Temporal Lobe Transients and Prayer

Persinger (1983) theorized that religious experiences involve the production of brief, micro-seizures that originate in the limbic system and affect the temporal lobes of the brain. According to this theory, ritual behavior could be used by individuals to induce micro-seizure activity. The theory predicted that an increase in alpha and theta activity in the temporal lobes of the brain would occur when subjects had a religious experience. To test this, male and female Christian college students completed a Prayer Experiences Questionnaire inquiring about their religious experiences during prayer. Individuals scoring in the upper and lower 30 percent of the possible summed scores on this questionnaire then participated in a recording session that measured theta and alpha activity originating from the temporal lobes of their brains. Difficulty was encountered obtaining high scoring males, and the final sample included 16 subjects each for 3 of the groups, but only 6 subjects for high scoring males. Alpha and theta activity were recorded at two sites over each temporal lobe using the International 10-20 system, and took place during three 460 second intervals. The initial session consisted of baseline data. The remaining sessions consisted of the subjects reciting, silently to themselves, either a prayer or a secular text. The prayer and secular texts consisted of words matched for their occurrence in the English language. Following the recording session subjects completed an Experimental Experiences Questionnaire, which inquired about what they experienced during the prayer and secular conditions. MANOVA analysis indicated differences in alpha, Rao R (8, 46) = 7.844, $

Evaluation of Ultrasonic Beam Models for the Case fo a Piston Transducer Radiating Through A Liquid-Solid Interface

In order to accurately predict the performance of immersion ultrasonic inspection techniques, it is necessary to have a model for the transducer radiation process. This model should include the case of propagation of the ultrasonic beam at oblique incidence through liquid-solid interfaces of complex geometries. Included should be the effects of diffraction, refraction, focussing and aberrations upon the beam shape

Adaptive Reuse in Decaying Cities: Interior Design and Historic Preservation Working Together

Adaptive Reuse in Decaying Cities: Interior Design and Historic Preservation Working Together Interior Designers and decaying cities should take action now to refocus and emphasize potential options to protect and preserve their past for future generations, benefiting both themselves and the municipalities they live and work in. Historic Preservation to adaptive reuse is a professional area which benefits the general public at large, maintaining our history first hand through its building interiors. This effort and process should be joined by and involve the interior design profession

Ancient Egypt 1922 Part 2

Part 2 of the 1922 Ancient Egypt book. Contents include the British school in Egypt, the set rebellion, and Egyptian words in modern use.https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/kweeks_coll/1019/thumbnail.jp

Diagnostic criteria to aid the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with transient loss of consciousness: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) is a common presentation in primary care. Over 90% of these are due to epileptic seizures (ES), syncope, or psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). Misdiagnosis rates are as high as 30%. METHODS: Systematic review of inter-ictal clinical criteria to aid differential diagnosis of TLOC. We searched Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycInfo databases, as well as relevant grey literature depositories and citations of relevant reviews and guidelines for studies giving sensitivity and specificity of inter-ictal clinical characteristics used to differentiate between causes of TLOC. Two independent reviewers selected studies for inclusion and performed critical appraisal of included articles. We performed a narrative synthesis of included studies. RESULTS: Of 1023 results, 16 papers were included. Two compared syncope, ES, and PNES; all others compared ES and PNES. All were at significant risk of bias in at least one domain. 6 studied patient symptoms, 6 medical and social history, 3 witness reports and 1 examination findings. No individual criterion differentiated between diagnoses with high sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of validated diagnostic criteria to help clinicians assessing patients in primary or emergency care settings to discriminate between common causes of TLOC. Performance may be improved by combining sets of criteria in a clinical decision rule, but no such rule has been validated prospectively against gold-standard diagnostic criteria

Diagnostic yield of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in patients attending a UK centre with symptoms compatible with Rome IV functional dyspepsia

Background: Dyspeptic symptoms are common and mainly due to functional dyspepsia (FD). The Rome IV criteria mandate a normal upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy before diagnosing FD. However, endoscopies are costly, resource-intensive procedures that generate substantial waste. Hence, simpler means of diagnosing FD are desirable. Objectives: To determine what proportion of UGI endoscopies are represented by patients with symptoms compatible with Rome IV FD, and the diagnostic yield in this cohort stratified according to alarm features. Methods: Adult patients attending a UK centre for outpatient UGI endoscopy completed a preprocedure questionnaire on demographics, medical history, alarm features, mood, somatisation and GI symptoms. Alarm features were defined as age ≥55 years, dysphagia, anaemia, unintentional weight loss, UGI bleed or a family history of UGI cancer. Clinically significant endoscopic findings were cancers, Barrett’s oesophagus, erosive oesophagitis, peptic ulcers or strictures. Results: Of 387 patients attending for an outpatient non-surveillance diagnostic UGI endoscopy, 221 had symptoms compatible with FD whereas 166 did not. Approximately 80% in both groups had alarm features, with a similar prevalence of clinically significant endoscopic findings at ~10%. UGI endoscopy was normal in a cohort of 9% (n=35) with symptoms compatible with FD and no alarm features, while benign peptic ulcer was noted in two of 29 cases without FD symptoms and no alarm features. Conclusion: 1-in-10 UGI endoscopies are performed in patients with symptoms compatible with FD and no alarm features, in whom there is no diagnostic yield. We recommend such patients receive a positive diagnosis of FD without endoscopy

Characteristics of long-duration inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in rat neocortical neurons in vitro

1. The characteristics of long-duration inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (l-IPSPs) which are evoked in rat frontal neocortical neurons by local electrical stimulation were investigated with intracellular recordings from anin vitro slice preparation. 2. Stimulation with suprathreshold intensities evoked l-IPSPs with typical durations of 600–900 msec at resting membrane potential. Conductance increases of 15–60% were measured at the peak amplitude of l-IPSPs (150–250 msec poststimulus). 3. The duration of the conductance increases during l-IPSPs displayed a significant voltage dependence, decreasing as the membrance potential was depolarized and increasing with hyperpolarization. 4. The reversal potential of l-IPSPs is significantly altered by reductions in the extracellular potassium concentration. Therefore it is concluded that l-IPSPs in rat neocortical neurons are generated by the activation of a potassium conductance. 5. l-IPSPs exhibit stimulation fatigue. Stimulation with a frequency of 1 Hz produces a complete fatigue of the conductance increases during l-IPSPs after approximately 20 consecutive stimuli. Recovery from this fatigue requires minutes. 6. l-IPSPs are not blocked by bicuculline but are blocked by baclofen