Eccrine syringofibroadenoma surrounding a squamous cell carcinoma: a case report

In adult mammals fever is associated with the reduction of blood plasma iron level. Immature mammals, however, show either a decrease (precocial animals such as guinea pig neonates) or a lack of reduction (altricial animals such as human neonates) of plasma iron in response to endotoxin. In order to determine whether this difference is connected with maturity just after delivery, plasma iron concentration, hematocrit, body temperature and body mass were measured in rat pups injected with E. coli endotoxin in doses of 50 or 200 micrograms kg-1. Rat pups, like human neonates, are altricial animals. In 7-day-old rats injection of LPS led to a dose-dependent decrease in plasma iron level. The fall in plasma iron was accompanied by changes in body temperature and body mass. The results showed that plasma iron response to endotoxin in altricial rat neonates is similar to that observed in precocial guinea pig pups.     

Contributions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres to line bisection

Thirty-one right-hemisphere lesioned (RHL) patients, 11 left-hemisphere lesioned patients (LHL) and 10 normal controls (NC) bisected lines in three spatial location and four directional cuing conditions. The error direction and error size were analyzed as separate and combined variables. Seventy-seven percent of RHL patients and 45% of LHL patients made abnormally large errors in line bisection. Right-hemisphere lesioned patients were more sensitive to spatial location and directional cuing than NC subjects. In contrast, LHL patients were less sensitive to either condition than NCs. The error direction and error size emerged as dissociable components of line bisection. Right-hemisphere lesioned patients and NC subjects bisected lines consistently to one side of the true center. Left-hemisphere lesioned patients bisected lines equally often on both sides of the true center. Both RHL and LHL patients made larger absolute bisection errors than NC subjects, but the RHL patient's errors were larger than those of the LHL patients. We propose that the greater sensitivity of RHL patients to spatial location and directional cues and the directional consistency of their bisection errors represent contributions of the intact left cerebral hemisphere to line bisection. In contrast, the LHL patient's unrestrained ability to orient to both ends of the line reflects a contribution of the intact right cerebral hemisphere to line bisection. The failure of both groups to accurately bisect lines reflects a common visuospatial processing deficit that is more pronounced following RHLs than LHLs.     

Vascular delay of the latissimus dorsi muscle: an essential component of cardiomyoplasty

BACKGROUND: Cardiomyoplasty (CMP) uses the latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) to assist the heart in cases of cardiac failure. Distal ischemia and necrosis of the LDM is a recognized complication of CMP that can reduce distal muscle function and the mechanical effectiveness of CMP. METHODS: Canine (n = 9) LDMs were subjected to a 10-day period of vascular delay followed by a simulated CMP. Two weeks after simulated CMP (corresponding to the healing delay between CMP and the onset of LDM stimulation used in the clinical setting), LDM perfusion was measured in the distal, middle, and proximal segments of the muscle, and circumferential (distal and middle squeezing muscle function) and longitudinal (proximal pulling muscle function) force generation and fatigue rates were measured. The results were compared with the contralateral nondelayed simulated CMP. RESULTS: Muscle perfusion was significantly (p < 0.05) greater in the distal and middle segments of vascular-delayed LDMs. Circumferential muscle force generation and fatigue rates were significantly (p < 0.05) improved in the vascular-delayed LDMs. CONCLUSIONS: Vascular delay can significantly improve LDM perfusion and function in a model that closely reflects clinical CMP, and the use of vascular delay may improve clinical outcomes in CMP.     

The nonverbal affect lexicon: Theoretical perspectives from neuropsychological studies of affect perception.

Reviews evidence from neuropsychological studies of affect perception, which suggest that the right hemisphere contains a vocabulary of nonverbal affective signals (facial expressions, prosody, and gestures). This vocabulary is referred to as the nonverbal affect lexicon, and evidence is reviewed suggesting that it is modular in organization, with independent lexicons for faces and prosody. The authors feel that affect lexicon represents one component of a cortically based affect-processing network that is dedicated to reading the nonverbal social displays of other members of the species. Discordances between this cortical affect system and other components of the emotion enterprise are discussed, as well as the relationship of the nonverbal affect lexicon to valence-related asymmetries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion regulation and decision making under risk and uncertainty.

It is well established that emotion plays a key role in human social and economic decision making. The recent literature on emotion regulation (ER), however, highlights that humans typically make efforts to control emotion experiences. This leaves open the possibility that decision effects previously attributed to acute emotion may be a consequence of acute ER strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. In Study 1, we manipulated ER of laboratory-induced fear and disgust, and found that the cognitive reappraisal of these negative emotions promotes risky decisions (reduces risk aversion) in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and is associated with increased performance in the prehunch/hunch period of the Iowa Gambling Task. In Study 2, we found that naturally occurring negative emotions also increase risk aversion in Balloon Analogue Risk Task, but the incidental use of cognitive reappraisal of emotions impedes this effect. We offer evidence that the increased effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal in reducing the experience of emotions underlies its beneficial effects on decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Salivary fluoride levels in overdenture wearers after topical fluoride gel application

This study describes salivary fluoride levels after topical fluoride gel application on overdenture abutments. Fluoride levels were evaluated separately for the subjects with normal unstimulated salivary flow rate (n = 16) and for those with a low flow rate (n = 8). One drop of fluoride gel (Karigel-N, Lorvic) was placed in two abutment depressions of the duplicated overdenture, after which unstimulated whole saliva was collected for 30 minutes. Samples for fluoride analysis were taken at 5-minute intervals. Two additional samples were taken at 45 and 60 minutes. Fluoride concentration at the abutment-denture interface (remaining fluoride concentration) was measured at the end of the study. Salivary fluoride concentrations decreased gradually in both groups of subjects, but after 1 hour they remained at a higher level in subjects with low flow rates. Subjects' salivary flow rates correlated negatively with remaining fluoride concentration at the denture-tissue interface. Consequently, mean remaining fluoride concentration was significantly higher in subjects with low flow rate than in their normal counterparts.     

The effects of rotation on spatial attention

OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether out-of-hours health centre visits and referrals to hospital are equally distributed in the three different duty models being used for health care in southwestern Finland. DESIGN: A medical audit of 2926 health centre visits and 223 referrals to hospitals by general practitioners (GPs) on duty. The duty models were formed on the basis of a possibility to utilize a local health centre during nights and weekends. Two-month follow-up period. SETTING: Primary health care. Population 46438. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Out-of-hours visits to health centres and referrals to hospital, and the effect of age and duty model on referrals and visits. RESULTS: Patients over 64 years of age received most of the referrals although they visited the health care centre less frequently than the 0-14 year-olds (p < 0.001). The people who had an opportunity to utilize their local health centres visited more during out-of-hours than those who did not have this opportunity (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The health centre visits were not equally distributed in the three examined duty models. The over 64 year-olds in particular had the least visits and the most referrals.