Search

Background: This study aimed to determine whether ongoing vascular inflammation presents in patients who had coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) caused by Kawasaki disease (KD). Methods: Subjects were 26 patients with a history of KD; 15 had giant CAA (gCAA) ≥ 8.0 mm and 11 had smaller CAA (smCAA) < 8 mm in the acute phase. They underwent X-ray computed tomography and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. We determined the maximum coronary target-to-background ratio (CaTBR) and the mean thoracic aorta TBR (TaTBR) in each patient. They were compared between groups, and their correlation with various variables was determined. Results: CaTBR and TaTBR were significantly higher in gCAA than in smCAA (P <.005 for both values) and were significantly higher even in patients without any metabolic risk factor (P <.05 for both values). The CAA size in acute phase significantly positively correlated with CaTBR (R2 = 0.32) as well as TaTBR (R2 = 0.28). Also, TaTBR significantly positively correlated with CaTBR (R2 = 0.32) as well as cumulative number of metabolic risk factors (trend, P =.03). Conclusions: Ongoing vascular inflammation may present long after KD, especially in patients with severe inflammation expressed as gCAA in the acute phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Standard methods for quantifying positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in the aorta are time consuming and may not reflect overall vessel activity. We describe aortic microcalcification activity (AMA), a novel method for quantifying 18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) uptake in the thoracic aorta. Methods: Twenty patients underwent two hybrid 18F-NaF PET and computed tomography (CT) scans of the thoracic aorta less than three weeks apart. AMA, as well as maximum (TBRmax) and mean (TBRmean) tissue to background ratios, were calculated by two trained operators. Intra-observer repeatability, inter-observer repeatability and scan-rescan reproducibility were assessed. Each 18F-NaF quantification method was compared to validated cardiovascular risk scores. Results: Aortic microcalcification activity demonstrated excellent intra-observer (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.98) and inter-observer (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.97) repeatability with very good scan-rescan reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.86) which were similar to previously described TBRmean and TBRmax methods. AMA analysis was much quicker to perform than standard TBR assessment (3.4min versus 15.1min, P<0.0001). AMA was correlated with Framingham stroke risk scores and Framingham risk score for hard cononary heart disease. Conclusions: AMA is a simple, rapid and reproducible method of quantifying global 18F-NaF uptake across the ascending aorta and aortic arch that correlates with cardiovascular risk scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perception of self and others in culturally diverse teams is crucial to help members navigate better in their professional world. However, studies have demonstrated that self-reports may be distorted by self-protecting motives and response biases. In a large-scale analysis (560 samples and 2800 reviews), we investigated if perception reports are inflated and positively evaluated for self in culturally diverse teams. Moreover, we identified the cultural intelligence (CQ) attributes manifesting the aspects, which an individual takes into consideration when perceiving self and others, and explored whether these attributes were the same in both cases. Furthermore, from the shared experiences of members in culturally diverse teams, we tried to determine whether self-reports and other perception reports can serve as useful predictors in eliminating cultural conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An upcoming national mandate will require consultation of appropriate use criteria (AUC) through a clinical decision support mechanism (CDSM) for advanced imaging. We aimed to evaluate our current ability to ascertain test appropriateness.Methods: We prospectively collected data on 288 consecutive stress tests and coronary computed tomography angiography studies for medical inpatients. Study appropriateness was determined independently by two physicians using the 2013 Multimodality AUC.Results: The median age of the study population was 66 years [interquartile range (IQR) 56, 75], 40.8% were female, and 52.8% had a history of coronary artery disease. Review of the electronic health record (EHR) alone was sufficient to deem appropriateness for 87.2% of cases. The most common reason it was insufficient was inability to determine if the patient could exercise (59.5%). After reviewing the EHR and pilot CDSM data together, appropriateness could be determined for 95.8% of the cases. The most common reason appropriateness could not be determined was that the exam indication was not addressed by an AUC criterion (83.3%).Conclusion: In preparing for the mandate, it will be important for future CDSM to obtain information on the patient's ability to exercise and for future AUC to include additional indications that are not currently addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac scintigraphy has emerged as a key diagnostic test for transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA). However, there are potential limitations and pitfalls in the interpretation of cardiac scintigraphy for ATTR-CA that are worth noting. We present here a series of three cases which illustrate some of these important principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we see others, we also try to ‘see’ their unobservable states of minds, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions. We carefully monitor others’ actions, as we assume that those actions are outward manifestations of their internal states. Actors and observers can have divergent views on the cause of the same actions. Critically, it is often the observers’ view that affects important decisions in social life, from deciding the optimal level of cooperation to judging moral responsibility and court's decisions. Thus, the judgment about intentionality and agency in others’ actions determines the way in which the observer deals with the actor. The primate brain has two separate neural systems that function in understanding others’ actions and intentions. The mirror system is activated by others’ visible actions and predicts their physical consequences in goal terms, whereas the mentalizing system is primarily involved in the prediction of others’ intentions and upcoming actions regardless of whether others’ actions are directly observable or not. The functional roles of the two systems have sometimes been described as mutually independent or even oppositional. I propose a hypothesis that the two systems may collaborate closely for judging the sense of other-agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of positive attitudes toward self and others has recently been the recipient of growing attention. In two studies, we explored self-compassion (SC) and forms of concern for others as they relate to various aspects of psychological functioning. SC was negatively associated with pathological concern (PC) and not associated with healthy concern (HC). PC was indicative of emotional and interpersonal difficulties, and a lack of well-being. SC and HC were indicative of better emotional and interpersonal functioning and greater well-being. Results of the two studies suggest that SC and HC differ from one another in terms of the particular personal orientation they express. PC on the other hand serves as a coping strategy with a fragile sense of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pratiques Psychologiques is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Previous research suggests that the frontal lobes are essential for temporal processing. We report a patient, MN, with probable frontotemporal dementia (FTD) who was tested on a battery of timing tasks with stimuli in the sub- and supra-second range. MN demonstrated a substantial over-estimation and under-production of target intervals on estimation and production tasks respectively but was as accurate as controls on a reproduction task. Furthermore, this deficit was markedly different for auditory and visual stimuli on production and estimation tasks; estimates of the duration of auditory stimuli were three to four times longer than for comparable visual stimuli. She performed normally on a task requiring her to judge whether a stimulus was longer or shorter than a standard duration with both sub- and supra-second stimuli. She performed well on control tasks involving estimation, production and reproduction of line lengths suggesting that her deficits were not attributable to a generalized cognitive impairment or an inability to make magnitude judgments. These data suggest that bifrontal pathology disrupts the “clock” or memory for time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Depression and anxiety represent a major problem. However, the current treatment of both groups of diseases is not satisfactory. As the glutamatergic system may play an important role in pathophysiology of both depression and anxiety, we decided to discuss the recent data on possible anxiolytic and/or antidepressant effects of metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor ligands. Preclinical data indicated that antagonists of group I mGlu receptors, particularly antagonists of mGlu5 receptors, produced both anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like effects. Clinical data also demonstrated that mGlu5 receptor antagonist, fenobam, was an active anxiolytic drug. The anxiolytic effects exerted by mGlu5 receptor antagonists are profound, comparable with or stronger than those of benzodiazepines. However, the problem with the psychotomimetic activity of mGlu5 receptor antagonists and their possible influence on memory has to be further investigated. Among all mGlu receptor ligands, group II mGlu receptor agonists seem to be the drugs with the most promising therapeutic potential and a good safety profile. Animal studies showed anxiolytic-like effects of group II mGlu receptor agonists. Currently, group II mGlu receptor agonists are in phase III clinical trials for potential treatment of anxiety disorders. On the other hand, data has been accumulated, indicating that antagonists of group II mGlu receptors have an antidepressant potential. Group III mGlu receptor ligands represent the least investigated group of mGlu receptors. However, preclinical data also indicates that ligands of these receptors, both agonists and antagonists, may have an anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between a two-dimensional model of forgiveness and Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) 4-factor model of anger rumination among 200 university students. Anger memories were found to be the most important aspects in forgiving oneself, and dealing with revenge thoughts were found to be crucial when exploring issues around forgiving another person. The present findings suggest the importance of cognitive aspects as portrayed by Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) model of anger rumination to explore in greater depth the cognitive processes involved in forgiveness of self and others. Angry memories and thoughts of revenge: The relationship between forgiveness and anger rumination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Participants made less accurate metacognitive other-judgments than self-judgments. • Metacognitive other-judgments were also more overconfident than self-judgments. • This pattern occurred across a variety of contexts and relationships. • This pattern was not caused by the temporal distance between judgments and testing. • Possessing a mixed or negative impression of the target eliminated this effect. People are often overconfident in their own cognitive abilities. We investigated whether overconfidence extends to judgments from or about other people, and tested various competing theories of this relationship. Across six studies using various methods and contexts, results showed that people were more confident in others' cognitive abilities than in their own. This pattern of results occurred in the classroom for grade predictions (Studies 1 and 2), in the laboratory for standard cognitive test predictions (Studies 3–6), when people knew others well or had just met (Study 4), when they liked the other person, but not when they did not like the person (Study 5), and when calibration could be verified and when it could not be verified (Study 6). Results are interpreted in terms of an information-motivation theory, which suggests that people turn to motivational information and thus overpredict others' performance relative to their own when they lack information about other's metacognitive states and when they are motivated to see others in a positive light. These findings offer another perspective on overconfidence, both literally and figuratively, by demonstrating that people appear to be more overconfident in others' cognitive abilities than in their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Commentary to the contributions of the Special Issue Perspective from research on professional learning. • Focus on the role of "others" and of "changes". • Analysis of complex transitions as a bridge of research on conceptual change and on professional learning. The Special Issue aims to explore how research on learning and instruction could be innovated by a more systematic interaction between the areas of conceptual change and professional learning. In this commentary it is claimed that both views have their specific strengths and blind spots but can mutually profit from each other. The meeting points – and contentious points – can be allocated to the ascribed roles of others and of changes. The analysis of complex transitions could be a field of investigation in which research on conceptual change and on professional learning fertilise each other mutually. It is analysed in-how-far the contributions to this Special Issue address such cross-fertilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitinous aquatic invertebrate remains are abundant in late Quaternary lake sediment sequences. However, for standard analysis of invertebrate indicator groups usually only the remains of one particular invertebrate group (e.g. water fleas, midges) are systematically isolated from the sediments and analysed numerically. In a calibration study focusing on surface sediment samples from 36 small Swiss lakes, we show that the abundances of other chitinous aquatic invertebrate remains in samples prepared for chironomid analysis provide important information on in-lake oxygen conditions when assessed relative to and together with the overall number of chironomid remains. Our results show that particularly high abundances of chironomid and chaoborid remains are indicative for lakes with high and low deepwater oxygen concentrations, respectively, but that also the remains of other invertebrate groups such as Ceriodaphnia ephippia and Plumatella statoblasts tend to be more abundant in warm, stably stratified and anoxic lakes. Direct gradient analyses of the isolated invertebrate assemblages indicate that deepwater oxygen concentration during late summer is the strongest predictor for assemblage changes in our dataset, followed by variables representing temperature conditions (summer surface water temperature, altitude), summer stratification stability (temperature difference between surface and deepwater layers), water depth and the relative volume of the late summer hypoxic water layer. We show, based on invertebrate assemblages in a Lateglacial sediment sequence from Rotsee, Switzerland, that our new calibration data can provide information on past changes in deepwater oxygen availability from late Quaternary lake sediment sequences, when fossil invertebrate assemblages are added as passive samples to ordinations of the surface sediment calibration data. This provides a new approach for developing assessments of past changes in deepwater oxygen concentrations from late Quaternary sediment samples prepared for chironomid analysis. Such assessments can provide important supplementary information for e.g. interpreting palaeotemperature reconstructions based on chironomid remains. Image 1 • We provide a new dataset describing aquatic invertebrate remains in 36 Swiss lakes. • Subfossil assemblages in surface sediments are strongly related to deepwater O 2. • Invertebrate fossils in sediments can therefore reconstruct past O 2 change. • We provide an example of this approach applied to Lateglacial sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]