| 1. |
- Andersson, Gerhard, et al.
(author)
-
A 3.5-year follow-up of Internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy for major depression
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Mental Health. - London, UK : Informa Healthcare. - 0963-8237 .- 1360-0567. ; 22:2, s. 155-164
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundInternet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for major depression has been tested in several trials, but only with follow-ups up to 1.5 years.AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of ICBT 3.5 years after treatment completion.MethodsA total of 88 people with major depression were randomized to either guided self-help or e-mail therapy in the original trial. One-third was initially on a waiting-list. Treatment was provided for eight weeks and in this report long-term follow-up data were collected. Also included were data from post-treatment and six-month follow-up. A total of 58% (51/88) completed the 3.5-year follow-up. Analyses were performed using a random effects repeated measures piecewise growth model to estimate trajectory shape over time and account for missing data.ResultsResults showed continued lowered scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No differences were found between the treatment conditions. A large proportion of participants (55%) had sought and received additional treatments in the follow-up period. A majority (56.9%) of participants had a BDI score lower than 10 at the 3.5-year follow-up.ConclusionsPeople with mild to moderate major depression may benefit from ICBT 3.5-years after treatment completion.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Blomqvist, Sven, et al.
(author)
-
Adolescents with intellectual disability have reduced postural balance and muscle performance in trunk and lower limbs compared to peers without intellectual disability
- 2013
-
In: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier BV. - 0891-4222 .- 1873-3379. ; 34:1, s. 198-206
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For adolescent people with ID, falls are more common compared to peers without ID. However, postural balance among this group is not thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to compare balance and muscle performance among adolescents aged between 16 and 20 years with a mild to moderate intellectual disability (ID) to age-matched adolescents without ID. A secondary purpose was to investigate the influence of vision, strength, height and Body Mass Index (BMI) on balance. A group of 100 adolescents with ID and a control group of 155 adolescents without ID were investigated with five balance tests and three strength tests: timed up and go test, one leg stance, dynamic one leg stance, modified functional reach test, force platform test, counter movement jump, sit-ups, and Biering-Sorensen trunk extensor endurance test. The results showed that adolescents with an ID in general had significantly lower scores in the balance and muscle performance tests. The group with ID did not have a more visually dominated postural control compared to the group without ID. Height, BMI or muscle performance had no strong correlations with balance performance. It appears as if measures to improve balance and strength are required already at a young age for people with an ID.
|
|
| 4. |
- Blomqvist, Sven, 1964-, et al.
(author)
-
Postural muscle responses and adaptations to backward platform perturbations in young people with and without intellectual disability
- 2014
-
In: Gait & Posture. - : Elsevier BV. - 0966-6362 .- 1879-2219. ; 39:3, s. 904-908
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study examines postural muscle responses to backward perturbations in young people (16-20 years) with and without intellectual disability (ID). The study included 56 young people with ID and 43 age-matched without ID volunteers. The subjects stood on a platform that was moved backwards in a surface translation. Lower and upper leg muscles and lower back spine muscles were recorded with surface electromyography (EMG). Muscle onset latency, time to peak amplitude (EMG), adaptation of muscle responses to repeated perturbations (using integrated EMG (IEMG) for epochs), and synergies and strategies were assessed. The result showed no differences between the two groups in muscle onset latency, synergies, and strategies. Young people with ID reduced their time to peak amplitude in investigated muscles, a response that was different from the group without ID. Also, young people with ID tended to adapt their IEMG less compared to the controls. These findings suggest that young people with ID have limited ability to use somatosensory information and adapt their postural muscle responses to repeated external perturbations.
|
|
| 5. |
- Blomqvist, Sven, et al.
(author)
-
Postural stability, physical activity, aerobic capacity and their associations for young people with and without intellectual disabilities
- 2014
-
In: European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity. - 1803-3857. ; 7:1, s. 22-30
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Previous studies show that people with intellectual disability (ID) appear to have impaired postural stability, a lower level of physical activity, and lower aerobic capacity compared to persons without ID, limitations that could affect their health. This study investigates these physical functions and their associations in a group of young people with ID compared to an age-matched group without ID. In total, this cross-sectional study included 106 high school students (16-20 years): 57 students with mild to moderate ID and 49 agematched students without ID (control group). Tests were performed for postural stability, level of physical activity, and aerobic capacity. Both females and males with ID had significantly lower estimated maximum oxygen uptake (l O2/min) (p< 0.001 for females and p=0.004 for males) and a lower aerobic capacity expressed relative to body weight (ml O2/ kg*min) (p< 0.001 for females and p=0.012 for males) compared to age-matched peers. Analyses of associations were made using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression analysis. No significant associations could be found. Physical status appears impaired for young people with ID and functions, such as postural stability, should be evaluated separately
|
|
| 6. |
- Blomqvist, Sven, et al.
(author)
-
Test-retest reliability, smallest real difference and concurrent validity of six different balance tests on young people with mild to moderate intellectual disability
- 2012
-
In: Physiotherapy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0031-9406 .- 1873-1465. ; 98:4, s. 313-319
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives Some studies have reported that people with intellectual disability may have reduced balance ability compared with the population in general. However, none of these studies involved adolescents, and the reliability and validity of balance tests in this population are not known. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of six different balance tests and to investigate their concurrent validity.Design Test-retest reliability assessment.Settings All subjects were recruited from a special school for people with intellectual disability in Bollnas, Sweden.Participants Eighty-nine adolescents (35 females and 54 males) with mild to moderate intellectual disability with a mean age of 18 years (range 16 to 20 years).Interventions All subjects followed the same test protocol on two occasions within an 11-day period.Main outcomes Balance test performances.Results Intraclass correlation coefficients greater than 0.80 were achieved for four of the balance tests: Extended Timed Up and Go Test, Modified Functional Reach Test, One-leg Stance Test and Force Platform Test. The smallest real differences ranged from 12% to 40%; less than 20% is considered to be low. Concurrent validity among these balance tests varied between no and low correlation.Conclusion The results indicate that these tests could be used to evaluate changes in balance ability over time in people with mild to moderate intellectual disability. The low concurrent validity illustrates the importance of knowing more about the influence of various sensory subsystems that are significant for balance among adolescents with intellectual disability.(C) 2011 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 7. |
- Breimer, Lars H, et al.
(author)
-
A longitudinal and cross-sectional study of Swedish biomedical PhD processes 1991-2009 with emphasis on international and gender aspects
- 2010
-
In: Scientometrics. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0138-9130 .- 1588-2861. ; 85:2, s. 401-414
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This longitudinal survey of Swedish biomedical PhDs from 1991 to 2009 found a 2.5-fold increase in biomedical PhD graduates, especially women, and mainly non-MDs, while the number of MDs remained fairly constant. The proportion obtaining a biomedical PhD in Sweden in 2006 was two and a half times that in USA compared to population and three and a half times by GDP, but similar to that of the Netherlands. Female non-MD but not female MD candidates were more likely than men to be examined by female examiners. Fewer of the non-MD than MD women continued to publish in English after their PhD. The median number of authors per paper in a thesis had increased by 1 (from 4 to 5) compared with 15–20 years ago. Swedish biomedical research was already well internationalized in 1991, when 38% of the external examiners came from abroad. This rose to 53% in 2003 but in 2009 had returned to 42%. USA and UK were the most common countries but Australia accounted for 2%. When assessed by connection with foreign research teams, Swedish researchers were also internationally well connected. Studies in other countries are needed to assess how generally applicable these findings are. Our findings suggest that the policy and management of Swedish scientific research systems needs revision to harmonize with the national economic capacity.
|
|
| 8. |
- Brogårdh, Christina, et al.
(author)
-
Mode of hand training determines cortical reorganisation: A randomized controlled study in healthy adults
- 2010
-
In: Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. - : Medical Journals Sweden AB. - 1651-2081 .- 1650-1977. ; 42:8, s. 789-794
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To evaluate two commonly used forms of hand training with respect to influence on dexterity and cortical reorganization. Subjects: Thirty healthy volunteers (mean age 24.2 years). Methods: The subjects were randomized to 25 min of shaping exercises or general activity training of the non-dominant hand. The dexterity and the cortical motor maps (number of excitable positions) of the abductor pollicis brevis muscle were evaluated pre- and post-training by the Purdue Peg Board test and transcranial magnetic stimulation, respectively. Results: After shaping exercises the dexterity increased significantly (p <= 0.005) for both hands, mostly so in the non-dominant hand. The cortical motor map of the abductor pollicis brevis muscle shifted forwardly into the pre-motor area without expanding. After general activity training, no significant improvements in dexterity were found for the non-dominant hand. The cortical motor map of the non-dominant abductor pollicis brevis muscle expanded significantly (p = 0.03) in the posterior (sensory) direction. Conclusion: These results indicate that shaping exercises, but not general activity training, increase dexterity of the trained non-dominant hand in parallel with a shift of location of active transcranial magnetic stimulation positions. Shifts of active cortical areas might be important for the interpretation of brain plasticity in common behavioural tasks.
|
|
| 9. |
- Brunnegård, Karin, et al.
(author)
-
Comparison between perceptual assessments of nasality and nasalance scores
- 2012
-
In: International journal of language and communication disorders. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1368-2822 .- 1460-6984. ; 47:5, s. 556-566
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: There are different reports of the usefulness of the Nasometer™ as a complement to listening, often as correlation calculations between listening and nasalance measurements. Differences between findings have been attributed to listener experience and types of speech stimuli.Aims: To compare nasalance scores from the Nasometer with perceptual assessments, for the same and different Swedish speech stimuli, using three groups of listeners with differing levels of experience in judging speech nasality. Methods & Procedures: To compare nasalance scores and blinded listener ratings of randomized recordings using three groups of listeners and two groups of speakers. Speakers were either classified as having hypernasal speech or speech with typical speech resonance. Listeners were speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working predominantly with resonance disorders, other SLPs and untrained listeners.Outcomes & Results: Correlations (r(s) ) between hypernasality ratings and nasalance scores for each listener group and speech stimuli were calculated. For both groups of SLPs all correlations between perceptual ratings and nasalance scores were significant at p= 0.01. The correlations between the nasalance scores and ratings by listeners in the SLP groups were higher than those for the untrained listener group regardless of stimulus type. Post-hoc Mann-Whitney U-tests showed that the only difference that was significant was expert SLP group versus untrained listener group. Secondly, correlations between perceptual ratings and oral stimulus nasalance scores were higher when the perceptual ratings were based on spontaneous speech rather than on the oral stimulus. However, a Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that the difference was not significant. A third finding was that correlations between oral stimulus nasalance scores and perceptual scores were higher than those between mixed stimulus nasalance scores and perceptual scores. A Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that the difference was significant.Conclusions & Implications: The Nasometer might be useful for the SLP with limited experience in assessing resonance disorders in differentiating between hyper- and hyponasality. With listener reliability for ratings of hypernasality still being an issue, the use of a nasalance score as a complement to the perceptual evaluation will also aid the expert SLP. It will give an alternative way of quantifying speech resonance and might help in especially hard to judge cases.
|
|
| 10. |
- Calounova, Gabriela, et al.
(author)
-
The Src homology 2 domain-containing adapter protein B (SHB) regulates mouse oocyte maturation
- 2010
-
In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 5:6, s. e11155-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- SHB (Src homology 2 domain-containing adapter protein B) is involved in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling. Mice deficient in the Shb gene have been found to exhibit a transmission ratio distortion with respect to inheritance of the Shb null allele among offspring and this phenomenon was linked to female gamete production. Consequently, we postulated that Shb plays a role for oocyte biology and thus decided to investigate oocyte formation, meiotic maturation, and early embryo development in relation to absence of the Shb gene. Oogenesis was apparently accelerated judging from the stages of oocyte development on fetal day 18.5 and one week postnatally in Shb -/- mice; but in adulthood ovarian follicle maturation was impaired in these mice. Completion of meiosis I (first polar body extrusion) was less synchronized, with a fraction of oocytes showing premature polar body extrusion in the absence of Shb. In vitro fertilization of mature oocytes isolated from Shb +/+, +/- and -/- mice revealed impaired early embryo development in the -/- embryos. Moreover, the absence of Shb enhanced ERK (extracellular-signal regulated kinase) and RSK (ribosomal S6 kinase) signaling in oocytes and these effects were paralleled by an increased ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation and activation. It is concluded that SHB regulates normal oocyte and follicle development and that perturbation of SHB signaling causes defective meiosis I and early embryo development.
|
|
