TTM-based counselling in physiotherapy does not contribute to an increase of adherence to activity recommendations in older adults with chronic low back pain--a randomised controlled trial.

Aims: The present study examines the outcome of counselling in physiotherapy based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) in a sample of elderly individuals with chronic low back pain.

Methods: In a prospective randomised trial with concealed assignment, elderly individuals with chronic low back pain were allocated to two treatment conditions. Both contained 10 sessions of physiotherapy, each of 20min duration.

Post-partum intention to resume smoking.

Little is known about the motivational background of smoking after a period of nicotine abstinence during pregnancy. The study examines the intention to resume smoking (IRS) in the post-partum period and its predictive value for smoking within 12 months post-partum. In a sample of 301 women recruited from obstetric wards who reported having stopped smoking during pregnancy, data on IRS, sociodemographic variables, recent smoking behaviour and smoking in the social network were collected.

Predicting outcomes of inpatient psychotherapy using quality management data: comparing classification and regression trees with logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis.

Abstract Three classification models are compared with regard to their ability to identify unsuccessful treatment outcomes. Data from the Stuttgart-Heidelberg model on quality management of 1,401 inpatients were used. According to the evaluation algorithm used, 82% benefited from therapy.

Immigration-associated variables and substance dependence.

Objective: Drug-dependent patients show increased negative mood states such as anxiety and depression that interact with drug craving and quality of life. In this study, we compared immigrants with and without drug dependence and assessed whether drug dependence and social status after immigration contributed independently to negative mood states, stress-coping strategies and satisfaction with life in Germany.

Method: Immigrants (N = 80) who had emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Germany were participants in the study.

Enhanced phenotyping of complex traits with a circadian clock model.

Models of biological systems are increasingly used to generate and test predictions in silico. This article explores the basic workings of a multifeedback network model of a circadian clock. In a series of in silico experiments, we investigated the influence of the number of feedbacks by adding and removing one or more.

Factors associated with academic success at Vienna Medical School: prospective survey.

Aim: To identify factors relating to students' success in the study of medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. In view of Austria's tradition of open access to higher education, which results large number of students, high dropout rate, long duration of studies, factors predicting success could be helpful for student counseling.

Methods: In a prospective study, 674 freshmen (50.

Prevalence of weather sensitivity in Germany and Canada.

Several studies have shown that atmospheric conditions can affect well-being or disease, and that some individuals seem to be more sensitive to weather than others. Since epidemiological data on the prevalence of weather-related health effects are lacking, two representative weather sensitivity (WS) surveys were conducted independently in Germany and Canada. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to identify the prevalence of WS in Germany and Canada, (2) to describe weather-related symptoms and the corresponding weather conditions, and (3) to compare the findings in the two countries.

Lost in time: a historical frame, elementary processing units and the 3-second window.

The main topics of time and timing in psychology, cognitive neuroscience and biology have been formulated already in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, time and timing as a challenging topic has been put to rest for quite some time, but has become a central issue again during the last years. It has become clear, that perceptual or cognitive processes can only be understood if the dimension of time is taken more seriously.

Extracellular pH is under circadian control in Gonyaulax polyedra and forms a metabolic feedback loop.

This study investigates the relationship between the circadian clock and metabolism based on recordings of the extracellular pH in cultures of the marine dinoflagellate, Gonyaulax polyedra. In light-dark cycles, pH of the medium rises during the light phase and declines in the dark. The amplitude of this pH-rhythm correlates with light intensity, indicating photosynthesis (and respiration) as the driving force.

Photoperiodism in Neurospora crassa.

Plants and animals use day or night length for seasonal control of reproduction and other biological functions. Overwhelming evidence suggests that this photoperiodic mechanism relies on a functional circadian system. Recent progress has defined how flowering time in plants is regulated by photoperiodic control of output pathways, but the underlying mechanisms of photoperiodism remain to be described.

Entrainment dissociates transcription and translation of a circadian clock gene in neurospora.

Circadian systems coordinate the daily sequence of events in cells, tissues, and organisms. In constant conditions, the biological clock oscillates with its endogenous period, whereas it is synchronized to the 24 hr light:dark cycle in nature. Here, we investigate light entrainment of Neurospora crassa to photoperiods that mimic seasonal changes.

Cellular clocks: coupled circadian and cell division cycles.

Gating of cell division by the circadian clock is well known, yet its mechanism is little understood. Genetically tractable model systems have led to new hypotheses and questions concerning the coupling of these two cellular cycles.

Effects of Ginkgo biloba on mental functioning in healthy volunteers.

Background: There has been a lack of investigations examining the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 on mental functions and quality of life in healthy subjects with no cognitive impairment. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the relatively short-term (i.e.

The art of entrainment.

The circadian system actively synchronizes the temporal sequence of biological functions with the environment. The oscillatory behavior of the system ensures that entrainment is not passive or driven and therefore allows for great plasticity and adaptive potential. With the tools at hand, we now can concentrate on the most important circadian question: How is the complex task of entrainment achieved by anatomical, cellular, and molecular components? Understanding entrainment is equal to understanding the circadian system.

The network of time: understanding the molecular circadian system.

The circadian clock provides a temporal structure that modulates biological functions from the level of gene expression to performance and behaviour. Pioneering work on the fruitfly Drosophila has provided a basis for understanding how the temporal sequence of daily events is controlled in mammals. New insights have come from work on mammals, specifically from studying the daily activity profiles of clock mutant mice; from more detailed recordings of clock gene expression under different experimental conditions and in different tissues; and from the discovery and analysis of a growing number of additional clock genes.

Life between clocks: daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes.

Human behavior shows large interindividual variation in temporal organization. Extreme "larks" wake up when extreme "owls" fall asleep. These chronotypes are attributed to differences in the circadian clock, and in animals, the genetic basis of similar phenotypic differences is well established.

Comparison of representational maps using functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Objective: Comparison of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) representational maps, that were generated during voluntary thumb abduction, hand dorsiflexion and foot elevation to amplitude maps of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by single transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) administered to cortical motor representation areas of the muscles of the thenar eminence, extensor carpi radialis and tibialis anterior muscles.

Methods: Stimulus locations that produced maximal motor-evoked potential amplitudes were compared to fMRI activation maxima in three-dimensional (3D)-space and in a 2D-projection using a novel technique that allowed fMRI activation sites to be projected onto the surface of the brain.

Results And Conclusions: When analyzing pooled data from all target muscles, the location of projected fMRI and TMS activation maxima on the cortical surface differed by an average 13.

Life before the clock: modeling circadian evolution.

A feedback loop that functions via transcription and translation is thought to be the mechanistic core of circadian rhythmicity. Numerous modeling efforts incorporate the identified components and their modifications to recreate the circadian clock in computer simulations. Several issues remain problematic, including the lack of precise quantitative kinetics and the likely existence of additional, as-yet-undiscovered components.