Plos One
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Classical conditioning without verbal suggestions elicits placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationships among classical conditioning, expectancy, and fear in placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. A total of 42 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to three groups: placebo, nocebo, and control. They received 96 electrical stimuli, preceded by either orange or blue lights. ⋯ Neither expectancy nor fear ratings predicted placebo analgesia or nocebo hyperalgesia. It appears that a hidden conditioning procedure, without any explicit verbal suggestions, elicits placebo and nocebo effects, however we found no evidence that these effects are predicted by either expectancy or fear. These results suggest that classical conditioning may be a distinct mechanism for placebo and nocebo effects.
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The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a standardized arterial input function (SAIF) for positron emission tomography 18F-FDG studies in mice. In particular, we tested whether the same SAIF could be applied to populations of mice whose fasting conditions differed. ⋯ Although SAIF allows the estimation of the 18F-FDG mice input function with negligible bias and independently from the fasting state, errors in individual mice (as high as 30-50%) cause an important variability. Alternative techniques, such as image-derived input function, might be a better option for mice PET studies.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical feasibility of spectral analyses using dual-layer detector spectral computed tomography (CT) in acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). ⋯ Even though the image quality of VNC is perceived to be inferior, it is feasible to evaluate acute ICH in clinical settings using dual-layer detector spectral CT. The MonoE images taken at lower keVs were useful for depicting contrast enhancing lesion, and spectral plot might be helpful for material differentiation in patients with acute ICH.
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We aimed to explore whether mortality data are consistent with the view that aging is accelerated for people with a history of incarceration compared to the general population, using data on mortality rates and life expectancy for persons in Ontario, Canada. ⋯ For most of adulthood, life expectancy and mortality rates are worse for adults with a history of incarceration than for the general population in Ontario, Canada. However, the association between mortality and incarceration status is modified by age, with the greatest relative burden of mortality experienced by younger persons with a history of incarceration and modified by sex, with worse relative mortality in women. Future research should explore the association between incarceration status and markers of aging including mortality, morbidity and physical appearance.
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Imported malaria in France is characterized by various clinical manifestations observed in a heterogeneous population of patients such as travelers/expatriates and African migrants. In this population, host factors and parasite biomass associated with severe imported malaria are poorly known. ⋯ Prior exposure to P. falciparum is associated with high anti-plasmodial antibody levels which influence clinical presentation of imported malaria and its correlated circulating and sequestered parasite burden.