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BackgroundDiabetes mellitus related medial column foot deformity is a major contributor to ulceration and amputation. However, little is known about the relationship between medial column alignment and function and the integrity of the soft tissues that support and move the medial column. The purposes of this study were to determine the predictors of medial column alignment and function in people with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy.Methods23 participants with diabetes and neuropathy had radiographs, heel rise kinematics, magnetic resonance imaging and isokinetic muscle testing to measure: 1) medial column alignment (Meary's angle--the angle between the 1st metatarsal longitudinal axis and the talar head and neck), 2) medial column function (forefoot relative to hindfoot plantarflexion during heel rise), 3) intrinsic foot muscle and fat volume, ratio of posterior tibialis to flexor digitorum tendon volume, 4) plantar fascia function (Meary's angle change from toes flat to extended) and 5) plantarflexor peak torque. Predictors of medial column alignment and function were determined using simultaneous entry multiple regression.FindingsPosterior tibialis to flexor digitorum tendon volume ratio and intrinsic foot muscle volume were significant predictors of medial column alignment (P

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) have difficulties regulating emotion on their own. As people also use social resources to regulate emotion (i.e., interpersonal emotion regulation [IER]), we examined whether these difficulties extend to IER in current and remitted MDD compared to those with no psychiatric disorders (i.e., controls). Adults with current MDD (n = 48), remitted MDD (n = 80), and controls (n = 87) assessed via diagnostic interviewing completed 2-week experience sampling, reporting on how frequently (IER frequency), from whom (sharing partners), and why (IER goals) they sought IER; how the sharing partners responded (sharing partner's extrinsic IER strategies and warmth); and how their feelings about the problem and the sharing partner changed following IER (IER outcomes). Using multilevel modeling, the current-MDD group did not differ from controls in IER frequency and sharing partners, but the current-MDD group demonstrated a more mixed (albeit generally adaptive) profile of received IER strategies and benefited similarly or more from certain IER strategies than the other two groups, suggesting that IER may be a promising avenue for effective emotion regulation in current MDD. The remitted-MDD group sought IER most frequently and demonstrated the most adaptive profile of received IER strategies, and they and the current-MDD group reported seeking more types of IER goals than controls. People with remitted MDD seem highly motivated to pursue IER support and their pursuit takes place in particularly supportive social contexts. Research is needed to examine mechanisms driving these group differences and how IER predicts the course of MDD. General Scientific Summary: In efforts to investigate whether emotion regulation (ER) difficulties in major depressive disorder (MDD) extend to social context, this study examined everyday interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) among adults with current MDD, those whose MDD was in remission, and a healthy control group using the experience sampling method. Although groups showed many similarities in IER processes, they differed in several aspects of IER, including intrinsic IER frequency and goals, extrinsic IER strategies received from others, and IER outcomes following certain IER strategies. This research represents initial efforts to elucidate the characteristics and utility of everyday IER at different stages of MDD and provides preliminary evidence that IER may be a promising avenue for effective ER in MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Whether, and if so when, a second-ear cochlear implant should be provided to older, unilaterally implanted children is an ongoing clinical question. This study evaluated rate of speech recognition progress for the second implanted ear and with bilateral cochlear implants in older sequentially implanted children and evaluated localization abilities. Method: A prospective longitudinal study included 24 bilaterally implanted children (mean ear surgeries at 5.11 and 14.25 years). Test intervals were every 3-6 months through 24 months postbilateral. Test conditions were each ear and bilaterally for speech recognition and localization. Results: Overall, the rate of progress for the second implanted ear was gradual. Improvements in quiet continued through the second year of bilateral use. Improvements in noise were more modest and leveled off during the second year. On all measures, results from the second ear were poorer than the first. Bilateral scores were better than either ear alone for all measures except sentences in quiet and localization. Conclusions: Older sequentially implanted children with several years between surgeries may obtain speech understanding in the second implanted ear; however, performance may be limited and rate of progress gradual. Continued contralateral ear hearing aid use and reduced time between surgeries may enhance outcomes.

In two studies, participants completed an implicit attractiveness task with faces as primes varying on (a) facial features from Afrocentric to Eurocentric and (b) skin tone from dark to light, and target pictures of environmental scenes varying in attractiveness. On each trial, participants were briefly primed with a face. Next, they categorized a target picture as either attractive or unattractive as quickly as possible. In addition, in Study 2, participants rated the same faces on an attractiveness scale. While results of Study 1 showed that when faces were medium in skin tone, participants were more accurate when primed with a Eurocentric face responding to attractive targets, but also more accurate when primed with an Afrocentric face responding to unattractive targets, a more powerful Study 2 failed to replicate this effect. There was no relationship between participants' explicit ratings of attractiveness and accuracy rates in the implicit attractiveness task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Whether, and if so when, a second-ear cochlear implant should be provided to older, unilaterally implanted children is an ongoing clinical question. This study evaluated rate of speech recognition progress for the second implanted ear and with bilateral cochlear implants in older sequentially implanted children and evaluated localization abilities. Method: A prospective longitudinal study included 24 bilaterally implanted children (mean ear surgeries at 5.11 and 14.25 years). Test intervals were every 3-6 months through 24 months postbilateral. Test conditions were each ear and bilaterally for speech recognition and localization. Results: Overall, the rate of progress for the second implanted ear was gradual. Improvements in quiet continued through the second year of bilateral use. Improvements in noise were more modest and leveled off during the second year. On all measures, results from the second ear were poorer than the first. Bilateral scores were better than either ear alone for all measures except sentences in quiet and localization. Conclusions: Older sequentially implanted children with several years between surgeries may obtain speech understanding in the second implanted ear; however, performance may be limited and rate of progress gradual. Continued contralateral ear hearing aid use and reduced time between surgeries may enhance outcomes., Bilateral cochlear implantation in children has become more prevalent (Peters, Wyss, & Manrique, 2010) with sequential implantation more common than simultaneous procedures. The dominance of sequential implantation has been driven [...]

Background: Deficits in goal-directed behavior (i.e. behavior conducted to achieve a specific goal or outcome) are core to schizophrenia, difficult to treat, and associated with poor functional outcomes. Factors such as negative symptoms, effort-cost decision-making, cognition, and functional skills have all been associated with goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia as indexed by clinical interviews or laboratory-based tasks. However, little work has examined whether these factors relate to the real-world pursuit of goal-directed activities in this population. Methods: This study aimed to fill this gap by using Ecological Momentary Assessment (four survey prompts per day for 1 week) to test hypotheses about symptom, effort allocation, cognitive, and functional measures associated with planned and completed goal-directed behavior in the daily lives of 63 individuals with schizophrenia. Results: Individuals with schizophrenia completed more goal-directed activities than they planned [ t (62) = −4.01, p < 0.001]. Motivation and pleasure (i.e. experiential) negative symptoms, controlling for depressive symptoms, negatively related to planned goal-directed behavior [odds ratio (OR) 0.92, p = 0.005]. Increased effort expenditure for high probability rewards (planned: OR 1.01, p = 0.034, completed: OR 1.01, p = 0.034) along with performance on a daily functional skills task (planned: OR 1.04, p = 0.002, completed: OR 1.03, p = 0.047) negatively related to both planned and completed goal-directed activity. Conclusions: Our results present correlates of real-world goal-directed behavior that largely align with impaired ability to make future estimations in schizophrenia. This insight could help identify targeted treatments for the elusive motivated behavior deficits in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study compared the extent to which obese women with binge eating disorder (BED), obese women without BED, and controls discounted delayed and probabilistic money and directly consumable rewards: food, massage time, and preferred sedentary activity. Of special interest was whether the BED group differed from the other groups in terms of their discounting of all three types of directly consumable rewards or only in their discounting of food. Overall, the BED group tended to discount both delayed and probabilistic rewards of all types more steeply than the obese and control groups. Thus, rather than finding differences specific to particular types of rewards, we find that women with BED are generally more impatient when choices involve delayed rewards and more risk averse when they involve probabilistic rewards. These results suggest a temperamental difference associated with BED that cannot be accounted for by the concomitant obesity. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures and 2 footnotes.)

Objective: To assess weight changes, exercise and diet behaviors among college students from the beginning of freshman year until the end of senior year. Design: Longitudinal observational study. Setting: Private university in St. Louis, Missouri. Participants: College students (138 females, 66 males). Main Outcome Measures: Weight and height were measured, body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and exercise and dietary behaviors were assessed by questionnaire. Analysis: Changes in weight, BMI, exercise, and dietary patterns from the beginning of freshman year to the end of senior year. Results: Females gained 1.7 [plus or minus] 4.5 kg (3.75 [plus or minus] 9.92 lb) [mean [plus or minus] SD] from freshman to senior year, and males gained 4.2 [plus or minus] 6.4 kg (9.26 [plus or minus] 14.11 lb) (both P [less than] 0.001). Weight changes were highly variable between students, however, ranging from -13.2 kg to +20.9 kg (-29.10 to +46.08 lb). Conclusions and Implications: Weight gain was common but variable among college students. Importantly, exercise and dietary patterns did not meet the recommended guidelines for many college students, which may have long-term health implications.

The efficacy of two types of therapy conducted exclusively over the telephone was studied. Clients (N = 55) were recruited from a pool of callers to a suicide hotline and were randomly assigned to a waiting list control (WC) or Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) or Common Factors Therapy (CFT). It was hypothesized that improvements would be significantly higher in the two therapy conditions compared to the waitlist control and SFBT would be significantly more efficacious than CFT. Results confirmed that improvement was significantly higher in the two treatment conditions compared to the waitlist control, but no difference in improvement was found between SFBT and CFT. The implications of these findings for suicide hotlines are discussed.

Weight gain and behavioral patterns during college may contribute to overweight and obesity in adulthood. The aims of this study were to assess weight, exercise, and dietary patterns of 764 college students (53% women, 47% men) during freshman and sophomore years. Students had their weight and height measured and completed questionnaires about their recent exercise and dietary patterns. At the beginning of freshman year, 29% of students reported not exercising, 70% ate fewer than 5 fruits and vegetables daily, and more than 50% ate fried or high-fat fast foods at least 3 times during the previous week. By the end of their sophomore year, 70% of the 290 students who were reassessed had gained weight (4.1 [+ or -] 3.6 kg, p < .001), but there was no apparent association with exercise or dietary patterns. Future research is needed to assess the contributions of fat, muscle, and bone mass to observed weight gain and to determine the health implications of these findings.Key Words: body mass index, college students, diet, exercise, weight

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the rate of progress in the 2nd implanted ear as it relates to the 1st implanted ear and to bilateral performance in adult sequential cochlear implant recipients. In addition, this study aimed to identify factors that contribute to patient outcomes. Method: The authors performed a prospective longitudinal study in 21 adults who received bilateral sequential cochlear implants. Testing occurred at 6 intervals: prebilateral through 12 months postbilateral implantation. Measures evaluated speech recognition in quiet and noise, localization, and perceived benefit. Results: Second ear performance was similar to 1st ear performance by 6 months postbilateral implantation. Bilateral performance was generally superior to either ear alone; however, participants with shorter 2nd ear length of deafness (30 years). All participants reported bilateral benefit. Conclusions: Adult cochlear implant recipients demonstrated benefit from 2nd ear implantation for speech recognition, localization, and perceived communication function. Because performance outcomes were related to length of deafness, shorter time between surgeries may be warranted to reduce negative length-of-deafness effects. Future study may clarify the impact of other variables, such as preimplant hearing aid use, particularly for individuals with longer periods of deafness. Key Words: adults, bilateral, cochlear implant, localization, sequential, speech recognition, SSQ, Only a small percentage of the more than 219,000 cochlear implant (CI) recipients worldwide have been implanted bilaterally; however, the rate of bilateral implantation is on the rise (National Institute [...]

Demonstrates low probability that nonequivalence will produce erroneous inferences in small samples. Sees probability of erroneous inference in absence of true treatment effect as generally no greater than nominal Type I error rate. Seems unlikely that small samples have biased inferences drawn from past psychotherapy outcome research. Cites other problems that argue against routine use of small samples. (Author/NB)