Large Group Of Individuals Research Articles

A New Halberd Typology (1500-1800): Based on the Collection of the National Military Museum, The Netherlands

European halberds as the subject of research has been partly neglected in mainstream historical academic discourses. The research that has been primarily focused on trends in development of halberd design from the 14th to the 18th century. However, this research does not provide insight into the large variety of halberd design present in collections around the world. To examine this variety, this article offers a classification system for halberds and provides insight into the factors influencing their design during the 16th and 17th centuries. The first part of the article presents a halberd typology based on the collection of 131 examples in the National Military Museum, the Netherlands, to provide a system to classify and simplify communication. This typology is based on a hierarchical system, from classes, based on the design of the point and socket of the halberd, to types and subtypes, based on the blade and beak design. In total 4 classes, 14 types and 5 subtypes could be recognised. The second part of the article provides insight into the dating and use of the recognised types based on art and historical texts. Using this method, a trend could be recognised in halberd design: straight-edged halberds were presumably being used by larger groups of individuals, for example during battles. While concave edged halberds were probably used by smaller groups, for example personal guards, and were designed to control the opponent’s weapon and inflict trauma primarily with the point.

Don’t Join the Joyride:

The paper argues that, counter to Walter Sinnott-Armostrong and Ewen Kingston’s view, we are morally required to refrain from joyguzzling, i.e., driving a fuel-inefficient car for no other purpose than having a good time. It is undisputed that joyguzzling is an example of a situation where the uncoordinated actions of a large group of individuals lead to an undesirable outcome. Additionally, it is highly unlikely that any one individual’s actions will have a significant impact on that outcome. But there are morally relevant differences between cases that share these characteristics. The paper clarifies the debate by introducing and discussing three different types of cases: drop-in-the-ocean cases, overkill cases and emergence cases. We argue that we may have moral obligations in drop-in-the-ocean cases, and that emissions of GHGs are not examples of overkill cases. Then we demonstrate through counterexamples that there are moral obligations in a subgroup of emergence cases we call joyguzzling-like cases. After criticizing the soundness of Kingston and Sinnott-Armstrong’s arguments, we critically address their relevance. We argue that Sinnott-Armstrong and Kingston fail to distinguish between two concepts of moral obligation — namely, autonomous and heteronomous moral obligation; that their most important arguments do not have any relevance to heteronomous obligations; and, finally, that heteronomous moral obligations are essential for social change.
 Keywords: joyguzzling, individual responsibility, climate ethics, harm principle, autonomous vs. heteronomous moral obligations

Self-natural posture exercise and chronic pain reduction

We examined the effects of the self-natural posture exercise (SNPE) program on changes in physical self-concept and perception of pain reduction among 114 individuals with chronic pain, sampled from a larger group of individuals who completed the SNPE program. Participants' physical self-concept and perception of their level of pain were measured 4 times (baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks during the SNPE program). The effects of the SNPE on changes in these 2 variables were examined using latent curve model analysis. The program improved the muscle power, subjective health, and flexibility subdomains of physical self-concept, and led to a decrease in perceived pain. The effect of the SNPE on perceived pain was greater for individuals who spent longer sitting each day, and who had suffered from chronic pain for longer. These findings suggest that the SNPE program might be a useful method for the self-treatment of chronic pain.

Uremic pruritus and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor in diabetic and non-diabetic haemodialysis patients.

IntroductionEven though uremic pruritus (UP) is very troublesome for haemodialysis (HD) patients, its underlying mechanism is not fully understood.AimDue to the possible role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its higher serum concentration in haemodialysis diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic ones, this study is aimed to evaluate its association with UP among diabetic and non-diabetic patients on maintenance HD.Material and methodsA total of 94 patients were enrolled into the study. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess pruritus.ResultsNo differences were found between the observed study groups in terms of BDNF serum concentration, other biochemical markers, sleep disturbances, or pruritus presentation.ConclusionsBDNF serum concentration was not found to be associated with UP among HD patients, however further studies are worth performing on a larger group of individuals.

The Negotiation Class: A Cooperative Approach to Class Actions Involving Large Stakeholders

Class action law is modeled on the assumption that a large group of individuals have similar legal claims of such small value that no one of them has the incentive or ability to litigate alone. Rule 23 resolves that collective action problem by enabling one class member to represent the group, with a common fund fee award sharing the costs across the class. The Constitution guarantees class members the options of opting out (exit) or objecting (voice), but given the small stakes, most do nothing (loyalty). While elegant, this model does not capture the reality of all class suits. In many cases, some class members have significant enough legal claims that they are capable of litigating alone. The group dynamics accordingly change, with everything turning on the question of whether the large claimants will opt out and litigate separately. The risk that they might discourages the defendant from settling the class’s small claims, lest they then have to litigate the large claimants’ valuable claims. But the dynamics simultaneously create an opportunity: if the class members could unite, they might increase their leverage and extract a premium from a defendant eager to settle the whole package of claims, with that global settlement simultaneously benefiting the defendant (as evidenced by its willingness to pay a premium for it). The tragedy of this commons is that, built on a different template, class action law provides no model for intra-class coordination. In this Article, we offer heterogeneous class members a mechanism for cooperation, a new form of class certification that we call “negotiation class certification.” Under this approach, class members generate a plan for allocating a lump sum settlement and for voting on the acceptability of any lump sum offer they might receive. They then ask the court to certify a “negotiation class” according to the normal Rule 23(a)–(b) factors and to direct notice to the class explaining that any negotiated settlement will be put to a vote, with a supermajority vote binding the whole class; the notice also explains the distributional metric. Any class member that does not want to bind itself to either the distributional metric or the supermajority voting process can opt out. By establishing the contours of the class prior to settlement discussions, negotiation class certification provides the defendant with a precise sense of the scope of finality a settlement will produce, hence encouraging a fulsome offer by ensuring meaningful peace. The negotiation class therefore redounds to the benefit of both the class and the defendant – and hence of the judicial system as well. The proposal is a novel use of Rule 23, but it is, in many ways, a less ambitious one than certification of a settlement class: there, lawyers negotiate a settlement on behalf of a class without ever asking a court to assess either the cohesiveness of the group or their own adequacy to speak for that group. Settlement class certification was accordingly quite controversial when developed out of whole cloth in the late 20th century, but even absent an explicit textual mooring, it soon became a “stock device” in class action practice. By seeking a judicial ruling that a class coheres and its agents are adequate prior to those agents negotiating with a defendant, negotiation class certification adheres more closely than settlement class certification to the requirements of both Rule 23 and the Constitution. Moreover, engaging large class members in the settlement negotiation process ex ante improves on a system that delegates that authority to un-authorized agents and involves the class only ex post.

Steps towards an exclusive democracy: the new use of prison

In this essay I will argue that the current situation of Italian prisons (and, more generally, those in north-western countries) and the criminal policies that produced it, are the result of the transformation of democratic societies from inclusive societies, that is, characterized by the progressive «giving of economic and social power to the powerless», in the words of Du Bois, to exclusionary societies, characterized by the progressive marginalization of large groups of individuals, primarily migrants.

Developing Digital Botanical Resources for Pakistan

In 2017, funding from the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia accelerated data mobilization and georeferencing by Pakistani herbaria. The funding directly benefited only two herbaria but, by the end of the project 9 herbaria were involved in sharing data, 2 through GBIF (ISL 2019, SINDH 2019; codes according to Index herbariorum) and 6 others (BANNU 2019, BGH 2019, PUP 2019, QUETTA 2019, RAW 2019, SWAT 2019) through OpenHerbarium, a Symbiota based network. Eventually, all collections in OpenHerbarium are expected to become GBIF data providers. Additional Pakistani herbaria are being introduced to data mobilization and several individuals have expressed interest in learning to use OpenHerbarium to generated documented checklists for teaching and research and others for learning to link information in OpenHerbarium to other resources. These are the first steps to developing a “a large group of individuals … to train, mentor, and champion [biodiversity] data use” in Pakistan, but it is important to remember that good bioidiversity data starts in the field. We need to provide today’s collectors and educators with easy access to a) information about what constitutes a high-quality herbarium specimen; b) tools for making it easier to record and provide high quality specimen data; c) simple mechanisms for sharing data in ways that provide immediately useful resources; and d) learning to make use of the data becoming available. OpenHerbarium addresses the third and fourth needs and also makes it simple for collections to become GBIF data providers. This year, the focus will be on first two of the three steps identified. Introduction of the new resources will be used to introduce collectors and educators to the ideas underlying provision of biodiversity data that is fit for use and reuse. When Symbiota2 is functional, OpenHerbarium will be moved to that system. This will encourage development of additional tools for using biodiversity data. All these activities are essential to helping spread understanding of the concepts integral to biodiversity informatics. It is, of course, possible “to train, build, and champion data use” using data for other parts of the world, or provided by institutions from other parts of the world, but embedding good biodiversity data practices into the fabric of a country’s biodiversity education and research activities better benefits the country if a substantial portion of the data is generated from within the country. It also helps to spread knowledge of the country’s biodiversity among its students. Consequently, our focus in developing Pakistan’s capacity in biodiversity informatics is on engaging collections and collectors in sharing biodiversity data, then helping them discover, use, and create methods for developing the insights needed to encourage wise use of the country’s biological resources, and encouraging interaction. This will lead to a “community of practice” within Pakistan that can both benefit from and contribute to an international “community of practice”.

Individuals with migraine have a different dry eye symptom profile than individuals without migraine

BackgroundMany individuals with migraine report symptoms of dry eye (DE). However, it is not known whether DE profiles are similar between individuals with and without migraine. To bridge this gap,...

Association between large elastic artery stiffness and brain mechanical properties

Stiffening of the large elastic arteries (i.e., the aorta and carotid arteries) occurs with aging and may play a key role in memory impairment via a diminished pressure‐dampening effect, ultimately leading to loss of neuronal tissue integrity. In this regard, changes in brain tissue viscoelastic mechanical properties, an indirect measure of neuronal tissue integrity, may reflect the impact of elastic artery stiffening on brain health. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether large elastic artery stiffness is associated with total brain viscoelasticity in healthy adults across the lifespan. All measures were performed in 13 healthy participants (6 females, mean age: 38 ± 15 y; age range: 22–69 y; mean BMI: 26 ± 5 kg/m2; mean BP: 111 ± 9/68 ± 10 mmHg). Carotid artery stiffness, beta‐stiffness index and compliance were assessed using B‐mode ultrasound (Logiq e, GE) coupled with applanation tonometry (SphygmoCor, AtCor Medical Inc.) and analyzed using commercial wall‐tracking software (Cardiovascular Suite, Quipu). Aortic stiffness was assessed as carotid‐to‐femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) using applanation tonometry. Brain tissue viscoelastic mechanical properties (shear stiffness and damping ratio) were measured using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). MRE data were acquired using 3T magnetic resonance imaging (Magnetom Prisma, Siemens, Inc.) while the brain viscoelastic property maps were generated using a nonlinear inversion algorithm. Associations between measures of age, large elastic artery stiffness and brain viscoelastic properties were determined using linear regression. PWV significantly increased with age (F = 25.6, p < 0.05, r2 = 0.7) while total brain stiffness significantly decreased with age (F = 6.1, p < 0.05, r2 = 0.36). Carotid artery stiffness (F = 4.3, p = 0.06, r2 = 0.28) and beta‐stiffness index (F = 2.9, p = 0.11, r2 = 0.21) tended to be inversely associated with total brain stiffness, whereas carotid artery compliance tended to be positively associated with total brain stiffness (F = 2.5, p = 0.14, r2 = 0.18). No relation was observed between PWV and total brain stiffness (F = 0.9, p = 0.37, r2 = 0.08). There were no associations between any measures of arterial stiffness and damping ratio. These preliminary data confirm that aging is associated with increase in arterial stiffness and loss of brain tissue integrity. They also indicate a possible association between large artery stiffening with brain tissue integrity and suggest that preserving elasticity of the carotid artery in particular may be important for protecting brain health with aging. Future work should assess the relation between carotid artery stiffness and brain mechanical properties in a larger group of individuals.Support or Funding InformationSupported by Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging (CBBI) Pilot Grant P20GM103653 and Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Pilot Grant P20GM113125.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Abstract P112: Prediction of the Development of Aortopathy in Patients With Bicuspid Aortic Valves

Background: Little is known about the association between bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) and ascending aorta dilatation in the population. We aimed to firstly determine the predictors of aortopathy in BAV patients and secondly to develop a clinical classifier to predict aortopathy in a large group of individuals with bicuspid aortic valve. Method: This study includes 1041 patients (including 545 BAV patients and 506 tricuspid aortic valves (TAV) patients) aged 18 or above with aortic valve disease and/or ascending aorta dilatation but devoid of coronary artery disease and primarily not planned for another concomitant valve surgery. Aortic complications of patients were assessed at baseline. Using automated machine-learning, we applied 10-fold cross-validation logistic regression incorporating multidimensional information (i.e., valvular dysfunction, valves morphology, blood sampling, genetic data, clinical data, family history of cardiovascular diseases, prevalent diseases data, demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits data and medication). Results: Among the 545 BAV subjects (age 64.89 +/- 12 years, 68% men). The prevalence of BAV associated with aneurysm (dilatation) (BAV-D) and without aneurysm (BAV-ND) was 54.9% and 45.1% (p<0.001), respectively. Comparing BAV-D and BAV-ND, significant differences in valvular dysfunction pattern were noted, with aortic stenosis predominating in BAV patients without aneurysm (79.3% vs. 68.7% in BAV with aneurysm; p=0.007), and aortic regurgitation in BAV patients with aneurysm (33.7% vs. 25.1% in BAV patients without aneurysm; p =0.03). No differences in age, prevalence of male sex and BMI were observed between BAV-D and BAV-ND Our descriptive analysis showed several patterns of significantly differently associated traits, between undilated and dilated BAV patients (i.e, blood pressure, hypertension, body surface area, height, high-sensitivity CRP, sibling history of myocardial infarction and mother history of myocardial infarction before 65 years, low density lipoprotein (LDL), prevalent MI, prevalent diabetes and prevalent stroke, BAV phenotype). Our predictive classifier included these traits and showed sensitivity of 80% specificity of 84%, negative predictive value of 76%, and positive predictive value of 82% to predict BAV individuals who are of a high risk of developing aneurysm. All these analyses were also performed in TAV patients and showed different patterns of aneurysm manifestation compared to BAV patients Conclusion: Our findings raise the issue of how to implement prevention of aortopathy in BAV patients in a clinical setting and suggest/demonstrated that cardiovascular risk profiles appear to be more predictive than valve morphology, genetic data and circulating plasma proteins.

Non-invasive measurements of arterial function: What? When? Why should we use them?

### Learning objectives Cardiovascular (CV) disease remains the leading cause of deaths worldwide, accounting for 32% of global deaths.1 CV mortality reduction is a key focus of the United Nations...

Abstract BL2: The Challenge of Doing Less

Abstract There are three groups of individuals with breast cancer who present distinct challenges from the standpoint of clinical care and research. First, there are individuals with breast cancer who develop disease that is refractory to all available therapies and ultimately lose their life to breast cancer. Second, there is a large group of women who do not have adequate access to high quality care or choose not to receive it. It is critical, if we are to eliminate mortality from breast cancer, that we bring effective treatment to these individuals. Finally, and importantly, there is a large group of individuals with breast cancer who are unlikely to die from breast cancer and in whom we need to consider minimizing toxic anti-cancer therapy. In recent years, a number of clinical trials have been conducted to reduce treatment intensity in breast surgery, radiation oncology, and medical oncology. These trials are often difficult to conduct. Both physicians and patients worry about leaving benefit on "the table", and hence many may be reluctant to participate. Many individuals are particularly risk averse when there is the potential for loss. In addition, statistical considerations can be challenging and often result in extremely large trials to demonstrate that there is significant loss of benefit when treatment is de-escalated. While the advantage of de-escalation is a reduction in toxicity, many physicians and patients underestimate the impact of side effects, both long- and short-term, on a patient. Examples of de-escalation trials will be reviewed and possible study designs will be discussed. Citation Format: Winer E. The Challenge of Doing Less [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr BL2.

Bubbles, Crashes and Information Contagion in Large-Group Asset Market Experiments

We study the emergence of bubbles in a laboratory experiment with large groups of individuals. The realized price is the aggregation of the forecasts of a group of individuals, with positive expectations feedback through speculative demand. When prices deviate from fundamental value, a random selection of participants receives news about overvaluation. Our findings are: (i) large asset bubbles occur in large groups, (ii) information contagion through news affects behaviour and may break the coordination on a bubble, (iii) time varying heterogeneity provides an accurate explanation of bubble formation and crashes, and (iv) bubbles are strongly amplified by coordination on trend-extrapolation.

Testing a Shape-Changing Haptic Navigation Device With Vision-Impaired and Sighted Audiences in an Immersive Theater Setting

Flatland was an immersive “in-the-wild” experimental theater and technology project, undertaken with the goal of developing systems that could assist “real-world” pedestrian navigation for both vision-impaired (VI) and sighted individuals, while also exploring inclusive and equivalent cultural experiences for VI and sighted audiences. A novel shape-changing handheld haptic navigation device, the “Animotus,” was developed. The device has the ability to modify its form in the user's grasp to communicate heading and proximity to navigational targets. Flatland provided a unique opportunity to comparatively study the use of novel navigation devices with a large group of individuals (79 sighted, 15 VI) who were primarily attending a theater production rather than an experimental study. In this paper, we present our findings on comparing the navigation performance (measured in terms of efficiency, average pace, and time facing targets) and opinions of VI and sighted users of the Animotus as they negotiated the 112 m2 production environment. Differences in navigation performance were nonsignificant across VI and sighted individuals and a similar range of opinions on device function and engagement spanned both groups. We believe more structured device familiarization, particularly for VI users, could improve performance and incorrect technology expectations (such as obstacle avoidance capability), which influenced overall opinion. This paper is intended to aid the development of future inclusive technologies and cultural experiences.

Gluten-free and low-FODMAP sourdoughs for patients with coeliac disease and irritable bowel syndrome: A clinical perspective

Wheat- and gluten-containing products are often blamed for triggering a wide range of gastrointestinal symptoms, and this has fueled demand for gluten-free products worldwide. The best studied ‘gluten intolerance’ is coeliac disease, an auto-immune disease that affects the small intestine. Coeliac disease occurs in 1% of the population and requires strict, life-long avoidance of gluten-containing foods as the only medical treatment. There is a larger group of individuals (around 10–15% of the population) who report a wide-range of gastrointestinal symptoms that respond well to a ‘gluten-free diet’, but who do not have coeliac disease – so called ‘non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS)’. The team at Monash University has identified other factors in gluten-containing foods that may be responsible for symptoms in this group of individuals with so-called, NCGS. We have evidence that certain poorly absorbed short chain carbohydrates (called FODMAPs) present in many gluten-containing food products, induce symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating, wind and altered bowel habit (associated with irritable bowel syndrome, IBS). Our research has shown that FODMAPs, and not gluten, triggered symptoms in NCGS. Going forward, there are great opportunities for the food industry to develop low FODMAP products for this group, as choice of grain variety and type of food processing technique can greatly reduce the FODMAP levels in foods. The use of sourdough cultures in bread making has been shown to reduce the quantities of FODMAPs (mostly fructan), resulting in bread products that are well tolerated by patients with IBS. Greater interaction between biomedical- and food-scientists will improve understanding about the clinical problems many consumers face, and lead to the development of food products that are better tolerated by this group.

Strength in numbers: Crowdsourcing the most relevant literature in pediatric cardiology.

The growing body of medical literature in pediatric cardiology has made it increasingly difficult for individual providers to stay abreast of the most current, meaningful articles to help guide practice. Crowdsourcing represents a collaborative process of obtaining information from a large group of individuals, typically from an online or web-based community, and could serve a potential mechanism to pool individual efforts to combat this issue. This study aimed to utilize crowdsourcing as a novel way to generate a list of the most relevant, current publications in congenital heart disease, utilizing input from an international group of professionals in the field of pediatric cardiology. All members of the PediHeartNet Google group, an international email distribution list of medical professionals with an interest in pediatric cardiology, were queried in 2017 to submit literature that they considered to be most relevant to their current practice. A Google Form submission platform was used. The articles were evaluated by a multi-institutional panel of four experts in pediatric cardiology using the Delphi method via an electronic evaluation form until a consensus was reached regarding whether the article merited inclusion in the final list. In total, 260 articles were submitted by members of the PediHeartNet Google group. Expert review using the Delphi method resulted in a list of 108 articles. The final collection of articles was published on a publicly available educational website. Crowdsourcing represents a novel approach for generating a high-yield, comprehensive, yet practical list of the most relevant recent publications in pediatric cardiology. The same techniques could be easily applied to any medical subspecialty. By enlisting the input of frontline providers, the value and relevance of such a list will be significant. A web-based platform for publication of the list allows for real-time updates to ensure continued relevance.

HHV-8 Seroprevalence and Genotype Distribution in Africa, 1998⁻2017: A Systematic Review.

Human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8) is the causative agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). We systematically reviewed literature published between 1998 and 2017, according to the PRISMA guidelines, to understand the distribution of HHV-8 infection in Africa. More than two-thirds (64%) of studies reported on seroprevalence and 29.3% on genotypes; 9.5% were on both seroprevalence and genotypes. About 45% of African countries had data on HHV-8 seroprevalence exclusively, and more than half (53%) had data on either seroprevalence or genotypes. Almost half (47%) of the countries had no data on HHV-8 infection. There was high heterogeneity in the types of tests and interpretation algorithms used in determining HHV-8 seropositivity across the different studies. Generally, seroprevalence ranged from 2.0% in a group of young children in Eritrea to 100% in a small group of individuals with KS in Central African Republic, and in a larger group of individuals with KS in Morocco. Approximately 16% of studies reported on children. Difference in seroprevalence across the African regions was not significant (95% CI, χ2 = 0.86; p = 0.35), although specifically a relatively significant level of infection was observed in HIV-infected children. About 38% of the countries had data on K1 genotypes. K1 genotypes A, A5, B, C, F and Z occurred at frequencies of 5.3%, 26.3%, 42.1%, 18.4%, 5.3% and 2.6%, respectively. Twenty-three percent of the countries had data for K15 genotypes, and genotypes P, M and N occurred at frequencies of 52.2%, 39.1%, and 8.7%, respectively. Data on HHV-8 inter-genotype recombinants in Africa are scanty. HHV-8 may be endemic in the entire Africa continent but there is need for a harmonized testing protocol for a better understanding of HHV-8 seropositivity. K1 genotypes A5 and B, and K15 genotypes P and M, from Africa, should be considered in vaccine design efforts.

Role of the left hemisphere in visuospatial working memory.

Visuospatial processing deficits are typically associated with damage to the right hemisphere. However, deficits on spatial working memory have been reported among some individuals with focal left hemisphere damage (LHD). It has been suggested that the left hemisphere may play a role in such non-verbal working memory tasks due to the use of subvocal, verbally-mediated strategies. The current study investigated the role of the left hemisphere in spatial working memory by testing spatial span performance, both forward and backward, in a large group of individuals with a history of left hemisphere stroke. Our first aim was to establish whether individuals with LHD are indeed impaired on spatial span tasks using standardized span tasks with published normative data. Our second aim was to identify the role that language plays in supporting spatial working memory by comparing LHD individuals with and without aphasia, and by relating spatial span performance to performance on a series of language measures. Our third aim was to identify left hemisphere brain regions that contribute to spatial working memory using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM), a whole-brain statistical approach that identifies regions critical to a particular behavior on a voxel-by-voxel basis. We found that 28% of individuals with LHD performed in the clinically-impaired range on forward spatial span and 16% performed in the clinically-impaired range on backward spatial span. There were no significant differences in performance between individuals with and without aphasia, and there were no correlations between spatial span performance and language functions such as repetition and comprehension. The VLSM analysis showed that backward spatial span was associated with a left fronto-parietal network consisting of somatosensory cortex, the supramarginal gyrus, lateral prefrontal cortex, and the frontal eye fields. Regions identified in the VLSM analysis of forward spatial span did not reach the conservative statistical threshold for significance. Overall, these results suggest that spatial working memory, as measured by spatial span, can be significantly disrupted in a subset of individuals with LHD whose lesions infringe on a network of regions in the left hemisphere that have been implicated in domain-general working memory and attentional control mechanisms.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Screening to Allow Detection of Pathogenic Mitochondrial DNA Variants in Individuals with Unexplained Abnormal Fatigue: A Preliminary Study.

Unexplained abnormal fatigue is characterized by chronic fatigue persisting for at least six months and not sufficiently explained by any recognized medical condition. In this pilot study, twelve individuals with abnormal fatigue remaining unexplained after thorough screening were investigated using a near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy handgrip test. Four of them were found to have an abnormal oxygen extraction pattern similar to participants with documented mitochondrial myopathy. In three of the four individuals, diverse mitochondrial abnormalities were documented by spectrophotometric, immunocytological, fluorescent, and morphological analyses performed in skeletal muscle and in cultured skin fibroblasts. Three of the four participants with decreased muscular oxygen extraction were each shown to harbor a different homoplasmic pathogenic mitochondrial DNA point mutation (m.961T > C, m.1555A > G, m.14484T > C). In the fourth participant, the presence of multiple large mitochondrial DNA deletions was suspected in muscle tissue. In contrast, none of the eight abnormally fatigued participants with normal NIR spectroscopy results harbored either a pathogenic mitochondrial DNA point mutation or large deletions ( P < 0.001). This pilot study shows that NIR spectroscopy may serve as a noninvasive screening tool to delineate a subgroup (of participants) with mitochondrial dysfunction among the large group of individuals with unexplained abnormal fatigue.

Differences in regional grey matter volumes in currently ill patients with anorexia nervosa.

Neurobiological findings in anorexia nervosa (AN) are inconsistent, including differences in regional grey matter volumes. Methodological limitations often contribute to the inconsistencies reported. The aim of this study was to improve on these methodologies by utilising voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis with the use of diffeomorphic anatomic registration through an exponentiated lie algebra algorithm (DARTEL), in a relatively large group of individuals with AN. Twenty-six individuals with AN and 27 healthy controls underwent a T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. AN participants were found to have reduced grey matter volumes in a number of areas including regions of the basal ganglia (including the ventral striatum), and parietal and temporal cortices. Body mass index (BMI) and global scores on the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) were also found to correlate with grey matter volumes in a region of the brainstem (including the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area) in AN, and predicted 56% of the variance in grey matter volumes in this area. The brain regions associated with grey matter reductions in AN are consistent with regions responsible for cognitive deficits associated with the illness including anhedonia, deficits in affect perception and saccadic eye movement abnormalities. Overall, the findings suggest reduced grey matter volumes in AN that are associated with eating disorder symptomatology.