Emotional predisposition to psychotropic drug effects

Administered a battery of psychological tests (Comrey Personality Scales, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Mood Questionnaire, and Health Status Inventory) to 107 female adults 3 hrs prior to surgery under ketamine anesthesia. Results show that moods were more highly related to the psychotropic effects of ketamine than any of the other measures. Some form of counseling intervention that would better prepare patients to cope with the surgical situation might be effective in reducing this emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vitro cultivation of Trypanosoma acomys: production of insect stages and bloodstream forms

When Trypanosoma acomys bloodstream forms were cultivated at 37 degrees C in Schneider's Drosophila medium supplemented with 20% (v/v) heat-inactivated foetal calf serum (FCS), with Microtus agrestis embryonic fibroblasts in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 20% FCS or in Baltz's medium supplemented with 10% FCS, the parasites transformed and largely remained as epimastigotes. Epimastigotes were also usually the commonest stage observed when the parasites were co-cultivated with a mosquito cell line at 27 degrees C. However, if these cultures were initiated with the supernatant suspensions from fibroblast cultures that had been cryopreserved, trypomastigotes, including bloodstream-like forms, were the predominant stage for the first 4 days of culture. It is suggested that the glycerol supplement or the temperature changes stimulated this unusual morphogenesis. At 27 degrees C, T. acomys was incapable of multiplying and died when cultured in fresh Schneider's Drosophila medium supplemented with 20% FCS, but co-cultivation with the mosquito cell lines or cultivation in cell-free supernatants from 1-week-old mosquito cell cultures was successful at this temperature; most of the parasites multiplied as epimastigotes.     

Anthropometric determination of thigh volumes and thigh forces following acute training of increasing intensity in adult men

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of submaximal training of increasing intensity on the rate of fatigue and on the anthropometry of the quadriceps muscle. A group of 24 middle-aged male subjects trained three times a week for 12 weeks at incremental exercise intensities which elicited 66%-83% of the maximal heart rate reserve; 11 male subjects acted as controls. A purpose-built, isometric chair with an adjustable force transducer ensured a standard posture for each subject during a 20 s maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The muscle plus bone mass of the thigh was calculated from a previously validated anthropometric method reinforced by measurements derived from water displacement and ultrasonics. Training-induced submaximal relationships were assessed by means of two ergometer tests of progressive intensity. Following training, the subjects' blood lactate concentrations had decreased from 5.5 (SD 1.7) to 3.9 (SD 1.4) mmol.1(-1) (P < 0.01) at the final exercise intensities. They increased thigh volumes from 10.7 (SD 1.7) to 11.0 (SD 1.7) 1 (P < 0.05) and thigh forces in 47.5% (P < 0.05) of the measurements. Heart rates and rates of perceived exertion were reduced (P < 0.01) following training; for the controls, all the above parameters remained constant. These results would seem to indicate that a submaximal type of training could enable a group of middle-aged men to increase the isometric forces of the thigh muscles by almost 50% when completing a MVC test following training. This suggests that this is a more suitable, safer form of maintaining and increasing maximal thigh forces for this, and older, age groups than specific isometric training alone.     

Synergistic effect of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxins CryIAa and CryIAc on the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar

The insecticidal activity of toxins CryIAa, CryIAb, and CryIAc against Lymantria dispar (gypsy moth) and Bombyx mori (silkworm) was examined by force-feeding bioassays. Toxin CryIAa exhibited higher toxicity than toxins CryIAb and CryIAc for L. dispar and B. mori. To evaluate possible synergism among these toxins, bioassays were performed with mixtures of CryIAa and CryIAb, CryIAb and CryIAc, and CryIAa and CryIAc. Expected toxicity was calculated from the activity of each individual toxin and its proportion in the mixture by using the equation described by Tabashnik (B. E. Tabashnik, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:3343-3346, 1992). Observed 50% growth-inhibitory doses were calculated from mixing experiments by probit analysis. In L. dispar bioassays, synergism was observed with a mixture of CryIAa and CryIAc while a mixture of CryIAa and CryIAb exhibited an antagonistic effect. No synergistic effect on B. mori was observed with any toxin combination. Voltage clamping assays of isolated L. dispar midguts also demonstrated that the mixture of CryIAa and CryIAc induced a greater slope of inhibition of short circuit current than did other toxin combinations.     

Cell cycling and prognosis in uveal melanoma

Event-related potentials (ERP) in the areas CA1, CA3 and dentate fascia (Df) of the hippocampal formation were recorded during an oddball situation in the cat. A rewarding electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (US) was paired with deviant tones (2500 Hz) that occurred randomly in a series of the standard tones (2000 Hz) given to the left ear. In addition to developing orienting head movements to the side of the deviant tones, an increase in the amplitude of parallel hippocampal ERPs was observed. Both the behavioral and neural responses appeared not until a 50 ms latency range. Furthermore, time-amplitude characteristics of the ERPs corresponded to time-acceleration characteristics of the conditioned orienting head movements. The results are discussed in the context of a cat analogue of the human mismatch negativity (MMN) and a role of the hippocampal formation to model and predict the conditioned behavioral orienting responses.     

Comparison of immunofiltration assay of plasma D-dimer with diagnostic imaging in deep vein thrombosis

This prospective study was designed to assess the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive value of the NycoCard D-dimer plasma immunofiltration assay in patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) confirmed by ultrasonography/venography. 84 medical patients were recruited: 43 patients (51%) had proven venous thrombosis, 33 by venography and 10 by ultrasonography. The sensitivity of NycoCard D-dimer in patients with DVT was 95.3%, the specificity was 22.0% and the negative predictive value was 81.8%. An algorithm including the NycoCard D-dimer test for the acute management of DVT is proposed. This would enable low-risk patients to be discharged early from hospital, without imaging or anticoagulant therapy.     

Mourning in prison: mission impossible?

The author's interest in the issue of mourning in prison is twofold. As an active hospice volunteer, she became involved with bereavement work, which sensitized her to the issues of loss encountered upon joining the staff at the Maine State Prison. More often than not, the inmates with whom she met had unresolved issues of loss. The impetus for a grief support group came from an inmate who had experienced the death of five relatives during his period of incarceration; he commented on how difficult it is to mourn in prison, and he worried about how he would deal with all his losses when confronted with them upon his release. The author raised the possibility of a support group and the inmate offered to help organize it. This article describes the author's experience with such a prison-based support group and what she has learned, through this experience, about mourning in prison.     

Out-of-body experience and personality functioning

Reporters of out-of-body experiences (n = 21) and nonreporters (n = 159) showed no significant differences on the Spheres of Control Scale, Self-efficacy Scale, and Purpose in Life Scale. However, reporters of out-of-body experiences showed significantly greater belief in Psi, Spiritualism, and Extraordinary Life Forms than nonreporters.     

Novel beta-thalassemia mutation in patients of Jewish descent: [beta 30(B12)Arg-->Gly or IVS-I(-2)(A-->G)]

Classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) results from an inherited enzymatic defect in cortisol synthesis and more than 90 per cent of cases are due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The androgen excess associated with this condition typically results in ambiguous external genitalia in affected females. It has been shown that prenatal treatment with dexamethasone is successful in preventing or reducing genital ambiguity in affected females. Rather than treating with dexamethasone, some couples choose to terminate the pregnancy when an affected fetus is prenatally diagnosed. We report a female with classical CAH who was born with normal external genitalia, although maternal treatment with dexamethasone did not begin until 16 weeks' gestation.