New Insights in the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis—Role of Acrolein in Neuronal and Myelin Damage

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by an inappropriate inflammatory reaction resulting in widespread myelin injury along white matter tracts. Neurological impairment as a result of the disease can be attributed to immune-mediated injury to myelin, axons and mitochondria, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the neuropathy remain incompletely understood. Incomplete mechanistic knowledge hinders the development of therapies capable of alleviating symptoms and slowing disease progression in the long-term. Recently, oxidative stress has been implicated as a key component of neural tissue damage prompting investigation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers as a potential therapeutic option. Despite the establishment of oxidative stress as a crucial process in MS development and progression, ROS scavengers have had limited success in animal studies which has prompted pursuit of an alternative target capable of curtailing oxidative stress. Acrolein, a toxic β-unsaturated aldehyde capable of initiating and perpetuating oxidative stress, has been suggested as a viable point of intervention to guide the development of new treatments. Sequestering acrolein using an FDA-approved compound, hydralazine, offers neuroprotection resulting in dampened symptom severity and slowed disease progression in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice. These results provide promise for therapeutic development, indicating the possible utility of neutralizing acrolein to preserve and improve neurological function in MS patients.     

Analysis of Residential Irrigation Distribution Uniformity

Irrigation has become commonplace for residential homeowners desiring high quality landscapes in Florida. The goal of this project was to document irrigation system uniformity in Central Florida and to quantify distribution uniformity of residential sprinkler equipment under controlled conditions. The catch-can testing procedure used was a modified version of both the American Society of Agricultural Engineers standard and Florida Mobile Irrigation Laboratory (MIL) procedures. The modified version included a larger sample size to ensure complete sample collection over the entire irrigated area. The standard MIL procedure may overestimate the uniformity for residential systems. From the tests on residential irrigation systems, the average low quarter distribution uniformity (DUlq) value was calculated as 0.45. Rotary sprinklers resulted in significantly higher DUlq compared to fixed pattern spray heads with 0.49 compared to 0.41, respectively. From uniformity tests performed on rotor and spray heads under ideal conditions, rotor heads had more uniform distributions than the spray heads of 0.55 compared to 0.49, respectively. Spray heads had better uniformity when fixed quarter circle nozzles were used as opposed to adjustable nozzles. Both residential irrigation system and controlled tests resulted in (DUlq) at the low end of industry guidelines. Residential irrigation system uniformity can be improved by minimizing the occurrence of low pressure in the irrigation system and by ensuring proper spacing is used in design and installation.     

Achievement goals and daily school experiences among adolescents with Asian, Latino, and European American backgrounds.

The current study examined the fit of a 2 × 2 achievement goal model among a diverse sample of nearly 700 10th-grade students, distinguishing between both mastery and performance goals and approach and avoidance orientations. Additionally, relationships between achievement goals and GPA and intrinsic value of school were examined, and adolescents' interpretations of daily school experiences and feelings were found to mediate these relationships. Together, these findings suggest that experiences in adolescents' daily lives help explain the relationship between goals and achievement outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Binding ties: Closeness and conflict in adult children's caregiving relationships.

The authors used a path model to test the hypothesis that emotional closeness and conflict between adult–child caregivers (N?=?90) and their impaired parents mediated the impact of the parents' functional and cognitive impairment on the caregivers' subjective stress, subjective effectiveness, and depression. Closeness mediated the relationship between cognitive impairment and both stress and effectiveness, whereas conflict mediated cognitive impairment for all 3 outcomes and generally accounted for more variance. There was limited evidence that functional impairment was mediated by the quality of the relationship. Results highlight the importance of both positive and negative ties as intervening mechanisms influencing caregivers' well-being, especially in the presence of cognitive dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impairment in category fluency in ischemic vascular dementia.

The underlying mechanisms for impaired output on letter (F, A, and S) and category (e.g., animal) word list generation (WLG) tasks in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (IVD) were investigated. Normal control (NC) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) participants were also studied. IVD and NC participants performed better on category than letter WLG tasks, whereas the opposite was observed among AD participants. IVD participants produced fewer responses than AD participants on letter WLG tasks, but there was no difference between AD and IVD participants on the "animal" WLG task. AD participants scored lower than IVD and NC participants on animal WLG indexes measuring semantic knowledge. There were few differences between IVD and NC participants. The reduced output on the animal WLG task for IVD participants is consistent with search-retrieval deficits. The reduced output of AD participants may be caused by degraded semantic knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The immediate and late allergic response to segmental bronchopulmonary provocation in asthma

The response to antigen is an important factor in the development of airway inflammation. Segmental bronchoprovocation (SBP) with antigen and subsequent bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) have provided valuable insight into the mechanisms of allergic inflammation. To determine the features of allergic airway response in asthma, 19 subjects with mild asthma underwent antigen SBP in a dose-dependent manner. The amount of antigen used in SBP was 0 (saline), and 1, 5, or 20% of the antigen dose required to drop the FEV1 by 20% (APD20). BAL was done at 5 min and 48 h after SBP. BAL histamine levels increased modestly 5 min after antigen SBP. At 48 h, there was a marked increase in eosinophils and IL-5 concentration even in airway segments where the release of histamine was small. Moreover, eosinophils correlated with IL-5 levels at 48 h (r = 0.63; p < 0.001), but not with BAL histamine concentrations at 5 min. GM-CSF levels did not increase after antigen SBP and did not correlate with eosinophils. These observations indicate that asthmatic subjects can develop a dose-dependent response to antigen SBP that is characterized by a modest increase in histamine immediately after antigen exposure, and marked eosinophilia, which appears proportionately greater than the histamine response and relatively greater than what is seen in allergic nonasthmatic subjects. This feature might be important to the eventual development of airway inflammation in asthma.     

The complexities of eliciting and assessing children's statements.

The authors agree with the main elements of M. Bruck and S. J. Ceci's (see record 1996-09956-001) amicus curiae brief for the case of State v. Michaels, but they believe that 4 specific aspects of child sexual abuse investigations deserve a more constructive emphasis. Research has tended to concentrate on the suggestibility of children and neglected other topics that may be of great utility to those who investigate suspected cases of child sexual abuse. More attention should have been paid in the brief to the complexities of assessment and the special characteristics of the Wee Care case. Too much emphasis has been placed on children and not nearly enough attention on remedial actions to minimize the problems associated with suggestion. Finally, research shows that it may be possible to develop reliable and valid techniques to assess child sexual abuse allegations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The fetoplacental pressor effects of low-dose acetylsalicylic acid and angiotensin II in the ex vivo cotyledon model

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to investigate perfusion pressure changes ex vivo induced by angiotensin II on fetoplacental vasculature pretreated with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid. STUDY DESIGN: Two cotyledons from each of 12 placentas were perfused. The intervillous space of one cotyledon was infused with acetylsalicylic acid (5 x 10(-5) mol/L) similar to the serum concentration of women receiving daily low-dose aspirin therapy (60 to 81 mg). The control cotyledon was infused with an equivalent amount of normal saline solution. Two doses of angiotensin II, 1 x 10(-11.5) and 1 x 10(-10) moles, were injected as boluses into the chorionic arteries of each cotyledon. A 3 x 10(-7) mole dose of angiotensin II was also injected into the intervillous space. Statistical analysis was performed with analysis of variance, and results are expressed as mean pressure change in millimeters of mercury +/- SEM. RESULTS: Perfusion pressure response did not vary between cotyledons pretreated with acetylsalicylic acid and control cotyledons when 3 x 10(-7) moles of angiotensin II was injected into the intervillous space (8.0 +/- 1.9 mm Hg vs 9.8 +/- 1.6 mm Hg, p = 0.59). There were no differences between cotyledons in pressure response to 1 x 10(-11.5) moles of angiotensin II injected into the fetal circuit (5.9 +/- 0.8 mm Hg vs 6.7 +/- 0.9 mm Hg, p = 0.51). However, in the cotyledons pretreated with acetylsalicylic acid there was a decrease in the pressor response to 1 x 10(-10) moles of angiotensin II (14.1 +/- 1.4 mm Hg vs 21.5 +/- 3.3 mm Hg, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Low-dose aspirin infused into the intervillous space decreases vasoconstriction elicited by angiotensin II in the fetoplacental compartment. This suggests that maternal low-dose aspirin therapy has effects in the fetoplacental circulation in addition to its effects in the maternal circulation.     

Remediation revisited.

This article replies to comments by J. C. Gonsiorek (see record 84-33291), P. Orr (see record 84-33300), and L. S. Brown (see record 84-33284 ) on M.J. Layman and J.R. McNamara's (see record 84-33293) work on remediation and ethics violations. The authors acknowledge various distinctions they have introduced but continue to argue that sexual violations are outstandingly egregious. They agree that making amends is important but wonder about the practicalities of working this into rehabilitation. Lack of empirical knowledge about what is prescribed for remediation is reemphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology is From Mars, Sexology is From Venus: Can They Meet on Earth?

Mainstream psychologists have not pursued sexology with the enthusiasm aimed at other areas of psychological research. Ambivalence is evident in the ideological marginalization of sexology by mainstream psychology. The authors argue that scientific conflicts between the disciplines in part reflect divergent interpretations of how each discipline approaches the scientific method. By aligning psychology with positivism and sexology with postpositivism, a discussion of cultural, scientific, and normative conflicts between the two disciplines is presented as evidence for these differences in scientific ideology. To address these conflicts, future directions for scientific progress are proposed for sexology and psychology. Specifically, by capitalizing on the strengths of each discipline, collaboration can lead to the validation of sexology as a science and the enhancement of both disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)