A 2-year follow-up study of work ability among college educators

The aim of this study was to evaluate work ability among college educators before and after an intervention at the workplace. An administrative restructuring in the workplace started to be implemented in 2005. The work ability index (WAI) was administered to 154 educators before the restructure in 2004 and to 60 educators following the restructure in 2006. A mest comparing the WAI score of the 60 educators who took part in both phases showed a trend of improving work ability (p = 0.06; mean WAI in 2004 was 41.7 and 43.3 in 2006). The results suggest that the intervention led to an improvement in psychosocial factors, which in turn positively influenced work ability. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormal anterior cingulum integrity in bipolar disorder determined through diffusion tensor imaging

Background Convergent evidence implicates white matter abnormalities in bipolar disorder. The cingulum is an important candidate structure for study in bipolar disorder as it provides substantial white matter connections within the corticolimbic neural system that subserves emotional regulation involved in the disorder. Aims To test the hypothesis that bipolar disorder is associated with abnormal white matter integrity in the cingulum. Method Fractional anisotropy in the anterior and posterior cingulum was compared between 42 participants with bipolar disorder and 42 healthy participants using diffusion tensor imaging. Results Fractional anisotropy was significantly decreased in the anterior cingulum in the bipolar disorder group compared with the healthy group (P=0.003); however, fractional anisotropy in the posterior cingulum did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate abnormalities in the structural integrity of the anterior cingulum in bipolar disorder. They extend evidence that supports involvement of the neural system comprising the anterior cingulate cortex and its corticolimbic gray matter connection sites in bipolar disorder to implicate abnormalities in the white matter connections within the system provided by the cingulum.