Circadian Preference and Amplitude - “Under Consideration of Physiological Markers, Activity and Sleep/Wake Timing as well as References to Attention, Mood and Motivation in Everyday School Life”

Morningness-Eveningness can be understood as individual daytime preferences in different physiological, cognitive and behavioral parameters. Those differences can be summarized on the one hand as a dimension of Morningness-Eveningness (continuous) or on the other hand as circadian typology (categorical). Morningness-Eveningness is seen in this case as a uni-dimensional construct, with Morningness and Eveningness marking the two endpoints of one scale. Based on this continuum, the persons were categorized into different chronotype groups. In the meantime, research tends to let go of dividing persons into different chronotype groups. A multi-dimensional view of the construct Morningness-Eveningness is seen instead, whereas a certain type of circadian preference may be more or less pronounced within a person. Research suggests that at least Morningness and Eveningness should be considered as two separate dimensions and other aspects, such as circadian fluctuations over the day, should be include. Assessing differences in daytime preferences is important, because they have a great impact on the human physiology and health. Especially in school context, adolescents struggle in adapting their inner circadian rhythm to the requirements of our school system. It is known, that morning-oriented adolescents have an advantage over evening-oriented adolescents in terms of sleep habits and school achievement. This is due to the fact that with increasing age, the adolescents tend to describe their selves as more evening-oriented. For this reason a reliable and valid measurement of circadian preference and its stability over the day (amplitude) is needed, which can also be used in an adolescent sample. The measurement used for this purpose in the present dissertation does justice to all of these requirements. The Morningness-Eveningness-Stability scale; improved (MESSi) determines the individual daytime preference and their amplitude. Therefore, the aim of the present dissertation was to validate the measurement MESSi with the help of certain physiological parameters (like body temperature and cortisol) as well as other intervincing variables (like habitual sleep/wake times, activity and personality). On the other hand, the MESSi should be usable in a student population to investigate the influence of Morningness-Eveningness on school-relevant achievement under consideration of important variables in school context (like motivation and mood)

Study of the process e+e−→π+π−π0e^+e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0 in the energy region s\sqrt[]{s} below 0.98 GeV

The cross section of the process $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ was measured in the Spherical Neutral Detector (SND) experiment at the VEPP-2M collider in the energy region $\sqrt[]{s}$ below 980 MeV. This measurement was based on about $1.2 \times 10^6$ selected events. The obtained cross section was analyzed together with the SND and DM2 data in the energy region $\sqrt[]{s}$ up to 2 GeV. The $\omega$-meson parameters: $m_\omega=782.79\pm 0.08\pm 0.09$ MeV, $\Gamma_\omega=8.68\pm 0.04\pm 0.15$ MeV and $\sigma(\omega\to 3\pi)=1615\pm 9\pm 57$ nb were obtained. It was found that the experimental data cannot be described by a sum of only $\omega$, $\phi$, $\omega^\prime$ and $\omega^{\prime\prime}$ resonances contributions. This can be interpreted as a manifestation of $\rho\to 3\pi$ decay, suppressed by $G$-parity, with relative probability $B(\rho\to 3\pi) = (1.01\pm^{0.54}_{0.36}\pm 0.034) \times 10^{-4}$.Comment: 41 pages REVTEX and 34 figure

Rho-Omega Mixing and the Pion Form Factor in the Time-like Region

We determine the magnitude, phase, and $s$-dependence of $\rho$-$\omega$ ``mixing'' in the pion form factor in the time-like region through fits to e^+e^- \ra \pi^+ \pi^- data. The associated systematic errors in these quantities, arising from the functional form used to fit the $\rho$ resonance, are small. The systematic errors in the $\rho$ mass and width, however, are larger than previously estimated.Comment: 20 pages, REVTeX, epsfig, 2 ps figures, minor change

The antinucleon-nucleon interaction at low energy : annihilation dynamics

The general properties of antiproton-proton annihilation at rest are presented, with special focus on the two-meson final states. The data exhibit remarkable dynamical selection rules : some allowed annihilation modes are suppressed by one order of magnitude with respect to modes of comparable phase-space. Various phenomenological analyses are reviewed, based on microscopic quark dynamics or symmetry considerations. The role of initial- and final-state interaction is also examined.Comment: 128 pages, 49 tables, 27 figure

New data on OZI rule violation in bar{p}p annihilation at rest

The results of a measurement of the ratio R = Y(phi pi+ pi-) / Y(omega pi+ pi-) for antiproton annihilation at rest in a gaseous and in a liquid hydrogen target are presented. It was found that the value of this ratio increases with the decreasing of the dipion mass, which demonstrates the difference in the phi and omega production mechanisms. An indication on the momentum transfer dependence of the apparent OZI rule violation for phi production from the 3S1 initial state was found.Comment: 11 pages, 3 PostScript figures, submitted to Physics Letter

Are reprogrammed cells a useful tool for studying dopamine dysfunction in psychotic disorders? A review of the current evidence

Since 2006, reprogrammed cells have increasingly been used as a biomedical research technique in addition to neuro-psychiatric methods. These rapidly evolving techniques allow for the generation of neuronal sub-populations, and have sparked interest not only in monogenetic neuro-psychiatric diseases, but also in poly-genetic and poly-aetiological disorders such as schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD). This review provides a summary of 19 publications on reprogrammed adult somatic cells derived from patients with SCZ, and five publications using this technique in patients with BPD. As both disorders are complex and heterogeneous, there is a plurality of hypotheses to be tested in vitro. In SCZ, data on alterations of dopaminergic transmission in vitro are sparse, despite the great explanatory power of the so-called DA hypothesis of SCZ. Some findings correspond to perturbations of cell energy metabolism, and observations in reprogrammed cells suggest neuro-developmental alterations. Some studies also report on the efficacy of medicinal compounds to revert alterations observed in cellular models. However, due to the paucity of replication studies, no comprehensive conclusions can be drawn from studies using reprogrammed cells at the present time. In the future, findings from cell culture methods need to be integrated with clinical, epidemiological, pharmacological and imaging data in order to generate a more comprehensive picture of SCZ and BPD

Baseline medication load and long-term outcomes in COVID-19-hospitalized patients: results of the AUTCOVSTUDY

IntroductionLimited data are available on long-term morbidity and mortality after hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this registry-based study, we investigated long-term mortality and morbidity following hospitalization for COVID-19 and examined associations with baseline medication load.MethodsData were provided by the Austrian Health Insurance Funds on hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2020 and matched controls. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality conditional on survival of initial COVID-19 hospitalization and re-hospitalization.ResultsThe median follow-up was 600 days. A total of 22,571 patients aged >18 were hospitalized in Austria in 2020 due to COVID-19. The risk of mortality was significantly higher with polypharmacy. With the exception of the youngest age group (19–40 years), patients receiving antiepileptics, antipsychotics, or iron supplements, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, vitamin B12, or folic acid in the year before hospitalization were significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality (all p < 0.001). For patients with prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other anti-inflammatory drugs, significantly increased survival was observed (all p-values <0.001). Patients had a higher medication load than the control population. Long-term mortality and the risk of re-hospitalization for any reason were also significantly higher among patients.DiscussionAntipsychotics and antidepressants appear to be underrecognized in identifying patients at risk for severe outcomes after hospitalization for COVID-19

Neural correlates of peripartum depression: A systematic review, meta-analysis and comparison to major depressive disorder

Background: Peripartum depression (PPD) is a form of major depressive disorder (MDD) that begins during the peripartum period and poses a significant mental health challenge affecting 10 to 29% of women.Objective: This systematic review and multimodal activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis explored the distinct structural, functional, and metabolic features of the PPD brain as compared to female non-peripartum MDD.Methods: For this purpose, we conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases to identify peer-reviewed original studies investigating the neural correlates associated with PPD or fMDD.Results: Forty-five studies in PPD and 55 in fMDD were included in the qualitative synthesis. From these, 25 PPD and 32 fMDD studies were included in the meta-analysis. Both shared and distinct neural underpinnings of PPD and fMDD were observed. Specifically, we found alterations in the cognitive control, salience and default mode networks for both PPD and fMDD, although with reversed structural and functional activity patterns in the insula, amygdala, precentral gyrus and precuneus.Conclusions: These findings support the consistent pattern of dysregulation associated with emotional regulation, cognition and maternal caregiving in women with PPD, as well as possible differential sensitivity to hormonal influences, highlighting the need for targeted interventions