1. The intensity of breathlessness during exercise was measured in ten normal subjects using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a Borg scale to compare the use of the scales and their repeatability, both within the duration of a period of exercise and between tests. For each scale, subjects performed two exercise tests separated by a period of 2-6 weeks. Each exercise test consisted of two cycles of progressively increasing and decreasing workload. 2. All subjects felt confidently able to use both scales to quantify their feelings of breathlessness exclusively of other sensation. Equal preference was expressed for use of a particular scale. 3. With both scales there was a large intersubject variation in the relationship between dyspnoea score and minute ventilation (VE) (P less than 0.01), and in the range of the scale used. 4. There was a good correlation between the VAS and Borg scores at each level of VE (r2 = 0.71), but the VAS score was used over a wider range than the Borg score. 5. The relationship between VE and the dyspnoea score measured by the two techniques was predominantly linear. The mean r2 for VAS score/VE was 0.68 (SD 0.19) and for Borg score/VE the mean r2 was 0.75 (SD 0.13). 6. The relationships VAS score/VE and Borg score/VE were unaffected by the direction in which the workload was varied (P greater than 0.05). 7. VE, measured at each work rate, did not differ between the two cycles (P greater than 0.05) or between the 2 days (P greater than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The daily administration of ethanol locks into lumens of central venous catheters effectively reduces the incidence of CABSI.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) experience pronounced body image distortion in combination with a pernicious desire to maintain a dangerously low body weight. Relatively little is known, however, about the mechanism underlying body image distortion in AN. Despite having normal visual perception, individuals with AN both feel and see themselves as large-bodied and show deficits in interoception and haptic perception, suggesting a potential deficit in visual and tactile integration. The size-weight illusion (SWI) arises when two objects of equal weight but different sizes are held. Typical individuals experience a strong and robust illusion that the smaller object feels much heavier than the larger object because of an implicit assumption that weight scales with size. The current study compared the strength of the SWI in individuals with AN to healthy control participants. Individuals with AN exhibited a markedly reduced SWI relative to controls, even though their ability to discriminate weight was unaffected. Because the SWI is strongly modulated by visual appearance, we believe our finding reflects decreased integration of visual and proprioceptive information in anorexia. This finding may explain the puzzling observation that visual perception of the body in a mirror does not correct an AN patient's distorted body image. We speculate that methods to correct visuo-proprioceptive integration in constructing body image may help rehabilitate patients' judgments of size and weight regarding their own bodies. We also suggest that a dysfunction in interactions between inferior parietal lobule (concerned with body image), insula, and hypothalamus may underlie AN.

1. The intensity of breathlessness in normal subjects during exercise was measured on seven occasions over a 40-week study period to assess the long-term repeatability of Borg scale estimates of breathlessness. 2. In all subjects there was a significant correlation (P = 0.0001) between breathlessness and minute ventilation. Minute ventilation measured at each work rate did not differ between the seven exercise tests (P greater than 0.05). 3. There was no significant difference between the mean Borg scores (measured with respect to a given level of ventilation) in 5 of the 7 test weeks (P greater than 0.05). The slope of the relationship Borg score/minute ventilation did not differ between the seven exercise tests (P greater than 0.05). 4. Breathlessness estimation was highly reproducible both after 1 week and after 40 weeks of the study (both P greater than 0.05). 5. The duration without testing between consecutive tests did not affect reproducibility: the mean Borg score was as equally reproducible after an interval of 22 weeks without testing as after an interval of 1 week (P greater than 0.05). 6. The Borg scale provides a reliable technique for studying the sensation of breathlessness over extended time periods.

(2017) 'Classroom displays -attraction or distraction? Evidence of impact on attention and learning from children with and without autism.', Developmental psychology., 53 (7). pp. 1265-1275. Further information on publisher's website:Publisher's copyright statement:c 2016 APA, all rights reserved. This article may not exactly replicate the nal version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Running Head: Impact of classroom visual distraction on attention and learning in autism and typical development 2 AbstractPaying attention is a critical first step towards learning. For children in primary school classrooms there can be many things to attend to other than the focus of a lesson, such as visual displays on classroom walls. The aim of this study was to use eye-tracking techniques to explore the impact of visual displays on attention and learning for children. Critically, we explored these issues for children developing typically and for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both groups of children watched videos of a teacher delivering classroom activities -two of 'story-time' and 2 mini-lessons.

1. This study was designed to examine whether normal subjects could differentiate between the 'intensity' of their breathlessness and the amount of 'distress' it evoked, by specific wording of the instructions. 2. A preliminary study showed no significant difference between 'distress' score during exercise measured on two separate occasions (P = 0.3). 3. Ten subjects each performed two identical incremental cycle-ergometer exercise tests on separate occasions during which they were asked to quantify either 'intensity' or 'distress' by using modified Borg scales. 4. In all subjects there was a significant correlation (P less than 0.001) between 'intensity' and minute ventilation. In eight subjects there was a significant correlation (P less than 0.05) between 'distress' and minute ventilation. One subject displayed no significant correlation and one registered no distress. 5. Mean 'intensity' was greater than the mean 'distress' (P = 0.0001). The slope of 'intensity'/minute ventilation was greater than the slope of 'distress'/minute ventilation (P = 0.0001). 6. Within individuals there was a significant correlation between 'intensity' and 'distress' (P less than 0.05). There was a wide scatter in the slope of this relationship between subjects and maximum 'intensity' and 'distress' did not correlate. 7. Different elements of the breathlessness sensation could be identified and selectively measured depending on the wording of the instructions given to the subject. 8. There was a wide intersubject variation in the magnitude of both breathlessness 'intensity' and 'distress' estimates, but the differences between subjects in these two components of the sensation did not appear to follow a common pattern.

Prior exposure of a vaccinee to certain species of environmental mycobacteria can prime the immune system against common mycobacterial antigens, which can in turn reduce the subsequent efficacy of live attenuated mycobacterial vaccines (such as Mycobacterium bovis BCG), in both human and livestock vaccination programs. In this study, two strains of Mycobacterium avium, both isolated from New Zealand livestock, were investigated to determine their growth characteristics and effects on the immune system in murine models. Markedly different effects on the immune system were observed; an IS901-negative strain ( Members of the Mycobacterium avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare complex are ubiquitous in the environment, and they are a major confounding influence on the specificity of intradermal skin tests used to detect infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in humans or infection with Mycobacterium bovis in farmed livestock. Crude antigens, in the form of purified protein derivative (PPD) from cultures of M. tuberculosis or M. bovis, are used as restimulation antigens in in vivo intradermal skin tests, as well as in ex vivo blood-based diagnostic assays, to identify tuberculosis infections. False-positive results are common, and it is believed that these results are due to crossreactive immune responses induced by transient exposure to, or infection by, members of the M. avium-M. intracellulare complex (1, 21).In 2002 Buddle et al. reported that presensitization of cattle with M. avium was associated with poor vaccine responses to M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) (4). After this, an experimental study investigating the potentially deleterious effects of different field isolates of M. avium on the protective efficacy of BCG vaccination was performed using a guinea pig model (6). In this study the workers identified one strain of M. avium (designated WAg 206) which could suppress the protective effect of BCG vaccination against a virulent M. bovis challenge infection (6). The immune mechanisms which underlie these findings have not been investigated yet. Neither cattle nor guinea pigs lend themselves well to in-depth studies of the immune response. In order to elucidate the mechanisms involved, we used a mouse model to study the effects of two M. avium strains (WAg 206 and WAg 207) on immune functions both in vitro and in vivo (6).The cells of the mononuclear phagocyte (MNP) system (comprising monocyte-derived macrophages and dendritic cells [DC]) are the first point of contact between the immune system and M. avium-M. intracellulare complex species. Mycobacteria are phagocytosed and placed into a phagolysosome, where they can be destroyed if the MNP system is properly activated, or they may persist within the host cell for prolonged periods depending on the virulence of the strain. A number of mycobacterial cell wall components have been identified as components that are important in the induction of inflammatory signals from MNP (20). Signaling through Toll-like-receptor 2 appears to be essential for inducti...

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