Australian Catholic University

About: Australian Catholic University is a education organization based out in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 2721 authors who have published 10013 publications receiving 215248 citations. The organization is also known as: ACU & ACU National.

Changes in body composition and metabolic profile during interleukin 6 inhibition in rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by increased mortality associated with cardiometabolic disorders including dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance, and cachectic obesity. Tumour necrosis factor inhibitors and interleukin 6 receptor blocker licensed for the treatment of RA decrease inflammation and could thus improve cardiovascular risk, but their effects on body composition and metabolic profile need to be clarified. We investigated the effects of tocilizumab (TCZ), a humanized anti-interleukin 6 receptor antibody, on body composition and metabolic profile in patients treated for RA. METHODS: Twenty-one active RA patients treated with TCZ were included in a 1 year open follow-up study. Waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profile, fasting glucose, insulin, serum levels of adipokines and pancreatic/gastrointestinal hormones, and body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) were measured at baseline and 6 and 12 months of treatment. At baseline, RA patients were compared with 21 non-RA controls matched for age, sex, body mass index, and metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Compared with controls, body composition was altered in RA with a decrease in total and appendicular lean mass, whereas fat composition was not modified. Among RA patients, 28.6% had a skeletal muscle mass index below the cut-off point for sarcopaenia (4.8% of controls). After 1 year of treatment with TCZ, there was a significant weight gain without changes for fat mass. In contrast, an increase in lean mass was observed with a significant gain in appendicular lean mass and skeletal muscle mass index between 6 and 12 months. Distribution of the fat was modified with a decrease in trunk/peripheral fat ratio and an increase in subcutaneous adipose tissue. No changes for waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and atherogenic index were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite weight gain during treatment with TCZ, no increase in fat but a modification in fat distribution was observed. In contrast, muscle gain suggests that blocking IL-6 might be efficient in treating sarcopaenia associated with RA

Age and individual differences in prospective memory during a "Virtual Week": the roles of working memory, vigilance, task regularity, and cue focality.

Abstract: Prospective memory (PM) ability, reflected by tasks such as remembering to take one’s medication at the right time, is essential for successfully navigating the demands of everyday life. Studying the effects of age on PM performance in adulthood is important because PM failures can have severe consequences to activities of daily living (e.g., forgetting to take one’s medication or forgetting to turn off an appliance). The extant literature regarding the effect of aging on PM has revealed an interesting and complex pattern of results. Young adults tend to outperform older adults particularly on PM tasks with high levels of controlled strategic demands, whereas, age differences tend to be reduced when the demands on self-initiated retrieval are minimized (for reviews, see Henry, MacLeod, Phillips, & Crawford, 2004; Kliegel, Jager, & Phillips, 2008; McDaniel & Einstein, 2007). For example, age differences tend to be reduced for the performance of both regular (habitual) PM tasks, such as simulating the performance of medical tasks in the laboratory during a “Virtual Week” (Rendell & Craik, 2000), and for PM tasks with focal cues (Kliegel et al., 2008; McDaniel, Einstein, & Rendell, 2008; Rendell, McDaniel, Forbes, & Einstein, 2007). In regular PM tasks, the cues are presented in a consistent routine (e.g., take medication every day at breakfast) and therefore, the preceding situational cues might provide a richer, more extensive set of cues for triggering retrieval (cf. Kvavilashili & Fisher, 2007). With regards to cue focality, PM task cues are more focal when the ongoing task involves processing the defining features of the PM cues than when ongoing task processing is more peripheral. For example, during a word/non-word decision task, remembering to press the q key when the word “tortoise” is presented involves more focal processing of the PM cue than when the cue is the appearance of the syllable “tor” because the information extracted in the service of the ongoing task primarily involves words – not syllables (see Einstein et al., 2005). That both task regularity and cue focality tend to reduce age-related differences in PM is consistent with the hypothesis that PM cues that occur more regularly and/or are more focally processed may be more likely to spontaneously trigger intention retrieval, whereas tasks that are irregular or involve less focal processing may be more likely to involve strategic monitoring (Henry et al., 2004; Kliegel et al., 2008; McDaniel & Einstein, 2007).

Empathy, social functioning and schizotypy.

Abstract: Whilst affective empathy is concerned with one's emotional response to the affective state of another, cognitive empathy refers to one's understanding of another's mental state, and deficits in both are believed to contribute to the social behavioral abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to test whether individual differences in normally distributed schizotypal personality traits are related to cognitive and affective empathy, and whether any observed association between schizotypy and empathy mediates the relationship between schizotypy and (reduced) social functioning. Non-clinical volunteers (N=223) completed measures of schizotypal personality, cognitive and affective empathy, social functioning and negative affect. The results indicated that higher schizotypy was associated with reduced empathy, poorer social functioning and increased negative affect. Of the specific schizotypal dimensions (positive, negative and disorganized), only negative schizotypy was significantly associated with social functioning, and this relationship persisted even after controlling for negative affect. Further, affective empathy functioned as a partial mediator in this relationship. These data show that the relationship between negative schizotypy and social functioning is at least partially attributable to deficits in affective empathy.

Conceptual Knowledge in Introductory Calculus.

Abstract: Responses to word problems involving rates of change were collected on four occasions during and after 24 hours of concept-based calculus instruction given to a group of first-year university students, all of whom had studied calculus in secondary school. The number of students who could symbolize rates of change in noncomplex situations increased dramatically. However, there was almost no increase in the number who could symbolize rates of change in complex items or in items that required modeling a situation using algebraic variables. Detailed analysis revealed three main categories of error, in all of which variables are treated as symbols to be manipulated rather than as quantities to be related. We surmise that the students had developed an "abstract-apart" concept of a variable rather than the "abstract-general" concept that is needed for the successful study of calculus. Changes in technology, the qualifications of teachers, and the mathematical competence of students have led many to question the role of traditional calculus courses in the curriculum. There is, in particular, much concern about the large numbers of students taking calculus and the rote, manipulative learning that takes place (Cipra, 1988; Steen, 1988; White, 1990). The value of skill-based calculus courses has also come under fire because computers and calculators now perform most (if not all) of the manipulative procedures taught in such courses (Steen, 1988; Tall, 1987a). Several studies (Heid, 1988, 1989; Hickernell & Proskurowski, 1985; Judson, 1990; Palmiter, 1991) have shown how using the computer as a tool for performing the procedures of calculus and algebra can free students to explore applications. Other studies (Hsaio, 1984/85; Tall, 1986) have used graphics to explore secants and tangents to curves in order to build up a sound concept of a derivative. The general tendency is for less emphasis on skills and greater emphasis on underlying concepts. Research into the understanding of calculus has shown a whole spectrum of concepts that cause problems for students. In particular, student difficulties with the

Evaluating Callous-Unemotional Traits as a Personality Construct.

Abstract: We evaluate the importance of callous-unemotional (CU) traits as a personality construct in isolation from other facets of psychopathy. Specifically, we review research suggesting that these traits are useful for designating a subgroup of youth with serious conduct problems who differ from other antisocial youth on important biological, emotional, cognitive, and social characteristics. In addition, the temperamental features related to CU traits are risk factors for impairments in conscience development in young children. Thus, these traits could advance theoretical models explaining the development of severe antisocial behavior and psychopathy. CU traits also have important clinical utility because they designate a particularly severe and impaired subgroup of antisocial youth, leading to their inclusion in the DSM-5. As a result of this inclusion in diagnostic classification, there has been an increased focus on how to best assess CU traits, and we discuss several key issues in their assessment, highlighting several limitations in existing measures. Finally, the increased use of CU traits, separately from other facets of psychopathy, makes it important to determine how these traits relate to other personality constructs. Thus, we examine how measures of CU traits relate to the broader construct of psychopathy and to other basic personality dimensions.