Human brain metabolic response to caffeine and the effects of tolerance

OBJECTIVE: Since there is limited information concerning caffeine's metabolic effects on the human brain, the authors applied a rapid proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging technique to dynamically measure regional brain metabolic responses to caffeine ingestion. They specifically measured changes in brain lactate due to the combined effects of caffeine's stimulation of glycolysis and reduction of cerebral blood flow. METHOD: Nine heavy caffeine users and nine caffeine-intolerant individuals, who had previously discontinued or substantially curtailed use of caffeinated products because of associated anxiety and discomforting physiological arousal, were studied at baseline and then during 1 hour following ingestion of caffeine citrate (10 mg/kg). To assess state-trait contributions and the effects of caffeine tolerance, five of the caffeine users were restudied after a 1- to 2-month caffeine holiday. RESULTS: The caffeine-intolerant individuals, but not the regular caffeine users, experienced substantial psychological and physiological distress in response to caffeine ingestion. Significant increases in global and regionally specific brain lactate were observed only among the caffeine-intolerant subjects. Reexposure of the regular caffeine users to caffeine after a caffeine holiday resulted in little or no adverse clinical reaction but significant rises in brain lactate which were of a magnitude similar to that observed for the caffeine-intolerant group. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide direct evidence for the loss of caffeine tolerance in the human brain subsequent to caffeine discontinuation and suggest mechanisms for the phenomenon of caffeine intolerance other than its metabolic effects on elevating brain lactate.     

Development of alarm-call responses in Belding's ground squirrels: the role of dams

Experiences with adult conspecifics can influence the ontogeny of species-typical behaviours in naive young of many species. Two processes of influence, direct and indirect, are proposed to describe the effect of adult behaviours on juvenile development. In Belding's ground squirrels, Spermophilus beldingiexposure to adults experienced with responding to alarm calls may affect how juveniles respond to calls and/or the rate at which juveniles acquire adult-like responses to calls. Because dams and their juvenile offspring interact extensively during early development, the influence of dams on the ontogeny of juvenile alarm-call responses was investigated by conducting playbacks of alarm calls and non-alarm calls to captive ground squirrels. Juveniles were more likely to respond to auditory stimuli if their dam responded, but the responses of unrelated adult females did not influence juveniles. A dam's presence at the time of a playback had no consistent effect, however, on the type of initial response made by her juvenile, its response duration or the vigilance of its postures. The permanent absence of adult models (dams) after weaning appeared to delay the rate at which juveniles developed a discrimination between alarm calls and non-alarm calls, but had no long-term influence on juveniles' expression of responses. Thus, dams indirectly influenced juvenile response development by acting as models of species-typical responses. The outcome of dams' influence was facilitative rather than inductive, because exposure to dams affected the rate of response development but was not necessary for juveniles to acquire alarm-call responses.1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour     

Expression of the HGF/SF receptor, c-met, and its ligand in human colorectal cancers

To characterize the clinical features of childhood tuberculosis, we analyzed the symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings of the 89 children with tuberculosis admitted to the Yokohama City University Hospital from 1975 to 1994. Compared with the numbers of patients admitted from 1975 to 1979, those of patients of the past 5 years (from 1990 to 1994) were reduced by half. Of the 89 subjects, 56.2% were below 3 years of age and 24.7% were under 1 year of age. 51.7% had primary complex and 20.2% had serious tuberculosis (tuberculous meningitis 14.6%, miliary tuberculosis 3.4%, and bone and joint tuberculosis 2.2%). Tuberculous children below 3 years of age consisted of primary complex (60.0%) and serious tuberculosis (32.0%). The majority (86.0%) of tuberculous children below 3 years of age had not received BCG vaccination. In 55 (61.8%) of 89 subjects, the sources of tuberculosis were clarified. Of these subjects, 83.6% were infected in the family. The rate of BCG inocluation tended to decrease with decreasing age, especially that of children below 3 years of age was 14.0%. Of the 89 subjects, only 16.9% proved to be smear-positive. Taken together, in order to eliminate tuberculous children below 3 years of age, the following is necessary; (1) BCG inoculation in early infancy, (2) early diagnosis of index cases with adult tuberculosis, and (3) prompt and appropriate family contact examination.     

Screening effectiveness of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory expressive and receptive language scales: Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value.

This study examines the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of the Expressive Language (EL) and Comprehension-Conceptual (CC) subscales of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) in 152 consecutive referrals to a communication disorders clinic. Correlational analyses revealed moderate agreement between parent report (MCDI) and formal measures of expressive and receptive language ability from the Reynell Development Language Scales. Classification analyses comparing parent-report (MCDI) measures with direct assessment results (Reynell) revealed high sensitivity (88% and 77%) and good positive predictive value (80% and 75%) for the MCDI EL and CC subscales, respectively. Low to moderate specificity rates, however, suggest that the MCDI classifies normal expressive and receptive language status less accurately (45% and 64%, respectively). These findings suggest that the MCDI is an efficient screening tool under high-prevalence conditions such as a clinic population of language-disordered children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An all-optical implementation of a 3-D crossover switching network

One of the more promising interconnection schemes proposed for use in photonic switching networks is the crossover interconnection network; however, reported implementations of the crossover have been limited in size and complexity. A large-scale cascadable implementation of the optical crossover network that capitalizes on planar symmetric self electrooptic effect device (S-SEED) arrays is discussed. A fully functional experimental prototype with 32 inputs and 32 outputs that was operated at a maximum rate of 55.7 kb/s is also discussed. It is also shown that S-SEED arrays can be operated as simple two-input two-output nodes (called 2-modules) within a controllable network     

Net pressures on the roof of a low-rise building with wall openings

This paper deals with an investigation of the characteristics of net pressures on two significant roof areas of a low-rise building with two different dominant wall openings. Wind tunnel boundary layer studies were conducted on a corner and a gable-end roof area of a 1:50 geometric scale model of the Texas Tech University (TTU) test building with a corner and a central wall opening. Mean and peak pressure coefficients, RMS values for the pressure coefficient fluctuations about their mean, as well as roof external pressure—internal pressure correlation coefficients were obtained for the entire 360° wind azimuth range. Frequency domain studies were also conducted for a few selected point roof pressure situations from which the frequency-dependent roof external pressure—internal pressure phase difference functions, root coherence functions and the spectral density functions were obtained. The results show that the mean, RMS and peak net pressure coefficients are particularly enhanced relative to the coefficients for the roof external pressure in the ±50° wind range. Zero-time-lag correlation coefficients of up to −0.64 were obtained in agreement with results from past studies, while root coherence values of up to 0.7 were also recorded. It is demonstrated that the provisions of both the Australian/New Zealand wind loading code—the AS/NZS1170.2:2002, and the American wind loading code—the ASCE7-02, are sometimes non-conservative in the prediction of mean and peak net roof pressure coefficients. These are believed to be due to non-conservative internal pressure coefficients allowed for in these codes.