Search results for "SYSTEMS"
showing 10 items of 11952 documents
Pregnancy-associated diseases are characterized by the composition of the systemic regulatory T cell (Treg) pool with distinct subsets of Tregs
2011
Dysregulations concerning the composition and function of regulatory T cells (T(regs)) are assumed to be involved in the pathophysiology of complicated pregnancies. We used six-colour flow cytometric analysis to demonstrate that the total CD4(+) CD127(low+/-) CD25(+) forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)(+) T(reg) cell pool contains four distinct T(reg) subsets: DR(high+) CD45RA(-), DR(low+) CD45RA(-), DR(-) CD45RA(-) T(regs) and naive DR(-) CD45RA(+) T(regs). During the normal course of pregnancy, the most prominent changes in the composition of the total T(reg) cell pool were observed between the 10th and 20th weeks of gestation, with a clear decrease in the percentage of DR(high+) CD45RA(-) and…
Salivary testosterone is related to both handedness and degree of linguistic lateralization in normal women.
2003
The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that individual differences in testosterone (T) are associated with different patterns of linguistic lateralization and hand preference. Twenty left-handed (LH) and 19 right-handed (RH) women filled in a handedness questionnaire and performed a consonant–vowel dichotic listening test (DL-CV). Salivary T was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). LH women showed significantly lower mean salivary T than RH women. T levels were negatively correlated with the absolute value of the DL laterality index. Subjects with right ear advantage (REA) were classified into strongly and weakly lateralized following Wexler et al. method (Brain Lang. 13 (1981) 13)…
Multifocal choroiditis: Indocyanine green angiographic features
2001
The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the indocyanine green (ICG) angiographic features in 13 patients affected by multifocal choroiditis. We identified two clinical and angiographic patterns. The ‘active’ pattern showed hypofluorescence up to the late phases and more extensive choroidal involvement than presumed by ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography. In the ‘inactive’ pattern, ICG angiography showed hypofluorescence during all the phases: no increase in lesion number was observed between early and late phases. Choroidal neovascularization was present in 10 patients, and it was bilateral in 2 of these: it occurred only in the inactive stage. The appearance of choroida…
Psychological and hormonal features of smokers at risk to gain weight after smoking cessation--results of a multicenter study.
2011
Preclinical and clinical data suggest modulating effects of appetite-regulating hormones and stress perception on food intake. Nicotine intake also interferes with regulation of body weight. Especially following smoking cessation gaining weight is a common but only partially understood consequence. The aim of this study was to examine the interaction between smoking habits, the appetite regulating hormone leptin, negative affectivity, and stress vulnerability on eating behavior in a clinical case-control study under standardized conditions. In a large population-based study sample, we compared leptin and cortisol plasma concentrations (radioimmunoassay) between current tobacco smokers with …
Dissociating spatial and letter-based word length effects observed in readers’ eye movement patterns
2011
In previous eye movement research on word length effects, spatial width has been confounded with the number of letters. McDonald (2006) unconfounded these factors by rendering all words in sentences in constant spatial width. In the present study, the Arial font with proportional letter spacing was used for varying the number of letters while equating for spatial width, while the Courier font with monospaced letter spacing was used to measure the contribution of spatial width to the observed word length effect. Number of letters in words affected single fixation duration on target words, whereas words’ spatial width determined fixation locations in words and the probability of skipping a wo…
Gamma/delta T lymphocytes are affected in the elderly
2002
gammadelta T lymphocytes are considered to represent a link between the inflammatory response and adaptive immunity. In the present paper we investigated whether these cells play any role in the remodeling of the immune system described in the elderly. We show that the absolute number of gammadelta T cells in peripheral blood of old and very old subjects is reduced. Moreover, gammadelta T cells from old people and centenarians show enhanced levels of the early activation marker CD69 both after culture in medium alone and in LPS-stimulated cells. Furthermore, they show a basal increased production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha as evaluated at the single cell level. Additionally, the r…
Modeling of Human Posturokinetic Movements by a Linear Feedback System: Relations among Feedback Coefficients
2002
This study describes a method of modeling human trunk and whole body backward bending and suggests a possible neural control strategy. The hypothesis was that the control system can be modeled as a linear feedback system, in which the torque acting at a given joint is a function of the state variables (angular positions and angular velocities). The linear system enabled representation of the feedback system by a gain matrix. The matrix was computed from the kinematics recorded by a movement analysis system and from the joint torques calculated by inverse dynamics. To validate the control model, a comparison was made between the angular kinematics yielded by the model and the experimental d…
Validity, reliability, and sensitivity to motor impairment severity of a multi-touch app designed to assess hand mobility, coordination, and function…
2021
[EN] Background: The assessment of upper-limb motor impairments after stroke is usually performed using clinical scales and tests, which may lack accuracy and specificity and be biased. Although some instruments exist that are capable of evaluating hand functions and grasping during functional tasks, hand mobility and dexterity are generally either not specifically considered during clinical assessments or these examinations lack accuracy. This study aimed to determine the convergent validity, reliability, and sensitivity to impairment severity after a stroke of a dedicated, multi-touch app, named the Hand Assessment Test. Methods: The hand mobility, coordination, and function of 88 individ…
''Sex-related Trends In Participation and Performance In the 'swiss Bike Masters' From 1994-2012''
2013
Gloor, Roman Urs | Knechtle, Beat | Knechtle, Patrizia | Ruest, Christoph Alexander | Haupt, Samuel | Rosemann, Thomas | Lepers, Romuald; International audience; ''General participation in contests such as ultra-marathons and ultra-triathlons has increased considerably over the past 30 years, especially among women. This study investigated performance trends in the Swiss Bike Masters, one of the first and most prestigious mountain bike, ultra-endurance races in its class, with comparisons of participation and performance trends to similar races. The development of performance in the Swiss Bike Masters held between 1994 and 2012 was investigated by analysing the number of finishers, their ag…
The latent structure of the functional dyspepsia symptom complex: A taxometric analysis
2016
OBJECTIVES: Rome III introduced a subdivision of functional dyspepsia (FD) into postprandial distress syndrome and epigastric pain syndrome, characterized by early satiation/postprandial fullness, and epigastric pain/burning, respectively. However, evidence on their degree of overlap is mixed. We aimed to investigate the latent structure of FD to test whether distinguishable symptom-based subgroups exist. METHODS: Consecutive tertiary care Rome II FD patients completed the dyspepsia symptom severity scale. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to compare the fit of a single factor model, a correlated three-factor model based on Rome III subgroups and a bifactor model consisting of a g…