h (5.9 ± 1.3 vs. 2.1 ± 0.8; p = 0.03) and 4 h (3.2 ± 0.8 vs. 1.5 ± 0.4; p = 0.03) following BFR exercise with no change in CON. PGC-1α protein expression did not change following either exercise. BFR exercise enhanced mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at 2 h (5.2 ± 2.8 vs 1.7 ± 1.1; p = .02) and 4 h (6.8 ± 4.9 vs. 2.5 ± 2.7; p = .01) compared to CON. mRNA expression of VEGF-R2 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α increased following BFR exercise but only eNOS were enhanced relative to CON. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 mRNA expression was not altered in response to either exercise. Acute low-load resistance exercise with BFR provides a targeted angiogenic response potentially mediated through enhanced ischaemic and shear stress stimuli

UJI AKTIVITAS PROTEASE DAN KARAKTERISASI PH ACTINOMYCETES ISOLAT ATH-03 ASAL TAHURA POCUT MEURAH INTAN KABUPATEN ACEH BESAR

ABSTRAKKata kunci: Aktivitas Protease, Karakterisasi pH, Actinomycetes.Penelitian Uji Aktivitas Protease dan Karakterisasi pH Actinomycetes Isolat ATH-03 Asal Tahura Pocut Meurah Intan Kabupaten Aceh Besar telah dilaksanakan sejak tanggal 3 September sampai dengan 27 Desember 2012. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur aktivitas protease dan mengetahui pH optimum aktivitas protease dari isolat Actinomycetes ATH-03. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode Eksperimen dengan Rancangan Acak Lengkap Non Faktorial dengan 6 kali perlakuan, 2 kali ulangan. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis secara deskriptif yang terkait dengan nilai indeks proteolitik sebagai dasar seleksi isolat Actinomycetes. Isolat Actinomycetes berasal dari koleksi Laboratorium Mikrobiologi Jurusan Biologi FMIPA Universitas Syiah Kuala. Delapan belas isolat Actinomycetes menunjukkan aktivitas pada Media NA yang mengandung susu skim 1%. Isolat ATH-03 dipilih dalam penelitian ini karena memiliki zona bening yang lebar dengan indeks proteolitik (IP) tertinggi 8,537 setelah inkubasi selama 48 jam pada Media NAS. Protease ekstraseluler dikarakterisasi menggunakan media NB yang mengandung susu skim 1% sebagai media produksi. Waktu optimum pemanenan ekstrak kasar protease isolat ATH-03 pada hari ke-7 dengan aktivitas sebesar 0,083 U/ml, kadar protein 0,003 mg/ml dan aktivitas spesifik mencapai 23,72 U/mg. Hasil karakterisasi pH ekstrak kasar enzim isolat ATH-03 menunjukkan aktivitas optimum pada pH 8 yaitu 0,067 U/ml, protease yang dihasilkan oleh isolat ini aktif pada kisaran pH netral.Banda Ace

Subthalamic Nucleus and Sensorimotor Cortex Activity During Speech Production

The sensorimotor cortex is somatotopically organized to represent the vocal tract articulators such as lips, tongue, larynx, and jaw. How speech and articulatory features are encoded at the subcortical level, however, remains largely unknown. We analyzed LFP recordings from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and simultaneous electrocorticography recordings from the sensorimotor cortex of 11 human subjects (1 female) with Parkinson´s disease during implantation of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes while they read aloud three-phoneme words. The initial phonemes involved either articulation primarily with the tongue (coronal consonants) or the lips (labial consonants). We observed significant increases in high-gamma (60?150 Hz) power in both the STN and the sensorimotor cortex that began before speech onset and persisted for the duration of speech articulation. As expected from previous reports, in the sensorimotor cortex, the primary articulators involved in the production of the initial consonants were topographically represented by high-gamma activity. We found that STN high-gamma activity also demonstrated specificity for the primary articulator, although no clear topography was observed. In general, subthalamic high-gamma activity varied along the ventral?dorsal trajectory of the electrodes, with greater high-gamma power recorded in the dorsal locations of the STN. Interestingly, the majority of significant articulator-discriminative activity in the STN occurred before that in sensorimotor cortex. These results demonstrate that articulator-specific speech information is contained within high-gamma activity of the STN, but with different spatial and temporal organization compared with similar information encoded in the sensorimotor cortex.Fil: Chrabaszcz, Anna. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Neumann, Wolf Julian. Universität zu Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Stretcu, Otilia. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Lipski, Witold J.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Dastolfo Hromack, Christina A.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Bush, Alan. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Wang, Dengyu. Tsinghua University; China. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Crammond, Donald J.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Shaiman, Susan. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Dickey, Michael W.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Holt, Lori L.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Turner, Robert S.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Fiez, Julie A.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Richardson, R. Mark. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unido

Effects of genetic variation in H3K79 methylation regulatory genes on clinical blood pressure and blood pressure response to hydrochlorothiazide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nearly one-third of the United States adult population suffers from hypertension. Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), one of the most commonly used medications to treat hypertension, has variable efficacy. The renal epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) provides a mechanism for fine-tuning sodium excretion, and is a major regulator of blood pressure homeostasis. <it>DOT1L, MLLT3, SIRT1</it>, and <it>SGK1 </it>encode genes in a pathway that controls methylation of the histone H3 globular domain at lysine 79 (H3K79), thereby modulating expression of the ENaCα subunit. This study aimed to determine the role of variation in these regulatory genes on blood pressure response to HCTZ, and secondarily, untreated blood pressure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated associations between genetic variations in this candidate pathway and HCTZ blood pressure response in two separate hypertensive cohorts (clinicaltrials.gov NCT00246519 and NCT00005520). In a secondary, exploratory analysis, we measured associations between these same genetic variations and untreated blood pressure. Associations were measured by linear regression, with only associations with <it>P </it>≤ 0.01 in one cohort and replication by <it>P </it>≤ 0.05 in the other cohort considered significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In one cohort, a polymorphism in <it>DOT1L </it>(rs2269879) was strongly associated with greater systolic (<it>P </it>= 0.0002) and diastolic (<it>P </it>= 0.0016) blood pressure response to hydrochlorothiazide in Caucasians. However, this association was not replicated in the other cohort. When untreated blood pressure levels were analyzed, we found directionally similar associations between a polymorphism in <it>MLLT3 </it>(rs12350051) and greater untreated systolic (<it>P </it>< 0.01 in both cohorts) and diastolic (<it>P </it>< 0.05 in both cohorts) blood pressure levels in both cohorts. However, when further replication was attempted in a third hypertensive cohort and in smaller, normotensive samples, significant associations were not observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggest polymorphisms in <it>DOT1L, MLLT3, SIRT1</it>, and <it>SGK1 </it>are not likely associated with blood pressure response to HCTZ. However, a possibility exists that rs2269879 in <it>DOT1L </it>could be associated with HCTZ response in Caucasians. Additionally, exploratory analyses suggest rs12350051 in <it>MLLT3 </it>may be associated with untreated blood pressure in African-Americans. Replication efforts are needed to verify roles for these polymorphisms in human blood pressure regulation.</p

The effect of antidepressant treatment on HIV and depression outcomes: results from a randomized trial

Depression is a major barrier to HIV treatment outcomes

Reconstructing grassland fire history using sedimentary charcoal: Considering count, size and shape

Citation: Leys, B. A., Commerford, J. L., & McLauchlan, K. K. (2017). Reconstructing grassland fire history using sedimentary charcoal: Considering count, size and shape. Plos One, 12(4), 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0176445Fire is a key Earth system process, with 80% of annual fire activity taking place in grassland areas. However, past fire regimes in grassland systems have been difficult to quantify due to challenges in interpreting the charcoal signal in depositional environments. To improve reconstructions of grassland fire regimes, it is essential to assess two key traits: (1) charcoal count, and (2) charcoal shape. In this study, we quantified the number of charcoal pieces in 51 sediment samples of ponds in the Great Plains and tested its relevance as a proxy for the fire regime by examining 13 potential factors influencing charcoal count, including various fire regime components (e.g. the fire frequency, the area burned, and the fire season), vegetation cover and pollen assemblages, and climate variables. We also quantified the width to length (W: L) ratio of charcoal particles, to assess its utility as a proxy of fuel types in grassland environments by direct comparison with vegetation cover and pollen assemblages. Our first conclusion is that charcoal particles produced by grassland fires are smaller than those produced by forest fires. Thus, a mesh size of 120 mu m as used in forested environments is too large for grassland ecosystems. We recommend counting all charcoal particles over 60 mu m in grasslands and mixed grass-forest environments to increase the number of samples with useful data. Second, a W: L ratio of 0.5 or smaller appears to be an indicator for fuel types, when vegetation surrounding the site is before composed of at least 40% grassland vegetation. Third, the area burned within 1060m of the depositional environments explained both the count and the area of charcoal particles. Therefore, changes in charcoal count or charcoal area through time indicate a change in area burned. The fire regimes of grassland systems, including both human and climatic influences on fire behavior, can be characterized by long-term charcoal records