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GST Primary GST Primary Best Strategies for Health Care Quality Im... Best Strategies for Health Care Quality Improvement - Diabetes Quality Improvement Strategies for Antibio... Kathryn McDonald, Stanford-UCSF Evidence-b... Systematic review assessing the effect of ... Quality Improvement Strategies for Antibiotics Management Kathryn McDonald, Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center, 117 Encina Commons, Stanford, CA 94305-6019, Kathy.mcdonald@stanford.edu Systematic review assessing the effect of quality improvement strategies on appropriate prescribing of antibiotics and appropriate choice of antibiotics. Adherence Adherence Assistive Devices Assistive Devices Childhood Burn Hanson MacMillan Childhood Burn Hanson MacMillan CLSA_9 CLSA_9 Cyberabuse Cyberabuse Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Violent ... This review included randomized trials abo... Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Violent Men who Batter Their Partners This review included randomized trials about the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on domestic violence. The intervention included programs based on the Duluth Model. The violence had to be committed by a male toward his female partner. The violence also had to be physical. The primary outcomes were new arrests and convictions, and new reports of violence. CABG vs PCI CABG vs PCI Quality Improvement Strategies for Prevent... Quality Improvement Strategies for Preventing Nosocomial Infections (Created 17-Feb-06) Quality Improvement Strategies for Asthma ... Quality Improvement Strategies for Asthma Control Erectile Dysfunction (Created 30-Jan-06) Erectile Dysfunction (Created 30-Jan-06) Inequality - Smoking Cessation to Reduce S... This review was the first part of a projec... Inequality - Smoking Cessation to Reduce Socio-Economic Differences This review was the first part of a project about inequality. It included randomized trials about the effect of smoking cessation interventions on reducing socio-economic differences. The studies had to report data either on persons with low socio-economic groups status or, preferably, on both low and high socio-economic groups. Diet and Physical Activity to Reduce Socio... This review was the second part in a proje... Diet and Physical Activity to Reduce Socio-Economic Differences This review was the second part in a project about inequality. It included randomized trials about the effect of interventions on reducing socio-economic differences in diet and physical activity. The studies had to report data either on persons with low socio-economic groups status or, preferably, on both low and high socio-economic groups. Workfare The data in SRS are not identical to the d... Workfare The data in SRS are not identical to the data in the published report. We used SRS only for an updated search. The review included randomized trials about the effect of welfare-to-work programs. Participants were welfare recipients. There were basically two types of programs. The educational type tried to build knowledge and skills in order to help the welfare recipients acquire jobs that could support them economically. The "work first" approach was more aimed at getting the participants quickly into a job. Exercise interventions for the management ... The objective of this systematic review wa... Exercise interventions for the management of frailty The objective of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of current exercise interventions on the management of frailty. A comprehensive search of Medline, Embase, Psycinfo, Cinahl, Scopus, Ageline, Eric, and SportDiscus databases was conducted and produced 1808 citations. So far we have completed 2 levels of “title and abstract” screening and we ended up with 262 articles. We have just started the full text screening. Eligibility criteria included original studies whose participants were identified as frail or prefrail with specific criteria and in which structured physical activity was included as at least one component of the intervention. Create a free account, build a dictionary with saved terms to re-use later! Public Domestic Violence - Using Cognitive Behavior Therapy Smoking Cessation to Reduce Socio-Economic Differences Diet and Physical Activity to Reduce Socio-Economic Differences Workfare Exercise Interventions for the Management of Frailty Search     Simple Advanced Refine (4 coded questions)  Any of these:   Exact Phrase: All of these: None of these: Author: Periodical: Projects: No restrictions   Libraries: Public   Select SRS Projects Show Saved Terms Select Library Show articles that do not have abstracts  Humans or Animals Humans Animals Type of Article Clinical Trial Editorial Letter Meta-Analysis Practice Guideline Randomized Controlled Trial Review Addresses Bibliography Biography Case Reports Classical Article Clinical Conference Clinical Trial, Phase I Clinical Trial, Phase II Clinical Trial, Phase III Clinical Trial, Phase IV Comment Comparative Study Consensus Development Conference Consensus Development Conference, NIH Controlled Clinical Trial Corrected and Republished Article Dictionary Directory Duplicate Publication English Abstract Evaluation Studies Festschrift Government Publications Guideline Historical Article Interview In Vitro Journal Article Lectures Legal Cases Legislation Multicenter Study News Newspaper Article Overall Patient Education Handout Periodical Index Published Erratum Retracted Publication Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 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Retraction of Publication Scientific Integrity Review Support of Research Technical Report Twin Study Validation Studies Not a Primary Study or Review Unknown Primary Study Case Series Case Control Cohort Study Observational Study Qualitative Research CBA or ITS Registry Double Blind Controlled before after study Quasi-randomized trial Simple before after study Cluster-RCT Non-Randomized Study Report Book Book chapter Dissertation Conference procedings Secondary Research Not RCT Ages All Infant: birth-23 months All Child: 0-18 years All Adult: 19+ years Newborn: birth-1 month Infant: 1-23 months Preschool Child: 2-5 years Child: 6-12 years Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Middle Aged + Aged: 45+ years Aged: 65+ years 80 and over: 80+ years Undetermined Language English French German Italian Japanese Russian Spanish Afrikaans Albanian Unknown Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Finnish Georgian Greek, Modern Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Kinyarwanda Korean Latin Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Malayalam Maori Multiple Languages Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Pushto Romanian Sanskrit Scottish gaelic Serbian Slovak Slovenian Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Not English Not French Results(1-25 of 3,906) Sort By: Publication Date Relevance Took: 2.141 seconds to search 17,750,454  Action: Copy Results to new Clipboard Build Search Link Page 1 of 157 1 2 3 4 > Last >> (3906 articles found) Local shaping of function in the motor cortex: motor contrast, directional tuning. Oct 2007 Apostolos P Georgopoulos,Costas N Stefanis In this review we bring together three different lines of evidence to bear on the issue of local shaping of function in the motor cortex. The first line of evidence comes from the description by Cajal (1904) of the recurrent collaterals of pyramidal cell axons in the precentral gyrus. The second li... ( view more )ne of evidence comes from the electrophysiological study of the functional effects of these collaterals [Stefanis, C., Jasper, H. 1964a. Intracellular microelectrode studies of antidromic responses in cortical pyramidal tract neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 27, 828-854.; Stefanis, C., Jasper, H. 1964b. Recurrent collateral inhibition in pyramidal tract neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 27, 855-877.] and associated interneurons [Stefanis, C. 1969. Interneuronal mechanisms in the cortex. In: The Interneuron, Brazier, M.A.B. (ed.), Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 497-526.] using intracellular recordings. And third came the discovery of directional tuning in the motor cortex [Georgopoulos, A.P., Kalaska, J.F., Caminiti, R., Massey, J.T. 1982. On the relations between the direction of two-dimensional arm movements and cell discharge in primate motor cortex. J. Neurosci. 2, 1527-1537.] in the behaving monkey. We hazard the hypothesis that the bell-shaped directional tuning curve is the outcome of orderly, local neuronal interactions in the motor cortex in which the recurrent pyramidal cell collaterals play a crucial role. Specifically, we propose that these collaterals and the intercalated interneurons they impinge upon serve to spatially sharpen the motor cortical activation to a locus corresponding to the direction of the intended movement. Thus, the originally proposed role of the pyramidal cell collaterals in enhancing "motor contrast" [Stefanis, C. 1969. Interneuronal mechanisms in the cortex. In: The Interneuron, Brazier, M.A.B. (ed.), Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 497-526.] would translate to creating a "directional tuning field" on the motor cortical surface, where the enhanced motor contrast would correspond to high activity at the center of directional field, and the suppression of the fringe would correspond to lower activity at the periphery of the field, resulting, together in spatial tuning. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Regulation of K+ flow by a ring of negative charges in the outer pore of BKCa channels. Part I: Aspartate 292 modulates K+ conduction by external surface charge effect. Aug 2004 Trude Haug,Daniel Sigg,Sergio Ciani,Ligia Toro,Enrico Stefani,Riccardo Olcese The pore region of the majority of K+ channels contains the highly conserved GYGD sequence, known as the K+ channel signature sequence, where the GYG is critical for K+ selectivity (Heginbotham, L., T. Abramson, and R. MacKinnon. 1992. Science. 258:1152-1155). Exchanging the aspartate residue with ... ( view more )asparagine in this sequence abolishes ionic conductance of the Shaker K+ channel (D447N) (Hurst, R.S., L. Toro, and E. Stefani. 1996. FEBS Lett. 388:59-65). In contrast, we found that the corresponding mutation (D292N) in the pore forming alpha subunit (hSlo) of the voltage- and Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel (BKCa, MaxiK) did not prevent conduction but reduced single channel conductance. We have investigated the role of outer pore negative charges in ion conduction (this paper) and channel gating (Haug, T., R. Olcese, T. Ligia, and E. Stefani. 2004. J. Gen Physiol. 124:185-197). In symmetrical 120 mM [K+], the D292N mutation reduced the outward single channel conductance by approximately 40% and nearly abolished inward K+ flow (outward rectification). This rectification was partially relieved by increasing the external K+ concentration to 700 mM. Small inward currents were resolved by introducing an additional mutation (R207Q) that greatly increases the open probability of the channel. A four-state multi-ion pore model that incorporates the effects of surface charge was used to simulate the essential properties of channel conduction. The conduction properties of the mutant channel (D292N) could be predicted by a simple approximately 8.5-fold reduction of the surface charge density without altering any other parameter. These results indicate that the aspartate residue in the BKCa pore plays a key role in conduction and suggest that the pore structure is not affected by the mutation. We speculate that the negative charge strongly accumulates K+ in the outer vestibule close to the selectivity filter, thus increasing the rate of ion entry into the pore. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Expression of matrix metalloproteinases MMP-1, MMP-11 and MMP-19 is correlated with the WHO-grading of human malignant gliomas. Jan 2008 Jelena Stojic,Carsten Hagemann,Stefanie Haas,Christian Herbold,Siglinde Kühnel,Stefanie Gerngras,Wolfgang Roggendorf,Klaus Roosen,Giles Hamilton Vince Glioblastomas (GBM) are the most prevalent type of malignant primary brain tumor in adults. They may manifest de novo or develop from low-grade astrocytomas (LGA) or anaplastic astrocytomas. They are characterized by an aggressive local growth pattern and a marked degree of invasiveness, resulting ... ( view more )in poor prognosis. Tumor progression is facilitated by an increased activity of proteolytic enzymes such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Elevated levels of several MMPs were found in glioblastomas compared to LGA and normal brain (NB). However, data for some MMPs, like MMP-1, are controversially discussed and other MMPs like MMP-11 and MMP-19 have as yet not been analysed in detail. We examined the expression of MMP-1, MMP-9, MMP-11 and MMP-19 in NB, LGA and GBM by semiquantitative RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry and found an enhanced expression of these MMPs in GBM compared to LGA or NB in signal strength and in the percentage of tumors displaying MMP expression. The transition from LGA to GBM was characterized by a shift of pro-MMP-11 to expression of the active enzyme. Therefore, MMP-1, MMP-11 and MMP-19 might be of importance for the development of high-grade astrocytic tumors and may be promising targets for therapy. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles COMT Val158Met moderation of stress-induced psychosis. Nov 2007 Nicholas C Stefanis,Cécile Henquet,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Inez Myin-Germeys,Costas N Stefanis,Jim Van Os BACKGROUND: Exposure to stressful life events increases the risk of developing a psychotic disorder. Moreover, increased reactivity to stress seems to represent part of the vulnerability for psychosis. This study aimed to investigate whether a functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransfe... ( view more )rase (COMT Val(158)Met) gene moderates the psychosis-inducing effects of stress. METHOD: A semi-experimental stress exposure paradigm was used in a sample of 306 genotyped young men (aged 19-24 years), in whom measures of psychotic symptoms were obtained at recruitment in the Greek army (exposed condition) and again after 18 months of military training (unexposed condition). RESULTS: Stress exposure at army induction was associated with an increased level of psychotic symptoms. In addition, carriers of the COMT Val(158)Met Val allele were more susceptible to the effect of stress on the psychosis outcome than those with the Met/Met genotype (test for interaction: chi2 = 5.02, df = 1, p = 0.025). CONCLUSION: The COMT Val(158)Met genotype may moderate the effect of stress on psychotic symptoms. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Impact of schizophrenia candidate genes on schizotypy and cognitive endophenotypes at the population level. Oct 1, 2007 Nicholas C Stefanis,Thomas A Trikalinos,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Nikos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Evangelia E Ntzani,John P Ioannidis,Costas N Stefanis BACKGROUND: Aspects of cognitive function and schizotypy have been proposed as potential endophenotypes for schizophrenia. It is unknown whether the expression of these endophenotypes at the population level is modulated by the genetic variability of candidate susceptibility genes for schizophrenia... ( view more ). METHODS: We examined the potential impact of 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the DTNBP1, NRG1, DAOA/G32, and DAAO genes, on cognition and self-rated schizotypy, in a representative population of 2243 young male military conscripts. Single SNP and haplotype associations were evaluated. RESULTS: The DTNBP1 SNPs rs2619522 and rs760761 exhibited several single marker associations, the minor alleles being associated with lower attention capacity but also a decrease in positive and paranoid schizotypy scores. The DTNBP1 haplotype load had borderline associations with nonverbal IQ, paranoid schizotypy, and sustained attention. For individual NRG1 polymorphisms, isolated but weak signals of association were noted with sustained attention and working memory but not schizotypy. The risk allele of functional SNP8NRG243177 was associated with reduced spatial working memory capacity. An isolated effect of DAAO haplotype variability was noted on negative and disorganization schizotypy. No convincing association of DAOA/G32 variability was detected. CONCLUSIONS: The DTNBP1 and, less so, NRG1 and DAAO variants might exert gene-specific modulating effects on schizophrenia endophenotypes at the population level. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Smooth pursuit eye movements in 1,087 men: effects of schizotypy, anxiety, and depression. May 2007 Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Asimakis Mantas,Emmanouil Kattoulas,Nicholas C Stefanis,Theodoros S Constantinidis,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Costas N Stefanis Individuals with schizotypal personality disorder or high scores in questionnaires measuring schizotypy are at high risk for the development of schizophrenia and they also share some of the same phenotypic characteristics such as eye-tracking dysfunction (ETD). The question arises whether these ind... ( view more )ividuals form a distinct high-risk group in the general population or whether schizotypy and ETD co-vary in the general population with no distinct cutoff point for a high-risk group. A large sample of military conscripts aged 18-25 were screened using oculomotor, cognitive and psychometric tools for the purposes of a prospective study on predisposing factors for the development of psychosis. Schizotypy measured using the perceptual aberration scale (PAS) and the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ), anxiety and depression, measured using the Symptom Checklist 90-R, had no effect on pursuit performance in the total sample. Small groups of individuals with very high scores in schizotypy questionnaires were then identified. These groups were not mutually exclusive. The high PAS group had higher root-mean-square error scores (a quantitative measure for pursuit quality) than the total sample, and the high disorganized factor of SPQ group had lower gain and higher saccade frequencies in pursuit than the total sample. The presence of significant differences in pursuit performance only for predefined high schizotypy groups favors the hypothesis that individuals with high schizotypy might present one or more high-risk groups, distinct from the general population, that are prone to ETD as that observed in schizophrenia. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Effect of schizotypy on cognitive performance and its tuning by COMT val158 met genotype variations in a large population of young men. Apr 1, 2007 Nikolaos Smyrnis,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Costas N Stefanis,Hara Tsekou,Nicholas C Stefanis BACKGROUND: Mirroring schizophrenia, specific dimensions of schizotypy are related to cognitive dysfunction. The relation of schizotypy and state psychopathology to cognitive performance and its link to catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val(158) met genotype variations was studied in a large samp... ( view more )le of young men. METHODS: State psychopathology and schizotypy were assessed with self-rated questionnaires. Cognitive performance was assessed with tests of reasoning ability, sustained attention, and verbal and spatial working memory. Subjects were genotyped for the val(158) met polymorphism of the gene for COMT (low enzymatic activity met/met, intermediate met/val, and high val/val). RESULTS: The val/val group had higher scores in measures of state psychopathology as well as negative and disorganized schizotypy dimensions, whereas there was no effect of COMT genotype on cognitive performance measures. Structural equation modeling showed that cognitive performance accuracy but not speed decreased with increasing negative schizotypy, increased with increasing paranoid schizotypy, and was not affected by state psychopathology. Increasing val loading resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the factor loading for the relation between negative schizotypy and cognitive performance accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Different schizotypal phenotypes had opposing relations to cognitive performance in the population. COMT genotype modulated the relation between the negative schizotypal phenotype and cognitive performance. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details   Related Articles KCNMB1 regulates surface expression of a voltage and Ca2+-activated K+ channel via endocytic trafficking signals. Oct 27, 2006 B Toro,N Cox,R J Wilson,E Garrido-Sanabria,E Stefani,L Toro,M M Zarei Voltage-dependent and calcium-activated K(+) (MaxiK, BK) channels are ubiquitously expressed and have various physiological roles including regulation of neurotransmitter release and smooth muscle tone. Coexpression of the pore-forming alpha (hSlo) subunit of MaxiK channels with a regulatory beta1 ... ( view more )subunit (KCNMB1) produces noninactivating currents that are distinguished by high voltage/Ca(2+) sensitivities and altered pharmacology [McManus OB, Helms LM, Pallanck L, Ganetzky B, Swanson R, Leonard RJ (1995) Functional role of the beta subunit of high conductance calcium-activated potassium channels. Neuron 14:645-650; Wallner M, Meera P, Ottolia M, Kaczorowski G, Latorre R, Garcia ML, Stefani E, Toro L (1995) Characterization of and modulation by a beta-subunit of a human maxi K(Ca) channel cloned from myometrium. Receptors Channels 3:185-199]. We now show that beta1 can regulate hSlo traffic as well, resulting in decreased hSlo surface expression. beta1 subunit expressed alone is able to reach the plasma membrane; in addition, it exhibits a distinct intracellular punctated pattern that colocalizes with an endosomal marker. Coexpressing beta1 subunit with hSlo, switches hSlo's rather diffuse intracellular expression to a punctate cytoplasmic localization that overlaps beta1 expression. Furthermore, coexpressed beta1 subunit reduces steady-state hSlo surface expression. Site-directed mutagenesis underscores a role of a putative endocytic signal at the beta1 C-terminus in the control of hSlo surface expression. We propose that aside from its well-established role as regulator of hSlo electrical activity, beta1 can regulate hSlo expression levels by means of an endocytic mechanism. This highlights a new beta1 subunit feature that regulates hSlo channels by a trafficking mechanism. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Mixed handedness is associated with the Disorganization dimension of schizotypy in a young male population. Oct 2006 Nicholas C Stefanis,Silia Vitoratou,Nikos Smyrnis,Theodoros Constantinidis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Ioannis Hatzimanolis,Ioannis Ntzoufras,Costas N Stefanis Within the ASPIS (Athens Study of Psychosis Proneness and Incidence of Schizophrenia) we sought out to examine in accordance with previous reports if a deviation from dextrality is associated with an augmented endorsement of self rated schizotypal personality traits in a large population of 1129 yo... ( view more )ung male army recruits. Schizotypal traits were assessed using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and hand preference membership was determined by applying stringent criteria derived from the Annett Handedness Questionnaire and the Porac-Coren questionnaire of lateral preferences. By adopting three different definitions of hand preference membership, we confirmed an association between mixed handedness and increased schizotypal personality traits, and in particular with Disorganization schizotypy that encompasses aspects of self perceived difficulties in verbal communication. Non-verbal cognitive ability, as indexed by measurement of non-verbal IQ, sustained attention and working memory was not associated with hand preference. We argue that a deviation from normal cerebral lateralization, as indexed by mixed handedness, is associated with mild sub clinical language dysfunction, rather than non-verbal cognitive ability, and this might be relevant to the expression of psychosis phenotype. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details   Related Articles Ephrin-B2 overexpression enhances integrin-mediated ECM-attachment and migration of B16 melanoma cells. Nov 2005 Stefanie Meyer,Christian Hafner,Markus Guba,Stefanie Flegel,Edward K Geissler,Bernd Becker,Gudrun E Koehl,Evelyn Orsó,Michael Landthaler,Thomas Vogt Eph-receptor tyrosine kinases (Eph-RTKs) and their membrane-bound receptor-like ligands, the ephrins, represent a cell-cell signaling system that directs cellular migration during development. Differential expression in cancer suggests similar roles in tumor progression. We have previously shown th... ( view more )at ephrin-B2 mRNA is overexpressed in advanced malignant melanomas (MM). In this study, immunohistochemistry revealed a most prominent expression of ephrin-B2 in the invasive front of advanced MM. Therefore, we addressed the question of whether ephrin-B2 signaling modulates MM cell migration and matrix interaction. Using a wild-type ephrin-B2-negative B16 mouse MM subclone we show that overexpression of ephrin-B2 leads to the formation of multiple lamellipodia, enhanced polymerisation of actin fibers, and induction of focal adhesion complexes with constitutive activation of focal adhesion kinase. Consequently, ephrin-B2-overexpressing B16 cells display a significant increase of beta1-integrin-mediated attachment to matrix components, preferentially laminin and fibronectin. As a further effect of ephrin-B2 overexpression, we observed an accelerated migration in both Boyden chamber invasion experiments as well as in in vitro scratch-wound assays. We conclude that ephrin-B2 can act as a major modulator of cell migration and matrix interactions of MM cells, which possibly contributes to the expansion and metastatic spread of MM in vivo. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Effect of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on the Continuous Performance Test, Identical Pairs Version: tuning rather than improving performance. Sep 2005 Nicholas C Stefanis,Jim van Os,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Costas N Stefanis OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that variation in catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity associated with variation in COMT Val158Met genotypes may result in enhanced or reduced cognitive performance, depending on whether the phenotype requires cognitive stability or cognitive flexibility. Th... ( view more )e authors' goal was to determine whether, in confirmation of this prediction, performance on a measure of cognitive stability would be associated with Met loading. METHOD: COMT genotyping was investigated in relation to a measure of reaction time variability on the Continuous Performance Test, Identical Pairs Version, in a large and representative sample of 527 young men (mean age=21 years). RESULTS: Met loading was associated with reduced reaction time variability. CONCLUSIONS: Met genotype loading may confer enhanced "tuning" or greater stability in performance, possibly by stabilizing active neural representations in the prefrontal cortex during tasks involving working memory. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles twilight; a Bioconductor package for estimating the local false discovery rate. Jun 15, 2005 Stefanie Scheid,Rainer Spang SUMMARY: twilight is a Bioconductor compatible package for analysing the statistical significance of differentially expressed genes. It is based on the concept of the local false discovery rate (FDR), a generalization of the frequently used global FDR. twilight implements the heuristic search algor... ( view more )ithm for estimating the local FDR introduced in our earlier work. In addition to the raw significance measures, it produces diagnostic plots, which provide insight into the extent of differential expression across genes. AVAILABILITY: http://www.bioconductor.org CONTACT: stefanie.scheid@molgen.mpg.de SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please visit our software webpage on http://compdiag.molgen.mpg.de/software. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Occupational abilities and performance scale--reliability-validity assessment factor analysis. May 2005 M V Karidi,K Papakonstantinou,N Stefanis,M Zografou,G Karamouzi,P Skaltsi,N Tsinia,C Christidou,A Rabavilas,C N Stefanis BACKGROUND: This article presents a study of the Occupational Abilities and Performance Scale (OAPS), developed for administration to schizophrenic patients. The reliability and validity of the OAPS has been evaluated. METHOD: A total of 174 schizophrenic patients who participated in the Psychosoci... ( view more )al and Vocational Rehabilitation Unit (PVRU) of the University Mental Health Research Institute (UMHRI) in Athens were assessed. The OAPS is conducted at entry and after 18 months, when the client has completed training. RESULTS: The results of the reliability analysis showed very good internal consistency, with high split-half reliability as well as test-retest reliability and inter-rater agreement. The scale was also found to have good predictive validity, as well as concurrent validity. Finally, factor analysis with principal components extraction method was performed in order to assess the construct validity of the scale. CONCLUSIONS: The results of factor analysis supported the conclusion of good reliability and validity of the OAPS and revealed the existence of five components, each correlated with a set of the original items. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Attentional facilitation of response is impaired for antisaccades but not for saccades in patients with schizophrenia: implications for cortical dysfunction. Nov 2004 Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis A Malogiannis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Nicholas C Stefanis,Christos Theleritis,Alexandros Vaidakis,Stavroula Theodoropoulou,Costas N Stefanis The facilitation of response known as the "gap effect" (a decrease of response latency), observed for saccades and antisaccades when attention is modulated prior to such eye movements, was studied in patients with schizophrenia and in controls. The hypothesis tested was whether patients would show ... ( view more )a deficient attentional facilitation in response latency. Fifteen patients with schizophrenia and 17 healthy controls performed blocks of saccades and antisaccades in a "gap" condition and an "overlap" condition. Saccade and antisaccade response latencies as well as the error rate for antisaccades were measured for each subject. A similar gap effect (decrease in latency for the gap compared to the overlap condition) was present in the saccade task for patients and controls. In contrast the gap effect in the antisaccade task was absent in 50% of patients compared to none of the controls. This finding was interpreted as indicative of deficient preprocessing in antisaccade-specific cortical areas in schizophrenia (such as the prefrontal cortex), while visually guided saccade processing remained intact. Our results, in addition to many other recent findings, could lead to specific hypotheses on cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and Mycobacterium leprae co-infection: HIV-1 subtypes and clinical, immunologic, and histopathologic profiles in a Brazilian cohort. Nov 2004 Gisner A S Pereira,Mariane M A Stefani,João A Araújo Filho,Luís Carlos S Souza,Germana P Stefani,Celina M T Martelli Co-infections with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Mycobacterium leprae represent unique opportunities to investigate the interaction of both pathogens. We determined the immunologic, virologic, and histopathologic characteristics of 22 co-infected Brazilian patients (median age = 38 years, ... ( view more )81.8% males, 72.2% with paucibacillary leprosy, and 95.4% with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The HIV-1 subtypes B and BF predominated in envelope and gag heteroduplex mobility analysis. Borderline tuberculoid (BT), tuberculoid, lepromatous, and indeterminate morphology with CD3+, CD8+, and CD68+ cell distributions compatible with leprosy patients not infected with HIV were observed. Histologic evidence of nerve damage was observed in BT lesions. IgM antibody to M. leprae-specific phenolic glycolipid I was not detected. Two of six co-infected patients monitored during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) developed a leprosy type 1 reaction after an increase in CD4+ cells, suggesting an immune restoration phenomenon. Clinical, immunologic, histopathologic, and virologic features among these HIV-leprosy co-infected patients indicate that each disease progressed as in single infection. However, HAART immune reconstitution may trigger potential adverse effects, such as leprosy acute inflammatory episodes. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Early adolescent cannabis exposure and positive and negative dimensions of psychosis. Oct 2004 N C Stefanis,P Delespaul,C Henquet,C Bakoula,C N Stefanis,J Van Os AIMS: To investigate the effect of exposure to cannabis early in adolescence on subclinical positive and negative symptoms of psychosis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey in the context of an ongoing cohort study. SETTING: Government-supported general population cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of ... ( view more )3500 representative 19-year olds in Greece. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects filled in the 40-item Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, measuring subclinical positive (paranoia, hallucinations, grandiosity, first-rank symptoms) and negative psychosis dimensions and depression. Drug use was also reported on. FINDINGS: Use of cannabis was associated positively with both positive and negative dimensions of psychosis, independent of each other, and of depression. An association between cannabis and depression disappeared after adjustment for the negative psychosis dimensions. First use of cannabis below age 16 years was associated with a much stronger effect than first use after age 15 years, independent of life-time frequency of use. The association between cannabis and psychosis was not influenced by the distress associated with the experiences, indicating that self-medication may be an unlikely explanation for the entire association between cannabis and psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: These results add credence to the hypothesis that cannabis contributes to the population level of expression of psychosis. In particular, exposure early in adolescence may increase the risk for the subclinical positive and negative dimensions of psychosis, but not for depression. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Variation in catechol-o-methyltransferase val158 met genotype associated with schizotypy but not cognition: a population study in 543 young men. Oct 1, 2004 Nicholas C Stefanis,Jim Van Os,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Ioanna Hantoumi,Costas N Stefanis BACKGROUND: Increased catechol-O-methyltransferase activity associated with variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase valine158 methionine genotypes may result in reduced dopamine neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex and thus contribute to the poor performance of frontally mediated cognitive ... ( view more )tasks and the occurrence of associated negative symptoms observed in patients with schizophrenia; however, reported associations between catechol-O-methyltransferase valine158 methionine genotypes and measures of cognition have not been consistent. METHODS: Catechol-O-methyltransferase genotyping, measures of schizotypy, cognitive measures of memory and attention, as well as the antisaccade eye movement task, a measure sensitive to prefrontal cortical function, were obtained in a sample of 543 young men representative for that age group (mean age 21 years). RESULTS: None of the cognitive measures was associated with catechol-O-methyltransferase valine158 methionine genotypes; however, there was an effect of high-activity allele loading on schizotypy, in particular the negative and disorganization dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Previously reported inconsistencies in the relationship between catechol-O-methyltransferase valine158 methionine genotypes and cognition were not resolved; however, catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype may affect expression of negative schizotypy by direct or indirect effects on central dopamine neurotransmitter signaling. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Potential anti-infective targets in pathogenic yeasts: structure and properties of 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase of Candida albicans. Aug 20, 2004 Stefanie Echt,Stefanie Bauer,Stefan Steinbacher,Robert Huber,Adelbert Bacher,Markus Fischer A synthetic gene specifying a putative 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase of Candida albicans directed the synthesis of a 22.5 kDa peptide in a recombinant Escherichia coli strain. The recombinant protein was purified to apparent homogeneity by two chromatographic steps and was shown to ... ( view more )catalyze the formation of L-3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate from ribulose 5-phosphate at a rate of 332 nmol mg(-1) min(-1). Hydrodynamic studies indicated a native molecular mass of 41 kDa in line with a homodimer structure. The protein was crystallized in its apoform. Soaking yielded crystals in complex with the substrate ribulose 5-phosphate. The structures were solved at resolutions of 1.6 and 1.7 angstroms, respectively, using 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase of E. coli for molecular replacement. Structural comparison with the orthologs of Magnaporthe grisea and Methanococcus jannaschii revealed a hitherto unknown conformation of the essential acidic active-site loop. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Regulation of K+ flow by a ring of negative charges in the outer pore of BKCa channels. Part II: Neutralization of aspartate 292 reduces long channel openings and gating current slow component. Aug 2004 Trude Haug,Riccardo Olcese,Ligia Toro,Enrico Stefani Neutralization of the aspartate near the selectivity filter in the GYGD pore sequence (D292N) of the voltage- and Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel (MaxiK, BKCa) does not prevent conduction like the corresponding mutation in Shaker channel, but profoundly affects major biophysical properties of the chann... ( view more )el (Haug, T., D. Sigg, S. Ciani, L. Toro, E. Stefani, and R. Olcese. 2004. J. Gen. Physiol. 124:173-184). Upon depolarizations, the D292N mutant elicited mostly gating current, followed by small or no ionic current, at voltages where the wild-type hSlo channel displayed robust ionic current. In fact, while the voltage dependence of the gating current was not significantly affected by the mutation, the overall activation curve was shifted by approximately 20 mV toward more depolarized potentials. Several lines of evidence suggest that the mutation prevents population of certain open states that in the wild type lead to high open probability. The activation curves of WT and D292N can both be fitted to the sum of two Boltzmann distributions with identical slope factors and half activation potentials, just by changing their relative amplitudes. The steeper and more negative component of the activation curve was drastically reduced by the D292N mutation (from 0.65 to 0.30), suggesting that the population of open states that occurs early in the activation pathway is reduced. Furthermore, the slow component of the gating current, which has been suggested to reflect transitions from closed to open states, was greatly reduced in D292N channels. The D292N mutation also affected the limiting open probability: at 0 mV, the limiting open probability dropped from approximately 0.5 for the wild-type channel to 0.06 in D292N (in 1 mM [Ca2+]i). In addition to these effects on gating charge and open probability, as already described in Part I, the D292N mutation introduces a approximately 40% reduction of outward single channel conductance, as well as a strong outward rectification. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles The costs of changing the representation of action: response repetition and response-response compatibility in dual tasks. Jun 2004 Stefanie Schuch,Iring Koch,Stefanie Schuch In 5 experiments, the authors investigated the costs associated with repeating the same or a similar response in a dual-task setting. Using a psychological refractory period paradigm, they obtained response-repetition costs when the cognitive representation of a specific response (i.e., the categor... ( view more )y-response mapping) changed (Experiment 1) but benefits when it did not change (Experiment 2). The analogous pattern of results was found for conceptually similar (i.e. compatible) responses. Response-response compatibility costs occurred when the cognitive representations of the compatible responses were different (Experiments 3A & 3B), but compatibility benefits occurred when they were the same (Experiment 4). The authors interpret the costs of repeating an identical or compatible response in terms of a general mechanism of action selection that involves coding the task-specific meaning of a response. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Is the excess risk of psychosis-like experiences in urban areas attributable to altered cognitive development? May 2004 N C Stefanis,Ph Delespaul,N Smyrnis,A Lembesi,D A Avramopoulos,I K Evdokimidis,C N Stefanis,J van Os BACKGROUND: Rates of psychotic disorder and related attenuated psychotic experiences are higher in urban areas. We examined to what degree differences between urban and rural areas could be attributed to differences in cognitive development. METHOD: Scores on the nine subscales of the schizotypal p... ( view more )ersonality questionnaire (SPQ) as well as IQ and specific neuropsychological functions of memory and attention were assessed in a representative sample of 943 young army conscripts from the 49 counties of Greece. RESULTS: Young men from urban areas had higher scores on the SPQ subscale Odd beliefs/magical thinking (OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.42, 2.78), but lower scores on Excessive social anxiety (OR = 0.63, 95 % CI: 0.49, 0.81) and No close friends (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.62). Adjustment for demographic factors, IQ and specific neuropsychological functions did not change the results. When the lower scores on Excessive social anxiety and No close friends were taken into account, the differences on the Odd beliefs/magical thinking subscale became even more pronounced (OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.56, 3.49). CONCLUSIONS: Young men from urban areas are socially more competent, but display higher levels of positive psychotic experiences, which are not mediated by lower IQ or higher levels of neuropsychological impairment. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Active eye fixation performance in 940 young men: effects of IQ, schizotypy, anxiety and depression. May 2004 N Smyrnis,E Kattoulas,I Evdokimidis,N C Stefanis,D Avramopoulos,G Pantes,C Theleritis,C N Stefanis A total of 940 young men performed a task in which they actively maintained fixation for 50 s in three conditions: a). on a visual target, b). on a visual target while distracting targets appeared briefly on the periphery and c). with no visual target present. The same individuals completed psychom... ( view more )etric evaluation tests measuring IQ, schizotypy and current state-dependent psychopathology. The proportion of fixation time decreased and saccade frequency increased in condition b compared wih condition a, and sequentially in condition c compared with condition b. A trend towards a decrease in proportion of fixation time and increase in saccade frequency was found as the subjects maintained fixation during the task and this time-dependent deterioration of performance was again most pronounced in condition c, less so in condition b and absent in condition a. Psychometric test scores were significantly correlated with fixation performance in the population. Worse performance in all three fixation conditions was observed for individuals with lower IQ scores. A deterioration of fixation performance with time in condition b was correlated with disorganization characteristics of schizotypy, suggesting that these individuals had difficulty maintaining active fixation in the presence of increased inhibitory load. A connection of such a difficulty with the frontal lobes and their role in the control of voluntary inhibitory functions is discussed. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Factorial composition of self-rated schizotypal traits among young males undergoing military training. 2004 Nicholas C Stefanis,Nikolaos Smyrnis,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Ioannis Ntzoufras,Costas N Stefanis The aim of this study within the Athens Study of Psychosis Proneness and Incidence of Schizophrenia (ASPIS) was the examination of the latent structure of schizotypal dimensions among a large population of young male conscripts in the Greek Air Force during their first week of military training. Co... ( view more )nfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on 1,355 reliable responders to the self-rated Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), which covers all nine aspects of DSM-III-R schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). A four-factor model (cognitive/perceptual, paranoid, negative, and disorganization schizotypal dimensions) provided a better fit to the data than did other competing models (one-, two-, three-, four, and five-factor models). This result is in agreement with recent findings supporting the notion of a multidimensional construct of the schizotypy and related schizophrenia phenotype. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Antisaccade performance of 1,273 men: effects of schizotypy, anxiety, and depression. Aug 2003 Nikolaos Smyrnis,Ioannis Evdokimidis,Nicholas C Stefanis,Dimitrios Avramopoulos,Theodoros S Constantinidis,Alexios Stavropoulos,Costas N Stefanis A total of 1,273 conscripts of the Greek Air Force performed antisaccades and completed self-reporting questionnaires measuring schizotypy and current state-dependent psychopathology. Only 1.0% of variability in antisaccade performance indices was related to psychometric scores in the population an... ( view more )d could be attributed more to current state-dependent symptoms such as anxiety rather than to schizotypy. In contrast, a specific increase of error rate and response latency variability and a high correlation of these 2 variables was observed in a group with very high schizotypy scores. This effect was independent of anxiety and depression, suggesting that a specific group of psychosis-prone individuals has a characteristic deviance in antisaccade performance that is not present in the general population. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Effects of direction on saccadic performance in relation to lateral preferences. Jun 2003 T S Constantinidis,N Smyrnis,I Evdokimidis,N C Stefanis,D Avramopoulos,I Giouzelis,C N Stefanis A sample of 676 healthy young males performed visually guided saccades and antisaccades and completed the Porac-Coren questionnaire measuring lateral preferences. There was no difference in mean latency between rightward versus leftward saccades or for saccades executed in the left versus right hem... ( view more )ispace. There was also no right/left asymmetry for individuals with left or right dominance as assessed by the lateral preferences questionnaire. The same results were observed for the latency of antisaccades and for the error rate in the antisaccade task. Finally, we did not confirm any substantial subpopulation of individuals with idiosyncratic left/right latency asymmetries that persisted both in the saccade and antisaccade task. These results suggest that neither latency nor antisaccade error rate are good indicators of lateral preferences in these tasks. Other oculomotor tasks might be more sensitive to hemifield differences, or cerebral hemispheric asymmetry is not present at the level of cortical organization of saccades and antisaccades. ( view less ) View Full Abstract View Article Details View Coded Data Related Articles Page 1 of 157 1 2 3 4 > Last >> (3906 articles found)

      
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