Integration of social epidemiology and community-engaged interventions to improve health equity

The past quarter century has seen an explosion of concern about widening health inequities in the United States and worldwide. These inequities are central to the research mission in 2 arenas of public health: social epidemiology and community-engaged interventions. Yet only modest success has been achieved in eliminating health inequities. We advocate dialogue and reciprocal learning between researchers with these 2 perspectives to enhance emerging transdisciplinary language, support new approaches to identifying research questions, and apply integrated theories and methods. We recommend ways to promote transdisciplinary training, practice, and research through creative academic opportunities as well as new funding and structural mechanisms.     

针刺刺激可达到前气功状态

目的：研究在短时间之内使普通人进入前气功状态的方法。方法：健康的试验参与者以不随机的方式纳入本次研究。使用多通道生理记录仪检测试验参与者是否有进入前气功状态。参与者在针刺合谷穴的时候获得酸（得气）的感觉,同时暗示参与者丹田处有热及放松的感觉,由此让参与者进入一个松、静、自然的前气功状态。结果：本研究中,72.2%没有习练气功经历的参与者成功进入前气功状态。参与者进入气功状态后,大部分生理指标与基线指标相比有显著差异。结论：使用针刺引起酸的感觉可以让试验参与者快速进入前气功状态。因此气功的研究不再限制在特定的人才可以实行,本研究方法可以应用到每个人身上。     

Factor structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in Taiwanese adolescents

BackgroundThe original study of Radloff (Appl Psychol Meas. 1977. 1:385-401) on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) indicated a 4-factor model in the adult population. However, the factor structure of the CES-D in Asian adolescents has not been extensively validated. The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Chinese version of the CES-D in a large representative Taiwanese adolescent population.MethodA total of 10 116 adolescents completed the Chinese version of the CES-D. We used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the adequacy of 5 models of the factor structure in adolescents who were divided into 4 groups by sex and age. We also enrolled the variables of suicide tendency, insomnia, and peer relationships into the confirmatory factor analysis to examine the factor structure of the CES-D and examined the correlations between the CES-D factors and these variables.ResultsThe results of this study indicated that the four-factor model (depressed affect, somatic symptoms, interpersonal problems, and positive affect) had the highest validity in Taiwanese adolescents. We also found that although the 4 factors of the CES-D were correlated with each other, their correlations with suicide tendency, insomnia, and peer relationships were different.ConclusionsThis study supported the usefulness of the Chinese version of the CES-D as a tool to understand the concept of depression in Taiwanese adolescents.     

Use of the CogState Brief Battery in the assessment of Alzheimer's disease related cognitive impairment in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study

Abstract

The primary aim of neuropsychology is the understanding of brain-behavior relationships. This necessitates confronting the mind-body problem, and the neuropsychologist must frequently cross between physical and psychological conceptual systems. The localizationist-antilocalizationist controversy can be understood, in part, as a result of different attitudes toward this conceptual difficulty. The tendency to reify the name of complex psychological constructs demonstrated by some of the localizationists continues to muddle both the thinking and research of neuropsychologists. Our increased ability to localize brain lesions through neuroradiographic tests must be paralleled by increased sophistication in analyzing psychological functions. The methods from cognitive psychology offer great promise in the study of ability and disability in neuropsychology.     

Promising application of dynamic nuclear polarization for in vivo (13)C MR imaging

Use of hyperpolarized (13)C in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a new technique that enhances signal tens of thousands-fold. Recent in vivo animal studies of metabolic imaging that used hyperpolarized (13)C demonstrated its potential in many applications for disease indication, metabolic profiling, and treatment monitoring. We review the basic physics for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and in vivo studies reported in prostate cancer research, hepatocellular carcinoma research, diabetes and cardiac applications, brain metabolism, and treatment response as well as investigations of various DNP (13)C substrates.     

In vivo MR quantification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle leakage during low-frequency-ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier opening in swine

Purpose:

To verify that low‐frequency planar ultrasound can be used to disrupt the BBB in large animals, and the usefulness of MRI to quantitatively monitor the delivery of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles into the disrupted regions.

Materials and Methods:

Two groups of swine subjected to craniotomy were sonicated with burst lengths of 30 or 100 ms, and one group of experiment was also performed to confirm the ability of 28‐kHz sonication to open the BBB transcranially. SPIO nanoparticles were administered to the animals after BBB disruption. Procedures were monitored by MRI; SPIO concentrations were estimated by relaxivity mapping.

Results:

Sonication for 30 ms created shallow disruptions near the probe tip; 100‐ms sonications after craniotomy can create larger and more penetrating openings, increasing SPIO leakage ～3.6‐fold than 30‐ms sonications. However, this was accompanied by off‐target effects possibly caused by ultrasonic wave reflection. SPIO concentrations estimated from transverse relaxation rate maps correlated well with direct measurements of SPIO concentration by optical emission spectrometry. We have also shown that transcranial low‐frequency 28‐kHz sonication can induce secure BBB opening from longitudinal MR image follow up to 7 days.

Conclusion:

This study provides valuable information regarding the use low‐frequency ultrasound for BBB disruption and suggest that SPIO nanoparticles has the potential to serve as a thernostic agent in MRI‐guided ultrasound‐enhanced brain drug delivery. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Optimal scanning time window for 18F-FP-(+)-DTBZ (18F-AV-133) summed uptake measurements

¹⁸F-9-fluoropropyl-(+)-dihydrotetrabenazine (¹⁸F-AV-133) is a novel positron emission tomography tracer for imaging the vesicular monoamine transporter II in dopaminergic neuron degeneration, which might be indicative for Parkinson's disease (PD) and other parkinsonism. Studies were performed to optimize the imaging time window for calculating standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) with correlation to distribution volume ratio (DVR) and in differentiating PD from normal controls (NCs).

Methods

Thirteen ¹⁸F-AV-133 positron emission tomography studies were conducted on four NCs (age, 62.3±4.9 years) and nine PD patients (age, 60.8±6.0 years) with Hoehn and Yahr stages 2 to 3. Dynamic images were acquired within 180 min (0–30, 50–140 and 160–180 min) and were rearranged into 14 of 10-min scans. The contralateral striatum was defined as the opposite striatum to the predominantly affected limbs. Volumes of interest (VOIs) of bilateral putamen, caudate nuclei and occipital cortex (OC; as the reference region) were delineated from individual magnetic resonance imaging. SUVRs of striatum to OC were computed from 14 dynamic image sets. The DVRs were computed from Logan graphic analysis by using OC as the input. The performance of SUVR was evaluated based on the correlation of SUVR at each time window to DVR, as well as the Cohen effect size (group mean SUVR difference between PD and NC/standard deviation).

Results

¹⁸F-AV-133 uptake decreased in PD subjects at bilateral striatum especially at contralateral side with posterior putamen predominant as compared with NC. Consistent higher correlations of SUVRs to DVR for all VOIs were observed at later time window and reached to its maximal value of 0.9917 at 90–100 min. The group mean SUVR differences between NC and PD subjects increased and reached relatively stable values after 90 min. The effect sizes for all VOIs were stable across different time window and with the largest value around 90~120 min.

Conclusion

The scanning time of 90–100 min for ¹⁸F-AV-133 is considered as the optimal time window for summed uptake measurements in terms of SUVRs' correlation to DVRs, differential power, stability and clinical feasibility across and between NC and PD patients.