Processing of tactile spatial information with crossed fingers.

The erroneous perception of 2 objects when 1 object is touched with crossed fingers has been explained as an inability of the brain to correctly perceive the crossed fingers' positions. This account was examined in Exp I, in which the perceived position of stimuli touching the crossed fingers was mapped in 16 adult volunteers. Crossing the 3rd finger over the 4th displaced the perceived stimulus position counterclockwise; crossing the 3rd under the 4th displaced perceptions clockwise. In Exp II, perceived positions among 6 adults were found to fit a model of tactile saturation past the point of the functional range of action of the fingers. It is concluded that tactile stimuli are always perceived as if fingers were uncrossed and that spatial mapping is present only within the functional range of finger excursion. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A fast, simple, and satisfactory method of cranioplasty

A cranioplastic technique is described that is easy to do by making a series of molds and an acrylic prosthesis identical to the bone segment.     

Localization of tactile stimuli and body parts in space: Two dissociated perceptual experiences revealed by a lack of constancy in the presence of position sense and motor activity.

Two motor acts were analyzed at the level of tongue and fingers. These motor acts generated illusions. When subjects voluntarily rotated the tongue by 90°, the perceived orientation of a tactile stimulus applied to the tongue did not covary with the perceived orientation of the tongue itself. Analogously, when subjects voluntarily crossed two adjacent fingers, the perceived position of two tactile stimuli applied to the fingers did not covary with the perceived position of the fingers themselves. Although tongue and fingers were positioned accurately in space, a lack of perceptual constancy occurred for tactile stimuli applied to these body parts. Therefore, whereas position sense was preserved, correct localization of objects was lost. The occurrence of this perceptual dissociation suggests that spatial localization of tactile stimuli may be independent both of knowledge of body part location and motor activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vitro and in vivo effects of retrovirus-mediated transfer of the connexin 43 gene in malignant gliomas: consequences for HSVtk/GCV anticancer gene therapy

OBJECTIVE: Patients with the deficit syndrome differ from other patients with schizophrenia relative to physiological correlates, course of illness, and response to treatment. Because of the abnormal seasonality of birth among persons with schizophrenia, the authors examined the relation between this risk factor and the deficit syndrome. METHOD: Findings in two clinical groups suggested an increase in summer births among deficit syndrome patients. The association between summer birth and the deficit syndrome was then examined in a catchment area study of first-admission patients with psychosis. RESULTS: In the catchment area sample, summer birth was also significantly associated with the deficit syndrome; negative symptoms broadly defined were not. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to the increasing evidence that 1) patients with the deficit syndrome have a disease with an etiopathophysiology separate from that of other patients with what is now called schizophrenia and 2) the correlates of broadly defined negative symptoms are different from those for the deficit syndrome. The previously reported association between winter birth and schizophrenia appears to apply to nondeficit schizophrenia only.     

Criteria for the evaluation of neonatal pain

A study to investigate the socioeconomic impact of lymphatic filariasis was conducted in a rural community in northern Ghana. The incidence, severity, and duration of acute adenolymphangitis (ADL), as identified by local terminologies and confirmed using World Health Organization diagnostic criteria, were investigated. Local terminologies were found to be highly specific and sensitive for diagnosing ADL (sensitivity = 0.978, specificity = 0.980). The incidence of ADL was 95.9 per 1,000 per annum among adults more than 10 years of age, being much higher in females than in males. Among those with elephantiasis and other chronic filarial symptoms, there was no clear relationship between the stage of chronic lymphedema and the incidence of ADL. The incidence of ADL was found to be closely related to the rainfall pattern. The design of the study, its findings, and the public health implications of the findings are discussed in this paper.     

Interferon gamma decreases hepatic stellate cell activation and extracellular matrix deposition in rat liver fibrosis

Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) inhibits in vitro the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC), the primary extracellular matrix-producing cells in liver fibrosis. This study was undertaken to determine in vivo the effect of IFN-gamma in the rat model of liver fibrosis induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), where HSC activation represents an early response to cell injury. Rats were killed after 1 or 3 weeks of treatment with DMN, IFN-gamma, DMN + IFN-gamma, or saline. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify proliferating (desmin-positive/bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells) and activated (alpha-smooth-muscle actin [alpha-SMA]-positive cells) HSCs. Collagen deposition was determined colorimetrically and by morphometry. The parenchymal extension of desmin- and actin-positive cells and of fibrotic tissue was measured by point-counting technique and expressed as a percentage of area. Western blot was used to determine laminin and fibronectin accumulation. The levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) for procollagen type I, fibronectin, and laminin were evaluated by Northern blot. No differences were observed in rats treated with either saline or IFN-gamma alone. IFN-gamma reduced HSC activation induced by liver injury, as shown by the decreased number of proliferating HSC and the reduction of parenchymal area occupied by alpha-SMA-positive cells observed in DMN + IFN-gamma-treated animals compared with the DMN group. This was associated with reduced collagen, laminin, and fibronectin accumulation and lower levels of mRNA for procollagen type I, fibronectin, and laminin in the DMN + IFN-gamma group. Thus, this study indicates that IFN-gamma reduces extracellular matrix deposition in vivo by inhibition of HSC activation.     

Cathodic protection of carbon steel in natural seawater: Effect of sunlight radiation

Cathodic protection of metals in seawater is known to be influenced by chemical–physical parameters affecting cathodic processes (oxygen discharge, hydrogen evolution and calcareous deposit precipitation). In shallow seawater, these parameters are influenced by sunlight photoperiod and photosynthetic activity. The results presented here represent the first step in studies dedicated to cathodic protection in shallow photic seawater. This paper reports on carbon steel protected at −850 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (oxygen limiting current regime) in the presence of sunlight radiation but in the absence of biological and photosynthetic activity, the role of which deserves future research. Comparison of results obtained by exposing electrochemical cells to daylight cycles in both biologically inactivated natural seawater and in NaCl 3.5 wt.% solutions showed that sunlight affects current densities and that calcareous deposit interfere with light-currents effects. Sunlight radiation and induced heating of the solution have been separated, highlighting results not otherwise obvious: (1) observed current waves concomitant with sunlight radiation depend fundamentally on solar radiation, (2) solar radiation can determine current enhancements from early to late phases of aragonite crystal growth, (3) a three-day-old CaCO₃ layer reduces but does not eliminate the amplitude of the current waves. Theoretical calculations for oxygen limiting currents and additional field tests showed that sunlight, rather than bulk solution heating, is the main cause of daily current enhancements. This was confirmed by polarizations performed at −850 and −1000 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (constant bulk temperature), during which the electrode was irradiated with artificial lighting. This test also confirmed O₂ discharge to be the cathodic process involved. A mechanism of radiation conversion to heat in the oxygen diffusion layer region is proposed.     

Comparative study of Cr3C2-NiCr coatings obtained by HVOF and hard chromium coatings

In the present work the corrosion resistance of micro-cracked hard chromium and Cr₃C₂-NiCr (HVOF) coatings applied on a steel substrate have been compared using open-circuit potential (E_OC) measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curves. The coatings surfaces and cross-section were characterized before and after corrosion tests using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After 18 h of immersion, the open-circuit potential values were around −0.50 and −0.25 V/(Ag∣AgCl∣KCl_sat) for hard chromium and Cr₃C₂-NiCr, respectively. The surface analysis done after 12 h of immersion showed iron on the hard chromium surface inside/near surface cracks, while iron was not detected on the Cr₃C₂-NiCr surface even after 18 h. For longer immersion time hard chromium was more degraded than thermal sprayed coating. For hard chromium coating a total resistance values between 50 and 80 kΩ cm² were measured and two well-defined time constants were observed, without significant change with the immersion time. For Cr₃C₂-NiCr coating the total impedance diminished from around 750 to 25 kΩ cm² as the immersion time increased from 17 up to 132 h and two overlapped time constants were also observed. Polarization curves recorded after 18 h of immersion showed a lower current and higher corrosion potential for Cr₃C₂-NiCr coating than other samples studied.     

Serum Proteome in a Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Geographical Cluster

This study is meant to characterize the serum proteome in a small geographical cluster of sporadic ALS subjects originating from a restricted geographical area and sharing the same environmental exposure, in a broader context of evaluating the relevance of environmental factors to disease onset, status, and progression. An Artificial Neural Network based software is used to compare the relative abundance of proteins identified as different (by means of bi‐dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry) in the serum proteome of patients and age‐matched healthy controls. The patient's group is characterized by altered levels of acute phase reactants and of proteins involved in lipid homeostasis, along with over‐representation of the APOE*4 allele. Characterization of the serum proteome in a small cluster of sporadic ALS patients, originating from a geographically restricted area with a high prevalence of the disease and evaluation of the results with software based on artificial neural networks, highlights the association of the relative abundance of some proteins (most notably, acute phase reactants and lipid homeostasis proteins) with the disease presence and status.     

Elevated expression of eIF4E in confined early breast cancer lesions: possible role of hypoxia

The translation-initiation factor eIF4E is rate-limiting for protein synthesis, and its over-expression results in oncogenic transformation of mammalian cells. eIF4E facilitates the synthesis of several powerful tumor angiogenic factors (FGF-2 and VEGF) by selectively enhancing their translation. In breast carcinomas, eIF4E is commonly over-expressed, but the pathology where this elevation is initially manifested is presently unknown. To probe whether the elevation of eIF4E marks an early stage of cancer development, we focused our research on early cancerous lesions. We have analyzed 70 invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs), 78 ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS), 51 benign lesions and 4 model cell lines for elevated expression of eIF4E by several different methods: Northern/Western blots, immuno-histochemistry and in situ RT-PCR. eIF4E expression was markedly increased in IDC and in islets of viable cells in the center of poorly vascularized DCIS, which are not easily identifiable by standard histological stains. We also show that expression of eIF4E is increased by hypoxia and, presumably, in hypoxic areas of these lesions. We propose that clonal expansion of cancer cells, permanently over-expressing eIF4E, gives them a critical advantage to survive hypoxia and marks the transition toward the vascular phase of cancer progression. Hence, eIF4E may be useful in stratifying DCIS lesions according to their malignant stage.