There is increasing consensus on the notion of addiction as a brain disorder characterized by longstanding changes in cognitive functioning, especially in so-called executive functions. Recent ...evidences indicate that specific components of executive functions, considered the domain of the frontal lobes, including dysfunctional impulsivity, could be considered a hallmark of addiction. Aim of the present study was to explore the domain of executive functions in abstinent non comorbid alcohol dependent subjects, in comparison with matched non clinical controls. Any relationship with impulsivity and drinking behaviour (binge drinking) was also investigated. We used a selective battery of neuropsychological tests designed to assess several components of executive functions, including fluency, working memory, analogical reasoning, interference and cognitive flexibility, attention, concentration, problem solving strategy and abstract reasoning. BIS-11 was also administered to explore impulsivity levels. Significant differences in many of the domains explored between alcohol dependent patients and controls have been founded. Intriguingly, impulsivity in alcoholics seems to not inhibit cognitive performance. Data about binge drinking will be also presented. Our results show that alcohol dependent patients present a weaker performance in all the domains referable to executive functions when compared to controls. Disruptions in inhibitory control are central to many theories of addiction; the inhibitory activities of the Frontal and Prefrontal Cortex, are particularly important when an individual needs to over-ride a reflexive response, such as a craving response to drug-related cues.
There is increasing consensus on the notion of addiction as a brain disorder characterized by longstanding changes in cognitive functioning, especially in so-called executive functions. Recent ...evidences indicate that specific components of executive functions, considered the domain of the frontal lobes, including dysfunctional impulsivity, could be considered a hallmark of addiction. Aim of the present study was to explore the domain of executive functions in abstinent non comorbid alcohol dependent subjects in comparison with matched non clinical controls. Any relationship with impulsivity and anger was also investigated. Thirty Alcohol Dependent outpatients with diagnosis of Alcohol Dependence (DSM-IV-TR) and thirty matched control subjects participated to the study. We used a selective battery of neuropsychological tests designed to assess several components of executive functions, including fluency, working memory, analogical reasoning, interference and cognitive flexibility, attention, concentration, problem solving strategy and abstract reasoning (FAS for verbal fluency; Semantic Fluency; Digit span; Spatial span; Similarities; Stroop test; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; TMT Making Test Parts A & B; Digit Symbol). BIS-11 and STAXI I and II were also administered to explore impulsivity and anger levels. Significant differences in many of the domains explored between alcohol dependent patients and controls have been founded. Furthermore, a correlation between the performance at neuropsychological tests and the score at the instruments designed to assess impulsivity and anger have been deducted. Alcohol dependence is associated with a significant impairment on executive domain. Impulsivity and anger levels, both dimensions linked with the executive capacity, seem to be altered as well.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how to model a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) beam into a treatment planning system (TPS).Methods: An Elekta Synergy LINAC equipped with ...CBCT was used in this study. Profiles and depth dose curves were measured in a water tank with the kV source in the AP position. Monoenergetic energy deposition kernels from 20 to 110 keV were added to Philips Pinnacle Beta. An energy spectrum was imported to create a model for the scanned profiles for a CBCT beam with 120 kVp, 40 mA, and 10 ms/frame. Film, TLD, and ion chamber measurements were used to verify the model in a stack of water equivalent material at 100 SSD. TLDs were used to measure the dose within the complex geometry of an anthropomorphic phantom. Additionally, this research is being carried out on an Oncentra treatment planning system from Nucletron Corporation.Results: The TPS model accurately represents the depth dose and profiles of the scanned CBCT beam. The dose that was predicted by the TPS versus absolute measurement with TLD and ion chamber were within 3% in tissue and tissue equivalent materials. However, it was not as accurate for heterogeneities such as bone anatomy Conclusions: The results show that a diagnostic beam modeled in the TPS can calculate the dose to a homogenous volume within 3%. However, further work is needed to accurately predict dose in a heterogeneous media and ultimately onto a patient.
Purpose: There is a trend of increasing use of Cone Beam CT (CBCT) in radiation therapy as a method of tumor localization. Various papers have published methods for estimating this dose. However, ...this imaging dose is currently not accounted for in a patient's treatment, but will soon be able to be optimized within the treatment plan itself through modeling of the CBCT. Through verification of a CBCT model on an anthropomorphic phantom, this dose can begin to be accounted for clinically. Method and Materials: TLDs were placed at different locations and depths in an anthropomorphic phantom to map the dose delivered in a full CBCT scan as well as a half CBCT scan. Multiple readings were performed for each set up to confirm the repeatability of the TLD measurements. Analysis of these dose distributions were performed and compared to various reports of CBCT dose as well as directly compared with a Treatment Planning System model of CBCT Dose. Results: The full CBCT scan TLD results show doses reaching a maximum of 5.92 +/− 0.21 cGy in soft tissue regions of a pelvis. Additionally, by reducing the scanning angle to half of the original scan, the highest doses were reduced by over 90% while providing adequate image information for the CBCT to localize the tumor volume. The results will be shown in comparison with the Treatment Planning Model of CBCT dose as well as compared with other published values. Conclusion: The TLD results show a need to better account for CBCT dose in a patient's treatment plan. Through further modeling of each CBCT parameter for each type of scan an accurate model can be put in place for each patient receiving radiation therapy. This will give the physicist and physician the ability to adjust treatment plans to account for imaging dose.
The M
ajorana
Collaboration is using an array of high-purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in
76
Ge. Searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay are understood to be the ...only viable experimental method for testing the Majorana nature of the neutrino. Observation of this decay would imply violation of lepton number, that neutrinos are Majorana in nature, and provide information on the neutrino mass. The M
ajorana
D
emonstrator
comprises 44.1 kg of p-type point-contact Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in
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Ge) surrounded by a low-background shield system. The experiment achieved a high efficiency of converting raw Ge material to detectors and an unprecedented detector energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Q
ββ
. The M
ajorana
collaboration began taking physics data in 2016. This paper summarizes key construction aspects of the Demonstrator and shows preliminary results from initial data.
Background A significant comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and affective disorders has been consistently reported in adults. Less data regarding the role of ...personality traits, and the influence of ADHD co-occurrence on clinical characteristics and outcome of mood disorders are currently available. Methods The sample consisted of 296 subjects, divided into three homogeneous groups according to demographic characteristics: 106 subjects diagnosed with major depressive disorder, 92 with bipolar disorders and 98 healthy controls. ADHD diagnosis was based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. Childhood and adult ADHD features were measured with the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), the Adult ADHD Self-rating Scale (ASRS) and the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scale (ADD). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) were also administered to the clinical groups, in order to investigate depressive/anxious symptoms and personality dimensions. Results The prevalence of adult ADHD in subjects with bipolar disorders or major depressive disorder was 22.0% and 8.5% respectively (p < .001), compared to 3.1% in healthy controls. Significant associations between personality traits, depressive/anxious symptoms and ADHD features were found. Discussion The present study emphasises the close relationship between affective disorders, especially bipolar disorders, and ADHD in adults. Our findings support the need to assess subjects with mood disorders in the clinical setting for possible co-existing ADHD and to further investigate personality traits to better understand the etiology of affective disorders and ADHD co-occurrence.
Non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsant agents have been shown to be efficacious treatments for the prevention of alcohol relapse although the FDA has yet approved none of these agents. Several studies ...have demonstrated topiramate's efficacy in improving drinking behavior and maintaining abstinence. The objective of the present randomised, parallel, placebo-controlled trial was to compare topiramate at low dosage with placebo on alcohol drinking indices and craving in detoxified alcohol dependent subjects. Psychiatric symptomatology, quality of life and clinical global improvement have also been investigated. Sixty detoxified Alcohol Dependent (DSM-IV-TR) outpatients were recruited and randomly assigned to receive topiramate low dosage (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30). Patients have been evaluated after 30, 90 and 180 days of treatment. Withdrawal symptomatology was determined by the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar); craving for alcohol was evaluated by a 10-cm Visual Analogue Scale (VASc) and the Obsessive and Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). Psychiatric symptoms were evaluated with the Symptom Check List 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), quality of life with the QL-INDEX; the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) was also administered. As to our results, topiramate is more efficacy than placebo on both the improvement of withdrawal symptomatology and the reduction of relapses. Furthermore, it has resulted effective in reducing craving, the severity of global psychopathology and the quality of life. The data of this pilot study investigate and suggest a possible role for the anticonvulsants agents in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Topiramate could be an alternative option beyond the already approved agents for the treatment of alcohol dependence.
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