Advances in the field of neonatal-perinatal medicine and interventions of the 1960's have resulted in decreased mortality rates for infants suffering a variety of perinatal insults. However, it has been estimated that 25% of the survivors of high risk births will go on to have serious lifetime diabilities (Behrman, 1977). Resulting neurological morbidity may be expressed in major cognitive disabilities (i.e., cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning disorders and the like). Early identification of these children seems Parmalee, Sigman, & Beckwith, 1982). However, the prediction of neurological outcomes remains problematic.Recognizing the psychometric concerns associated with. perinatal risk measures currently used (Crawford, 1965: Bobbin, 1963: Wenar, 1963), the Transition Scale was created as a potentially reliable measure of perinatal risks observed at the time of birth. With a sample of 116 newborn subjects, the present investigation evaluated the stability and underlying constructs of the newly created measure. In addition, comparisons were made with information obtained critical to prevention and early intervention (Cohen, from the medical chart (i.e., Apgar Score).The percentage of agreement between the two independent raters for individual items of the Transition Scale ranged from .95 to 1.00, with the overall interrater agreement calculated as .98. Similarly, an examination of the agreement between each individual rater's responses and the medical chart information revealed percentages ranging from .90 to 1.00, with overall percentages of .96 and .97. Furthermore, the results of a factor analysis indicated that the Transition Scale offers substantial construct validity.Overall, the present investigation recommends the Transition Scale as a reliable research instrument with potential clinical utility. In addition, an examination of the underlying constructs of the measure point to the potential of the Transition Scale as a valid predictor of neurological morbidity. Further research using a high risk sample of infants is recommended. / Department of Educational Psychology

The present study was an effort to empirically subtype children's learning disabilities. A review of the literature was presented with a focus on current and historical subtyping attempts. A cluster analysis was performed on 1144 school-age learning disabled children who had completed extensive neuropsychological, intellectual, and achievement measures. Four interpretable clusters emerged which were seen as (1) Verbal-Sequential-Arithmetic Deficits, (2) Motor Speed and Cognitive Flexibility Deficits, (3) Mixed Language/Perceptual Deficits, and a (4) No Deficit Subtype. Not only did these clusters indicate unique profiles for each subtype across the sample, but developmental differences were also apparent between all four clusters. The current investigation suggested the utility of an empirical-neuropsychological approach to subtyping children's learning disabilities, while also portraying the importance of neurodevelopmental considerations of subtypes. Future directions in research were discussed. / Department of Educational Psychology

The aim of this work was to study the environmental and genetic factors for Parkinson???s disease (PD) in Chinese and Australian. Using a case-control method, environmental factors for PD were studied in a Chinese population (n=528) in Hong Kong. Current smoking (OR=0.437; p=0.013) and infrequent tea drinking (OR=1.51; p=0.02) were found to be protective factors, whereas family history and pesticide exposure during farming in females were found to be risk factors in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, current smoking reached borderline significance at the 5% level and the variables, years exposed to pesticides and family history were significant at the 10% level. Similarly, a case-control study involving 534 subjects was conducted in Australia. A positive family history was the strongest risk factor (OR=3.4; p&lt0.001). In addition, rural residency was found to be another risk factor (OR=1.8; p&lt0.001). Hypertension, stroke and well water ingestion were inversely correlated with PD (OR=0.2; p&lt0.001, OR=0.2; p&lt0.001 and OR=0.7; p&lt0.03 respectively). When genetic factors were examined in the Chinese population, no association to PD were found for the polymorphisms of the following candidate genes: CYP-2D6 debrisoquine hydroxyalse gene, dopamine transporter gene and monamine oxidase B (MAOB) gene. Furthermore, the Ala53Thr and Ala30Pro mutations of the alpha-synuclein gene were not found amongst this large Chinese population, indicating that variations of this gene are probably rare in Chinese. When candidate genes were studied amongst Caucasian Australians, the poor metaboliser genotype of CYP-2D6 was found to be weaky associated with PD (OR=1.36) in a meta-analysis. The length of the GT repeat alleles of MAOB gene were found to be significantly associated with PD (&gt188 base pair and 186 base pair) while angiotensin converting enzyme gene polymorphism was not found to be associated with PD. A pilot study was then conducted in Randwick, New South Wales to find out the latest prevalence of PD as well as putative risk factors in a random population. A validation study was carried out for a screening tool (questionnaire) for PD, which was then used for the main study. A total of 730 subjects were involved (527 in the community and 203 in institutions). The survey found that PD prevalence was between 3.6% and 4.9% (higher in aged care facilities). The putative risk factors positively identified were ???family history???(p&lt0.01) and ???exposure to chemicals at work or in surrounding environment??? (p&lt0.05). The age adjusted prevalence rate of PD revealed at least 42.5 % increase in the disease compared to 1966. We conclude that there may be an increase in the disease in Australia due to aging and other risk factors.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

The incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is high in Southeast China, including Hong Kong. Current therapy on NPC relies largely on radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but treatment failures remain the major challenge for advanced stage and recurrent/metastatic NPC. Previous studies indicated that after completion of primary treatment, the tumor recurrent rate for NPC was between 15% and 58%. Recent researches suggest the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSC refers to a sub-population of cells within the bulk tumor. CSCs exhibit the stem cell property of self-renew and differentiation, and are responsible for sustaining tumorigenesis and establishing the heterogeneity in the tumor. CSCs are generally more resistant to conventional treatment methods and might be responsible for tumor recurrent after treatment. Therapies that can eliminate cells with CSCs-characteristics might provide a more durable response and better prognosis. Sulforaphane (SFN) is a natural compound present in Cruciferous vegetables. SFN has been shown to inhibit the in vitro and in vivo growth of various types of tumor cells through the (i) induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, (ii) inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis, and (iii) suppression of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, the effects of SFN on NPC have not been examined in detail. The present study aims to study the anti-tumor activities of SFN on NPC. In the first part of this study, the effects of SFN on the in vitro growth of NPC cells were examined. The growth of both EBV-negative HONE-1 and EBV-positive C666-1 cells was found to be inhibited by SFN. The growth inhibition was associated with the induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The effects of SFN on the growth of NPC cells with CSCs characteristics were also examined by the tumor spheres formation assay. SFN was found to reduce the capacity of both HONE-1 and C666-1 cells to form CSCs-enriched tumor spheres. The population of cells with high expression of NPC CSCs-associated markers (Sox2 and ALDH) was found to be reduced after SFN treatment. Under the culture conditions for CSCs, ALDH inhibitor was found to reduce the capacity of NPC cells to form tumor spheres. Similarly, the capability of Sox2 siRNA-treated NPC cells to form tumor spheres was also reduced in the spheroids assay. Results from these studies indicated that the growth of NPC cells with CSCs characteristics could be reduced by SFN. After the in vitro study of SFN on the growth of NPC cells, mechanisms that are associated with the SFN-induced growth inhibition on NPC cells were examined. MIF is a NPC biomarker that is highly expressed in NPC patients. Previous study has shown that SFN could interact with MIF and affect the biological function of MIF. In the present study, SFN was found to down-regulate the expression of MIF in NPC cells. One of the receptors of MIF, CXCR2, was found to be down-regulated after the SFN treatment. The downstream Akt signaling was also inhibited. Results from the second part of this study indicated that SFN-mediated inhibition of MIF/CXCR2/Akt signaling was involved in the growth inhibitory effects of SFN on NPC cells. In NPC, many genes were found to be down-regulated through hypermethylation and such down-regulation contributed to NPC development. In the present study, DNMT1 was found to be down-regulated after SFN treatment, and the effect was accompanied with the restored expression of WIF1 and Rassf1a. Further mechanistic study showd that siRNA-mediated DNMT1 knock-down could reduce the capacity of tumor spheres formation of NPC cells. Interestingly, the expression of the tumor suppressor genes WIF1 and Rassf1a was restored. In addition, exogenously added WIF1 could reduce the formation of tumor spheres. These findings suggested that SFN-mediated down-regulation of DNMT1 was associated with the growth inhibitory effects of SFN on NPC cells. Finally, the in vivo efficacy of SFN alone or SFN in combination with cisplatin on the growth of NPC xenograft was examined. SFN was found to inhibit the growth of C666-1 xenograft and enhance the anti-tumor effects of cisplatin on the C666-1 xenograft. Taken together, results from this study demonstrated the anti-tumor effects of SFN in NPC and suggested that SFN could be a potential therapeutic drug for NPC.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology) / Despite extensive theorizing and research into the nature and etiology of depression there still remains certain prominent and unresolved gaps in our knowledge. In spite of the broad acceptance of cognitive and cognitive behavioral factors and more specific cognitive styles and schemes in the context of the etiology and the manifestation of depression, it appears that finality has not been reached about the specific nature and content of these cognitive styles or schemes. For the purpose of this study, the construct goal-achievement expectation was formulated as being an intermediate cognitive variable or predisposing scheme which does not only signify an important function for the individual's behavior~ but which can also play an antecedent and determining role in the development of depression. In order to investigate the antecedent role of the goal achievement expectation construct, the goal-achievement expectation construct was assessed by means of a questionnaire on the basis of six operationally determined cognitive needs as conceptualized by Rotter (1954)...

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The present study investigated the interpersonal schemata of self-criticism and interpersonal dependency as cognitive vulnerability factors to depression. The study's primary hypothesis was that dependency and self-criticism schemata remain stable at remission and that they are independent of mood. Stability in these two factors was related both to their self-report at remission and to their endurance as components influencing the information processing of patients during remission. Twenty clinically depressed individuals, 20 remitted depressives, and 20 normal controls were compared on memory tasks, a modified Stroop task, the Depressive Experience Questionnaire (DEQ) and the Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI). The above instruments converged to measure dependency and self-criticism. Current and remitted depressives reported significantly higher levels of self-criticism and interpersonal dependency than the normal control group, when measured by the DEQ and the IDI. Performance on the three memory tasks was more ambiguous. For the free recall task, remitted depressives recalled more self-critical traits than other traits; however, the control group also recalled more self-critical traits than dependent ones, and the current depressives did not show the predicted bias. Performance on the recognition and impression formation tasks did not support' the study's main hypothesis. For the Stroop interference scores, currently depressed individuals demonstrated a trend to have more interference on the mood-congruent cards than the normal control group. Overall, the three components of the study -- questionnaires, memory tasks and Stroop task -- elicited three different patterns of results. The DEQ and the IDI indicated the presence of self-criticism and dependency in both current and remitted depressives, and thus supported the schemata's stability and independence from mood. Performance on the memory tasks offered weak support to the proposition that remitted depressives process information according to a self-critical schema, although no evidence was obtained for the dependent schema. Results of performance on the Stroop task suggested the presence of a mood congruent attentional bias in currently depressed individuals; however, no evidence was found for a self-critical or dependent attentional bias in either groups of depressives. Two explanations are offered to interpret the conflicting findings. First, a negative mood induction may be necessary to prime the interpersonal schemata. Second, tasks that are more self-focused, such as the questionnaires, than other-focused, such as the memory and Stroop tasks, may be needed to activate the schemata. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate