Search results for "square"
showing 10 items of 1317 documents
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and atrophic gastritis in Latvia.
2012
Helicobacter pylori infection and atrophic gastritis are related to an increased risk for gastric cancer. There is a decrease in global H. pylori prevalence. We analyzed the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Latvia by the plasma IgG test and the presence of atrophy by means of pepsinogen testing.This subanalysis was carried out on a randomly selected cross-sectional sample of a general population of adults to access cardiovascular risk factors. Plasma samples were screened for H. pylori IgG (cutoff value 24 U/ml), and pepsinogens (Pg) I and II. Pg cutoff values of PgI/PgII ≤ 3 and PgI ≤ 70 ng/ml were used to assess the prevalence of atrophy of any grade and PgI/PgII ≤ 2 and PgI ≤ 30 ng/m…
Diagnosis of Liver Cirrhosis
2005
Background/goals Liver cirrhosis, the final stage of chronic liver disease, is characterized by an unfavorable prognosis and an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and also requires an appropriate management. Laparoscopy, the gold standard in the diagnosis of cirrhosis, is hampered by its invasiveness. Therefore, a noninvasive method for diagnosing liver cirrhosis would be of great benefit. Study A consecutive series of 100 patients, sent to our gastroenterological unit for diagnostic laparoscopy, underwent a standardized ultrasonographic examination prior to laparoscopy. Results Conventional ultrasonographic examination revealed a sensitivity of 55% and a specificity of 86% in the d…
The influence of regular physical activity on lung function in paraplegic people
2015
Cross-sectional study. The main goal of this study was to examine the influence of regular physical activity (PA) on lung volumes and flows. The study was conducted in the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Barcelona (Spain), and La Fe Hospital, Valencia (Spain). Spirometric tests were performed to 67 paraplegics, and differences were established between the active group (AG) (n=37) that performed >60 min per week of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and 30 non-AG (NAG). Further, we established the relationship between the spirometric and PA variables and between being active and reaching the lower limit of normal (LLN) of the spirometric variables. AG had greater values than the NAG: FVC (P 0.05). The p…
Does higher education protect against obesity? Evidence using Mendelian randomization
2017
Objectives. The aim of this explorative study was to examine the effect of education on obesity using Mendelian randomization. Methods. Participants (N = 2011) were from the on- going nationally representative Young Finns Study (YFS) that began in 1980 when six cohorts (aged 30, 33, 36, 39, 42 and 45 in 2007) were recruited. The average value of BMI (kg/m(2)) measurements in 2007 and 2011 and genetic information were linked to comprehensive register based information on the years of education in 2007. We first used a linear regression (Ordinary Least Squares, OLS) to estimate the relationship between education and BMI. To identify a causal relationship, we exploited Mendelian randomization …
Dental aesthetics, self-awareness, and oral health-related quality of life in young adults.
2004
The aim of the present study was to explore the putative relationship between dental aesthetics and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), taking into consideration the potential direct and moderating influence of private and public self-consciousness. The subjects of this cross-sectional survey were 148 university students. Dental aesthetics were assessed by means of the aesthetic component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). OHRQoL was estimated using a modification of the scales 'social appearance concern' and 'appearance disapproval', and a novel dental self-confidence scale. In addition, the private and public self-consciousness scales were used. Two-factor a…
The modulation of causal contexts in motion processes judgment as revealed by P2 and P3
2017
The evoked response potential (ERP) procedure was used to investigate the representation of motion processes in different causal contexts, such as the collision of two squares or the repulsion of two magnets with like poles facing. Participants were required to judge whether each movement was plausible according to the causal context depicted by the cover story. Three main differences after the movement of the second object were found. First, the amplitudes at 70-170ms (N1) and 170-370ms (P2) elicited by a no-contact condition were more negative than a contact condition in the square context, whereas larger N1 and more positive amplitudes at 370-670ms were elicited by a no-contact condition…
Lisuride, a dopamine D2 receptor agonist, and anticraving drug expectancy as modifiers of relapse in alcohol dependence
2002
Due to a central role of dopamine in mediating ethanol intake and dependence, the authors tested lisuride, a dopamine D2 receptor agonist, for relapse prevention in alcoholics. Psychological and neuroendocrine determinants of outcome were also assessed within the study. This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized study comprised 120 alcoholics who were subjected to an intend-to-treat analysis (ITT). After hospital detoxification, patients received an outpatient rehabilitation program and either the study medication or placebo for 6 months and follow-up for another 6 months without medication. Pharmacological and psychological effects on relapse and times to first drink were assessed us…
Altered effective connectivity in drug free schizophrenic patients
2003
The present fMRI study aimed to investigate effective connectivity within a cortical-subcortical-cerebellar information processing network in drug free schizophrenic patients while performing a 2-back working memory task. The finding of enhanced thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical intrahemispheric connectivity could be interpreted as a compensatory increase of neuronal connection strength consistent with a model of cortical inefficiency in schizophrenic patients. Additionally, the result could be integrated into a model of deficient thalamo-cortical filter functions. Conversely, lower interhemispheric connectivity of the frontal and parietal association cortex appears to be the functional…
Time course of human 40 Hz EEG activity accompanying P3 responses in an auditory oddball paradigm
1997
In order to quantify the time course of auditory P3-related gamma activity, root mean square (RMS) values were calculated from band-filtered (30-45 Hz) target and non-target responses in an auditory oddball experiment. Evoked (phase locked) gamma activity was evaluated from the time domain averages, whereas induced (not necessarily phase locked) activity was analyzed on the basis of single trials. Gamma RMS values were integrated across different time windows, namely the prestimulus, N50/P50, N100, pre P3, P3 and post P3 window. The single trial P3 window hereby was defined by a maximum amplitude criterion. In accordance with other studies, we found a pronounced increase of evoked gamma act…
The seroepidemiology of Bordetella pertussis infection in Western Europe.
2005
High titres of pertussis toxin (PT) antibody have been shown to be predictive of recent infection with Bordetella pertussis. The seroprevalence of standardized anti-PT antibody was determined in six Western European countries between 1994 and 1998 and related to historical surveillance and vaccine programme data. Standardized anti-PT titres were calculated for a series of whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccine trials. For the serological surveys, high-titre sera (>125 units/ml) were distributed throughout all age groups in both high- (>90%) and low-coverage (<90%) countries. High-titre sera were more likely in infants in countries using high-titre-producing vaccines in their pr…