Bacterial attachment to oropharyngeal epithelial cells in breastfed newborns

Dopaminergic agents and carbidopa/levodopa have become the preferred treatment for both the restless legs (RL) syndrome and for periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS). For once-nightly treatments with carbidopa/ levodopa, a problem with morning end-of-dose rebound increases in leg movements has been reported to occur in the about one-fourth of the patients. In our clinical studies a previously unreported but far more significant problem of markedly augmented RL symptoms occurred in the afternoon and the evening prior to taking the next nightly dose. A systematic prospective evaluation of this augmentation in 46 consecutive patients treated with carbidopa/ levodopa for RL syndrome or PLMS disorder found this augmentation to be the major adverse effect of treatment. Augmentation occurred for 31% of PLMS patients and 82% of all RL patients. It was greater for subjects with more severe RL symptoms and for patients on higher doses (> or = 50/200 mg carbidopa/levodopa) but was unrelated to gender, age or baseline severity of PLMS. This augmentation was severe enough to require medication change for 50% of the RL patients and 13% of PLMS patients. Augmentation resolved with cessation of the medication and could be minimized by keeping the dose low.     

Restoration of blood pressure by choline treatment in rats made hypotensive by haemorrhage

1. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of choline (25-150 micrograms) increased blood pressure in rats made acutely hypotensive by haemorrhage. Intraperitoneal administration of choline (60 mg kg-1) also increased blood pressure, but to a lesser extent. Following i.c.v. injection of 25 micrograms or 50 micrograms of choline, heart rate did not change, while 100 micrograms or 150 micrograms i.c.v. choline produced a slight and short lasting bradycardia. Choline (150 micrograms) failed to alter the circulating residual volume of blood in haemorrhaged rats. 2. The pressor response to i.c.v. choline (50 micrograms) in haemorrhaged rats was abolished by pretreatment with mecamylamine (50 micrograms, i.c.v.) but not atropine (10 micrograms, i.c.v.). The pressor response to choline was blocked by pretreatment with hemicholinium-3 (20 micrograms, i.c.v.). 3. The pressor response to i.c.v. choline (150 micrograms) was associated with a several fold increase in plasma levels of vasopressin and adrenaline but not of noradrenaline and plasma renin. 4. The pressor response to i.c.v. choline (150 micrograms) was not altered by bilateral adrenalectomy, but was attenuated by systemic administration of either phentolamine (10 mg kg-1) or the vasopressin antagonist [beta-mercapto-beta,beta-cyclopenta-methylenepropionyl1, O-Me-Tyr2,Arg8]-vasopressin (10 micrograms kg-1). 5. It is concluded that the precursor of acetylcholine, choline, can increase and restore blood pressure in acutely haemorrhaged rats by increasing central cholinergic neurotransmission. Nicotinic receptor activation and an increase in plasma vasopressin and adrenaline level appear to be involved in this effect of choline.     

A new method for singular value loop shaping in design of multiple-channel controllers

In this note, simple symmetric interval bounds on the singular values of a matrix based on its Gershgorin disks are proposed. This allows the Gershgorin theorem to be used not only to provide information about the location of the eigenvalues of a matrix but also its singular values. This is utilized for the proposition of a new design technique for singular value loop shaping based on the diagonal dominance methodology for design of linear multivariable plants. In return, this allows multiple-channel simply structured controllers to be designed with a view to robustness and to meet constraints and specifications on the behavior of its singular values. A design example is given demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach.     

Phasic alerting of neglect patients overcomes their spatial deficit in visual awareness

Patients with extensive damage to the right hemisphere of their brain often exhibit unilateral neglect of the left side of space. The spatial attention of these patients is strongly biased towards the right, so their awareness of visual events on the left is impaired. Extensive right-hemisphere lesions also impair tonic alertness (the ability to maintain arousal). This nonspatial deficit in alertness is often considered to be a different problem from spatial neglect, but the two impairments may be linked. If so, then phasically increasing the patients' alertness should temporarily ameliorate their spatial bias in awareness. Here we provide evidence to support this theory. Right-hemisphere-neglect patients judged whether a visual event on the left preceded or followed a comparable event on the right. They became aware of left events half a second later than right events on average. This spatial imbalance in the time course of visual awareness was corrected when a warning sound alerted the patients phasically. Even a warning sound on the right accelerated the perception of left visual events in this way. Nonspatial phasic alerting can thus overcome disabling spatial biases in perceptual awareness after brain injury.     

Services and applications: requirements and realizations in theUMTS era

The ACTS program is moving the results of the R&D of the parent RACE program nearer to realization through technology and user trials. Particularly in the mobile domain of ACTS, several projects have been investigating the user dimension in the context of the third-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service. Results so far suggest many opportunities to broaden participation, exploit the inherent benefits of the mobile environment, and take advantage of the enormous improvements in wireless communications to realize the potential of global multimedia mobility. This article considers the needs of users for mobile multimedia applications and the consequences of those needs on the equipment, supporting services and teleservices, and communications bearers     

Age effects on block design: Qualitative performance features and extended-time effects.

Qualitative performance features and extended-time effects on the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) were examined in 145 healthy Ss (aged 50–95 yrs). Raw scores were calculated at standard and extended time limits; error types and starting points were recorded for a subgroup of Ss. In Ss age 60 yrs and older, there was a consistent decline with age in overall scores at both time limits. Extra time allotments resulted in modest but significant increases in scores. Older and younger Ss benefited equally from the extra time, indicating that the age-related decline on this task cannot be accounted for by general age-related psychomotor slowing. Single- and multiblock rotation errors were relatively common, whereas stimulus boundedness and broken configurations were rare. Despite some potential limitations in generalizability, the results suggest that the incorporation of qualitative scoring procedures in the assessment of visuoconstructional skills may enhance understanding of normal and abnormal brain–behavior relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemodynamic and norepinephrine responses to pacing-induced heart failure in conscious sinoaortic-denervated dogs

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of chronic sinoaortic (baroreceptor) denervation (SAD) on the hemodynamic and sympathetic alterations that occur in the pacing-induced model of congestive heart failure. Two groups of dogs were examined: intact (n = 9) and SAD (n = 9). Both groups of dogs were studied in the control (prepace) state and each week after the initiation of ventricular pacing at 250 beats/min. After the pacemaker was turned off, hemodynamic and plasma norepinephrine levels returned toward control levels in the prepaced state and after 1 and 2 wk of pacing. However, by 3 wk all hemodynamic and norepinephrine levels remained relatively constant over the 10-min observation period with the pacemaker off. With the pacemaker off, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure went from 2.7 +/- 1.4 (SE) mmHg during the prepace state to 23.2 +/- 2.9 mmHg in the heart failure state in intact dogs (P < 0.01). Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure increased to 27.1 +/- 2.2 mmHg from a control level of 4.2 +/- 1.9 mmHg i SAD dogs (P < 0.0003). Mean arterial pressure significantly decreased in intact and SAD dogs. Resting heart rate was significantly higher in SAD dogs and increased to 135.8 +/- 8.9 beats/min in intact dogs and 136.1 +/- 6.5 beats/min in SAD dogs. There were no significant differences in the hemodynamic parameters between intact and SAD dogs after pacing. Plasma norepinephrine was significantly lower in intact than in SAD dogs before pacing (197.7 +/- 21.6 vs. 320.6 +/- 26.6 pg/ml; P < 0.005). In the heart failure state, plasma norepinephrine increased significantly in both intact (598.3 +/- 44.2 pg/ml) and SAD (644.0 +/- 64.6 pg/ml) groups. There were no differences in the severity or the magnitude of the developed heart failure state in SAD vs. intact dogs. We conclude from these date that the arterial baroreflex is not the sole mechanism for the increase in sympathetic drive in heart failure.