Dissociations entre musique et langage après atteinte cérébrale: Un nouveau cas d'amusie sans aphasie.

Presents the case of a 40-yr-old female, I.R., who sustained bilateral damage to the temporal lobes and to the right frontal lobe as a result of successive brain surgeries. Her performance is compared to that of 4 neurologically intact Ss who were matched in terms of education, sex and age. I.R.'s performance on various tests aiming at assessing her general cognitive functioning is reported with a particular focus on auditory aspects. Results show that I.R.'s speech abilities are essentially intact. The only language impairments are related to a short-term memory deficit, to some abnormal sensitivity to retroactive interference in long-term memory and to articulation. These difficulties do not, however, affect linguistic communication, which is obviously undisturbed. I.R. does not experience and difficulty in the recognition and memorization of familiar sounds such as animal cries, traffic noises and the like. I.R. is severely impaired in most musical abilities: She can no longer discriminate nor identify melodies that were once highly familiar to her; she can no longer discriminate nor memorize novel melodies. Her pattern of musical losses is compatible with a basic and severe perceptual deficit that compromises access to and registration in memory systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The absence of lipase in cottonseed

Summary Although analyses of free fatty acid fractions obtained from deteriorating cottonseed indicate that they are released by hydrolysis of the glycerides, no lipase could be detected in meals obtained from such seed. Prime cottonseed also was without lipolytic activity (Longenecker and Haley method). The mechanism of the reaction whereby free fatty acids develop in wet seed during storage thus remains obscure. Contribution from the Multiple Fellowship of the Cotton Research Foundation, Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh. Presented in part before the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry of the American Chemical Society at Detroit, September, 1940.     

Clonazepam in the treatment of panic disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating the correlation between clonazepam concentrations in plasma and clinical response

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of neuromuscular dysfunction in patients with faecal incontinence by measuring interference patterns in the external anal sphincter and puborectalis muscles with quantitative electromyography. The design was an open study including 20 patients with faecal incontinence; in 14 the aetiology was idiopathic and 6 had rupture of the external anal sphincter. Electromyographic interference patterns (turns/amplitude analysis) measured at rest and during maximum voluntary contraction in all patients were recorded together with fibre density measured by single fibre electromyography (n = 10) and anal pressure measured at rest and at maximum contraction (n = 17). A comparison was made with results of a previously published series of reference values taken from normal volunteers. The density of the interference pattern on maximum contraction of the puborectalis muscle was significantly lower among the patients with idiopathic faecal incontinence than among the reference group (137 compared with 241 turns/second, p < 0.01). There was also a significant difference on maximum contraction of the anal sphincter muscle among the group in whom it was ruptured compared with the reference group (76 compared with 165 turns/second, p < 0.05). Fibre density increased with age and was significantly higher among those with idiopathic incontinence (1.64 (0.2) compared with 1.33 (0.1) in the reference group, p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in anal manometry measurements between the groups. In conclusion, in patients with faecal incontinence the role of central activation of the perineal muscles is important, though other factors may play a part.     

A proton and neutron beam polarimeter at SATURNE II

A beam polarimeter using CH₂ and carbon targets has been used to measure proton and neutron beam polarization in the energy range 0.4–2.8 GeV in one of the beam lines at the SATURNE II accelerator. The analyzing power for np-scattering is calibrated against the known analyzing power for pp-scattering by using the polarized deuteron beam to measure simultaneously the asymmetries for scattering of quasifree protons and neutrons in the deuterons. A low level of systematic errors is achieved by pulse to pulse polarization reversal at the ion source of the accelerator, and by measuring left and right scattering simultaneously. The detailed operation procedure and the beam polarizations measured during all experiments from 1981 to 1984 are presented.     

Pulse pressure response to the strain of the valsalva maneuver in humans with preserved systolic function

Arterial pulse pressure response during the strain phase of the Valsalva maneuver has been proposed as a clinical tool for the diagnosis of left heart failure, whereas responses of subjects with preserved systolic function have been poorly documented. We studied the relationship between the aortic pulse amplitude ratio (i.e., minimum/maximum pulse pressure) during the strain phase of the Valsalva maneuver and cardiac hemodynamics at baseline in 20 adults (42 +/- 14 yr) undergoing routine right and left heart catheterization. They were normal subjects (n = 5) and patients with various forms of cardiac diseases (n = 15), and all had a left ventricular ejection fraction >/=40%. High-fidelity pressures were recorded in the right atrium and the left ventricle at baseline and at the aortic root throughout the Valsalva maneuver. Aortic pulse amplitude ratio 1) did not correlate with baseline left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, cardiac index (thermodilution), or left ventricular ejection fraction (cineangiography) and 2) was positively related to total arterial compliance (area method) (r = 0.59) and to basal mean right atrial pressure (r = 0.57) (each P < 0.01). Aortic pulse pressure responses to the strain were not related to heart rate responses during the maneuver. In subjects with preserved systolic function, the aortic pulse amplitude ratio during the strain phase of the Valsalva maneuver relates to baseline total arterial compliance and right heart filling pressures but not to left ventricular function.     

Renal transplantation in children with augmentation cystoplasty: long-term results

Inflammatory processes have been hypothesized to mediate some of the clinical sequelae associated with endometriosis. The peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with endometriosis is known to contain more inflammatory cells and their associated cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. This work provides strong evidence for oxidative stress in the PF of women with endometriosis. 1) The low density lipoprotein (LDL) isolated from the PF of subjects with endometriosis shows a small but detectable increase in electrophoretic mobility compatible with mildly oxidized LDL compared with LDL isolated from the plasma of the same subjects and PF of controls. 2) Isolated PF-LDL of endometriosis subjects is more readily oxidized in vitro than PF-LDL of controls, or LDL isolated from plasma. 3) Vitamin E content is significantly lower in endometriosis PF compared with controls, and compared with plasma of women with endometriosis and controls. No difference is seen between plasma and PF of control subjects. 4) The ratio of phosphatidylcholine/lyso phosphatidylcholine (Ptd/lyso PtdCho) in the PF of endometriosis subjects is significantly lower compared with PF of controls. Taken together, these data provide strong evidence for a pro-oxidant environment in the peritoneal cavity of women with endometriosis. Lyso PtdCho, a product derived from phospholipase A2 action on peroxidized phosphatidylcholine and a potent chemotactic factor for monocytes and T-lymphocytes, is elevated in endometriosis. We hypothesize that the increased presence of lipid peroxidation products in the PF of endometriosis subjects may, at least partly, account for the recruitment of leukocytes, the increase in macrophage activation, the secretion of monocyte--macrophage-derived cytokines, and the endometrial growth-promoting activity associated with endometriosis.     

Embedded atom method calculations of vibrational thermodynamic properties of ordered and disordered Ni3Al

Recent work had suggested that vibrational effects can play a significant role in determining alloy phase equilibria. In order to better understand these effects, we investigate the vibrational properties of disordered and ordered Ni₃Al using the embedded atom method and calculate vibrational thermodynamic quantities within the quasi-harmonic approximation. The vibrational entropy is found to be strongly dependent on volume. For fully relaxed structures the dependence on lattice decoration of the vibrational entropy is compared to that suggested by recent experimental results.