Introduktion: Personer med funktionsnedsättning betraktas ofta som vård och omsorgstagare och inte som medborgare med samma rättigheter som alla andra. Bemötandet mot personer med funktionsnedsättning beskrivs ofta vara bristfälligt och de tillfrågas sällan om vad de själva vill. Att ha ett arbete är en viktig del av livet och för personer som på grund av funktionsnedsättning ej klarar av arbete inom den öppna arbetsmarknaden, finns daglig verksamhet. Syfte: Att beskriva unga vuxna personer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättnings erfarenheter och uppfattningar om bemötande och delaktighet, när det gäller övergång till samt första åren av daglig verksamhet. Metod: Data samlades in utifrån intervjuer med 14 personer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning mellan 21 och 23 år och som befann sig inom olika typer av daglig verksamhet. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att analysera data. Resultat: Deltagarnas erfarenheter och uppfattningar om bemötande visade sig innehålla både bra och mindre bra aspekter. Delaktighet önskas men förutsättningarna är få. Den psykosociala arbetsmiljön framkom som betydelsefull för upplevelsen av sin dagliga verksamhet. I studien framkom också en oro inför framtiden hos flertalet deltagare. Konklusion: Deltagarna i denna studie uppgav att de vill bli lyssnade på utifrån den vuxna människan som de är. De vill bli bemötta och accepterade utifrån sin person och inte utifrån sin funktionsnedsättning. De vill vara delaktiga och behöver en tillåtande miljö för att få den möjligheten. Det framkommer att personer med intellektuella funktionsnedsättningar har begränsade utvecklingsmöjligheter. / Introduction: People with disabilities are often regarded as nursing and care recipients and not as citizens with the same rights as everyone else. The way persons with disabilities are treated is often described as inadequate, and they are rarely consulted about what they want. Having a job is an important part of life and for those who, because of disability, cannot manage the work in the open labour market, there are daily activities. Purpose: To describe how young adults with mild intellectual disabilities experiences and perceive the way others treat them and how much say they have in the context of transition to, and the early years of, daily activities. Method: Data were collected from interviews with 14 people with mild intellectual disabilities between 21 and 23 years old who were in various types of daily activities. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The participants' experiences and perceptions of how they are treated were found to contain both good and less good aspects. Participation is considered desirable, but there are few opportunities to exercise it. The psychosocial work environment emerged as important for the experience of their daily activities. The study also revealed a feeling of uncertainty about the future in the majority of participants. Conclusion: Participants in this study stated that they want to be listened to as the adults they are. They want to be treated and accepted as a person and not based on their disabilities. They want to participate and require an accepting environment in order to have the opportunity. It appears that people with intellectual disabilities have limited opportunities for development.

<p><bold>Abstract</bold></p><p>More than 300,000 soldiers have returned from Southwest Asia (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan) with combat-related mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) associated with exposure to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Despite less visible physical injuries, these soldiers demonstrate varying levels of physical and cognitive symptoms that impact their post-mTBI family reintegration. The existing literature acknowledges post-mTBI changes in the injured individual affect family functioning; however, post-injury family functioning, such as coping and adaptation, has not been explored. The intent of this dissertation is to explore the problems and challenges of military family reintegration following mTBI.</p><p>Nine soldiers with mTBI and their spouses participated for a total of 27 interviews. Both joint and separate individual interviews were conducted to explore their post-mTBI family reintegration experiences. Participants included active duty soldiers with mTBI who were between 2 and 24 months post-deployment and their civilian spouses. Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory methodology was used to collect and analyze the data. This dissertation study consists of three papers, each of which explored experiences that surround family reintegration following mTBI.</p><p>The first paper is a comprehensive literature review, examining commonly reported mTBI signs/symptoms, and the impact of these symptoms on the injured individuals and their families. The findings also suggest that psychological distress symptoms such as depression and anxiety are common in injured individuals and their</p><p>families after mTBI. The second paper explores the family reintegration processes of post-mTBI soldiers and their spouses. The majority of participants interviewed, both soldiers and their spouses, indicated that symptoms such as irritability, memory loss, and cognitive deficit affected their family reintegration. Some participants reported they had accepted the changes and were working toward a new normal, whereas others indicated these changes were unacceptable and continued their efforts to resume pre-injury functioning.</p><p>The third paper examined the experiences of soldiers and their spouses about seeking treatment for mTBI-related symptoms. The majority of interviewed soldiers and their spouses indicated that a delayed diagnosis, difficulty accessing mental health care, and having to navigate an unfamiliar military healthcare system were their biggest challenges. Post-mTBI soldiers experienced significant disruption due to mismatched expectations among themselves and other family members concerning their post-injury capabilities. More research is needed in order to develop effective post-injury rehabilitation programs for soldiers with mTBI and their families.</p> / Dissertation

Introduction: Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterised by motor symptoms. However, there is increasing awareness that a range of neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems also accompanys PD. The objective of this thesis was to examine the profile of neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems for patients with PD without dementia. Parkinson's disease patients who could be identified at the time of this study were invited to participate. Each patient was individually matched to a healthy control in terms of age, premorbid intelligence, and years of education. Results: Neuropsychiatric symptoms were common for this patient group, over 40% self reported symptoms consistent with depression, 40% with physical fatigue, 38% with mental fatigue, 38% with apathy and 32% with sleep problems. More than 77% of patients with PD reported symptoms associated with at least one problem and over 46% with 3 or more problems. Increased symptoms consistent with depression and anxiety and the presence of hallucinations also predicted poorer quality of life after controlling for motor symptoms. However, the of level agreement between patient report and that of a person who know them well was low: 40.9% for apathy, 28% for hallucinations, 39% for depression, 25% for sleep problems and only 7.7% agreement for the presence of anxiety. To obtain an accurate profile of cognitive impairments patients were assessed on measures of higher order language ability and a broad range of commonly used cognitive tests. Overall, PD patients were impaired on aspects of higher-order language. However, results indicated that these deficits were not a primary effect of PD, but could be explained in terms of deficits in speed of information processing associated with the disease. Compared to healthy controls, PD patients also showed deficits on measures of executive function, working memory, problem solving, and visuospatial skills. However, they were unimpaired on measures of planning, attention and memory/learning. Deficits in problem solving were only evident for tasks with a high visuospatial content and were no longer significant when visuospatial skills were controlled for. Further investigation indicated that planning in PD patients was not impaired in general and was dependent on the sensitivity of tests used. To further examine cognitive deficits, patients were divided into groups according to their cognitive performance. Three sub-groups of patients were identified that formed a continuum of cognitive impairment from none/mild to severe. Compared to controls, one subgroup showed no or minimal impairment (PD-NCI), a second group showed a more variable pattern of severe and mild impairments (PD-UCI), and a third group had evidence of severe impairment across most of the cognitive domains tested. This latter group was labelled PD-Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI). The PD-UCI and PD-MCI groups were also significantly different from their controls with respect to their ability to carry out functional activities of everyday living. The PD-MCI group had evidence of global cognitive decline, possibly reflecting a stage of pre-clinical dementia. The severity of cognitive deficits was not associated with other clinical and demographic characteristics such as motor impairments, age or disease duration. These results were confirmed when patients were retested one year later. Conclusions: Comorbid neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems are common for patients with PD prior to any overt signs of dementia. However, PD patients are heterogeneous with regard to their presentation and different subgroups of patients are identifiable based on cognitive performance. This information has both theoretical and clinical relevance.

As students with disabilities age out of school-age resources, the need for self-evaluative skills in work tasks becomes more important. This study compared self-evaluation with reinforcement and self-evaluation with reinforcement plus external evaluation when completing room cleaning skills. The younger students did not demonstrate the ability to self-evaluate without external evaluation. Both conditions were effective when evaluating the older group of students. The author proposes additional research in looking at self-evaluative skills for specific age groups and conditions.

Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men, yet stress and depression research has relied primarily on the responses of males. Early life stress is hypothesized to influence the development of vulnerability to depression while adult stress exposure can act as a trigger in those predisposed. This relationship is mediated by other environmental factors. Maternal care and the social environment appear to be particularly important for mammals. The purpose of this thesis was twofold: to develop an animal model of depression for use in female rats based on the chronic mild stress (CMS) model previously validated for use in male rodents, and to apply this model in female offspring of mothers exposed to physical restraint in the second half of gestation representing an early life insult. Results indicate that a modified CMS model was able to alter hedonic and physiological responses not present in the original model. Housing condition interacted with CMS in that effects were evident only in singly housed rats. While gestational stress (GS) altered maternal weight and behavioural profiles related to offspring care and anxiety, little to no behavioural effects were noted in juvenile or adult offspring. Applying the modified CMS model to adult female offspring resulted in an anhedonic-like response that recovered rapidly prior to the third week of CMS. Weight in GS female rats was attenuated throughout life beginning post weaning. When taken together, these results demonstrate that stress-based models, previously established in males, must be altered to accommodate the hormonally intact female rat in two ways: first, to eliminate extraneous variables that may interfere with the estrous cycle and mask possible stress effects, and secondly, to consider the appropriateness of individual stressors to induce a stress response in females. While a general lack of effect was noted in response to CMS, this was interpreted as a strong influence of housing and supportive early life experiences in protecting the female rat from the establishment of stress effects related to depression and anxiety. The housing practices employed here may be considered a model of stress-resilience and represents an encouraging avenue of future research.

Demencija yra vienas iš dažniausiai sutinkamų psichikos sutrikimų vyresniame amžiuje. Pastebėta, kad dalis vyresnio amžiaus pacientų, kuriems vėliau išsivysto demencija, dažniau nei bendraamžiai skundžiasi pažinimo sutrikimais, tačiau kasdieninė veikla yra nesutrikusi. Ši būklė buvo pavadinta lengvu kognityviniu sutrikimu (LKS). Neurosonografiniai tyrimai pateikia daug naudingos informacijos apie funkcinius galvos ir kaklo kraujagyslių parametrus. Tyrimo tikslas buvo nustatyti neurosonografinių galvos ir kaklo arterijų parametrų vertę prognozuojant demenciją lengvu kognityviniu sutrikimu sergantiems pacientams. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) ištirti LKS turinčių pacientų demografines ir klinikines charakteristikas ir įvertinti jų ir progresavimo į demenciją ryšį; 2) ištirti LKS turinčių pacientų ekstrakranijinės kraujotakos parametrus ir įvertinti jų ir progresavimo į demenciją ryšį; 3) ištirti LKS turinčių pacientų intrakranijinės kraujotakos parametrus ir įvertinti jų ir pogresavimo į demenciją ryšį; 4) ištirti LKS turinčių pacientų miego arterijų sienelių parametrus ir įvertinti jų ir pogresavimo į demenciją ryšį; 5) ištirti LKS turinčių pacientų miego arterijų aterosklerozinius požymius ir įvertinti jų ir pogresavimo į demenciją ryšį; 6) įvertinti bendrą tiriamųjų demografinių ir klinikinių charakteristikų bei neurosonografinių parametrų diagnostinę reikšmę prognozuojant progresavimą iš lengvo kognityvinio sutrikimo į demenciją. / Dementia is one of the most commonly occurring mental disorders in older age. It was noticed that some of the elderly patients who later develop dementia, more often than contemporaries complained of cognitive impairment, but daily activities were not affected. This condition was called mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Neurosonographic studies provide a lot of useful information about the functional head and neck vascular parameters. The aim of our study was to provide more information about the significance of the extra- and intracranial arterial blood flow and carotid arterial wall parameters for prediction of dementia for patients with MCI. Objectives of the study is 1) to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of MCI patients and to assess their relation with progression to dementia; 2) to investigate blood flow parameters of the extracranial arteries and to assess their relation with progression to dementia; 3) to investigate blood flow parameters of the intracranial arteries and to assess their relation with progression to dementia; 4) to investigate the intima-media thickness and stiffness of carotid arteries walls and to assess their relation with progression to dementia, 5) to investigate the atherosclerotic changes and to assess their relation with progression to dementia; 6) to assess the value of demographic and clinical characteristics and neurosonographic parameters for prediction of dementia.

A facile method for the direct conversion of oximes into carbonyl compounds by treatment with manganese triacetate is described. Manganese triacetate can be used for an effective and mild oxidizing agent for the regeneration of carbonyl compounds in good yield. Many functional groups are tolerated under reaction conditions.

Objectives: To explore the prevalence and structure of self-reported disability after mild traumatic brain injury and the impact of traumatic brain pathology on such outcome. Material and methods: In study 1-3, symptoms data were collected by use of Rivermead Post-concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) and data on global function by use of Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) from 2602 patients at 3 months after MTBI. RPQ data were subject to factor and Rasch-analyses Head CT data from 1262 patients were used in a prediction analysis that also included age and gender. In study 4, MRI and symptoms data were collected at 2-3 days and at 3-7 months follow-up after MTBI in 19 patients. Global function was assessed at follow-up by use of the Rivermead Head Injury Follow-Up Questionnaire (RHIFUQ) and GOSE. Results: I. Most respondents reported no remaining symptoms but 24% reported ≥3 and 10% ≥7 remaining symptoms. The factor analysis demonstrated that all symptoms are correlated but also identified subgroups of symptoms. II. Rasch-analysis of RPQ showed disordered category function, local dependency of items, poor targeting of persons to items and indications of 3 or more dimensions. There was no differential item functioning. III. Head CT pathology with no need for acute intervention was observed in 52 patients (4%) but was not associated with either frequency of remaining symptoms or global outcome at 3 months post injury. Female gender and age over 30 years were associated with less favourable outcome with respect to symptoms and GOSE. IV. Post-acute MRI indicated trauma-related pathology in one patient and follow-up MRI indicated loss of brain volume in 4 patients. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of patients with MTBI report remaining problems at three months after MTBI. RPQ is useful but not optimal to assess symptoms outcome after MTBI and calculation of a total sum score is not recommended. Female gender and older age are negative prognostic factors while brain pathology according to CT has no effect on self-reported outcome. Loss of brain volume after MTBI according to MRI may be a sensitive marker of traumatic brain pathology and deserves further studies.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-59).

Introdução: Perda de memória é um dos sintomas mais comuns em pacientes nos estágios iniciais da doença de Alzheimer; esses déficits são um reflexo do envolvimento da formação do hipocampo. O BDNF tem sido relacionado com a plasticidade do hipocampo. Neste sentido, as combinações de biomarcadores, como, por exemplo, a volumetria do hipocampo, pode apresentar um maior valor preditivo para diferenciar doença de Alzheimer do envelhecimento normal em pacientes com comprometimento cognitivo leve. Objetivo: A presente tese de doutorado teve como objetivo avaliar os níveis séricos do BDNF e o volume do hipocampo em pacientes com demência devido à doença de Alzheimer, Comprometimento Cognitivo Leve (CCL) e idosos saudáveis. Métodos: Para realização do estudo foram selecionados 10 idosos saudáveis, 10 CCL e 13 pacientes com demência devido à doença de Alzheimer pelos critérios NIA-AA. Todos participantes foram submetidos a uma avaliação cognitiva. Para as análises do BDNF, foi utilizado método de ELISA e para as análises de volumetria do hipocampo as imagens foram obtidas por meio de equipamento de ressonância de 1.5T e os volumes obtidos por meio do programa NeuroQuant®. Resultados: Idosos saudáveis apresentaram níveis séricos mais elevados de BDNF do que os CCL e pacientes com demência. O grupo de pacientes com demência apresentou menor volume total do hipocampo do que os idosos saudáveis e os CCL. Não houve correlação significativa do BDNF sérico com volume do hipocampo. Conclusão: Considerando nossos resultados em conjunto (baixos níveis de BDNF nos grupos CCL e demência devido à DA e menor volume do hipocampo na demência devido à AD), podemos supor que a diminuição dos níveis de BDNF ocorre antes da lesão neuronal expressa pela redução do hipocampo. / Introduction: Memory impairment is the most common symptom in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease; this deficit is a reflection of the involvement of the hippocampal formation. BDNF has been linked to the hippocampal plasticity. Combinations of biomarkers, such as the hippocampal volumetry may have higher predictive value for differentiating Alzheimer's disease from normal aging in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Objective: The objective of present thesis was to evaluate serum levels of BDNF and hippocampal volume in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, and healthy elderly participants. Method: Ten healthy elderly subjects, 10 MCI and 13 patients with dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease (NIA-AA criteria) were selected for the study. All participants were assessed cognitively. The ELISA method was used for BDNF analysis, and the analysis of hippocampal volumetric images were acquired with 1.5T magnetic resonance equipment and volumes obtained with NeuroQuant® program. Results: Healthy elderly had higher BDNF serum levels than MCI and dementia due to AD patients. The group of dementia patients had lower total hippocampal volume than MCI and healthy elderly participants. No significant correlation between serum BDNF and hippocampal volume was observed. Conclusion: Taking our results together (lower BDNF levels in MCI and dementia due to AD and smaller hippocampal volume in dementia due to AD) we can hypothesize that the decrease of BDNF may start before the establishment of neuronal injury expressed by the hippocampal reduction.