Contributions of emotion understanding to narrative comprehension in children and adults

This study examined to what extent children and adults differ in how they process negative emotions during reading, and how they rate their own and protagonists’ emotional states. Results show that both children’s and adults’ processing of target sentences was facilitated when they described negative emotions. Processing of spill-over sentences was facilitated for adults but inhibited for children, suggesting children needed additional time to process protagonists’ emotional states and integrate them into coherent mental representations. Children and adults were similar in their valence and arousal ratings as they rated protagonists’ emotional states as more negative and more intense than their own emotional states. However, they differed in that children rated their own emotional states as relatively neutral, whereas adults’ ratings of their own emotional states more closely matched the negative emotional states of the protagonists. This suggests a possible difference between children and adults in the mechanism underlying emotional inferencing.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Thiopurine metabolite levels in patients with atopic dermatitis and/or chronic hand/foot eczema treated with azathioprine

Background: Azathioprine is frequently used in severe eczema. It is converted in the liver into active metabolites, including 6-thioguanine nucleotide (6-TGN) and methylated 6-methylmercaptopurine (6-MMP). In the past, the therapeutic potential of azathioprine may have not been fully utilized. Recent investigations on inflammatory bowel disease have led to a better understanding of azathioprine metabolism and optimizing treatment. Objective: To investigate whether measuring thiopurine metabolites in circulation can improve the effectiveness and safety of azathioprine treatment in patients with atopic dermatitis and/or chronic hand/foot eczema. Methods: Azathioprine metabolite levels were measured in eczema patients during maintenance treatment (Part I) and dose escalation (Part II). Clinical effectiveness, hepatotoxicity, and bone marrow suppression were analyzed and TPMT genotype was assessed. Results: A wide variation in metabolite levels in all dose groups was observed. In Part I (32 patients), there were no significant differences in 6-TGN levels between clinical responders and non-responders (p = .806). No hepatoxicity or myelotoxicity was observed. In Part II, all 6-TGN and 6-MMP levels increased during dose escalation. Hypermethylation was observed in 2/8 patients. Conclusion: For individual eczema patients treated with azathioprine, routinely measuring 6-TGN and 6-MMP can be helpful in optimizing azathioprine dose, improving clinical effectiveness, and preventing side effects

Predicting therapy response to mycophenolic acid using UGT1A9 genotyping: towards personalized medicine in atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a very common chronic inflammatory skin disease requiring long-term treatment. Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is used off-label in treatment of patients with severe AD failing Cyclosporin A (CsA) treatment, however clinical efficacy is observed in only half of the AD patients. In blood, MPA levels are known to have a large interindividual variability. Low MPA exposure and increased enzyme activity correlates with the presence of UGT1A9 polymorphisms. In this retrospective study, 65 adult AD patients treated with MPA were classified as responder or non-responder to MPA treatment. UGT1A9 polymorphisms were determined using PCR. A significantly higher number of UGT1A9 polymorphisms was found in the group that did not respond to MPA treatment. Of the patients that carried a UGT1A9 polymorphism, 85.7% were non-responsive to MPA treatment. This implies that non-responsiveness in AD patients is more likely to occur in carriers of a UGT1A9 polymorphism. In a binary logistic regression analysis the odds ratio (OR) was 8.65 (95% confidence interval: 0.93–80.17). Our results show that UGT1A9 polymorphisms can be used to identify patients with non-responsiveness to MPA. Patients with UGT1A9 polymorphisms might benefit from higher MPA dosage

Non-AIDS defining cancers in the D:A:D Study-time trends and predictors of survival : a cohort study

BACKGROUND:Non-AIDS defining cancers (NADC) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-positive individuals. Using data from a large international cohort of HIV-positive individuals, we described the incidence of NADC from 2004-2010, and described subsequent mortality and predictors of these.METHODS:Individuals were followed from 1st January 2004/enrolment in study, until the earliest of a new NADC, 1st February 2010, death or six months after the patient's last visit. Incidence rates were estimated for each year of follow-up, overall and stratified by gender, age and mode of HIV acquisition. Cumulative risk of mortality following NADC diagnosis was summarised using Kaplan-Meier methods, with follow-up for these analyses from the date of NADC diagnosis until the patient's death, 1st February 2010 or 6 months after the patient's last visit. Factors associated with mortality following NADC diagnosis were identified using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression.RESULTS:Over 176,775 person-years (PY), 880 (2.1%) patients developed a new NADC (incidence: 4.98/1000PY [95% confidence interval 4.65, 5.31]). Over a third of these patients (327, 37.2%) had died by 1st February 2010. Time trends for lung cancer, anal cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma were broadly consistent. Kaplan-Meier cumulative mortality estimates at 1, 3 and 5 years after NADC diagnosis were 28.2% [95% CI 25.1-31.2], 42.0% [38.2-45.8] and 47.3% [42.4-52.2], respectively. Significant predictors of poorer survival after diagnosis of NADC were lung cancer (compared to other cancer types), male gender, non-white ethnicity, and smoking status. Later year of diagnosis and higher CD4 count at NADC diagnosis were associated with improved survival. The incidence of NADC remained stable over the period 2004-2010 in this large observational cohort.CONCLUSIONS:The prognosis after diagnosis of NADC, in particular lung cancer and disseminated cancer, is poor but has improved somewhat over time. Modifiable risk factors, such as smoking and low CD4 counts, were associated with mortality following a diagnosis of NADC

Bounds and approximations for the fixed-cycle traffic-light queue

This paper deals with the fixed-cycle traffic-light (FCTL) queue, where vehicles arrive at an intersection controlled by a traffic light and form a queue. The traffic light alternates between green and red periods, and delayed vehicles are assumed to depart during the green period at equal time intervals. The key performance characteristic in the FCTL queue is the so-called mean overflow, defined as the mean queue length at the end of a green period. An exact solution for the mean overflow is available, but it has been considered to be of little practical value because it requires some numerical procedures. Therefore, most of the literature on the FCTL queue is about deriving approximations for the mean overflow. In deriving these approximations, most authors first approximate the FCTL queue by a bulk-service queue, approximate the mean overflow in the bulk-service queue, and use this as an approximation for the mean overflow in the FCTL queue. So far no quantitative comparison of both models has been given. We compare both models and assess the quality of the approximation for various settings of the parameter values. In this comparison and throughout the paper we do not restrict ourselves to Poisson arrivals, but consider a more general arrival process instead. We discuss the numerical issues that need to be resolved to calculate the exact expression for the mean overflow in both queues and show that clear computational schemes are available. Next, we present several bounds and approximations of the mean overflow that do not require numerical procedures. In particular, we derive a new approximation based on the heavy traffic limit and a scaling argument. We compare the new bounds and approximation with the existing ones. We elaborate on the impact of several parameters, like the length of the green and red period and the variance of the arrival distribution. Each of these parameters turns out to be crucial

How do self-efficacy beliefs for academic writing and collaboration and intrinsic motivation for academic writing and research develop during an undergraduate research project?

Research skills are important for university graduates, but little is known about undergraduates’ motivation for research. In this study, self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation for several research activities were measured three times during an undergraduate research project (N = 147 students). In order to promote self-efficacy for writing and collaboration, a collaboration script was developed and tested on half of the students. Twelve students were interviewed three times to gather in-depth information about motivational and self-efficacy beliefs. All measures except intrinsic motivation for research increased significantly during the project. Interview results suggest that enactive mastery and positive social interdependence promoted self-efficacy. Feelings of relatedness seemed to promote intrinsic motivation for writing. Lack of autonomy and low perceived relevance may explain why motivation for research remained stable. The script had no impact on self-efficacy beliefs. Relatedness, autonomy and positive social interdependence may boost motivation for research, but more evidence is needed.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

The influence of choice task layout on the outcomes of a discrete choice experiment

Objectives To empirically test to what extent the layout of choice tasks (i.e., displayed in words or graphics) in a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) influences the attribute estimates and the conclusions drawn from the DCE. Methods A DCE questionnaire was sent to the parents of 2500 newborn babies aged 6 weeks at maximum. Each questionnaire contained two times the same 9 choice tasks, ones words were used to describe the attributes and levels and ones graphics were used. The DCE consisted of five attributes related to the decision of parents to vaccinate their newborn baby against the rotavirus (vaccine effectiveness, frequency of severe side effects, protection duration, location, costs). Mixed logit models were conducted to estimate the relative importance of the attributes. Results Preliminary results are based on 279 observations from 31 parents. In February 2013 data collection will be completed and analyzed. When comparing the choices of every respondent per choice tasks, 58% chose inconsistent at 1 or more choice tasks and 35% chose inconsistent in two or more choice tasks. In both datasets (layout in words and graphics), vaccine effectiveness (βeffects code 1=0.64 and βeffects code 1=1.00, βeffects code 2=0.67 and βeffects code 2=0.01), frequency of severe side effects (βeffects code 1=0.26 and βeffects code 1=0.41, βeffects code 2=1.22 and βeffects code 2=0.89) protection duration (β=0.37, β=0.17) and costs (β=-0.10, β=-0.11) showed significant attribute estimates (P<.05). However, the relative importance of these attributes differed between both datasets. Conclusions For now it can be concluded that the presentation of the choice sets (by either using words or graphics) in a DCE influences study outcomes. Besides extensive pilot testing to ensure the choice tasks are understood and interpreted as intended, it might be worthwhile to include discussions about the layout of the choice tasks in the focus group stage of the DCE designing proces