Motives of abstinence versus metacognition and self-conscious emotions in people addicted to alcohol.

Objectives: The target of the present study was to show the relationship between time and motives for maintaining abstinence and metacognitive beliefs about alcohol and self-conscious emotions.

Methods: Ninety-one alcohol-dependent individuals who are currently maintaining abstinence participated in the study. Three instruments were used to measure individual variables: RALD was used to examine motives for maintaining abstinence, MPA was used to measure the level of individual metacognitive beliefs about alcohol, and SUM 5 was used to measure the level of self-conscious emotions in addicts who maintain abstinence.

Changes in brain structure in people with gaming disorder. A review of neuroimaging studies.

This review aims to summarise the current knowledge on structural brain changes among people diagnosed with gaming disorder and the resulting clinical implications. The review will show the theoretical psychological and neurobiological models of computer gaming disorder in conjunction with the results of structural neuroimaging studies. Previous epidemiological studies indicate that the prevalence of gaming disorder in the population may reach approx.

Can Methotrexate Be Employed as Monotherapy for Bullous Pemphigoid? Analysis of Efficiency and Tolerance of Methotrexate Treatment in Patients with Bullous Pemphigoid.

The European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) consensus states that the treatment of choice for bullous pemphigoid is systemic glucocorticosteroid therapy. Bearing in mind that long-term steroid therapy is associated with numerous side effects, an effective and safer treatment regimen for these patients is still being sought. A retrospective analysis was performed of the medical reports of patients with diagnosed bullous pemphigoid.

The effects of data quantity on performance of temporal response function analyses of natural speech processing.

In recent years, temporal response function (TRF) analyses of neural activity recordings evoked by continuous naturalistic stimuli have become increasingly popular for characterizing response properties within the auditory hierarchy. However, despite this rise in TRF usage, relatively few educational resources for these tools exist. Here we use a dual-talker continuous speech paradigm to demonstrate how a key parameter of experimental design, the quantity of acquired data, influences TRF analyses fit to either individual data (subject-specific analyses), or group data (generic analyses).

Amplitude-modulation forward masking for listeners with and without hearing loss.

Amplitude-modulation (AM) forward masking was measured for listeners with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss at 4000 and 1000 Hz, using continuous and noncontinuous masker and signal carriers, respectively. A low-fluctuation noise (LFN) carrier was used for the "continuous carrier" conditions. An unmodulated low-fluctuation noise (U-LFN), an unmodulated Gaussian noise (U-GN), and an amplitude-modulation low-fluctuation noise (AM-LFN) were maskers for the "noncontinuous carrier" conditions.

The search for correlates of age-related cochlear synaptopathy: Measures of temporal envelope processing and spatial release from speech-on-speech masking.

Older adults often experience difficulties understanding speech in adverse listening conditions. It has been suggested that for listeners with normal and near-normal audiograms, these difficulties may, at least in part, arise from age-related cochlear synaptopathy. The aim of this study was to assess if performance on auditory tasks relying on temporal envelope processing reveal age-related deficits consistent with those expected from cochlear synaptopathy.

Effects of Age on Cortical Tracking of Word-Level Features of Continuous Competing Speech.

Speech-in-noise comprehension difficulties are common among the elderly population, yet traditional objective measures of speech perception are largely insensitive to this deficit, particularly in the absence of clinical hearing loss. In recent years, a growing body of research in young normal-hearing adults has demonstrated that high-level features related to speech semantics and lexical predictability elicit strong centro-parietal negativity in the EEG signal around 400 ms following the word onset. Here we investigate effects of age on cortical tracking of these word-level features within a two-talker speech mixture, and their relationship with self-reported difficulties with speech-in-noise understanding.

Effects of noise precursors on the detection of amplitude and frequency modulation for tones in noise.

Recent studies on amplitude modulation (AM) detection for tones in noise reported that AM-detection thresholds improve when the AM stimulus is preceded by a noise precursor. The physiological mechanisms underlying this AM unmasking are unknown. One possibility is that adaptation to the level of the noise precursor facilitates AM encoding by causing a shift in neural rate-level functions to optimize level encoding around the precursor level.

Combined Yeast Cultivation and Pectin Hydrolysis as an Effective Method of Producing Prebiotic Animal Feed from Sugar Beet Pulp.

An effective and ecological method for liberation of pectin-derived oligosaccharides (POS) from sugar beet pulp (SBP) was developed using enzymatic and microorganism-mediated biomass conversion. The POS may be applied in the production of prebiotic feed additives. Various yeast strains were screened for their capacity for protein synthesis and monosaccharide assimilation.

No effects of attention or visual perceptual load on cochlear function, as measured with stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emissions.

The effects of selectively attending to a target stimulus in a background containing distractors can be observed in cortical representations of sound as an attenuation of the representation of distractor stimuli. The locus in the auditory system at which attentional modulations first arise is unknown, but anatomical evidence suggests that cortically driven modulation of neural activity could extend as peripherally as the cochlea itself. Previous studies of selective attention have used otoacoustic emissions to probe cochlear function under varying conditions of attention with mixed results.

Exploring the Role of Medial Olivocochlear Efferents on the Detection of Amplitude Modulation for Tones Presented in Noise.

The medial olivocochlear reflex has been hypothesized to improve the detection and discrimination of dynamic signals in noisy backgrounds. This hypothesis was tested here by comparing behavioral outcomes with otoacoustic emissions. The effects of a precursor on amplitude-modulation (AM) detection were measured for a 1- and 6-kHz carrier at levels of 40, 60, and 80 dB SPL in a two-octave-wide noise masker with a level designed to produce poor, but above-chance, performance.

Examining replicability of an otoacoustic measure of cochlear function during selective attention.

Attention to a target stimulus within a complex scene often results in enhanced cortical representations of the target relative to the background. It remains unclear where along the auditory pathways attentional effects can first be measured. Anatomy suggests that attentional modulation could occur through corticofugal connections extending as far as the cochlea itself.

Auditory enhancement under simultaneous masking in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

Auditory enhancement, where a target sound within a masker is rendered more audible by the prior presentation of the masker alone, may play an important role in auditory perception under variable everyday acoustic conditions. Cochlear hearing loss may reduce enhancement effects, potentially contributing to the difficulties experienced by hearing-impaired (HI) individuals in noisy and reverberant environments. However, it remains unknown whether, and by how much, enhancement under simultaneous masking is reduced in HI listeners.

Weak Middle-Ear-Muscle Reflex in Humans with Noise-Induced Tinnitus and Normal Hearing May Reflect Cochlear Synaptopathy.

Chronic tinnitus is a prevalent hearing disorder, and yet no successful treatments or objective diagnostic tests are currently available. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the presence of tinnitus and the strength of the middle-ear-muscle reflex (MEMR) in humans with normal and near-normal hearing. Clicks were used as test stimuli to obtain a wideband measure of the effect of reflex activation on ear-canal sound pressure.

The Effect of Different Starch Liberation and Saccharification Methods on the Microbial Contaminations of Distillery Mashes, Fermentation Efficiency, and Spirits Quality.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different starch liberation and saccharification methods on microbiological contamination of distillery mashes. Moreover, the effect of hop α-acid preparation for protection against microbial infections was assessed. The quality of agricultural distillates was also evaluated.

The use of ionic chromatography in determining the contamination of sugar by-products by nitrite and nitrate.

In 2010, the Directive on undesirable substances in animal feed entered into force and for the first time was laid down a maximum limit for nitrite content in sugar industry feed materials such as molasses and beet pulp. Due to a lack of suitable analytical methods for nitrite determination, this study was developed with the aim to standardize a nitrite analytical method in by-products from sugar industry. In this study high performance anion exchange chromatography with conductometric detection was used for determining nitrite and nitrate content of sugar by-products included in feed material.

Rhythm judgments reveal a frequency asymmetry in the perception and neural coding of sound synchrony.

In modern Western music, melody is commonly conveyed by pitch changes in the highest-register voice, whereas meter or rhythm is often carried by instruments with lower pitches. An intriguing and recently suggested possibility is that the custom of assigning rhythmic functions to lower-pitch instruments may have emerged because of fundamental properties of the auditory system that result in superior time encoding for low pitches. Here we compare rhythm and synchrony perception between low- and high-frequency tones, using both behavioral and EEG techniques.

Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emissions Provide No Evidence for the Role of Efferents in the Enhancement Effect.

Auditory enhancement refers to the perceptual phenomenon that a target sound is heard out more readily from a background sound if the background is presented alone first. Here we used stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs) to test the hypothesis that activation of the medial olivocochlear efferent system contributes to auditory enhancement effects. The SFOAEs were used as a tool to measure changes in cochlear responses to a target component and the neighboring components of a multitone background between conditions producing enhancement and conditions producing no enhancement.

Exploring the role of feedback-based auditory reflexes in forward masking by schroeder-phase complexes.

Several studies have postulated that psychoacoustic measures of auditory perception are influenced by efferent-induced changes in cochlear responses, but these postulations have generally remained untested. This study measured the effect of stimulus phase curvature and temporal envelope modulation on the medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) and on the middle-ear muscle reflex (MEMR). The role of the MOCR was tested by measuring changes in the ear-canal pressure at 6 kHz in the presence and absence of a band-limited harmonic complex tone with various phase curvatures, centered either at (on-frequency) or well below (off-frequency) the 6-kHz probe frequency.

The A/A genotype of an interleukin-17A polymorphism predisposes to increased severity of atopic dermatitis and coexistence with asthma.

Introduction: Studies have found that the interleukin-23/T helper 17 (IL-23/Th17) pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). Inhibition of the IL-23/Th17 pathway with monoclonal antibodies reduces skin inflammation in animal models.

Aim: To investigate the association between IL-17A and IL-23R gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the development of AD in a Polish population.

The relationship between plasma concentration of metoprolol and CYP2D6 genotype in patients with ischemic heart disease.

Background: Metoprolol is the one of the most commonly used β-blockers in the treatment of ischemic heart disease and it is extensively metabolized in the liver undergoing oxidation by CYP2D6 isoenzyme of cytochrome P450. Gene encoding the CYP2D6 enzyme is characterized by genetic polymorphism. The CYP2D6 oxidation polymorphism has a major impact on the effectiveness and safety of the treatment.

Percutaneous retrieval of a detached rotational atherectomy burr.

Rotablation (rotational atherectomy) is an acknowledged method of percutaneous treatment of highly calcified coronary artery lesions that cannot be treated with traditional angioplasty. The complexity of the technique and usage of very specific equipment can contribute to the development of uncommon complications. We present a case of percutaneous retrieval of a damaged rotational atherectomy burr in a 74-year-old male patient.

Perception of across-frequency asynchrony by listeners with cochlear hearing loss.

Cochlear hearing loss is often associated with broader tuning of the cochlear filters. Cochlear response latencies are dependent on the filter bandwidths, so hearing loss may affect the relationship between latencies across different characteristic frequencies. This prediction was tested by investigating the perception of synchrony between two tones exciting different regions of the cochlea in listeners with hearing loss.

Effects of temporal stimulus properties on the perception of across-frequency asynchrony.

The role of temporal stimulus parameters in the perception of across-frequency synchrony and asynchrony was investigated using pairs of 500-ms tones consisting of a 250-Hz tone and a tone with a higher frequency of 1, 2, 4, or 6 kHz. Subjective judgments suggested veridical perception of across-frequency synchrony but with greater sensitivity to changes in asynchrony for pairs in which the lower-frequency tone was leading than for pairs in which it was lagging. Consistent with the subjective judgments, thresholds for the detection of asynchrony measured in a three-alternative forced-choice task were lower when the signal interval contained a pair with the low-frequency tone leading than a pair with a high-frequency tone leading.

Forward masking of frequency modulation.

Forward masking of sinusoidal frequency modulation (FM) was measured with three types of maskers: FM, amplitude modulation (AM), and a masker created by combining the magnitude spectrum of an FM tone with random component phases. For the signal FM rates used (5, 20, and 40 Hz), an FM masker raised detection thresholds in terms of frequency deviation by a factor of about 5 relative to without a masker. The AM masker produced a much smaller effect, suggesting that FM-to-AM conversion did not contribute substantially to the FM forward masking.