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OBJECTIVES: Exposure to active mobile phones (MP) has been shown to affect human neural function as shown by the electroencephalogram (EEG). Although it has not been determined whether such effects are harmful, a number of devices have been developed that attempt to minimize these MP-related effects. One such device, the Q Link Ally (QL; Clarus Products, International, L.L.C., San Rafael, CA), is argued to affect the human organism in such a way as to attenuate the effect of MPs. The present pilot study was designed to determine whether there is any indication that QL does alter MP-related effects on the human EEG. DESIGN: Twenty-four (24) subjects participated in a single-blind, fully counterbalanced crossover design in which subjects' resting EEG and phase-locked neural responses to auditory stimuli were assessed under conditions of either active MP or active MP plus QL. RESULTS: The addition of QL to the MP condition increased resting EEG in the gamma range and did so as a function of exposure duration, and it attenuated MP-related effects in the delta and alpha range (at trend-level). The addition of the QL also affected phase-locked neural responses, with a laterality reversal in the alpha range and an alteration to changes over time in the delta range, a reduction of the MP-related beta decrease over time at fronto-posterior sites, and a global reduction in the gamma range that increased as a function of exposure duration. No unambiguous relations were found between these changes and either performance or psychologic state. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that the addition of the QL to active MP-exposure does affect neural function in humans, altering both resting EEG patterns and the evoked neural response to auditory stimuli, and that there is a tendency for some MP-related changes to the EEG to be attenuated by the QL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-related psychological distress (burnout) is a probable cause of drop-out among emotional support volunteers (buddies) who work with people living with AIDS. In addition to the emotional suffering and disruption to both the buddy and the buddied, burnout has significant cost implications for voluntary organizations in terms of training and recruitment. The aim of this study was to identify the demographic, situational and motivational factors associated with burnout among buddies with the intention of identifying individuals at risk at the recruitment stage. A cross-sectional single cohort postal questionnaire study design was used. All buddies registered with the Terrence Higgins Trust, a non-profit making organization set up in the UK to provide education about HIV/AIDS and care for people affected by the virus, were invited to participate. Psychological morbidity was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and motivation was assessed using the Calvert Motivation Checklist. Information on the buddy relationship and the demographic details of each buddy was also collected. Of 586 questionnaires distributed, 324 (55%) were returned. More than 24% of buddies were classified as probable cases of burnout on one or more of the MBI scales but this is lower than has been reported in medical and nursing staff working with people living with AIDS. Although a number of demographic, situational and motivational factors were associated with burnout, logistic regression models were unable to identify a useful proportion of individuals at risk. It was concluded that although burnout is an important psychological factor in retaining volunteers, it was not possible to identify individuals at risk of burning out either from their self-reported motivations or from demographic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the relation between socioeconomic status (SES), vocabulary, and reading in middle childhood, during the transition from primary (elementary) to secondary (high) school. Children (N = 279, 163 girls) completed assessments of everyday and curriculum-related vocabulary, (non)word reading, and reading comprehension at five timepoints from age 10 to 13. Piecewise linear mixed-effects models showed significant growth in everyday vocabulary and word reading between every time point. Curriculum vocabulary and reading comprehension showed significant growth during the school year, but not during the summer holidays. There were significant effects of SES on all measures except word reading; yet, SES differences did not widen over time. Our findings motivate targeted reading and vocabulary support for secondary school students from lower SES backgrounds., (© 2022 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

Despite substantial financial commitment to widening participation activities internationally, robust evidence demonstrating 'what works' in facilitating disadvantaged learners to access Higher Education (HE) is remarkably sparse. Much effort has been directed at measuring immediate post-intervention changes in the aspirations, attitudes and behaviours thought to drive access to HE, rather than actual access itself. Here, we present an innovative quasi-experimental study of a multi-intervention outreach programme (UniConnect) consisting of 1,386 learners from the Aimhigher West Midlands database whose HE application results were known, while controlling for multiple variables, including estimates of deprivation. The results showed that any engagement with UniConnect, no matter how limited, was associated with an improved chance of achieving a place in HE, but the type of engagement, the extent of engagement and the combination of types of engagement all mattered. The more learners engaged with UniConnect, the greater were their chances of HE acceptance, but the benefit of each additional engagement beyond five or six engagements was small. To our knowledge, these findings are the first to indicate the number, type and combinations of interventions that are most effective in supporting progression to HE. These results therefore have important implications for future practice, enabling funding for such work to be used for optimal impact. Furthermore, we found large differences in success between schools, even when controlling for several other variables; a finding which has important implications for future evaluation research., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following conflict of interests: The statistical analyses for this research and an internal report were commissioned to Adrian Burgess and Elisabeth Moores by Aimhigher West Midlands. Matthew S. Horton was employed by Aimhigher West Midlands at the time of writing the paper. Aston University and University of Birmingham both benefit from Aimhigher West Midlands funding. All authors were permitted full academic freedom to present their findings accurately and without bias., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

We reconcile competing theories of the role of phonological memory in reading development, by uncovering their dynamic relationship during the first 5 years of school. Phonological memory, reading and phoneme awareness were assessed in 780 phonics-educated children at age 4, 5, 6 and 9. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that phonological memory loaded onto two factors: verbal short-term memory (verbal STM; phonological tasks that loaded primarily on serial order memory) and nonword repetition. Using longitudinal structural equation models, we found that verbal STM directly predicted early word-level reading from age 4 to 6, reflecting the importance of serial-order memory for letter-by-letter decoding. In contrast, reading had no reciprocal influence on the development of verbal STM. The relationship between nonword repetition and reading was bidirectional across the 5 years of study: nonword repetition and reading predicted each other both directly and indirectly (via phoneme awareness). Indirect effects from nonword repetition (and verbal STM) to reading support the view that phonological memory stimulates phonemically detailed representations through repeated encoding of complex verbal stimuli. Similarly, the indirect influence of reading on nonword repetition suggests that improved reading ability promotes the phoneme-level specificity of phonological representations. Finally, the direct influence from reading to nonword repetition suggests that better readers use orthographic cues to help them remember and repeat new words accurately. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LZfTR0BjE., (© 2020 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Methods for measuring frailty over-emphasise physical health, and consensus for a more holistic approach is increasing. However, holistic tools have had mixed success in meeting the validation criteria required of a frailty index. We report on the further development and validation of a Frailty Tool designed for use in the community with a greater emphasis on psychological markers, Holland et al's Community-Oriented Frailty Index (COM-FI)., Method: A total of 351 participants aged 58-96 were recruited from Retirement Villages and local communities across the West Midlands of the UK. Participants completed a series of measures designed to assess frailty and outcomes associated with frailty over a 2-year period., Results: All three candidate items ('polypharmacy', 'exercise frequency', and the Coronary Heart Disease and Diabetes 'joint effect') were incorporated into the tool, and one variable, 'falls' was removed from the index. The revised COM-FI was shown to be valid and met Rockwood's validation criteria (Rockwood et al., 2006), with the exception that in this specific sample there was no significant gender difference and the index did not predict mortality., Discussion: Overall, the COM-FI is a valid and reliable tool, although the capacity for the COM-FI to predict mortality over a 2-year period remains inconclusive given the small numbers of people at the higher ends of the frailty range. Prediction of need for social care was good, showing the utility of this community based tool., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In vivo, theta (4-7 Hz) and gamma (30-80 Hz) neuronal network oscillations are known to coexist and display phase-amplitude coupling (PAC). However, in vitro, these oscillations have for many years been studied in isolation. Using an improved brain slice preparation technique we have, using co-application of carbachol (10 μM) and kainic acid (150 nM), elicited simultaneous theta (6.6 ± 0.1 Hz) and gamma (36.6 ± 0.4 Hz) oscillations in rodent primary motor cortex (M1). Each oscillation showed greatest power in layer V. Using a variety of time series analyses we detected significant cross-frequency coupling in 74% of slice preparations. Differences were observed in the pharmacological profile of each oscillation. Thus, gamma oscillations were reduced by the GABA A receptor antagonists, gabazine (250 nM and 2 μM), and picrotoxin (50 μM) and augmented by AMPA receptor antagonism with SYM2206 (20 μM). In contrast, theta oscillatory power was increased by gabazine, picrotoxin and SYM2206. GABA B receptor blockade with CGP55845 (5 μM) increased both theta and gamma power, and similar effects were seen with diazepam, zolpidem, MK801 and a series of metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonists. Oscillatory activity at both frequencies was reduced by the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone (200 μM) and by atropine (5 μM). These data show theta and gamma oscillations in layer V of rat M1 in vitro are cross-frequency coupled, and are mechanistically distinct. The development of an in vitro model of phase-amplitude coupled oscillations will facilitate further mechanistic investigation of the generation and modulation of coupled activity in mammalian cortex., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is a telecommunications system widely used by police and emergency services around the world. The Stewart Report on mobile telephony and health raised questions about possible health effects associated with TETRA signals. This study investigates possible effects of TETRA signals on the electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram in human volunteers., Methods: Blinded randomized provocation study with a standardized TETRA signal or sham exposure. In the first of two experiments, police officers had a TETRA set placed first against the left temple and then the upper-left quadrant of the chest and the electroencephalogram was recorded during rest and active cognitive processing. In the second experiment, volunteers were subject to chest exposure of TETRA whilst their electroencephalogram and heart rate variability derived from the electrocardiogram were recorded., Results: In the first experiment, we found that exposure to TETRA had consistent neurophysiological effects on the electroencephalogram, but only during chest exposure, in a pattern suggestive of vagal nerve stimulation. In the second experiment, we observed changes in heart rate variability during exposure to TETRA but the electroencephalogram effects were not replicated., Conclusions: Observed effects of exposure to TETRA signals on the electroencephalogram (first experiment) and electrocardiogram are consistent with vagal nerve stimulation in the chest by TETRA. However given the small effect on heart rate variability and the lack of consistency on the electroencephalogram, it seems unlikely that this will have a significant impact on health. Long-term monitoring of the health of the police force in relation to TETRA use is on-going., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine antepartum and intrapartum factors that are associated with admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) among infants delivered between 36.0 and 42.0 weeks at our institution., Methods: The retrospective cohort study included 73 consecutive NICU admissions and 375 consecutive non-NICU admissions. Data on demographic, antepartum, intrapartum and neonatal factors were collected. The primary endpoint defined was admission to NICU. Univariate analyses using the Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, χ2 Fisher's exact test was performed along with multivariate analysis of significant non-redundant variables., Results: Those with a significantly higher risk of NICU admission underwent induction of labor with prostaglandin analogs (12.5% vs. 24.7%, P=0.007). Length of first stage ≥720 min (33.5% vs. 51.9%, P=0.011), length of second stage of labor ≥240 min (10.6% vs. 31.6%, P<0.001) and prolonged rupture of membranes ≥120 min (54.0% vs. 80.0%, P=0.001) were all associated with an increased chance of NICU admission. Intrapartum factors predictive of NICU admission included administration of meperidine (11.7% vs. 27.4%, P<0.001), presence of preeclampsia (5.5% vs. 0.8%, P=0.015), use of intrapartum IV antihypertensives (1.1% vs. 13.7%, P<0.001), maternal fever (5.3% vs. 31.5%, P<0.001), fetal tachycardia (1.9% vs. 12.3%, P<0.001), and presence of meconium (30% vs. 8%, P<0.001)., Conclusion: Identification of modifiable risk factors may reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality. Results from this study can be used to develop and validate a risk model based on combined antepartum and intrapartum risk factors.

Phonological tasks are highly predictive of reading development but their complexity obscures the underlying mechanisms driving this association. There are three key components hypothesised to drive the relationship between phonological tasks and reading; (a) the linguistic nature of the stimuli, (b) the phonological complexity of the stimuli, and (c) the production of a verbal response. We isolated the contribution of the stimulus and response components separately through the creation of latent variables to represent specially designed tasks that were matched for procedure. These tasks were administered to 570 6 to 7-year-old children along with standardised tests of regular word and non-word reading. A structural equation model, where tasks were grouped according to stimulus, revealed that the linguistic nature and the phonological complexity of the stimulus predicted unique variance in decoding, over and above matched comparison tasks without these components. An alternative model, grouped according to response mode, showed that the production of a verbal response was a unique predictor of decoding beyond matched tasks without a verbal response. In summary, we found that multiple factors contributed to reading development, supporting multivariate models over those that prioritize single factors. More broadly, we demonstrate the value of combining matched task designs with latent variable modelling to deconstruct the components of complex tasks., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Altered state theories of hypnosis posit that a qualitatively distinct state of mental processing, which emerges in those with high hypnotic susceptibility following a hypnotic induction, enables the generation of anomalous experiences in response to specific hypnotic suggestions. If so then such a state should be observable as a discrete pattern of changes to functional connectivity (shared information) between brain regions following a hypnotic induction in high but not low hypnotically susceptible participants. Twenty-eight channel EEG was recorded from 12 high susceptible (highs) and 11 low susceptible (lows) participants with their eyes closed prior to and following a standard hypnotic induction. The EEG was used to provide a measure of functional connectivity using both coherence (COH) and the imaginary component of coherence (iCOH), which is insensitive to the effects of volume conduction. COH and iCOH were calculated between all electrode pairs for the frequency bands: delta (0.1-3.9 Hz), theta (4-7.9 Hz) alpha (8-12.9 Hz), beta1 (13-19.9 Hz), beta2 (20-29.9 Hz) and gamma (30-45 Hz). The results showed that there was an increase in theta iCOH from the pre-hypnosis to hypnosis condition in highs but not lows with a large proportion of significant links being focused on a central-parietal hub. There was also a decrease in beta1 iCOH from the pre-hypnosis to hypnosis condition with a focus on a fronto-central and an occipital hub that was greater in high compared to low susceptibles. There were no significant differences for COH or for spectral band amplitude in any frequency band. The results are interpreted as indicating that the hypnotic induction elicited a qualitative change in the organization of specific control systems within the brain for high as compared to low susceptible participants. This change in the functional organization of neural networks is a plausible indicator of the much theorized "hypnotic-state."

EEG Hyperscanning is a method for studying two or more individuals simultaneously with the objective of elucidating how co-variations in their neural activity (i.e., hyperconnectivity) are influenced by their behavioral and social interactions. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of different hyper-connectivity measures using (i) simulated data, where the degree of coupling could be systematically manipulated, and (ii) individually recorded human EEG combined into pseudo-pairs of participants where no hyper-connections could exist. With simulated data we found that each of the most widely used measures of hyperconnectivity were biased and detected hyper-connections where none existed. With pseudo-pairs of human data we found spurious hyper-connections that arose because there were genuine similarities between the EEG recorded from different people independently but under the same experimental conditions. Specifically, there were systematic differences between experimental conditions in terms of the rhythmicity of the EEG that were common across participants. As any imbalance between experimental conditions in terms of stimulus presentation or movement may affect the rhythmicity of the EEG, this problem could apply in many hyperscanning contexts. Furthermore, as these spurious hyper-connections reflected real similarities between the EEGs, they were not Type-1 errors that could be overcome by some appropriate statistical control. However, some measures that have not previously been used in hyperconnectivity studies, notably the circular correlation co-efficient (CCorr), were less susceptible to detecting spurious hyper-connections of this type. The reason for this advantage in performance is discussed and the use of the CCorr as an alternative measure of hyperconnectivity is advocated.

We observed an anomaly in the human electroencephalogram (EEG) associated with exposure to terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) Radiofrequency Fields (RF). Here, we characterize the time and frequency components of the anomaly and demonstrate that it is an artefact caused by TETRA RF interfering with the EEG recording equipment and not by any direct or indirect effect on the brain., (Copyright © 2013 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Anxiety and fear are often confounded in discussions of human emotions. However, studies of rodent defensive reactions under naturalistic conditions suggest anxiety is functionally distinct from fear. Unambiguous threats, such as predators, elicit flight from rodents (if an escape-route is available), whereas ambiguous threats (e.g., the odor of a predator) elicit risk assessment behavior, which is associated with anxiety as it is preferentially modulated by anti-anxiety drugs. However, without human evidence, it would be premature to assume that rodent-based psychological models are valid for humans. We tested the human validity of the risk assessment explanation for anxiety by presenting 8 volunteers with emotive scenarios and asking them to pose facial expressions. Photographs and videos of these expressions were shown to 40 participants who matched them to the scenarios and labeled each expression. Scenarios describing ambiguous threats were preferentially matched to the facial expression posed in response to the same scenario type. This expression consisted of two plausible environmental-scanning behaviors (eye darts and head swivels) and was labeled as anxiety, not fear. The facial expression elicited by unambiguous threat scenarios was labeled as fear. The emotion labels generated were then presented to another 18 participants who matched them back to photographs of the facial expressions. This back-matching of labels to faces also linked anxiety to the environmental-scanning face rather than fear face. Results therefore suggest that anxiety produces a distinct facial expression and that it has adaptive value in situations that are ambiguously threatening, supporting a functional, risk-assessing explanation for human anxiety.

Background/aims: HO-1 and EETs are functionally linked and their interactions influence body weight, insulin sensitivity, and serum levels of inflammatory cytokines in metabolic syndrome phenotype of HO-2 null mice. The HO-2 isozyme is essential for regulating physiological levels of ROS. Recent studies have suggested a potential role of EET in modifying adipocyte differentiation through up-regulation of HO-1-adiponectin-AkT signaling in human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Our aim was to examine the consequences of HO deficiency on MSC-derived adipogenesis in vitro using MSC derived from HO-2 null and WT mice in vivo., Methods: Four-month-old HO-2 null (HO-2(-/-)) and B6/129SF2/J (WT) mice were divided into three groups (four mice/group): WT, HO-2(-/-), and HO-2(-/-) +CoPP. Adipogenesis was performed on purified MSC-derived adipocytes cultured in adipogenic differentiation media and an EET-agonist was added every 3 days., Results: HO-2 depletion of MSC adipocytes resulted in increased adipogenesis (p<0.01) and increased levels of inflammatory cytokines including (TNF)-alpha (p<0.05), (MCP)-1 (p<0.05), and (IL-1)-beta (p<0.05). These results were accompanied by decreases in HO-1 (p<0.05) and subsequently EET and HO activity (p<0.05). Up-regulation of HO-1 resulted in decreased MSC-derived adipocyte differentiation, decreased production of TNF-alpha and MCP-1 and increased levels of adiponectin (p<0.05). Cyp2J5 (p<0.05), HO-1 (p<0.05), and adiponectin mRNA levels (p<0.05) were also decreased in visceral adipose tissue isolated from HO-2 null compared to WT mice. EET agonist stimulation of MSC adipocytes derived from HO-2 null mice yielded similar results., Conclusion: Increased levels of EET and HO-1 are essential for protection against the adverse effects of adipocyte hypertrophy and the ensuing metabolic syndrome. These results offer a portal into therapeutic approaches for the prevention of the metabolic syndrome., (Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Although event-related potentials (ERPs) are widely used to study sensory, perceptual and cognitive processes, it remains unknown whether they are phase-locked signals superimposed upon the ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG) or result from phase-alignment of the EEG. Previous attempts to discriminate between these hypotheses have been unsuccessful but here a new test is presented based on the prediction that ERPs generated by phase-alignment will be associated with event-related changes in frequency whereas evoked-ERPs will not. Using empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which allows measurement of narrow-band changes in the EEG without predefining frequency bands, evidence was found for transient frequency slowing in recognition memory ERPs but not in simulated data derived from the evoked model. Furthermore, the timing of phase-alignment was frequency dependent with the earliest alignment occurring at high frequencies. Based on these findings, the Firefly model was developed, which proposes that both evoked and induced power changes derive from frequency-dependent phase-alignment of the ongoing EEG. Simulated data derived from the Firefly model provided a close match with empirical data and the model was able to account for i) the shape and timing of ERPs at different scalp sites, ii) the event-related desynchronization in alpha and synchronization in theta, and iii) changes in the power density spectrum from the pre-stimulus baseline to the post-stimulus period. The Firefly Model, therefore, provides not only a unifying account of event-related changes in the EEG but also a possible mechanism for cross-frequency information processing.

Epoxygenase activity and synthesis of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) have emerged as important modulators of obesity and diabetes. We examined the effect of the EET-agonist 12-(3-hexylureido)dodec-8(2) enoic acid on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) derived adipocytes proliferation and differentiation. MSCs expressed substantial levels of EETs and inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) increased the level of EETs and decreased adipogenesis. EET agonist treatment increased HO-1 expression by inhibiting a negative regulator of HO-1 expression, Bach-1. EET treatment also increased βcatenin and pACC levels while decreasing PPARγ C/EBPα and fatty acid synthase levels. These changes were manifested by a decrease in the number of large inflammatory adipocytes, TNFα, IFNγ and IL-1α, but an increase in small adipocytes and in adiponectin levels. In summary, EET agonist treatment inhibits adipogenesis and decreases the levels of inflammatory cytokines suggesting the potential action of EETs as intracellular lipid signaling modulators of adipogenesis and adiponectin., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: Ecstasy is a recreational drug whose active ingredient, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), acts predominantly on the serotonergic system. Although MDMA is known to be neurotoxic in animals, the long-term effects of recreational Ecstasy use in humans remain controversial but one commonly reported consequence is mild cognitive impairment particularly affecting verbal episodic memory. Although event-related potentials (ERPs) have made significant contributions to our understanding of human memory processes, until now they have not been applied to study the long-term effects of Ecstasy. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of past Ecstasy use on recognition memory for both verbal and non-verbal stimuli using ERPs., Methods: We compared the ERPs of 15 Ecstasy/polydrug users with those of 14 cannabis users and 13 non-illicit drug users as controls., Results: Despite equivalent memory performance, Ecstasy/polydrug users showed an attenuated late positivity over left parietal scalp sites, a component associated with the specific memory process of recollection., Conclusions: [corrected] This effect was only found in the word recognition task which is consistent with evidence that left hemisphere cognitive functions are disproportionately affected by Ecstasy, probably because the serotonergic system is laterally asymmetrical. Experimentally, decreasing central serotonergic activity through acute tryptophan depletion also selectively impairs recollection, and this too suggests the importance of the serotonergic system. Overall, our results suggest that Ecstasy users, who also use a wide range of other drugs, show a durable abnormality in a specific ERP component thought to be associated with recollection.

If, as is widely believed, schizophrenia is characterized by abnormalities of brain functional connectivity, then it seems reasonable to expect that different subtypes of schizophrenia could be discriminated in the same way. However, evidence for differences in functional connectivity between the subtypes of schizophrenia is largely lacking and, where it exists, it could be accounted for by clinical differences between the patients (e.g. medication) or by the limitations of the measures used. In this study, we measured EEG functional connectivity in unmedicated male patients diagnosed with either positive or negative syndrome schizophrenia and compared them with age and sex matched healthy controls. Using new methodology (Medkour et al., 2009) based on partial coherence, brain connectivity plots were constructed for positive and negative syndrome patients and controls. Reliable differences in the pattern of functional connectivity were found with both syndromes showing not only an absence of some of the connections that were seen in controls but also the presence of connections that the controls did not show. Comparing connectivity graphs using the Hamming distance, the negative-syndrome patients were found to be more distant from the controls than were the positive syndrome patients. Bootstrap distributions of these distances were created which showed a significant difference in the mean distances that was consistent with the observation that negative-syndrome diagnosis is associated with a more severe form of schizophrenia. We conclude that schizophrenia is characterized by widespread changes in functional connectivity with negative syndrome patients showing a more extreme pattern of abnormality than positive syndrome patients., ((c) 2010 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The hypothesis that aspects of current mother-infant interactions predict an infant's response to maternal infant-directed speech (IDS) was tested. Relative to infants of non-depressed mothers, those of depressed mothers acquired weaker voice-face associations in response to their own mothers' IDS in a conditioned-attention paradigm, although this was partially attributable to demographic differences between the two groups. The extent of fundamental frequency modulation (DeltaF(0)) in maternal IDS was smaller for infants of depressed than non-depressed mothers, but did not predict infant learning. However, Emotional Availability Scale ratings of maternal sensitivity, coded from videotapes of mothers and infants engaged in a brief play interaction, were significant predictors of infant learning, even after maternal depression, its demographic correlates, and antidepressant medication use had been taken into account. These findings are consistent with a role for experience-dependent processes in determining IDS's effects on infant learning.

Adiponectin, an abundant adipocyte-derived plasma protein that modulates vascular function in type 2 diabetes, has been shown to provide cytoprotection to both pancreatic and vascular systems in diabetes. Therefore, we examined whether up-regulation of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 ameliorates the levels of inflammatory cytokines and influences serum adiponectin in Zucker fat (ZF) rats. ZF rats displayed a decrease in both HO activity and HO-1 and HO-2 protein levels and an increase in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 compared with Zucker lean (ZL) rats. Treatment of ZF animals with 2 mg/kg cobalt protoporphyrin IX (CoPP) increased protein levels of HO-1 and HO activity, but HO-2 was unaffected. The increase in HO-1 was associated with a decrease in superoxide levels (p < 0.05) and an increase in plasma adiponectin (p < 0.005), compared with untreated ZF rats. CoPP treatment decreased visceral and s.c. fat content, and it reduced weight gain (p < 0.01). In addition, the inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 were decreased (p < 0.04 and p < 0.008, respectively). Treatment of human bone marrow-derived adipocytes cultured with CoPP resulted in an increase in HO-1 and a decrease in superoxide levels. Up-regulation of HO-1 caused adipose remodeling, smaller adipocytes, and increased adiponectin secretion in the culture medium of human bone marrow-derived adipocytes. In summary, this study demonstrates that the antiobesity effect of HO-1 induction results in an increase in adiponectin secretion, in vivo and in vitro, a decrease in TNF-alpha and IL-6, and a reduction in weight gain. These findings highlight the pivotal role and symbiotic relationship of HO-1 and adiponectin in the modulation of the metabolic syndrome phenotype.

Infant-directed (ID) speech produced by fathers who varied in their number of self-reported symptoms of depressed was analyzed for differences its ability to promote infant voice-face associative learning. Infants of fathers with elevated scores on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) showed significantly poorer learning than did infants of fathers with non-elevated BDI-II scores when their fathers' ID speech served as a conditioned stimulus for a face reinforcer in a conditioned-attention paradigm. Fathers with elevated BDI-II scores produced ID speech with marginally significantly lower F0 variability than fathers with non-elevated BDI-II scores. However, F0-related cues were uncorrelated with infant learning. Overall, fathers' ID speech contained significantly less F0 modulation than did mothers' ID speech. These findings show that paternal depression, like maternal depression, adversely affects infant learning in a conditioned-attention paradigm.

This study sought to explore whether the so-called 'paradoxical' task-related increases in the alpha bandwidth of the human electroencephalogram result from increases in evoked (phase locked), as opposed to induced (non-phase locked), activity. The electroencephalograms of 18 participants were recorded while they engaged in both auditory sensory-intake tasks (listening to randomly generated 'tunes') and internally directed attention tasks (imagining the same randomly generated tunes) matched for auditory input. Measures of evoked (phase locked) and induced (non-phase locked) activity were compared between tasks. Increases in induced alpha power were found during internal attention. No experimental effects were observed for evoked activity. These results are not entirely consistent with proposals that 'paradoxical' alpha indexes the evoked inhibition of task irrelevant processing.

One developing theme in consciousness research is that consciousness is not the product of any specific component of the brain, rather it is an emergent property of the changing patterns of connectivity between different specialised functional components. For example, the dynamic core hypothesis proposes that conscious experience requires high levels of neural complexity, where complexity is defined in terms of functional connectivity. To test this hypothesis, electroencephalography was recorded while participants were shown random dot-stereograms. Consistent with the dynamic core hypothesis, neural complexity increased as the participants changed from simply viewing the stereogram to consciously perceiving the hidden 3D image.

Although slow waves of the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been associated with attentional processes, the functional significance of the alpha component in the EEG (8.1-12 Hz) remains uncertain. Conventionally, synchronisation in the alpha frequency range is taken to be a marker of cognitive inactivity, i.e. 'cortical idling'. However, it has been suggested that alpha may index the active inhibition of sensory information during internally directed attentional tasks such as mental imagery. More recently, this idea has been amended to encompass the notion of alpha synchronisation as a means of inhibition of non-task relevant cortical areas irrespective of the direction of attention. Here we test the adequacy of the one idling and two inhibition hypotheses about alpha. In two experiments we investigated the relation between alpha and internally vs. externally directed attention using mental imagery vs. sensory-intake paradigms. Results from both experiments showed a clear relationship between alpha and both attentional factors and increased task demands. At various scalp sites alpha amplitudes were greater during internally directed attention and during increased load, results incompatible with alpha reflecting cortical idling and more in keeping with suggestions of active inhibition necessary for internally driven mental operations.

We examined two subjectively distinct memory states that are elicited during recognition memory in humans and compared them in terms of the gamma oscillations (20-60 Hz) in the electroencepahalogram (EEG) that they induced. These subjective states, 'recollection' and 'familiarity' both entail correct recognition but one involves a clear and conscious recollection of the event including memory for contextual detail whilst the other involves a sense of familiarity without clear recollection. Here we show that during a verbal recognition memory test, the subjective experience of 'recollection' induced higher amplitude gamma oscillations than the subjective experience of 'familiarity' in the time period 300-500 ms after stimulus presentation. Recollection, but not familiarity, was also associated with greater functional connectivity in the gamma frequency range between frontal and parietal sites. Furthermore, the magnitude of the gamma functional connectivity varied over time and was modulated at 3 Hz. Previous studies in animals have shown local theta frequency modulation (3-7 Hz) of gamma-oscillations but this is the first time that a similar effect has been reported in the human EEG.

Objectives: Mobile phones (MP) are used extensively and yet little is known about the effects they may have on human physiology. There have been conflicting reports regarding the relation between MP use and the electroencephalogram (EEG). The present study suggests that this conflict may be due to methodological differences such as exposure durations, and tests whether exposure to an active MP affects EEG as a function of time., Methods: Twenty-four subjects participated in a single-blind fully counterbalanced cross-over design, where both resting EEG and phase-locked neural responses to auditory stimuli were measured while a MP was either operating or turned off., Results: MP exposure altered resting EEG, decreasing 1-4 Hz activity (right hemisphere sites), and increasing 8-12 Hz activity as a function of exposure duration (midline posterior sites). MP exposure also altered early phase-locked neural responses, attenuating the normal response decrement over time in the 4-8 Hz band, decreasing the response in the 1230 Hz band globally and as a function of time, and increasing midline frontal and lateral posterior responses in the 30-45 Hz band., Conclusions: Active MPs affect neural function in humans and do so as a function of exposure duration. The temporal nature of this effect may contribute to the lack of consistent results reported in the literature.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in the gamma frequency range and conscious awareness of a visual stimulus. EEG was recorded from subjects while they were shown backward-masked words only some of which they were able to discriminate correctly. The results showed that activity in the gamma frequency range increased with reported awareness of a word independently of whether it was correctly discriminated or not. It is concluded that gamma power is associated with awareness-dependent visual processing but not with processing that occurs in the absence of awareness.

The objective of the study was to define common reasons for non-adherence (NA) to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and the number of reasons reported by non-adherent individuals. A confidential questionnaire was administered to HIV-seropositive patients taking proteinase inhibitor based HAART. Median self-reported adherence was 95% (n = 178, range = 60-100%). The most frequent reasons for at least 'sometimes' missing a dose were eating a meal at the wrong time (38.2%), oversleeping (36.3%), forgetting (35.0%) and being in a social situation (30.5%). The mean number of reasons occurring at least 'sometimes' was 3.2; 20% of patients gave six or more reasons; those reporting the lowest adherence reported a significantly greater numbers of reasons (rho = - 0.59; p < 0.001). Three factors were derived from the data by principal component analysis reflecting 'negative experiences of HAART', 'having a low priority for taking medication' and 'unintentionally missing doses', accounting for 53.8% of the variance. On multivariate analysis only the latter two factors were significantly related to NA (odds ratios 0.845 and 0.849, respectively). There was a wide spectrum of reasons for NA in our population. The number of reasons in an individual increased as adherence became less. A variety of modalities individualized for each patient are required to support patients with the lowest adherence.

This study investigated the contribution of psychological factors to disease progression among long-term HIV-1 infected gay men. Participants completed self-report measures including coping strategies, life events, social support, personality and psychological morbidity and were followed clinically for up to 30 months. Cox proportional hazards survival analyses were carried out to CD4<200 x 106/1 and AIDS-related complex (ARC) or AIDS diagnosis controlling for viral load, antiretroviral drug use and CD4 count. Only acceptance coping was a significant predictor of time to ARC or AIDS diagnosis: the risk of ARC or AIDS was almost 5 times greater for those scoring within the lowest tertile compared with those scoring in the highest tertile (HR=4.7, 95% CI 1.8-12.3).

Although memory has been widely studied using event-related potentials, memory-related changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been relatively neglected. The aim of this study was to determine whether evidence could be found for memory-related changes in the EEG. EEG was recorded from a sample of healthy volunteers while they performed word and face recognition memory tasks. Data were analyzed using the method of event-related desynchronization. In the theta frequency range there was a short-duration increase in power that occurred in the first 250 ms that was maximal at temporal sites (T5/T6). For words, but not faces, there was a repetition effect in theta such that new words elicited greater synchronization than old words at the midline frontal electrode (Fz). In the alpha frequency range there was a lateralized repetition effect, which occurred from 750 ms. In upper alpha this effect was lateralized in the expected way with greater desynchronization at temporo-parietal sites on the left for words and on the right for faces. For lower alpha, the lateralization was reversed. The meanings of these findings are interpreted in the light of existing models of recognition memory.

Objective: To determine the role of health status, personality and coping style, on self-report health-related quality of life (QoL)., Methods: Participants were HIV seropositive individuals at all disease stages from three samples (a) gay/bisexual men from the UK, (b) injecting drug users from the UK, (c) injecting drug users from Italy. All participants completed questionnaires evaluating QoL, personality, coping style and social support. Explicit models of the relationships between the measured variables based on a review of the literature were tested using structural equation modelling., Results: Health status was modestly associated with the physical but not the psychological aspects of QoL (beta = 0.44). Neuroticism was strongly associated with psychological QoL (beta = -0.73) but only weakly with physical QoL (beta = -0.21). The samples did not differ in either the pattern or the magnitude of these relationships. Mediating factors such as coping style, social support and other personality variables had only a weak influence on the role of Neuroticism., Conclusions: Neuroticism had a strong influence on health-related QoL that was independent of health status. Neuroticism was more strongly associated with the psychological aspects of QoL than health status. Coping styles and the other psychological variables assessed had only a weak mediating influence on this relationship.

Although quality of life evaluations are widely used throughout medicine, relatively little is known about the psychological processes involved in making these judgements. What is known is that quality of life judgements are not straightforwardly associated with objective measures of health status or clinician ratings. In particular, patient affect appears to be associated with quality of life ratings but whether this relationship is secondary to physical health or not is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the role of anxiety and depression in the reporting of quality of life in a group of patients with diabetes mellitus. One hundred consecutive patients with diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus n = 36 and non-insulin-dependent diabetes n = 64) were assessed using a self-report measure of quality of life, a symptom checklist and a questionnaire measure of anxiety and depression. In addition, they were independently rated for their level of physical impairment. The results showed that depression and, to a lesser extent, anxiety were significantly related to self-reported quality of life even when the differences in physical health and age were controlled for statistically. This study shows that, independent of the level of physical illness, affect, particularly depressive affect, is an important factor in the determination of quality of life.

The Sexual Risk Cognitions Questionnaire was designed to assess the type and frequency of cognitions associated with unsafe sex. It consists of 22 core items (SRCQ-22) with six subsections. Each subsection consists of 8-12 items designed for specific subgroups defined by gender, sexual orientation and HIV serostatus. Data on reliability and validity are presented based on a sample of 344 respondents in London. Reliability for all sections of the questionnaire was high but sample numbers were relatively small for some subsections. Validity for the SRCQ-22 was assessed in terms of its relationship with self-reported sexual behaviour among men who have sex with men who made up the largest proportion (70%) of the sample. The results indicate that the SRCQ-22 is a reliable measure for assessing cognitions related to HIV risk sexual behaviour in this population and supports the view that they are important determinants of safe and unsafe behaviour.

If topographical EEG is to be a useful tool for localising cerebral processes, then the results of the same, or closely similar experiments, using different samples should yield similar results. Although the reliability of EEG is well established in other ways, there is little available data on the reproducibility of EEG topography across experiments. The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility of topographical EEG by comparing the results of two independently conducted experiments. EEG was recorded during an Eyes Open baseline and a motor task condition (the Luria finger opposition task) in two independent samples of healthy subjects. EEG was recorded in 2.56-s epochs and analysed by FFT into conventional theta, alpha and beta 1 frequency bands. The EEG amplitude for each subject in each frequency range was averaged over a minimum of 60 s. Separate group averages for each sample were calculated and the resulting topographical distributions of electrical potential and current density were compared. The results indicated that the reproducibility of electrical potential in the theta and beta 1 frequency ranges was extremely poor and only approached acceptable levels in alpha. Reproducibility of current source density was poor in all frequency ranges. Although some improvement in reproducibility was obtained following spatial smoothing for alpha potential, the highest reproducibility achieved was only 0.65. Reasons for the poor reproducibility of topographical EEG and the implications of these findings are discussed.

Structures within the medial temporal lobe, particularly the hippocampus, have long been implicated in human episodic memory. The same structures are known to generate EEG in the theta frequency range in animals. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the time course of changes in the human theta rhythm during a word recognition memory task. In the period 125-250 ms after the visual presentation of a word, theta power increased by an average of 13% compared with the prestimulus baseline period and this increase was more than twice as great for repeated words (18%) as for new ones (8%). These results show that there are short duration changes in the human theta rhythm associated with recognition memory.

The aim of this study was to explore the ability of epoch-averaged electroencephalogram (EEG) to localize cognitive functions. The EEG was recorded in healthy individuals performing a task where, on the basis of evidence from other functional brain imaging techniques, there was a high expectation of where functional changes would be expected. Topographical EEG was recorded while individuals performed recognition memory tasks for words and faces. Comparison of the acquisition and recognition phases of the experiment showed significant attenuation of alpha, beta 1, and beta 2 in the right temporoparietal region for the faces but no significant changes for words. Left temporoparietal changes for the word task were only seen among the women. The results confirmed the validity of EEG for use in the localization of cognitive function for faces for men and women but in the case of words for the women only.

Objective: To assess the reliability and validity of an HIV-specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaire for use with injecting drug users (IDU)., Method: One hundred IDU with HIV infection (27 asymptomatic, 48 symptomatic, 25 with AIDS) completed the HIV adaptation of the Medical Outcomes Study questionnaire (MOS-HIV). Validity of the scale was assessed by comparing the scores on the MOS-HIV with measures of health and psychological status. Measures of health status used included Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stage, CD4 cell count and number of HIV-related illnesses. Psychological status was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Sociodemographic data and information on illegal drug consumption were also collected., Results: The MOS-HIV showed a good internal reliability on all scales and the factor structure was comparable with that reported from previous studies. The psychological scales from the MOS-HIV showed good concurrent validity. For the physical aspects of QoL, however, some scales were poor at discriminating between different HIV disease stages. One reason for this may have been that factors associated with a history of injecting drug use had a significant negative impact on QoL, particularly for asymptomatic patients. It was notable that QoL in asymptomatic infection was found to be substantially lower than has been reported for gay/bisexual men using the same instruments and was more strongly associated with factors related to drug use rather than to HIV disease status., Conclusion: The MOS-HIV is a reliable and valid measure, but in patients with a history of injecting drug use some of the scales measuring the physical aspects of QoL may be relatively insensitive to changes in health.

The aim of this study was to examine the spatio-temporal reliability of EEG power during the baseline period of an event-related desynchronisation (ERD) experiment. The data were analysed using ideas from generalisability theory. The largest sources of variance were found to be associated with differences between subjects (subject main effect), and to idiosyncratic topographical distributions (subject x electrode interaction). The resulting spatio-temporal reliabilities exceeded 0.7, except in theta and the absolute power values were relatively stable. Overall, this study gives further support for the reliability of quantitative EEG measures in general and for the method of ERD in particular.

HIV infection is associated with substantial psychological and social morbidity, although there is a dearth of studies of women with the infection. In recent years, developed countries have reported an increase in the prevalence of HIV infection in women, a fact that makes it all the more important to address the study of their psychological and social status. The study is a controlled investigation of HIV seropositive (n = 49) and seronegative women (n = 43), including study of psychological status and history, social functioning and perceived supports, coping style, life events, and sexual difficulties. The results show that about a third of women were psychiatric cases, regardless of HIV status, although more than half of symptomatic women were psychiatric cases. Seropositive women were less likely to use instrumental social supports and more likely to use mental disengagement as ways of coping. Regarding perceived social supports, positive women had lower scores on social integration and guidance. Positive women were more likely to experience sexual difficulties and not to be in a relationship. Negative women reported more adverse life events in the last 6 months. Psychiatric morbidity was associated with poorer social adjustment and more adverse life events, but not with serostatus. HIV positive women and those at risk of HIV infection have substantial levels of psychological and social morbidity that require recognition by those involved in their care and provision of adequate mental health intervention.

To examine the role of acute hepatitis A and B infection in the aetiology of chronic fatigue syndrome and psychiatric morbidity we studied 40 patients with acute viral hepatitis A or B consecutively admitted to an infectious diseases unit and studied at least 6 months after recovery. Liver function tests (LFT) had returned to normal in each case. Forty-seven patients with other infectious diseases, of which 12 were presumed viral, admitted immediately after each hepatitis patient during the same period acted as controls. The main outcome measures were scores on a fatigue and muscle pain questionnaire, general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and supplementary questions. The hepatitis cases scored significantly higher fatigue scores, GHQ-12 scores and muscle pain scores. Length of time since recovery from illness, age and sex were not confounding factors. Hepatitis cases were also less energetic, had greater weight change, had altered alcohol tolerance, had less exercise tolerance and felt less fit than the control group and compared with their premorbid state. Hence fatigue is more common after recovery in patients hospitalized for hepatitis A and B up to 30 months post-infection compared with matched controls hospitalized for other infectious diseases. Hepatitis A and B infection is a risk factor for post-infection fatigue, intermittent fatigue, as well as for psychiatric morbidity.

The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV infection is associated with increased psychosocial distress in the asymptomatic and early symptomatic stages of disease and to determine the factors associated with reporting health symptoms. Subjects included 61 gay men (41 HIV--, 20 HIV+) who were assessed at the time of requesting their first HIV test and again 12 months later. Measures included a detailed standardized psychiatric interview (Present State Examination, PSE), a range of psychosocial self-report measures and a physical symptom checklist. There were no differences between the HIV+ and HIV-- groups in terms of self-reported symptoms. Multiple regression analysis showed that the symptom reporting was not associated with clinical or immunological markers of disease progression but was associated with measures of psychosocial distress. Although both groups showed elevated levels of psychosocial distress at the time of HIV testing, there were no differences between serostatus groups at follow-up. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the best predictors of PSE scores at follow-up were baseline PSE score and a history of psychiatric illness. Early HIV disease is not associated with increased psychosocial distress and symptom reporting is more closely related to psychological measures than to clinical or immunological markers of disease.

The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV infection is associated with neurological or neuropsychological impairment in the asymptomatic and early symptomatic stages of disease. Subjects included 61 gay men (41 HIV-, 20 HIV+) who were assessed at the time of requesting their first HIV test and again 12 months later. The assessments at baseline were conducted double-blind to HIV serostatus. Measures included a neuropsychological battery, neurological examination and full psychiatric assessment. There were no differences between the asymptomatic HIV+ and HIV- groups at baseline or at follow-up in terms of mean scores on neuropsychological tests. Mean scores were within the normal range for all neuropsychological tests for both groups. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict each individual's performance at follow-up on the basis of their baseline performance, psychiatric state, neurological history and drug use for each of the neuropsychological tests. HIV+ subjects were more likely than control subjects to perform at a significantly lower level at follow-up on one or more tests than predicted on the basis of their baseline performance.

The aim of the study was to determine the reliability and validity of a self-report symptom checklist designed for use in HIV infection. One hundred and seventy-one gay men completed a 28-item symptom checklist which produces 3 dimensions: physical, cognitive and psychological. The validity of each dimension was examined by comparing scores on the checklist with indices of disease progression and previously validated psychological scales. People with more advanced HIV disease had higher scores on the physical and cognitive checklists, though the psychological scale was not related to disease stage. All the scales showed moderate correlations with measures of psychological health. Examination of individual item responses suggested that patients over-reported the presence of some symptoms. Although individual items should be interpreted with caution, the overall scores of the RSC are reliable and valid as measures of subjective health status in HIV infection. The importance of psychological factors in the reporting of symptoms suggests that symptom checklists should be interpreted in the light of adequate measures of psychological state.

A nutritional status survey of children aged 0-5 years was carried out in a lake shore district in Malawi. Anthropometric and clinical studies indicated a high overall prevalence (14%) of Protein-Calorie Malnutrition (PCM), particularly among the 1- to 1 1/2-year-olds. Few signs of vitamin deficiencies were seen but iron deficient anaemia was common at all ages, 68% being below the acceptable haemoglobin level. Sixty percent of children had malaria parasitaemia and 25% conjunctivitis. Under-five mortality was estimated to lie between 31 and 44%. Muslim children had a higher mortality and prevalence of PCM and fewer of their fathers had been to school. It is suspected that many cases of undernutrition go unrecognized because of uniform stunting occurs and ages are not known. It is recommended therefore that medical units use a local calendar, similar to that evolved for the survey, in order to estimate ages more accurately.