52 research outputs found
Relationship between gender role, anger expression, thermal discomfort and sleep onset latency in women
No full textABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Women with thermal discomfort from cold extremities (hands and feet; TDCE) often suffer from prolonged sleep onset latency (SOL). Suppressed anger could contribute to the genesis of both TDCE and prolonged SOL. The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis whether stereotypic feminine gender socialization (SFGS) is related to anger suppression (experienced anger inwards, Anger-In), which in turn could affect TDCE and SOL. METHODS: 148 women, a sub-sample of a larger survey carried out in the Canton Basel-Stadt (Switzerland), sent back detailed postal questionnaires about SOL, TDCE, anger expression (STAXI, state -trait -anger -expression -inventory) and SFGS using a gender power inventory, estimating the degree of gender specific power expression explicitly within women by stereotypic feminine or male attribution. Statistics was performed by path analysis. RESULTS: A significant direct path was found from stereotypic feminine attribution to Anger-In and prolonged SOL. Additionally, a further indirect path from Anger-In via TDCE to SOL was found. In contrast, stereotypic male attribution was not related to Anger-In but was significantly associated with outwardly expressed anger. LIMITATIONS: Self-reported data, retrospective cross-sectional survey, prospective studies are required including physiological measurements. CONCLUSION: Stereotypic feminine gender socialization may play an important determinant for anger suppression, which subsequently can lead to thermal discomfort from cold extremities and prolonged sleep onset latency
Compartment syndrome in the optic nerve: a new hypothesis in the pathogenesis of glaucoma
No full textDetecting Early Choroidal Changes Using Piecewise Rigid Image Registration and Eye-Shape Adherent Regularization
No full textChoroidal and retinal thickness changes can occur in patients with refractive errors (e.g. myopia)
or ocular diseases (e.g. central serous chorioretinopathy, glaucoma, etc.) and must therefore be
detected as early as possible and monitored. Image acquisition is usually done with the help of
optical coherence tomography (OCT), which allows 2- and 3-dimensional images with micrometer
resolution. Segmentation-based image analysis methods are used to detect and quantify thickness
changes. However, segmenting the choroid is often a challenging task because of low contrast,
loss of signal and the presence of artifacts in the acquired images. In particular, in vivo imaging
of the choroid-sclera interface (CSI), the border separating the choroid from the sclera, is prone
to these image degradations.
In this thesis, we present CRAR, a novel method for the early detection of choroidal changes
based on piecewise rigid image registration. CRAR allows elastic modeling of the relatively soft
choroid without affecting the more rigid properties of the surrounding sclera and retina. Rather
than insisting on finding the exact position of the CSI, we focus on the changes of the entire
choroid-sclera border. This enables us to circumvent the aforementioned difficulties because,
using this approach, an exact recognition of the choroid-sclera boundary is not required.
In this approach, we focus on juvenile myopia (also called “school myopia”), which in Asian
regions, and especially in China, has reached almost epidemic dimensions by now. Since juvenile
myopia correlates with changes in the thickness of the choroid, but not with its structure as
such, we restrict the transformation model to the anterior-posterior (z-) direction. The proposed
regularization allows respecting the eye's natural shape. In this context, the local homogeneity
of the transformations in nasal-temporal (x-) and superior-inferior (y-) direction are boosted by
penalizing their radial differences.
However, a comprehensive evaluation of the performance in detecting such changes is challenging,
as a ground truth for comparison with the in vivo situation does not exist. In order to
overcome this limitation, we present a statistical validation framework for automated choroidal
thickness changes detection, in which a method purely based on the common agreement between
the algorithm and all experts is combined with an exhaustive power analysis approach. We show
the strengths of the framework with the example of CRAR: the framework demonstrates if an
algorithm functions at an expert level, while the integrated power analysis allows concluding
whether the algorithm performs even better than the experts.
We further applied CRAR to macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel2). The analysis of follow-up
images of this disease suggests that there might be a correlation between changes in the
choroidal thickness and the further development of MacTel2. The further refinement of the
presented method CRAR can provide an objective and sensitive tool to analyze and monitor the
progress of myopia, and beyond
Variability of contour line alignment on sequential images with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph
No full text•Background: The influence of the contour line alignment software algorithm on the variability of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) parameters remains unclear. •Methods: Nine discrete topographic images were acquired with the HRT from the right eye in six healthy, emmetropic subjects. The variability of topometric data obtained from the same topographic image, analyzed within different samples of images, was evaluated. A total of four mean topographic images was computed for each subject from: all nine discrete images (A), the first six of those images (B), the last six of those nine images (C), and the first three combined with the last three images (D). A contour line was computed on the mean topographic image generated from the nine discrete topographic images (A). This contour line was then applied to the three other mean topographic images (B, C, and D), using the contour line alignment in the HRT software. Subsequently, the contour line on the mean topographic images was applied to each of the discrete members of the particular images subsets used to compute the mean topographic image, and the topometric data for these discrete topographic images was computed successively for each subset. Prior to processing each subset, the contour line on the discrete topographic images was deleted. This strategy provided a total of three analyses on each discrete topographic image: as a member of the nine images (mean topographic image A), and as a member of two subsets of images (mean topographic image B, C, and/or D). The coefficient of variation (100×SD/mean) of the topographic parameters within those three analyses was calculated for each discrete topographic image in each subject ("intraimage” coefficient of variation). In addition, a coefficient of variation between the nine discrete topographic images ("interimage” coefficient of variation) was calculated. •Results: The "intraimage” and "interimage” variability for the various topographic parameters ranged between 0.03% and 3.10% and between 0.03% and 24.07% respectively. The "intraimage” coefficients of variation and "interimage” coefficients of variation correlated significant (r 2=0.77;P<0.0001). •Conclusion: A high "intraimage” variability, i.e. a high variability in contour line alignment between sequential images, might be an important source of test re-test variability between sequential image
Phase relationship between skin temperature and sleep-wake rhythms in women with vascular dysregulation and controls under real-life conditions
No full textThe aim of the study was to investigate whether women with primary vascular dysregulation (VD; main symptoms of thermal discomfort with cold extremities) and difficulties initiating sleep (DIS) exhibit a disturbed phase of entrainment ( ) under everyday life conditions. The authors predicted a phase delay of the distal-proximal skin temperature gradient and salivary melatonin rhythms with respect to the sleep-wake cycle in women with VD and DIS (WVD) compared to controls (CON), similar to that found in their previous constant-routine laboratory data. A total of 41 young healthy women, 20 with WVD and 21 matched CON without VD and normal sleep onset latency (SOL), were investigated under ambulatory conditions (following their habitual bedtimes) during 7 days of continuous recording of skin temperatures, sleep-wake cycles monitored by actimetry and sleep-wake diaries, and single evening saliva collections for determining the circadian marker of dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). Compared to CON, WVD showed increased distal vasoconstriction at midday and in the evening, as indicated by lower distal (DIST; hands and feet) and foot-calf skin temperatures, and distal-proximal skin temperature gradients (p> .05). WVD manifested distal vasoconstriction before lights-off that also lasted longer after lights-off than in CON. In parallel, WVD exhibited a longer SOL (p> .05). To define internal phase-relationships, cross-correlation analyses were performed using diurnal rhythms of wrist activity and foot skin temperature. WVD showed a phase delay in foot skin temperature (CON versus WVD: 3.57 ± 17.28 min versus 38.50 ± 16.65 min; p> .05) but not in wrist activity. This finding was validated by additional within-subject cross-correlation analyses using the diurnal wrist activity pattern as reference. DLMO and habitual sleep times did not differ between CON and WVD. The authors conclude that WVD exhibit a phase delay of distal vasodilatation with respect to their habitual sleep-wake cycle and other circadian phase markers, such as DLMO. A full factorial design will have to show whether the finding is specific to primary vascular dysregulation, to DIS, or to their interaction
Vasospastic individuals demonstrate significant similarity to glaucoma patients as revealed by gene expression profiling in circulating leukocytes
No full textPURPOSE: There is growing evidence that vasospatic individuals could be predisposed to develop glaucoma. Vasospastic deregulation is ensuing in activation of circulating leukocytes. In previous studies using "gene-hunting" strategies, we demonstrated stable alterations in gene expression profiles of circulating leukocytes isolated from glaucoma patients with vascular deregulation when compared to healthy individuals with no history of glaucomatous damage. The goal of this study was to look for possible similarities in gene expression profiles of circulating leukocytes in vasospastic individuals and glaucoma patients. METHODS: Normal-tension (NTG) and high-tension (HTG) glaucoma patients as well as individuals with vascular deregulation (VD) and healthy controls were recruited for the gene expression analysis. The methodology of comparative Expression Array analysis followed by highly sensitive quantitative real-time PCR has been used. RESULTS: Compared to the control group the expression of 146, 68, and 60 genes was found to be altered in NTG, HTG, and VD groups respectively. Thirty-four genes demonstrated similar expressional alterations in NTG, HTG, and VD groups versus controls, and only 21 genes demonstrated similar expressional alterations in NTG and HTG groups, having no overlap with the VD group. CONCLUSIONS: This result indicates a potential predisposition of vasospastic individuals to glaucomatous optic nerve atrophy. The targeted expression profiles might be further considered for early/predictive glaucoma diagnosis
Circulatory response to blood gas pertubations
No full textPURPOSE. To investigate the response of the optic nerve head and the choroidal circulation to blood gas perturbations in otherwise healthy subjects with a history of cold hands. METHODS. Thirty-five healthy subjects were selected and grouped according to the related history of cold hands. All 12 selected male subjects, aged 21 to 38 years (mean Ϯ SD ϭ 28 Ϯ 5.2 years) had a negative history of cold hands. Female subjects were almost equally divided between the groups with a negative (11 subjects, aged 18 -36 years; mean, 25.7 Ϯ 5.5) or positive (12 subjects, aged 19 -45 years; mean, 25 Ϯ 6.8) history of cold hands. Blood gas perturbations were created by having subjects breath a gas mixture consisting of 21% O 2 , 74% N 2 , and 5% CO 2 . The partial pressures pCO 2 and pO 2 were continuously monitored transcutaneously. Choroidal and optic nerve head blood flow response was evaluated by means of laser Doppler flowmetry. RESULTS. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP at baseline, three-group average: 111.2/71.9 mm Hg), heart rate (HR; 70.3 bpm), and intraocular pressure (IOP; 14.7 mm Hg) increased during the blood gas perturbation phase (123.1/77.7 mm Hg, 78.5 bpm, and 15.6 mm Hg, respectively) and returned to baseline in the recovery phase (109.9/73.4 mm Hg, 69.5 bpm, and 13.5 mm Hg, respectively). There was no difference between groups (one-way ANOVA of the percentage change from baseline for SBP, P ϭ 0.75; DBP, P ϭ 0.36; HR, P ϭ 0.95; and IOP, P ϭ 0.72). pCO 2 increased from 5.52 to 6.59 kPa and returned to 5.50 kPa. pO 2 increased from 10.64 to 13.12 kPa and returned to 10.73 kPa. Again, there was no difference between groups (one-way ANOVA for the percentage change: pCO 2 , P ϭ 0.17; pO 2 , P ϭ 0.78). In the women with vasospasm, optic nerve head blood flow increased 17.1% and the choroidal blood flow decreased Ϫ3.6%, whereas in the women and men without vasospasm the optic nerve head blood flow decreased Ϫ5.8% and -4.8%, and the choroidal blood flow increased 13.3% and 18.3%, respectively (two-way ANOVA interaction; P ϭ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS. The pCO 2 increase was accompanied by a pO 2 increase. Blood pressure and HR increased comparably in all groups, indicating sympathetic arousal. The women with vasospasm demonstrated an inverse response pattern of choroidal and optic nerve head circulation to blood gas perturbation compared with the women without vasospasm and compared with the men. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005;46:3288 -3294
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