MEG-measured visually induced gamma-band oscillations in chronic schizophrenia: Evidence for impaired generation of rhythmic activity in ventral stream regions

Background: Gamma-band oscillations are prominently impaired in schizophrenia, but the nature of the deficit and relationship to perceptual processes is unclear. Methods: 16 patients with chronic schizophrenia (ScZ) and 16 age-matched healthy controls completed a visual paradigm while magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data was recorded. Participants had to detect randomly occurring stimulus acceleration while viewing a concentric moving grating. MEG data were analyzed for spectral power (1-100 Hz) at sensorand source-level to examine the brain regions involved in aberrant rhythmic activity, and for contribution of differences in baseline activity towards the generation of low- and highfrequency power. Results: Our data show reduced gamma-band power at sensor level in schizophrenia patients during stimulus processing while alpha-band and baseline spectrum were intact. Differences in oscillatory activity correlated with reduced behavioral detection rates in the schizophrenia group and higher scores on the “Cognitive Factor” of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Source reconstruction revealed that extra-striate (fusiform/lingual gyrus), but not striate (cuneus), visual cortices contributed towards the reduced activity observed at sensorlevel in ScZ patients. Importantly, differences in stimulus-related activity were not due to differences in baseline activity. Conclusions: Our findings highlight that MEG-measured high-frequency oscillations during visual processing can be robustly identified in ScZ. Our data further suggest impairments that involve dysfunctions in ventral stream processing and a failure to increase gamma-band activity in a task-context. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of current theories of cortical-subcortical circuit dysfunctions and perceptual processing in ScZ.

Anticipating future risk in social-ecological systems using fuzzy cognitive mapping: the case of wildfire in the Chiquitania, Bolivia

Understanding complex social-ecological systems, and anticipating how they may respond to rapid change, requires an approach that incorporates environmental, social, economic, and policy factors, usually in a context of fragmented data availability. We employed fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to integrate these factors in the assessment of future wildfire risk in the Chiquitania region, Bolivia. In this region, dealing with wildfires is becoming increasingly challenging because of reinforcing feedbacks between multiple drivers. We conducted semistructured interviews and constructed different FCMs in focus groups to understand the regional dynamics of wildfire from diverse perspectives. We used FCM modelling to evaluate possible adaptation scenarios in the context of future drier climatic conditions. Scenarios also considered possible failure to respond in time to the emergent risk. This approach proved of great potential to support decision making for risk management. It helped identify key forcing variables and generate insights into potential risks and trade-offs of different strategies. The “Hands-off” scenario resulted in amplified impacts driven by intensifying trends, affecting particularly the agricultural production under drought conditions. The “Fire management” scenario, which adopted a bottom-up approach to improve controlled burning, showed less trade-offs between wildfire risk reduction and production compared with the “Fire suppression” scenario. Findings highlighted the importance of considering strategies that involve all actors who use fire, and the need to nest these strategies for a more systemic approach to manage wildfire risk. The FCM model could be used as a decision-support tool and serve as a “boundary object” to facilitate collaboration and integration of different perceptions of fire in the region. This approach also has the potential to inform decisions in other dynamic frontier landscapes around the world that are facing increased risk of large wildfires.

On the need of standards for reporting on esophageal perforation

Esophageal perforation is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Its etiology is as heterogenous as modalities currently employed for its treatment. There is no clear evidence which is the treatment of choice for esophageal perforation. This is partly due to the suboptimal quality of available studies and failure to accurately report on the characteristics, treatment and outcome of these patients. Indeed, baseline, operative and outcome data are important for a better evaluation of published data and possibly for including them in meta-analyses of aggregate or individual patient data. We propose a checklist for reporting data on esophageal perforation in order to standardize reporting of data of studies on this severe condition.

Fishing gear selectivity for Lates niloticus L., Oreochromis niloticus L. and Rastrineobola argentea P. in Lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Nabugabo

Catch effort data on which fisheries management regulations are sometimes based are not available for most lakes in Uganda. However, failure to regulate fishing gears and methods has been a major cause of collapse of fisheries in the country. Fisheries have been damaged by destructive and non-selective fishing gears and methods such as trawling and beach seining, by use of gill nets of mesh size which crop immature fish and by introduction of mechanised fishing. Selectivity of gears used to crop Lates niloticus L.(Nile perch), Oreochromis niloticus L. (Nile tilapia) and Rastrineobola argentea Pellegrin (Mukene) which are currently the most important commercial species in Uganda were examined in order to recommend the most suitable types, sizes and methods that should be used in exploiting these fisheries. Gill nets of less than 127 mm mainly cropped immature Nile tilapia and Nile perch. To protect these fisheries, the minimum mesh size of gill nets should be set at 127 mm. Seine nets of 5 mm caught high proportions in immature Mukene while those of 10 mm caught mainly mature Mukene. When operated inshore, both sizes caught immature Nile perch and Nile tilapia as by-catch. To protect the Mukene fishery and avoid catching immature bye-catch, a minimum mesh size of the Mukene net should be 10 mm operated as Lampara type net offshore, but since most fishermen have been using 5 mm seine nets for over five years the minimum size should not be allowed to drop below 5 mm pending further thorough investigations. Beach seining and trawling are destructive to fisheries and should be prohibited until data that may justify their use is available.

Fundamental Modes of Operation for Mass Customization

The concept of Mass Customization (MC) - producing customised goods for a mass market - has received considerable attention in the research literature in recent years. However the literature is limited in providing an understanding of the content of MC strategies (the organizational structures, process technologies, etc., that are best in a particular environment) and the process of MC strategies (the sub-strategy that an enterprise should select and how they should go about implementing an MC strategy). In this paper six published classification schemes of relevance to Mass Customization are reviewed. The classification schemes are applied to five case studies of enterprises operating in an MC environment. The limitations of the schemes are analysed and their failure to distinguish key characteristics is highlighted. Analysis of the findings leads to the development of a taxonomy of operational modes for MC. Five fundamental modes of operation for Mass Customization are identified. These modes are described and justified and their application is illustrated by contrasting the information requirements of two modes. The potential of these modes to provide the foundations for detailed configurations models is discussed.

PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL

Objetivo: Verificar a prevalência e os fatores associados ao sobrepeso e à obesidade entre adolescentes de uma escola pública em Campinas, São Paulo. Métodos: Estudo observacional, transversal, realizado entre julho e setembro de 2013, com 107 jovens entre 15 e 19 anos que cursavam o ensino médio em uma escola pública do município de Campinas, São Paulo. Utilizou-se um questionário para investigar dados sociodemográficos e fatores de risco para sobrepeso e obesidade. Além disso, verificaram-se dados clínicos (peso, altura, pressão arterial). Resultados: A amostra se caracterizou com predomínio de mulheres (n=65, 60,7%) com 16,5 anos em média e renda familiar entre 2 e 4 salários mínimos (n=53, 49,5%). A prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade foi de 18 (16,8%) e 9 (8,4%), respectivamente. Destaca-se que 62 (58%) sempre omitiam uma refeição, 54 (50,5%) sempre se alimentavam vendo televisão e 56 (52,3%) não praticavam atividade física fora da escola. Tentar e não conseguir fazer dieta foi associado ao sobrepeso e à obesidade, e autoimagem curvilínea foi associada à obesidade. Conclusão: O estudo revelou que parte significativa da amostra estava com sobrepeso ou obesidade. A falha em manter uma dieta e a autoimagem curvilínea associadas às alterações nutricionais sugerem que os adolescentes tinham consciência dessas alterações e se preocupavam com o próprio peso, a ponto de buscarem a dieta para tentar emagrecer.

Effects of efficient fronto-temporal circuitry on lexical ambiguity resolution: converging evidence from cross-age comparisons in eye-tracking and ERP data

Eye-tracking was used to examine how younger and older adults use syntactic and semantic information to disambiguate noun/verb (NV) homographs (e.g., park). We find that young adults exhibit inflated first fixations to NV-homographs when only syntactic cues are available for disambiguation (i.e., in syntactic prose). This effect is eliminated with the addition of disambiguating semantic information. Older adults (60+) as a group fail to show the first fixation effect in syntactic prose; they instead reread NV homographs longer. This pattern mirrors that in prior event-related potential work (Lee & Federmeier, 2009, 2011), which reported a sustained frontal negativity to NV-homographs in syntactic prose for young adults, which was eliminated by semantic constraints. The frontal negativity was not observed in older adults as a group, although older adults with high verbal fluency showed the young-like pattern. Analyses of individual differences in eye-tracking patterns revealed a similar effect of verbal fluency in both young and older adults: high verbal fluency groups of both ages show larger first fixation effects, while low verbal fluency groups show larger downstream costs (rereading and/or refixating NV homographs). Jointly, the eye-tracking and ERP data suggest that effortful meaning selection recruits frontal brain areas important for suppressing contextually inappropriate meanings, which also slows eye movements. Efficacy of fronto-temporal circuitry, as captured by verbal fluency, predicts the success of engaging these mechanisms in both young and older adults. Failure to recruit these processes requires compensatory rereading or leads to comprehension failures (Lee & Federmeier, in press).

Ograniczona względami ekonomicznymi dostępność świadczeń zdrowotnych a naruszenie przez lekarza reguł ostrożności

Odpowiedzialność karną lekarza łączy się powszechnie z problematyką błędu medycznego, choć właściwie odpowiada on nie za sam błąd medyczny, jako że prawo karne nie zna przestępstwa polegającego na popełnieniu błędu medycznego, ale za ewentualne jego skutki, które mogą być kwalifikowane jako nieumyślne spowodowanie śmierci, nieumyślne spowodowanie ciężkiego, średniego albo lekkiego uszczerbku na zdrowiu bądź nieumyślne narażenie na niebezpieczeństwo utraty życia albo ciężkiego uszczerbku na zdrowiu. Nie można oczywiście wykluczyć wystąpienia sytuacji, w której lekarz swoim zachowaniem zrealizowałby znamiona typu umyślnego, jednakże na potrzeby niniejszej publikacji przyjęto, że co do zasady lekarz działa w celu ratowania dóbr prawnych, jakimi są życie i zdrowie pacjenta, nie zaś z zamiarem narażenia ich na niebezpieczeństwo bądź naruszenia, a ewentualne negatywne skutki dla życia i pacjenta, powstałe w miejsce lub obok zamierzonego stanu rzeczy, nie są przez niego objęte umyślnością. Kluczowym warunkiem uznania, że czyn popełniony został nieumyślnie jest ustalenie, że sprawca naruszył reguły ostrożnego postępowania, wymagane w danych okolicznościach. W odniesieniu do zawodu lekarza na pierwszy plan wysuwa się wśród nich wymóg stosowania się do wskazań aktualnej wiedzy medycznej. Autorka przekłada ten obowiązek na grunt realiów systemu ochrony zdrowia i rozważa, jaki wpływ na jego niedopełnienie mają okoliczności ograniczonej względami ekonomicznymi dostępności świadczeń zdrowotnych oraz w jaki sposób niedostatek środków finansowych może rzutować na naruszenie przez lekarza reguł ostrożnego postępowania, o których mowa w art. 9 § 2 Kodeksu karnego.

Multicenter prospective validation of the Baveno IV and Baveno II/III criteria in cirrhosis patients with variceal bleeding

International audience

HOLDING HANDS WHILE PARTING WAYS: EXAMINING ALLIANCE TREATY RENEGOTIATION

This study investigates the renegotiation of security alliances, specifically the structural conditions surrounding their revision. Although the field of international relations offers a rich discussion of the formation and violation of alliance treaties, few scholars have addressed the reasons why alliance members amend security obligations. After the formation of an alliance, a member may become dissatisfied owing to changes in the external and domestic security environments. A failure to address this discontent increases the risk of alliance breakdown. Members manage their alliance relationship through a negotiation process or intra-alliance bargaining in the search for a new arrangement that can endure. Factors that help to show commitment to the alliance and communicate a set of feasible solutions are crucial if members are to find a mutually acceptable arrangement. By taking these factors into account, allies are more likely to revise an existing treaty. Examining a set of bilateral alliances dating from 1945 to 2001, this research demonstrates that public requests for renegotiation compel allies to change the status quo. It is found that alliance-related fixed assets and the formation of external alliances increase the likelihood of treaty revision, though institutionalization of an alliance does not help to resolve interest divergence. In addition, this study examines the strategy of delay in intra-alliance bargaining. Allies may postpone a dispute by ignoring it while working to maintain the alliance. Tension among allies thus increases, but the alliance endures. I examine three alliances in order to illustrate this renegotiation process. Among these, the Anglo-Japanese alliance demonstrates two successful renegotiations that prolonged a wavering alliance relationship; the Sino-Soviet alliance is an example of failure owing to the lack of substantive cooperation; and the US-Taiwan alliance during the 1970s demonstrates successful use of a strategy of delay that appeases a dissatisfied member.

Asymmetrical processing of olfactory input in the piriform cortex mediates "activation" of the avian navigation circuitry

The role of odors in the long-distance navigation of birds has elicited intense debate for more than half a century. Failure to resolve many of the issues fueling this debate is due at least in part to the absence of controls for a variety of non-specific effects that odors have on the navigational process. The present experiments were carried out to investigate whether the olfactory inputs are involved only in “activation” of neuronal circuitry involved in navigation or are also playing a role in providing directional information. Experienced adult pigeons were exposed to controlled olfactory stimuli during different segments of the journey (release site vs. displacement + release site). Protein levels of IEGs (immediate early genes used to mark synaptic activity) were analyzed in areas within the olfactory/navigation avian circuitry. The results indicate that 1) exposure to natural odors at the release site (and not before) elicit greater activation across brain regions than exposure to filtered air, artificial odors, and natural odors along the entire outward journey (from home to the release site, inclusive); 2) activation of the piriform cortex in terms of odor discrimination is lateralized; 3) activation of the navigation circuitry is achieved by means of lateralized activation of piriform cortex neurons. Altogether, the findings provide the first direct evidence that activation of the avian navigation circuitry is mediated by asymmetrical processing of olfactory input occurring in the right piriform cortex.

Councellors' Experience During Training and Home Based HIV Councelling and Testing in Zomba District, Malawi

Introduction In 2007, St Luke’s Mission Hospital initiated a district-wide Door to Door HIV counselling and testing (HCT) programme in Zomba district. The intent of the programme was to provide quality HCT services to people in their homes and effectively those found to be HIV positive referred to appropriate services. Methodology This was a cross sectional study using a questionnaire consecutively administered to a sample of 105 counsellors who had resided in the community for a period of over one year. The questionnaire sought to establish, knowledge gained, experiences and recommendations on how the programme has been implemented and assist running of similar future programmes. Data analysis was done manually using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Results We report that nearly 23% of the counsellors thought that during their training as a door to door HTC councelor they had benefited in learning to working with communities; an aspect they found to be highly applicable in discharge of their duties. The major setbacks during the training were lack daily allowances, less amount of time spent on understanding child councelling and the manual used was diffucult to follow. Over 32% of the councellors were satisfied with the participation of their clients during pre-test counselling sessions, however, the major challenge they had was the misconception that they were blood suckers, a view reported by nearly 17% of the counsellors. Close to 72% reported not to have met any problems during post-test counselling compared to 24% who reported to have found challenges. Conclusion The study has revealed that there is a need to re-look child children counselling especially in training door to door HCT counsellors. It has also revealed the prevalent allowance culture despite the benefits of training. The common challenges were refusal of test Results and failure to understand discordance. Misconceptions may still exist in the community regarding anything dealing with removing blood. There is still need for more information regarding discordance especially among couples in the community.

Non-use of Formal Health Services in Malawi: Perceptions from Non-users

Background The study upon which this paper is based was undertaken to understand users’ and non-users’ perceptions concerning facilitators and barriers to equitable and universal access to health care in resource-poor countries such as Malawi. In this study, non-users of health services were defined as people who were not in need of health services or those who had stopped using them due to significant barriers. Methods A total of 80 interviews with non-users of health services were conducted in Rumphi, Ntchisi, Phalombe and Blantyre Districts of Malawi. Interviews focused on why informants were not using formal health services at the time of data collection. In order to identify non-users, snowballing was used health surveillance assistants, village headmen and community members also helped. One focus group discussion was also conducted with non-users of health services who were members of the Zion Church. Results Informants described themselves as non-users of health services due to several reasons: cost of health services; long distances to health facilities; poor attitude of health workers; belief in the effectiveness of traditional medicines; old age and their failure to walk. Others were non-users due to their disability; hence they could not walk over long distances or could not communicate effectively with health providers. Some of these non-users were complete non-users, namely members of the Zion Church and those who believed in traditional medicine, and they stated that nothing could be done to transform them into users of health services. Other non-users stated that they could become users if their challenges were addressed e.g. for those who were non-users of health services due to poor attitudes of health workers, they stated that if these health workers were transferred they would be able to access health services. Conclusions Public health education targeting both health workers and non-users, ensuring a functional outreach program and addressing other health system challenges such as shortage of drugs and human resources would assist in transforming non-users into users of health services.

Dinámicas sociales, conservación y desarrollo en espacios naturales protegidos. El caso de la Reserva de la Biosfera "La Sepultura" en el estado mexicano de Chiapas

Los factores que inciden en el proceso de desarrollo de los territorios rurales y que explican el éxito o el fracaso de las estrategias impulsadas desde abajo (bottom-up) o inducidas desde arriba (top-down), han preocupado desde hace varias décadas a los analistas, que observan las limitaciones de los enfoques del “desarrollo territorial rural” para aprehender la complejidad de dicho proceso. Habiéndose centrado, sobre todo, en el ámbito de las políticas públicas y sus efectos en el desarrollo de los territorios rurales, los analistas del desarrollo han visto la necesidad de apoyarse en otras perspectivas que capten las dinámicas que acontecen en el ámbito de la sociedad civil local, tanto en lo que se refiere a las relaciones entre los diversos actores socioeconómicos e institucionales presentes en el territorio, como a su interacción con los organismos públicos encargados de implementar dichas políticas. El objetivo general de esta tesis doctoral ha sido analizar las dinámicas sociales que surgen en espacios naturales sometidos a políticas de gestión y regulación, mostrando el grado de influencia que tienen en la aplicación de esas políticas las diversas redes en que se organizan las poblaciones locales. De la investigación empírica realizada y de su integración en el marco teórico utilizado, hemos podido extraer resultados referidos a la realidad concreta y localizada de la REBISE que muestran cómo es que conciliar los objetivos de la “conservación” y el “desarrollo” en territorios poblados por comunidades locales estrechamente vinculadas a espacios naturales, exige abordar de forma integral los problemas ambientales, sociales y económicos. Tratar de alcanzar esos objetivos con políticas sectoriales conduce al fracaso de los programas de protección, ya que sólo se logran objetivos parciales y limitados. Por muy elevado que sea el valor ecológico de este tipo de espacios naturales y por muy alta que sea la protección que reciban por parte de los organismos internacionales (como ocurre con las “reservas de la biosfera” del programa MaB de la UNESCO), “conservar” estas áreas naturales no puede lograrse sin contar con la colaboración de las poblaciones locales. Esto exige combinar estrategias top-down y bottom-up buscando establecer sinergias entre los responsables públicos y los grupos sociales presentes en el territorio. De nuestra investigación se deduce la necesidad de empoderar a las comunidades locales para inducir en ellos un capital social tipo bridging dirigido a la construcción de un gran pacto territorial que trascienda los intereses particulares de cada grupo y que persiga el interés general del territorio en pro de la conservación de los recursos naturales y de la mejora del bienestar y calidad de vida de las familias que residen allí. Si no se hace así, continuarán promoviéndose proyectos “balsámicos” que paliarán a corto plazo algunos de los problemas de las poblaciones locales, pero que las mantendrán en el estancamiento y la pobreza.

Early growth response genes 2 and 3 regulate the expression of Bcl6 and differentiation of T follicular helper cells

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells support differentiation of B cells to plasma cells and high affinity antibody production in germinal centers (GC) and Tfh differentiation requires the function of B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl6). We have now discovered that early growth response gene (Egr) 2 and 3 directly regulate the expression of Bcl6 in Tfh cells which is required for their function in regulation of GC formation. In the absence of Egr2 and 3, the expression of Bcl6 in Tfh cells is defective leading to impaired differentiation of Tfh cells resulting in a failure to form GCs following virus infection and defects in production of anti-viral antibodies. Enforced expression of Bcl6 in Egr2/3 deficient CD4 T cells partially restored Tfh differentiation and GC formation in response to virus infection. Our findings demonstrate a novel function of Egr2/3 which is important for Tfh cell development and Tfh cell mediated B cell immune responses.