Enhanced discrimination between threatening and safe contexts in high-anxious individuals

Trait anxiety, a stable personality trait associated with increased fear responses to threat, is regarded as a risk factor for the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Although the effect of trait anxiety has been examined with regard to explicit threat cues, little is known about the effect of trait anxiety on contextual threat learning. To assess this issue, extreme groups of low and high trait anxiety underwent a contextual fear conditioning protocol using virtual reality. Two virtual office rooms served as the conditioned contexts. One virtual office room (CXT+) was paired with unpredictable electrical stimuli. In the other virtual office room, no electrical stimuli were delivered (CXT−). High-anxious participants tended to show faster acquisition of startle potentiation in the CXT+ versus the CXT− than low-anxious participants. This enhanced contextual fear learning might function as a risk factor for anxiety disorders that are characterized by sustained anxiety.     

Beneath the surface: hyper-connectivity between caudate and salience regions in ADHD fMRI at rest

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) comprises disturbances in attention, emotional regulation, and reward-related processes. In spite of the...     

PKC isozymes and diacylglycerol-regulated proteins as effectors of growth factor receptors

Growth factors exert their cellular effects through signal transduction pathways that are initiated by the ligation of growth factors to their cell surface receptors. One of the well-established effectors of growth factor receptors is protein kinase C (PKC), a family of serine-threonine kinases that have been known for years as the main target of the phorbol ester tumor promoters. While there is abundant information regarding downstream PKC effectors and partners, how individual PKC isozymes become activated by growth factors and the regulation of receptor function by PKCs is only partially understood. Moreover, the identification of novel “non-kinase” DAG-binding proteins has added a new level of complexity to the field of DAG signaling.     

Towards measurement of the Healthy Ageing Phenotype in lifestyle-based intervention studies

Introduction

Given the biological complexity of the ageing process, there is no single, simple and reliable measure of how healthily someone is ageing. Intervention studies need a panel of measures which capture key features of healthy ageing. To help guide our research in this area, we have adopted the concept of the “Healthy Ageing Phenotype” (HAP) and this study aimed to (i) identify the most important features of the HAP and (ii) identify/develop tools for measurement of those features.

Methods

After a comprehensive assessment of the literature we selected the following domains: physiological and metabolic health, physical capability, cognitive function, social wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing which we hoped would provide a reasonably holistic characterisation of the HAP. We reviewed the literature and identified systematic reviews and/or meta-analysis of cohort studies, and clinical guidelines on outcome measures of these domains relevant to the HAP. Selection criteria for these measures included: frequent use in longitudinal studies of ageing; expected to change with age; evidence for strong association with/prediction of ageing-related phenotypes such as morbidity, mortality and lifespan; whenever possible, focus on studies measuring these outcomes in populations rather than on individuals selected on the basis of a particular disease; (bio)markers that respond to (lifestyle-based) intervention. Proposed markers were exposed to critique in a Workshop held in Newcastle, UK in October 2012.

Results

We have selected a tentative panel of (bio)markers of physiological and metabolic health, physical capability, cognitive function, social wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing which we propose may be useful in characterising the HAP and which may have utility as outcome measures in intervention studies. In addition, we have identified a number of tools which could be applied in community-based intervention studies designed to enhance healthy ageing.

Conclusions

We have proposed, tentatively, a panel of outcome measures which could be deployed in community-based, lifestyle intervention studies. The evidence base for selection of measurement domains is less well developed in some areas e.g. social wellbeing (where the definition of the concept itself remains elusive) and this has implications for the identification of appropriate tools. Although we have developed this panel as potential outcomes for intervention studies, we recognise that broader agreement on the concept of the HAP and on tools for its measurement could have wider utility and e.g. could facilitate comparisons of healthy ageing across diverse study designs and populations.     

Risk factors for enterococcal urinary tract infections: a multinational,retrospective cohort study

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases - Complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI) is a frequent cause of morbidity. In this multinational retrospective cohort study,...     

Brain bases of recovery following cognitive rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury: a preliminary study

Brain Imaging and Behavior - Many patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) have persistent cognitive deficits, including decreased attention and working memory. This preliminary study examined...     

Challenges Associated with Management of Buruli Ulcer/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection in a Treatment Center in Ghana: A Case Series Study

The synergy between Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is well established but not so in Buruli ulcer (BU). We screened confirmed BU cases for HIV infection and followed seven BU/HIV-coinfected patients. Management of BU/HIV was based on the World Health Organization guidelines and patient condition. The HIV positivity among BU patients (8.2%; 11/134) was higher compared with that of general patients attending the facility (4.8%; 718/14,863; P = 0.07) and that of pregnant women alone (2.5%; 279/11,125; P = 0.001). All seven BU/HIV-coinfected cases enrolled in the study presented with very large (category III) lesions with four having multiple lesions compared with 54.5% of category III lesions among HIV-negative BU patients. During the recommended BU treatment with streptomycin and rifampicin (SR) all patients developed immune infiltrates including CD4 T cells in their lesions. However, one patient who received antiretroviral therapy (ART) 1 week after beginning SR treatment developed four additional lesions during antibiotic treatment, while two out of the four who did not receive ART died. Further evidence is required to ascertain the most appropriate time to commence ART in relation to SR treatment to minimize paradoxical reactions.