Cognitive Difficulties and Health-Related Quality of Life in Sarcoidosis: An Analysis of the GRADS Cohort.

Rationale: Subjective cognitive difficulties are common among sarcoidosis patients; however, previous studies have not modeled the link between cognitive difficulties and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Objectives: To determine whether cognitive difficulties are associated with HRQOL in sarcoidosis patients after adjusting for demographics, fatigue, and physical disease severity measures.

Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the Genomic Research in Alpha-1 antitrypsin Deficiency and Sarcoidosis (GRADS) study data.

Validation of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) scale of scales in a mixed clinical sample.

This exploratory study examined the classification accuracy of three derived scales aimed at detecting cognitive response bias in neuropsychological samples. The derived scales are composed of existing scales from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). A mixed clinical sample of consecutive outpatients referred for neuropsychological assessment at a large Midwestern academic medical center was utilized.

Replication and cross-validation of the personality assessment inventory (PAI) cognitive bias scale (CBS) in a mixed clinical sample.

This study is a cross-validation of the Cognitive Bias Scale (CBS) from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), a ten-item scale designed to assess symptom endorsement associated with performance validity test failure in neuropsychological samples. The study utilized a mixed neuropsychological sample of consecutively referred patients at a large academic medical center in the Midwest. Participants were 332 patients who completed embedded and free-standing performance validity tests (PVTs) and the PAI.

Reduced Attention in Former Smokers with and without COPD.

Background: Attention difficulties are often reported by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, limited research exists using objective tests designed specifically to measure attention in this population. This study aimed to (1) identify specific attention deficits in COPD and (2) determine which demographic/clinical characteristics are associated with reduced attention.

Methods: Eighty-four former smokers (53 COPD, 31 no COPD) completed questionnaires, pulmonary function testing, and the Conner's Continuous Performance Test II (CPT-II).

CT-measured lung air-trapping is associated with higher carotid artery stiffness in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are characterized by the loss and narrowing of terminal bronchioles in the lung, resulting in "air-trapping," often occurring before overt emphysema manifests. Individuals with an airway-predominant phenotype of COPD display extensive lung air-trapping and are at greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk than COPD patients with an emphysema-predominant phenotype. We hypothesized that the degree of computed tomography (CT)-quantified lung air-trapping would be associated with greater aortic and carotid artery stiffness and lower endothelial function, known biomarkers of CVD risk.

Escaping the Golden Cage: Animal Models of Eating Disorders in the Post-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Era.

Eating disorders (EDs) are severe, life-threatening mental illnesses characterized by marked disturbances in body image and eating patterns. Attempts to understand the neurobiological basis of EDs have been hindered by the perception that EDs are primarily socially reinforced behaviors and not the result of a pathophysiologic process. This view is reflected by the diagnostic criteria of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which emphasize intrapsychic conflicts such as "inability to maintain body weight," "undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation," and "denial of the seriousness of low body weight" over neuropsychological measures.