| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Gerritsen, L., et al.
(författare)
-
The influence of negative life events on hippocampal and amygdala volumes in old age : a life-course perspective
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Psychological Medicine. - 0033-2917 .- 1469-8978. ; 45:6, s. 1219-1228
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Psychosocial stress has been related to changes in the nervous system, with both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of negative events experienced throughout the entire lifespan and hippocampal and amygdala volumes in older adults.METHOD: In 466 non-demented old adults (age range 60-96 years, 58% female), hippocampal and amygdala volumes were segmented using Freesurfer. Negative life events and the age at which these events occurred were assessed by means of a structured questionnaire. Using generalized linear models, hippocampal and amygdala volumes were estimated with life events as independent variables. The statistical analyses were adjusted for age, gender, intracranial volume, lifestyle factors, cardiovascular risk factors, depressive symptoms, and cognitive functioning.RESULTS: Total number of negative life events and of late-life events, but not of early-life, early-adulthood, or middle-adulthood events, was related to larger amygdala volume. There were interactions of early-life events with age and gender. Participants who reported two or more early-life events had significantly smaller amygdala and hippocampal volumes with increasing age. Furthermore, smaller hippocampal volume was found in men who reported two or more early-life events, but not in women.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the effect of negative life events on the brain depends on the time when the events occurred, with the strongest effects observed during the critical time periods of early and late life.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Cecchi, L, et al.
(författare)
-
Projections of the effects of climate change on allergic asthma : the contribution of aerobiology
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : Wiley. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 65:9, s. 1073-1081
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change is unequivocal and represents a possible threat for patients affected by allergic conditions. It has already had an impact on living organisms, including plants and fungi with current scenarios projecting further effects by the end of the century. Over the last three decades, studies have shown changes in production, dispersion and allergen content of pollen and spores, which may be region- and species-specific. In addition, these changes may have been influenced by urban air pollutants interacting directly with pollen. Data suggest an increasing effect of aeroallergens on allergic patients over this period, which may also imply a greater likelihood of the development of an allergic respiratory disease in sensitized subjects and exacerbation of symptomatic patients. There are a number of limitations that make predictions uncertain, and further and specifically designed studies are needed to clarify current effects and future scenarios. We recommend: More stress on pollen/spore exposure in the diagnosis and treatment guidelines of respiratory and allergic diseases; collection of aerobiological data in a structured way at the European level; creation, promotion and support of multidisciplinary research teams in this area; lobbying the European Union and other funders to finance this research.
|
|
| 5. |
- Finkel, Deborah, et al.
(författare)
-
Etiology of individual differences in human health and longevity
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics. - : Springer Publishing Company. - 0198-8794. ; 34:1, s. 189-227
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this chapter, we review of the field of gerontological genetics with respect to subjective and objective health, the role of stress on health, and finally frailty and longevity. For most indices of subjective and objective health, frailty, and longevity, genetic influences contribute only modestly to individual differences, wherein heritabilities are typically on the order of 35%–40%. Notable exceptions are the moderate to strong heritabilities for lipid measures and brain structure and function, with a remarkably increasing role of genetic influences for longevity with advancing age. Although candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) studies have identified gene variants associated with many subjective and objective health traits, their effect sizes are typically relatively small, as expected for complex traits. There is some evidence for gene–environment interactions, and stress may be an important moderator of genetic variance for health. For example, carrying a risk genotype for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the angiotensin converting enzyme gene (ACE) may predict stress responsivity and risk of cardiovascular-related diagnoses. Moreover, the gene coding for apolipoprotein E (APOE) may moderate responsiveness to stress evoking experiences, impact of physical exercise, and associate with sleep characteristics in those who develop cognitive impairments. For metabolic syndrome (MetS), encompassing the co-occurrence of obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperinsulinemia, promising associations exist although no single genotype or any gene clusters have been consistently associated with MetS across populations, suggesting that complex gene–environment interactions must be understood before the use of genetic markers can be realized in clinical practice. Future investigations of subjective and objective health, frailty, and longevity are needed to further identify sources of genetic and environmental contributions—and their dynamics across adulthood—to advance understanding of aging processes, prevention, and intervention avenues, and ultimately successful aging.
|
|
| 6. |
- Gerritsen, Bart H. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Social Media Coming to the Mall : A Cross-Channel Response
- 2014. - 1
-
Ingår i: <em></em>Product Development in the Socio-sphere. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319074030 - 9783319074047 ; , s. 169-235
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Traditional shopping malls experience the effects of expanding online shopping. In addition, social media grew as a platform for customer orientation and expression. In-mall retail must respond. We take the customer journey as the guiding model for customer experience building and focus on converting cross-channel built customer expectation into enriched customer experiences in in-mall stores. We focus on the in-mall part of the journey but recognize the need to engage with customers in other parts of the journey and on social media. That is where the word-of-mouth spreads nowadays. We develop a ‘u-retail’ process model and a cyber-physical system concept for a mall: we combine a mall website, mobile apps and interactive storefronts containing Facebook processes into an integrating system. Customers can manipulate info and processes displayed on the interactive storefront through touch or mobile devices. The Facebook shopping-with-online-friends process inserts real-time feedback from social media friends in the storefront window. We show how ‘gamification’ and trust and loyalty breeding can be employed. Mall and retailers attract customers in a collective manner, from parking services to package deals. Cross-channel customer tracking is part of the concept, providing a view on both online and offline communities. Ubiquitous tracking of customers foster deep customer relation and experience of data. We implemented a first partly surrogate prototype to validate the concept. This partly empirical, partly designed experimental implementation can itself be a big data tool for scientists and retailers to acquire deeper insights. The concept can be generalized to other social contexts. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Knoop, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Knee joint stabilization therapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1063-4584. ; 21:8, s. 1025-1034
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To investigate whether an exercise program, initially focusing on knee stabilization and subsequently on muscle strength and performance of daily activities is more effective than an exercise program focusing on muscle strength and performance of daily activities only, in reducing activity limitations in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and instability of the knee joint. Design: A single-blind, randomized, controlled trial involving 159 knee OA patients with self-reported and/or biomechanically assessed knee instability, randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Both groups received a supervised exercise program for 12 weeks, consisting of muscle strengthening exercises and training of daily activities, but only in the experimental group specific knee joint stabilization training was provided. Outcome measures included activity limitations (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index - WOMAC physical function, primary outcome), pain, global perceived effect and knee stability. Results: Both treatment groups demonstrated large (similar to 20-40%) and clinically relevant reductions in activity limitations, pain and knee instability, which were sustained 6 months post-treatment. No differences in effectiveness between experimental and control treatment were found on WOMAC physical function (B (95% confidence interval - CI) = -0.01 (-2.58 to 2.57)) or secondary outcome measures, except for a higher global perceived effect in the experimental group (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Both exercise programs were highly effective in reducing activity limitations and pain and restoring knee stability in knee OA patients with instability of the knee. In knee OA patients suffering from knee instability, specific knee joint stabilization training, in addition to muscle strengthening and functional exercises, does not seem to have any additional value. Dutch Trial Register (NTR) registration number: NTR1475. (C) 2013 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
