Paradoxical cerebral emboli after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt and coil embolization for treatment of duodenal varices

The use of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt to treat portal hypertension has resulted in increased recognition of its associated complications. We report a patient with refractory duodenal variceal bleeding treated with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, as well as coil embolization, who subsequently developed bilateral cerebral and cerebellar infarcts consistent with arterial emboli. This complication has not been previously described. The patient was found to have a patent foramen ovale and a right to left intracardiac shunt leading to paradoxical embolization of clots traveling from portal to systemic venous circulation, then to the left atrium. With the relative frequency of patent foramen ovale in the population, our observation has potential importance for patients with right to left cardiac shunts who are being considered for portosystemic shunt procedures, or who are undergoing embolization of bleeding varices.     

Pure perceptual-based sequence learning.

Learning a sequence of target locations when the sequence is uncorrelated with a sequence of responses and target location is not the response dimension (pure perceptual-based sequence learning) was examined. Using probabilistic sequences of target locations, the author shows that such learning can be implicit, is unaffected by distance between target locations, and is mostly limited to first-order transition probabilities. Moreover, the mechanism underlying learning affords processing of information at anticipated target locations and appears to be attention based. Implications for hypotheses of implicit sequence learning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tolerance of volunteers to cyclosporine A-dilauroylphosphatidylcholine liposome aerosol

Cyclosporine A (CsA) in liposomes of dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC), containing 118 micrograms of CsA/L of aerosol with a particle size of 1.6 to 1.7 micron diameter, was inhaled by 10 nonsmoking, normal volunteers each for 45 min. Aerosol was administered through an Aerotech II nebulizer (CIS-US, Inc., Bedford, MA) mouthpiece. Eight of the 10 volunteers had tracheal irritation and intermittent coughing following exposure. FEV1 and FVC values were mildly reduced, but returned to normal in 1 h. Blood chemical and hematologic values were unchanged at any time point after as opposed to before inhalation. Nine of the 10 volunteers later inhaled DLPC only, administered through the nebulizer mouthpiece. There was no change in FEV1 or FVC values, and there was no coughing or tracheal irritation. Subsequently, five of the volunteers who had previously had respiratory reactions inhaled CsA-DLPC liposome aerosol for 45-min, but through a mouth-only face mask. There was no tracheal irritation, coughing, or changes in spirometric measures. Blood concentrations of CsA at 15 min after the 45-min inhalation with a face mask averaged 83 +/- 42 ng/ml (mean +/- SD). At 24 h after treatment, CsA was undetectable in blood of the initial 10 volunteers. These studies indicate that CsA-DLPC liposome aerosol can be safely explored as a treatment for patients with moderately severe asthma.     

Cultured astrocytes express proteins involved in vesicular glutamate release

The objective of this study is to analyze volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations in Taiwan's drinking water supply. Focusing on Taiwan's three major metropolitan areas--Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung (in the north, middle and south, respectively)--171 samples were taken from tap water and 68 from boiled water. Tests showed VOC concentrations were highest in Kaohsiung. This is due to different water sources and methods of treatment. Except for bromoform, trihalomethane (THM) concentrations were highest. Detection rates of toluene and 1,2-dichloroethane were slightly higher than other VOC compounds. VOC concentrations decreased significantly after water was boiled. THMs had a removal rate from 61% to 82%. The authors conclude that the three metropolitan areas contain significantly different levels of VOCs and that boiling can significantly reduce the presence of VOCs. Other sources of pollution that contaminate drinking water such as industrial plants and gas stations must be further investigated.     

Physical degradation of genomic DNA of soybean flours does not impair relative quantification of its transgenic content

In this paper, four different physical treatments (microwaves, heating by conduction, sonication and pressure autoclaving) were performed to degrade a pure DNA extract, and their influence on GMO quantification was studied. The aim was to check the hypothesis that processing of agrofood products results in a similar degradation rate for both the transgenic target and the specific target. Indeed we could observe that even if the used physical treatments could lead to a significant increase of C _t values for both transgenic and specific targets, the resulting ΔC _t remained stable. So, the main conclusion of the study is that the aforementioned hypothesis seems valid and thus a physical degradation of DNA will not affect the relative quantitation of the GMO content, provided that both the specific and transgenic targets have very similar size. A second important issue of the experiments performed was that DNA is a very robust molecule as it is extremely difficult to reach a mean size below 100 bp. The study also gives evidence of the importance of using small targets.     

Edward E. Jones (1926–1993): Obituary.

Memorializes E. E. Jones, whose early development of attribution theory, the actor–observer effect, and the correspondence bias as well as later work on self-handicapping, social stigma, and strategic self-presentation are central to modern social psychology. He built graduate programs at Duke and Princeton, trained many influential social psychologists, and received virtually every award in his field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Circuitry, architecture, and functional dynamics of visual cortex

A fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of cortical processing requires an examination of the relationships of cortical circuitry, functional architecture, and receptive field properties. Ultimately, this kind of analysis can be utilized to explore the neurobiological basis of psychophysics and perception. At the onset our studies were intended to account for the then known receptive field properties of cortical cells in terms of their underlying circuitry, but surprisingly a good part of the cortical circuit appeared to be in violation of the principles of cortical architecture, and this led us to explore the possibility of new, more complex properties of cortical cells. It has become increasingly possible to relate the responsive specificity of cortical cells, and the circuitry underlying this specificity, to the perceptual capabilities of the visual system by performing analogous experiments on single cells and in human psychophysics.     

Murine cytomegalovirus-inhibitory effects of ImuVert

ImuVert, a sterile preparation composed primarily of Serratia marcescens membrane vesicles and ribosomes, was significantly inhibitory to murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infections in BALB/c mice. Antiviral activity was manifested as increased survivor number and decreased recoverable virus titers in spleens, lungs and salivary glands. Treatments were intraperitoneal (i.p.) beginning 24 h pre, 4 h post- or 24 h post-virus inoculation and then repeated 4 days later. Doses of 5, 16 or 50 micrograms/mouse were effective; 160 micrograms/mouse, which caused host weight loss in toxicity controls, was not inhibitory to the infection. A single i.p. treatment of mice substantially augmented natural killer (NK) cell activity and increased total B-cells, while reducing total T- and T-helper cells. A late (48 h) decline in T-cell function and transient increases in B-cell function were observed in the treated animals. Serum interferon was not induced. Mice pretreated with anti-asialo GM1 antibody to reduce their NK cell populations, then infected with MCMV and treated with ImuVert were protected to the same degree as normal animals. Severe combined immunodeficient mice infected with MCMV and treated with ImuVert were not protected from the infection. These data suggest ImuVert to act by a mechanism other than NK cell activation in preventing MCMV infections.