Investigation of the cingulate cortex in idiopathic generalized epilepsy

Studies using quantitative neuroimaging have shown subtle abnormalities in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). These findings have several locations, but the midline parasagittal structures are most commonly implicated. The cingulate cortex is related and may be involved. The objective of the current investigation was to perform a comprehensive analysis of the cingulate cortex using multiple quantitative structural neuroimaging techniques. Thirty-two patients (18 women, 30 ± 10 years) and 36 controls (18 women, 32 ± 11 years) were imaged by 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A volumetric three-dimensional (3D) sequence was acquired and used for this investigation. Regions-of-interest were selected and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses compared the cingulate cortex of the two groups using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8) and VBM8 software. Cortical analyses of the cingulate gyrus was performed using Freesurfer. Images were submitted to automatic processing using built-in routines and recommendations. Structural parameters were extracted for individual analyses, and comparisons between groups were restricted to the cingulate gyrus. Finally, shape analyses was performed on the anterior rostral, anterior caudal, posterior, and isthmus cingulate using spherical harmonic description (SPHARM). VBM analyses of cingulate gyrus showed areas of gray matter atrophy, mainly in the anterior cingulate gyrus (972 mm(3) ) and the isthmus (168 mm(3) ). Individual analyses of the cingulate cortex were similar between patients with IGE and controls. Surface-based comparisons revealed abnormalities located mainly in the posterior cingulate cortex (718.12 mm(2) ). Shape analyses demonstrated a predominance of anterior and posterior cingulate abnormalities. This study suggests that patients with IGE have structural abnormalities in the cingulate gyrus mainly localized at the anterior and posterior portions. This finding is subtle and variable among patients.

Depression and anxiety in pregnant women with diabetes or mild hyperglycemia

A number of physical and psychological changes that occur during pregnancy can stimulate the development of psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. The study evaluated psychological aspects related to maternal depression and anxiety in pregnant women with diabetes mellitus or hyperglycemia, contrasting the results with those of non-diabetic pregnant women. In a prospective and longitudinal approach, two questionnaires were applied and validated for use in Brazil, the Beck depression inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The questionnaires were applied to pregnant women at the first prenatal visit or at the time of disease diagnosis (T1) and reapplied at admission for delivery (T2). Regardless of the degree of hyperglycemia, both at first and in the second stage most women had severe anxiety trait. In early pregnancy (T1), however, severe state anxiety was more frequent in women with hyperglycemia than in those from the NG group. Most pregnant women showed moderate state anxiety over their pregnancy, regardless of glycemic status. In early pregnancy, however, severe state anxiety was more prevalent in hyperglycemic women than in those with normal glycemic status. Most women showed moderate trait anxiety and mild depression in both early and late pregnancy, irrespective of glycemic status. The incidence of severe state anxiety in early pregnancy is more frequent in women with diabetes or hyperglycemia, but their levels of trait anxiety and depression are not affected by glycemic status.

Unpredictable chronic mild stress exerts anxiogenic-like effects and activates neurons in the dorsal and caudal region and in the lateral wings of the dorsal raphe nucleus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

On partial derivative-Neumann's problem in generalized functions framework

In this paper, we show that the equation delta u/delta (z) over bar + Gu = f, where the elements involved are in generalized functions context, has a local solution in the generalized functions context.

The role of social skills in social anxiety of university students

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Anxiety and depression in brazilian undergraduate students: the role of sociodemographic variables, undergraduate course characteristics and social skills

The prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders in undergraduate students is high and several variables can be influential. The aim is to verify the predictive value of social skills, sociodemographic variables, and course characteristics for depression and anxiety. A total of 1282 students of a public university, of both sexes and from different years and courses, participated in this study. Screening instruments for depression and anxiety were applied, as well as an instrument investigating social skills and a questionnaire covering socio demographic indicators and course characteristics. The data were analyzed using univariate analysis followed by multiple binary regression analysis in order to define the relevance of these depression and anxiety measures. The rates of anxiety and depression were 19.4% and 3.8%, respectively. The social skills and living situation were predictive of depression, with the social skills and course area (with higher prevalence for the exact and human sciences) remaining in the final model for anxiety. Such data have implications for psychological prevention and intervention with this population.

Math Anxiety: What can teachers do to help their students over come the feeling?

In this action research study of my classroom of 7th and 8th grade mathematics, I investigated how math anxiety relates to the student work and behavior in the classroom, and how this can affect the student’s overall relationship to mathematics. I discovered that the harder the work, the more math anxiety was displayed. The harder I pushed students to think more deeply, the fewer responses to my questions I received. I noticed difference in the students’ body language and overall behavior. As a result of this research, I plan to help my students try to overcome the feeling of math anxiety and try to teach them different methods to use when they are feeling anxious. The methods that I plan to use hopefully will help the students when they are feeling anxiety and help the students to understand the math being taught and how to apply the math they learn to everyday life.

An Extended Kernel for Generalized Multiple-Instance Learning

The multiple-instance learning (MIL) model has been successful in areas such as drug discovery and content-based image-retrieval. Recently, this model was generalized and a corresponding kernel was introduced to learn generalized MIL concepts with a support vector machine. While this kernel enjoyed empirical success, it has limitations in its representation. We extend this kernel by enriching its representation and empirically evaluate our new kernel on data from content-based image retrieval, biological sequence analysis, and drug discovery. We found that our new kernel generalized noticeably better than the old one in content-based image retrieval and biological sequence analysis and was slightly better or even with the old kernel in the other applications, showing that an SVM using this kernel does not overfit despite its richer representation.

Development of an interview version of the Native American Cultural Involvement and Detachment Anxiety Questionnaire

The present study sought to develop and validate an interview version of the Native American Cultural Involvement and Detachment Anxiety Questionnaire (CIDAQ; McNeil, Porter, Zvolensky, Chaney, & Kee, 2000) in an effort to construct a more culturally appropriate means of obtaining anxiety-related information from a tribally homogenous sample of Native Americans. Five pilot subjects (60% women; M age = 35.8 years) and 50 Native American participants (46% women; M age = 40.32 years) residing on a Northern Plains reservation were administered the CIDAQ - Interview, designed specifically for this study, the Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ; Tallis, Eysenck, & Mathews, 1992), a measure of non-pathological worry, the CIDAQ (McNeil et al., 2000), a self-report measure of culturally-related anxiety, and a demographics form. Using a mixed design method of analysis, interviews were audio taped and data was both qualitatively and quantitatively compared for convergence and discrepancies across measures. As hypothesized, CIDAQ-Interview subscales corresponded with subscales from the CIDAQ self-report and included worries and anxiety in three content areas: (1) social involvement with Native Americans and cultural knowledge, (2) economic issues, and (3) social involvement with the majority culture. Results further revealed similarities between CIDAQ-Interview items and those on the CIDAQ self-report, indicating reliability for the Interview. Findings also confirmed the Interview's validity (r 's range = .349-.754), as well as a high level of internal consistency for the CIDAQ self-report (Cronbach alpha = .931). Data suggest the CIDAQ-Interview is a more culturally appropriate method of assessment and may be capable of assessing anxiety at a higher level of specificity then the self-report version. Results of the study are discussed in relation to the assessment of anxiety for homogenous reservation Native Americans, study limitations and directions for future research with the CIDAQ-Interview are also discussed.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in hospitalized patients at the dermatology clinical ward of a university hospital

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in hospitalized patients at the dermatology ward at a university hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in hospitalized patients at the dermatology ward at a university hospital in Sao Paulo. METHOD: A total of 75 patients, men and women, aged between 18 and 76 years, took part in the research. The study employed a descriptive, cross sectional and correlational method. The data was collected by means of a social demographic questionnaire and the PRIME-MD. RESULTS: It was found that 45.3 percent of the subjects presented with depressive symptoms, and 52 percent presented with symptoms of anxiety and that this survey showed moderate and high significant correlations (p<0,01; r= 0,616) for depression and anxiety. CONCLUSION: These facts could evidence the relationship between physical and psyche, just as the literature presents.

Respiratory rehabilitation: a physiotherapy approach to the control of asthma symptoms and anxiety

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to verify the degree of anxiety, respiratory distress, and health-related quality of life in a group of asthmatic patients who have experienced previous panic attacks. Additionally, we evaluated if a respiratory physiotherapy program (breathing retraining) improved both asthma and panic disorder symptoms, resulting in an improvement in the health-related quality of life of asthmatics. METHODS: Asthmatic individuals were assigned to a chest physiotherapy group that included a breathing retraining program held once a week for three months or a paired control group that included a Subtle Touch program. All patients were assessed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, the Sheehan Anxiety Scale, the Quality of Life Questionnaire, and spirometry parameter measurements. RESULTS: Both groups had high marks for panic disorder and agoraphobia, which limited their quality of life. The Breathing Retraining Group program improved the clinical control of asthma, reduced panic symptoms and agoraphobia, decreased patient scores on the Sheehan Anxiety Scale, and improved their quality of life. Spirometry parameters were unchanged. CONCLUSION: Breathing retraining improves the clinical control of asthma and anxiety symptoms and the health-related quality of life in asthmatic patients.

Continuity of Lyapunov functions and of energy level for generalized gradient semigroup

The global attractor of a gradient-like semigroup has a Morse decomposition. Associated to this Morse decomposition there is a Lyapunov function (differentiable along solutions)-defined on the whole phase space- which proves relevant information on the structure of the attractor. In this paper we prove the continuity of these Lyapunov functions under perturbation. On the other hand, the attractor of a gradient-like semigroup also has an energy level decomposition which is again a Morse decomposition but with a total order between any two components. We claim that, from a dynamical point of view, this is the optimal decomposition of a global attractor; that is, if we start from the finest Morse decomposition, the energy level decomposition is the coarsest Morse decomposition that still produces a Lyapunov function which gives the same information about the structure of the attractor. We also establish sufficient conditions which ensure the stability of this kind of decomposition under perturbation. In particular, if connections between different isolated invariant sets inside the attractor remain under perturbation, we show the continuity of the energy level Morse decomposition. The class of Morse-Smale systems illustrates our results.

Generalized correlation functions for conductance fluctuations and the mesoscopic spin Hall effect

We study the spin Hall conductance fluctuations in ballistic mesoscopic systems. We obtain universal expressions for the spin and charge current fluctuations, cast in terms of current-current autocorrelation functions. We show that the latter are conveniently parametrized as deformed Lorentzian shape lines, functions of an external applied magnetic field and the Fermi energy. We find that the charge current fluctuations show quite unique statistical features at the symplectic-unitary crossover regime. Our findings are based on an evaluation of the generalized transmission coefficients correlation functions within the stub model and are amenable to experimental test. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.86.235112

Differential calculus and integration of generalized functions over membranes

In this paper we continue the development of the differential calculus started in Aragona et al. (Monatsh. Math. 144: 13-29, 2005). Guided by the so-called sharp topology and the interpretation of Colombeau generalized functions as point functions on generalized point sets, we introduce the notion of membranes and extend the definition of integrals, given in Aragona et al. (Monatsh. Math. 144: 13-29, 2005), to integrals defined on membranes. We use this to prove a generalized version of the Cauchy formula and to obtain the Goursat Theorem for generalized holomorphic functions. A number of results from classical differential and integral calculus, like the inverse and implicit function theorems and Green's theorem, are transferred to the generalized setting. Further, we indicate that solution formulas for transport and wave equations with generalized initial data can be obtained as well.

Boundedness of solutions of retarded functional differential equations with variable impulses via generalized ordinary differential equations

In this paper, we give sufficient conditions for the uniform boundedness and uniform ultimate boundedness of solutions of a class of retarded functional differential equations with impulse effects acting on variable times. We employ the theory of generalized ordinary differential equations to obtain our results. As an example, we investigate the boundedness of the solution of a circulating fuel nuclear reactor model.