Targeting Adenoviral Gene Therapy Vectors to Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Heart

Gene therapy aims to treat diseases by introducing genetic material to the diseased tissue. For cancer treatment it is important to destroy cancerous cells; this can be achieved by introducing a gene, which induces cell death or by allowing viral vectors to replicate, which also results in destruction of cancerous cells. For cardiac diseases the approach is more like the former, except the gene produces beneficial effects, like angiogenesis. Adenoviruses have many beneficial qualities, which make the virus an interesting gene therapy vector; it can be produced relatively easily, its manipulation is quite easy and it has naturally broad tropism. By removing or replacing certain genes in the adenoviral genome, it can be made non-replicative. In this study, adenoviral receptor expression patterns were characterized in both head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and the human heart. Adenovirus serotype 5 receptor expression in head and neck cancer cell lines was found to be highly variable between cell lines and overall at lower levels, while Ad35 receptor expression was more uniform and at higher levels in all analyzed cell lines. It was also shown that a hybrid virus Ad5/35 is able to infect cells refractory to Ad5, which correlates with receptor expression in these cells. Furthermore, this difference in infection properties extends to cell killing efficiency in case of conditionally replicative viruses. Expression levels of adenoviral receptors CAR, CD46, CD86 and αv-integrins were found to be high both in normal and dilated cardiomyopathy heart tissue. The receptor levels also correlate with transduction efficiency after intracardiac injection. Ad5 showed superior transduction ability compared with Ad5/35, but evoked also a more profound immune reaction when administered this way. Adenoviral gene therapy vectors are the most used delivery vehicles in clinical trials to date. These vectors have proven to be well tolerated and positive results have been obtained when combined with traditional treatments, although poor transduction efficiency has often been reported due to low-level expression of viral receptors on target cells. In spite of this, the results are encouraging and merit for further research.

Understanding the Racial Nature of Police and Immigrant Relations In Finland. The Case of Africans in Turku

The focus of this study is to examine the role of police and immigrants’ relations, as less is known about this process in the country. The studies were approached in two different ways. Firstly, an attempt was made to examine how immigrants view their encounters with the police. Secondly, the studies explored how aware the police are of immigrants’ experiences in their various encounters and interactions on the street level. An ancillary aim of the studies is to clarify, analyse and discuss how prejudice and stereotypes can be tackled, thereby contributing to the general debate about racism and discrimination for better ethnic relations in the country. The data in which this analysis was based is on a group of adults (n=88) from the total of 120 Africans questioned for the entire study (n=45) police cadets and (n=6) serving police officers from Turku. The present thesis is a compilation of five articles. A summary of each article findings follows, as the same data was used in all five studies. In the first study, a theoretical model was developed to examine the perceived knowledge of bias by immigrants resulting from race, culture and belief. This was also an attempt to explore whether this knowledge was predetermined in my attempt to classify and discuss as well as analyse the factors that may be influencing immigrants’ allegations of unfair treatment by the police in Turku. The main finding shows that in the first paper there was ignorance and naivety on the part of the police in their attitudes towards the African immigrant’s prior experiences with the police, and this may probably have resulted from stereotypes or their lack of experience as well as prior training with immigrants where these kinds of experience are rampant in the country (Egharevba, 2003 and 2004a). In exploring what leads to stereotypes, a working definition is the assumption that is prevalent among some segments of the population, including the police, that Finland is a homogenous country by employing certain conducts and behaviour towards ethnic and immigrant groups in the country. This to my understanding is stereotype. Historically this was true, but today the social topography of the country is changing and becoming even more complex. It is true that, on linguistic grounds, the country is multilingual, as there are a few recognised national minority languages (Swedish, Sami and Russian) as well as a number of immigrant languages including English. Apparently it is vital for the police to have a line of communication open when addressing the problem associated with immigrants in the country. The second paper moved a step further by examining African immigrants’ understanding of human rights as well as what human rights violation means or entails in their views as a result of their experiences with the police, both in Finland and in their country of origin. This approach became essential during the course of the study, especially when the participants were completing the questionnaire (N=88), where volunteers were solicited for a later date for an in-depth interview with the author. Many of the respondents came from countries where human rights are not well protected and seldom discussed publicly, therefore understanding their views on the subject can help to explain why some of the immigrants are sceptical about coming forward to report cases of batteries and assaults to the police, or even their experiences of being monitored in shopping malls in their new home and the reason behind their low level of trust in public authorities in Finland. The study showed that knowledge of human rights is notably low among some of the participants. The study also found that female respondents were less aware of human rights when compared with their male counterparts. This has resulted in some of the male participants focussing more on their traditional ways of thinking by not realising that they are in a new country where there is equality in sexes and lack of respect on gender terms is not condoned. The third paper focussed on the respondents’ experiences with the police in Turku and tried to explore police attitudes towards African immigrant clients, in addition to the role stereotype plays in police views of different cultures and how these views have impacted on immigrants’ views of discriminatory policing in Turku. The data is the same throughout the entire studies (n=88), except that some few participants were interviewed for the third paper thirty-five persons. The results showed that there is some bias in mass-media reports on the immigrants’ issues, due to selective portrayal of biases without much investigation being carried out before jumping to conclusions, especially when the issues at stake involve an immigrant (Egharevba, 2005a; Egharevba, 2004a and 2004b). In this vein, there was an allegation that the police are even biased while investigating cases of theft, especially if the stolen property is owned by an immigrant (Egharevba, 2006a, Egharevba, 2006b). One vital observation from the respondents’ various comments was that race has meaning in their encounters and interaction with the police in the country. This result led the author to conclude that the relation between the police and immigrants is still a challenge, as there is rampant fear and distrust towards the police by some segments of the participating respondents in the study. In the fourth paper the focus was on examining the respondents’ view of the police, with special emphasis on race and culture as well as the respondents’ perspective on police behaviour in Turku. This is because race, as it was relayed to me in the study, is a significant predictor of police perception (Egharevba, 2005a; Egharevba and Hannikianen, 2005). It is a known scientific fact that inter-group racial attitudes are the representation of group competition and perceived threat to power and status (Group-position theory). According to Blumer (1958) a sense of group threat is an essential element for the emergence of racial prejudice. Consequently, it was essential that we explored the existing relationship between the respondents and the police in order to have an understanding of this concept. The result indicates some local and international contextual issues and assumptions that were of importance tackling prejudice and discrimination as it exists within the police in the country. Moreover, we have to also remember that, for years, many of these African immigrants have been on the receiving end of unjust law enforcement in their various countries of origin, which has resulted in many of them feeling inferior and distrustful of the police even in their own country of origin. While discussing the issues of cultural difference and how it affects policing, we must also keep in mind the socio-cultural background of the participants, their level of language proficiency and educational background. The research data analysed in this study also confirmed the difficulties associated with cultural misunderstandings in interpreting issues and how these misunderstandings have affected police and immigrant relations in Finland. Finally, the fifth paper focussed on cadets’ attitudes towards African immigrants as well as serving police officers’ interaction with African clients. Secondly, the police level of awareness of African immigrants’ distrustfulness of their profession was unclear. For this reason, my questions in this fifth study examined the experiences and attitudes of police cadets and serving police officers as well as those of African immigrants in understanding how to improve this relationship in the country. The data was based on (n=88) immigrant participants, (n=45) police cadets and 6 serving police officers from the Turku police department. The result suggests that there is distrust of the police in the respondents’ interaction; this tends to have galvanised a heightened tension resulting from the lack of language proficiency (Egharevba and White, 2007; Egharevba and Hannikainen, 2005, and Egharevba, 2006b) The result also shows that the allegation of immigrants as being belittled by the police stems from the misconceptions of both parties as well as the notion of stop and search by the police in Turku. All these factors were observed to have contributed to the alleged police evasiveness and the lack of regular contact between the respondents and the police in their dealings. In other words, the police have only had job-related contact with many of the participants in the present study. The results also demonstrated the complexities caused by the low level of education among some of the African immigrants in their understanding about the Finnish culture, norms and values in the country. Thus, the framework constructed in these studies embodies diversity in national culture as well as the need for a further research study with a greater number of respondents (both from the police and immigrant/majority groups), in order to explore the different role cultures play in immigrant and majority citizens’ understanding of police work.

Bag-of-Features Approach to Unsupervised Visual Object Categorisation

The large and growing number of digital images is making manual image search laborious. Only a fraction of the images contain metadata that can be used to search for a particular type of image. Thus, the main research question of this thesis is whether it is possible to learn visual object categories directly from images. Computers process images as long lists of pixels that do not have a clear connection to high-level semantics which could be used in the image search. There are various methods introduced in the literature to extract low-level image features and also approaches to connect these low-level features with high-level semantics. One of these approaches is called Bag-of-Features which is studied in the thesis. In the Bag-of-Features approach, the images are described using a visual codebook. The codebook is built from the descriptions of the image patches using clustering. The images are described by matching descriptions of image patches with the visual codebook and computing the number of matches for each code. In this thesis, unsupervised visual object categorisation using the Bag-of-Features approach is studied. The goal is to find groups of similar images, e.g., images that contain an object from the same category. The standard Bag-of-Features approach is improved by using spatial information and visual saliency. It was found that the performance of the visual object categorisation can be improved by using spatial information of local features to verify the matches. However, this process is computationally heavy, and thus, the number of images must be limited in the spatial matching, for example, by using the Bag-of-Features method as in this study. Different approaches for saliency detection are studied and a new method based on the Hessian-Affine local feature detector is proposed. The new method achieves comparable results with current state-of-the-art. The visual object categorisation performance was improved by using foreground segmentation based on saliency information, especially when the background could be considered as clutter.

In vivo imaging of vascular adhesion protein 1 - preclinical studies with positron emission tomography

The golden standard in nuclear medicine imaging of inflammation is the use of radiolabeled leukocytes. Although their diagnostic accuracy is good, the preparation of the leukocytes is both laborious and potentially hazardous for laboratory personnel. Molecules involved in leukocyte migration could serve as targets for the development of inflammation imaging agents. An excellent target would be a molecule that is absent or expressed at low level in normal tissues, but is induced or up-regulated at the site of inflammation. Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a very promising target for in vivo imaging, since it is translocated to the endothelial cell surface when inflammation occurs. VAP-1 functions as an endothelial adhesion molecule that participates in leukocyte recruitment to inflamed tissues. Besides being an adhesion molecule, VAP-1 also has enzymatic activity. In this thesis, the targeting of VAP-1 was studied by using Gallium-68 (68Ga) labeled peptides and an Iodine-124 (124I) labeled antibody. The peptides were designed based on molecular modelling and phage display library searches. The new imaging agents were preclinically tested in vitro, as well as in vivo in animal models. The most promising imaging agent appeared to be a peptide belonging to the VAP-1 leukocyte ligand, Siglec-9 peptide. The 68Ga-labeled Siglec-9 peptide was able to detect VAP-1 positive vasculature in rodent models of sterile skin inflammation and melanoma by positron emission tomography. In addition to peptides, the 124I-labeled antibody showed VAP-1 specific binding both in vitro and in vivo. However, the estimated human radiation dose was rather high, and thus further preclinical studies in disease models are needed to clarify the value of this imaging agent. Detection of VAP-1 on endothelium was demonstrated in these studies and this imaging approach could be used in the diagnosis of inflammatory conditions as well as melanoma. These studies provide a proof-of-concept for PET imaging of VAP-1 and further studies are warranted.

Fuzzy rule-based system for evaluation of uncertainty transaction in cassava chain

A fuzzy ruled-based system was developed in this study and resulted in an index indicating the level of uncertainty related to commercial transactions between cassava growers and their dealers. The fuzzy system was developed based on Transaction Cost Economics approach. The fuzzy system was developed from input variables regarding information sharing between grower and dealer on “Demand/purchase Forecasting”, “Production Forecasting” and “Production Innovation”. The output variable is the level of uncertainty regarding the transaction between seller and buyer agent, which may serve as a system for detecting inefficiencies. Evidences from 27 cassava growers registered in the Regional Development Offices of Tupa and Assis, São Paulo, Brazil, and 48 of their dealers supported the development of the system. The mathematical model indicated that 55% of the growers present a Very High level of uncertainty, 33% present Medium or High. The others present Low or Very Low level of uncertainty. From the model, simulations of external interferences can be implemented in order to improve the degree of uncertainty and, thus, lower transaction costs.

Puuelementtien teollisen tuotannon kehittäminen

Tavoitteena tässä diplomityössä oli selvittää puuelementtien teollisen tuotannon mahdollisuuksia ja kehityksen tilaa. Millaiset valmiudet puuelementtien valmistajilla on valmistaa rakennuttajien ja rakentajien edellyttämiä suur- ja tilaelementtejä puukerrostaloja varten, millaista tuotekehitystä ja tuotantoinvestointeja tarvitaan kaiken tämän mahdollistamiseksi, mikä on yritysten halukkuus ja resurssit investoida uuteen teknologiaan sekä kuinka voidaan parantaa tuotannon tehokkuutta. Ensin diplomityössä luotiin katsaus puukerrostalorakentamisen historiaan, nykytilaan, kerrostalojärjestelmiin, palomääräyksiin ja ruotsalaiseen puuelementtien valmistamisen kehityksen tilaan. Puuelementtien valmistukseen tutustumisen jälkeen laadittiin kyselylomake tutkimusta varten, joka lähettiin 64:lle puuelementtien valmistajalle. Tutkimukseen vastasi kaikkiaan 20 puuelementtien valmistajaa. Vastausprosentiksi muodostui 31 %. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta puuelementtien valmistajien olevan pieniä ja keskisuuria pk-yrityksiä jotka valmistavat puuelementtejä pääasiassa pientaloteollisuudelle. Suomalaisten valmistajien automaation taso ja tekninen osaaminen ei juuri eroa ruotsalaisesta puuelementtien valmistuksesta. Suomessa puuelementtien valmistus puukerrostaloja varten ei ole vielä vakiintunutta samalla tavalla kuten Ruotsissa. Suomessa Puukerrostalokohteita lähtee liikkeelle tällä hetkellä vielä aivan liian vähän. Kilpailukyky ja tehokkuus tulevat kehittymään nopeasti kun teollinen valmistus saadaan riittävän korkealle tasolle.

Rakennuskonepalveluita tuottavan pk-yrityksen investointi- ja kustannusmalli

Tämän tutkimuksen päätavoitteena oli luoda yleisellä tasolla kustannusmalli maarakennuskonepalveluita tuottavien pk-yritysten käyttöön ja käytännön päätöstilanteiden avuksi osana päätöksenteko organisaation ja myyntityötä tekevän portaan kustannustarkkailuun. Mallin luomisen tarkoituksena oli että mallia voidaan helposti muokata erilaisten myyntitilanteiden kannattavuuksien tarkasteluun ja sitä kautta malli luo käyttäjilleen etulyöntiaseman luodessa pitkiä palvelusopimuksia ja erilaisten projektityömaiden myyntisopimuksia simuloimalla kaluston siirtokustannuksia olemassa olevien tiedettyjen kustannustekijöiden toimesta. Teollisuudessa ja palvelujentarjoajapuolella on vastaavia malleja esitetty, mutta erityisesti maarakennuspuolen ja konevuokrauksen kustannuslaskentamalleja ei julkisesta ole juurikaan saatavilla. Työn kustannusmallin muutoksia simuloitiin ja testattiin luomalla erilaisia kysyntäskenaarioita joista yksi esitellään tarkemmin työn testausosiossa. mallilla on helppo kasata kustannusdataa erilaisina yhtälöinä miten uudet työmaat ovat kannattavampia luomalla kokonaisvaltaisesti paljon lisää uusia työkohteita. Kustannusmallin rakentamiselle oli kysyntää ja tärkeänä tietona pidettiin kokonaisvaltaista muutosta ja tietoa millä tehollisilla tunneilla vastaavat hankinnat olisivat kannattavia. Työn teoriaosa pohjautuu pääasiassa hinnoittelun, kannattavuuden ja investointilaskelmien teoriaan, artikkeleihin ja tutkimuksiin sekä kirjoihin. Työn empiirinen osa perustuu arvioihin tämän hetken hintatasoista sekä arvioihin kustannusten kertymisestä maarakennuspalveluita tuottavissa pk-yrityksissä joissa organisaatiokaavio on matala ja toiminta tehokasta. Keskeisimmät tulokset liittyvät siihen miten kustannuksia tulee huomioida erilaisille asiakkaille ja millainen kustannusmalli on käyttökelpoinen eri tilanteissa.

Use of herbicides on turfgrass

In crop production, weeds must be controlled so as not to adversely affect crop yield and crop quality. Thus, a low level of weeds infesting a field, in most instances, is not a problem. Except in sod or seed production, turfgrass does not have a yield component. The value of turfgrass is its inherent aesthetic quality and usability. Aesthetic quality is the beauty and value that turfgrass adds to a managed landscape. Usability can be the durability of a sport field, trueness of golf putting green roll, or reduction in soil loss from water runoff or wind. Any weed presence in turfgrass can decrease the aesthetic quality and usability of turfgrass. Utilizing herbicides is the only way to completely control weeds in a turfgrass stand. While it is possible to reduce weed populations using cultural or mechanical management practices, it is impossible to completely eliminate weeds as can be accomplished with herbicides. This manuscript will review the major herbicides used in turfgrass in the United States with respect to their modes of action, herbicide family, and primary use in turfgrass.

Differential susceptibility of biotypes of conyza sumatrensis to Chlorimuron-ethyl herbicide

Horseweed (Conyza spp.) is an annual weed, infesting soybean crops in southern Brazil, with chlorimuron-ethyl being one of the most commonly used herbicides for its control. However, in recent soybean harvests, an unsatisfactory control of this weed using this herbicide was observed, generating suspicion regarding the selection of resistant biotypes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of horseweed biotypes to the herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl. Two experiments were conducted in a greenhouse; in the first one, the biotypes were selected selected, and the second experiment was arranged in a 5 x 5 factorial in a completely randomized design with four replications. The treatments used in the preparation of the dose response curves were doses of the herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl (0.0, 1.56, 3.13, 6.25, 12.5, and 25 g ha-1), applied on the five horseweed biotypes at the 3-4 leaf growth stage. The variables evaluated were visual control percentage and shoot dry weight, compared to the control without herbicide application, and plant acetolactate accumulation. It was concluded that there is a differential susceptibility among the biotypes at doses of less than 20 g ha-1 (dose response curves), which indicates low-level resistance. The practical consequences are the indications of chlorimuron-ethyl application at the maximum doses recomended and that the practice of rotating mechanisms of action must be used in the chemical weed management of these areas.

Teollinen symbioosi - kansallisen ohjelman toteuttaminen Suomessa Britanniaan verrattuna

This master thesis examines the possibility of implementing a national industrial symbiosis programme in Finland. Industrial symbiosis is a close cooperation between companies in which the actors make use of each other's wastes and by-products as raw materials for pro-cesses. Symbiosis programme aims to promote industrial symbiosis by identifying possible synergies. In the United Kingdom (UK), a national level programme NISP (National Industri-al Symbiosis Programme) has been successfully implemented. This thesis studies whether it would be possible to implement a similar program in Finland. The implementation of the pro-gram in Finland is evaluated by analyzing and comparing Finnish and British business envi-ronments using PESTEL and diamond models. The goal is to identify factors that promote or hinder the implementation of the programme in Finland. Based on this study, it can be said that implementing the programme in Finland is possible. The programme can be carried out in almost the same principles as in the UK, but some char-acteristics of the Finnish business environment, such as the high level of technological know-how, should especially be taken as an advantage. On the other hand, there are features, such as low level domestic demand, which may prevent the implementation of the program unless they are given special attention.

Genetic variability of Prochilodus lineatus (Characiformes, Prochilodontidae) in the upper Paraná river

The genetic variability of the "curimba", Prochilodus lineatus, from three locations in the Paraná river basin, was investigated by starch gel electrophoresis. A total of 160 specimens were analyzed for 19 enzymes, 12 of which permitted successful interpretation of electrophoretic patterns. Eighteen loci were identified and six of them proved to be polymorphic (EST-1*, EST-2*, IDH-1*, PGM-1*, PGM-2*, LDH-2*). Mean heterozygosity was considered high (13%) by comparison with the literature. A low level of differentiation was found among subpopulations, with mean F ST = 0.018. Values of genetic distance and genetic identity suggest that, at least along this stretch of the river, P. lineatus comprises a single breed with high gene flow. This analysis has important implications for fishery management, aquaculture, and conservation of the stocks

Characterization of six rat strains (Rattus norvegicus) by mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used to examine the extent of mtDNA polymorphism among six strains of rats (Rattus norvegicus) - Wistar, Wistar Munich, Brown Norway, Wistar Kyoto, SHR and SHR-SP. A survey of 26 restriction enzymes has revealed a low level of genetic divergence among strains. The sites of cleavage by EcoRI, NcoI and XmnI were shown to be polymorphic. The use of these three enzymes allows the 6 strains to be classified into 4 haplotypes and identifies specific markers for each one. The percentage of sequence divergence among all pairs of haplotypes ranged from 0.035 to 0.33%, which is the result of a severe population constriction undergone by the strains. These haplotypes are easily demonstrable and therefore RFLP analysis can be employed for genetic monitoring of rats within animal facilities or among different laboratories.

Sotilaspolitiikka Kremlin Olympoksella. Venäjän sotilasreformin diskursiivinen rakentuminen venäläisessä sanomalehdistössä 2008–2012

Tutkimus käsittelee venäläisessä sanomalehdistössä esiintyvää keskustelua Venäjän sotilasreformista. Tutkimuksessa haluttiin selvittää, millaisia diskursseja keskustelussa käytetään sotilasreformin oikeuttamiseksi ja miten ne toimivat vallankäytön välineenä. Tutkimus on monitieteinen. Se antaa vastauksia kielitieteellisessä kehyksessä kielen ja diskurssin roolista päätöksenteossa, yhteiskuntatieteellisessä kehyksessä venäläisestä mediasta ja päätöksentekojärjestelmästä sekä sotatieteellisessä kehyksessä asevoimien kehityksestä ja sotilaspolitiikasta. Tutkimuksen primääriaineisto muodostuu 220 artikkelista, jotka kerättiin yhdeksästä venäläisestä sanomalehdestä vuosien 2008–2012 ajalta. Venäjän johtohenkilöt ja heitä tukevat sanomalehdet oikeuttivat sotilasreformia julkisessa keskustelussa ensisijaisesti viiden syyn avulla: uhkien lisääntymisellä, sodan kuvan muutoksella, asevoimien kalustollisella ja toiminnallisella jälkeenjääneisyydellä, henkilöstön osaamisen alhaisella tasolla ja tarpeella toiminnan järkeistykseen. Sotilasreformin päätöksiä oikeutettiin vetoamalla niiden huolelliseen suunnitteluun, henkilöstön asialliseen kohteluun ja taloudellisten asioiden vakauteen. Sanomalehdistössä esiintyi paljon toisistaan poikkeavia näkemyksiä kehitykseen tarvittavasta suunnasta. Suurin osa kritisoivista diskursseista keskittyi kritisoimaan reformin toteutusta, ei sen olemassaoloa. Kritiikki keskittyi tiedotuksen ja demokraattisen päätöksenteon puutteeseen sekä epäilyksiin reformin valmisteluprosessista. Venäjän asevoimia ja sotilaspolitiikkaa koskevaa uutisointia on ongelmallista tarkastella ilman diskurssikäytäntöjen huomiointia. Venäjän johdon ja sen legitimiteettiä vahvistavien sanomalehtien diskursiivisen vallankäytön tavoitteena on saada Venäjä näyttämään todellisuutta vahvemmalta ja yhtenäisemmältä. Vaikka venäläinen media ja siinä etenkin televisio ei ole vapaata, sanomalehdistö on verrattain hyvä tiedonlähde. Sen varsin monipuolinen omistajuus tutkimusaineiston rajauksen aikana mahdollisti erilaisten näkökulmien esillepääsyn. Analyyttisimmin sotilasreformista uutisoivat ne sanomalehdet, jotka eivät nähneet länsimaita Venäjän uhkana ja representoivat diskursseissaan liberalistisia arvoja kuten avoimuutta ja demokratiaa. Sanomalehdistön vaatimaton rooli venäläisessä mediakentässä heikentää kuitenkin sen vaikuttavuutta yleiseen mielipiteeseen. Sanomalehtien diskurssikäytäntöjen analysointi ideologioiden ja vallankäytön kautta voi tarjota mahdollisuuksia parantaa venäläisen valtionjohdon päätösten ennustettavuutta.

Translation, adaptation and validation of the Roland-Morris questionnaire - Brazil Roland-Morris

The purpose of the present study was to translate the Roland-Morris (RM) questionnaire into Brazilian-Portuguese and adapt and validate it. First 3 English teachers independently translated the original questionnaire into Brazilian-Portuguese and a consensus version was generated. Later, 3 other translators, blind to the original questionnaire, performed a back translation. This version was then compared with the original English questionnaire. Discrepancies were discussed and solved by a panel of 3 rheumatologists and the final Brazilian version was established (Brazil-RM). This version was then pretested on 30 chronic low back pain patients consecutively selected from the spine disorders outpatient clinic. In addition to the traditional clinical outcome measures, the Brazil-RM, a 6-point pain scale (from no pain to unbearable pain), and its numerical pain rating scale (PS) (0 to 5) and a visual analog scale (VAS) (0 to 10) were administered twice by one interviewer (1 week apart) and once by one independent interviewer. Spearman's correlation coefficient (SCC) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were computed to assess test-retest and interobserver reliability. Cross-sectional construct validity was evaluated using the SCC. In the pretesting session, all questions were well understood by the patients. The mean time of questionnaire administration was 4 min and 53 s. The SCC and ICC were 0.88 (P<0.01) and 0.94, respectively, for the test-retest reliability and 0.86 (P<0.01) and 0.95, respectively, for interobserver reliability. The correlation coefficient was 0.80 (P<0.01) between the PS and Brazil-RM score and 0.79 (P<0.01) between the VAS and Brazil-RM score. We conclude that the Brazil-RM was successfully translated and adapted for application to Brazilian patients, with satisfactory reliability and cross-sectional construct validity.

Priming effects of a peripheral visual stimulus in simple and go/no-go tasks

The early facilitatory effect of a peripheral spatially visual prime stimulus described in the literature for simple reaction time tasks has been usually smaller than that described for complex (go/no-go, choice) reaction time tasks. In the present study we investigated the reason for this difference. In a first and a second experiment we tested the participants in both a simple task and a go/no-go task, half of them beginning with one of these tasks and half with the other one. We observed that the prime stimulus had an early effect, inhibitory for the simple task and facilitatory for the go/no-go task, when the task was performed first. No early effect appeared when the task was performed second. In a third and a fourth experiment the participants were, respectively, tested in the simple task and in the go/no-go task for four sessions (the prime stimulus was presented in the second, third and fourth sessions). The early effects of the prime stimulus did not change across the sessions, suggesting that a habituatory process was not the cause for the disappearance of these effects in the first two experiments. Our findings are compatible with the idea that different attentional strategies are adopted in simple and complex reaction time tasks. In the former tasks the gain of automatic attention mechanisms may be adjusted to a low level and in the latter tasks, to a high level. The attentional influence of the prime stimulus may be antagonized by another influence, possibly a masking one.