Working Memory Capacity and the Antisaccade Task: Individual Differences in Voluntary Saccade Control.

Performance on antisaccade trials requires the inhibition of a prepotent response (i.e., don't look at the flashing cue) and the generation and execution of a correct saccade in the opposite direction. The authors attempted to further specify the role of working memory (WM) span differences in the antisaccade task. They tested high- and low-span individuals on variants of prosaccade and antisaccade trials in which an eye movement is the sole requirement. In 3 experiments, they demonstrated the importance of WM span differences in both suppression of a reflexive saccade and generation of a volitional eye movement. The results support the contention that individual differences in WM span are not exclusively due to differences in inhibition but also reflect differences in directing the focus of attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human neonatal ovary: proposal of a three-dimensional model

A model of human neonatal ovary is presented, derived from morphometric, evaluations carried out on left ovaries removed from five full-term neonates with a 46, XX karyotype, free from malformations of the genital apparatus. According to this model, the gonad can be represented by a triaxial ellipsoid with a central medullary core surrounded by a cortical stratum of constant thickness. The germinal population, consisting of follicles and primitive cortical tissue, occupies the cortex, intermingled with the interstitium or stroma. In the cortex it is then possible to describe an outer layer formed by primitive cortical tissue, and an inner portion occupied by follicles. The primary and secondary follicles fill the portion near the medulla and the primordial ones are contained in the middle and outer zones. Since the variability observed among ovaries is slight, we can propose a mean model of neonatal ovary in which the spatial relationships among the different components, the total number of follicles and their position in the cortex can be calculated.     

Effect of the approximately 2400-year solar climatic cycle on the lives of peoples

2400-year solar cycle ascertained by us in the long-term series of various natural characteristics (e.g. the radiocarbon content in samples of well-known ages, oscillations of the sea and ocean levels etc.) includes three parts roughly equal in duration: a phase of high activity, a phase of depression and a phase of moderate activity. In climate oscillations, which are connected with this cycle, the next phenomena are established: a little climatic optimum, a little Ice Age, and a temperate climate epoch.     

Clinical and historical predictors of dental caries on radiographs

Jet injection can be used to introduce genes into the cells of differentiated tissues of living animals and organ cultures. When a solution of plasmid DNA is jet injected into a selected tissue or organ, cells lying in or near the path of the jet injection are transfected with the DNA and the introduced gene(s) are expressed. Since there is minimal morbidity from each jet injection, multiple injections can be performed at the same or nearby sites. Both mRNA and protein expression from transfected genes can be quantitated using standard methods. In addition, the technique is an efficient means of DNA immunization. Methodology for using jet injection to transfer plasmid DNA into the cells of skin, fat, mammary gland, and muscle are described.     

The efficacy of Augmentin in suppurative complications in neurosurgery]

The results of clinical and laboratory studies on the use of augmentin in severe purulent complications after neurosurgical operations are presented. The laboratory studies carried out with the use of an automatic system Cobas Bact (Roch) showed that the numbers of the augmentin resistant strains of Staphylococcus and Enterobacteriaceae among the pathogens were 47 and an average of 64.5%, respectively. Gram-negative bacteria resistant to augmentin were 1.5 to 2 times less frequent than those resistant to amoxycillin. Still, they were much more frequent than those resistant to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone. Clinical efficacy of augmentin was studied in treatment of 39 patients with various affections of the brain such as tumors, trauma, vascular malformations and inflammatory processes. The postoperative complications were represented by meningitis, pneumonia, sepsis and their associations. The use of augmentin in the severe intra- and extracranial complications was favourable in 82.1% of the cases.     

Tetrahydrobiopterin and biogenic amine metabolism in the hph-1 mouse

hph-1 mice, which have defective tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis due to decreased GTP cyclohydrolase I activity, have been used to investigate the effects of tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency on aromatic L-amino acid monooxygenases and brain monoamine metabolism. Liver tetrahydrobiopterin levels were decreased, and tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency and reduced levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and their metabolites in the brain occurred both pre- and postnatally. Chronic subcutaneous tetrahydrobiopterin elevated brain levels to values higher than those seen in controls but had no effect on monoamine metabolism. In vivo activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and tryptophan hydroxylase were significantly decreased. There was a 30% decrease in the in vitro activity of striatal tyrosine hydroxylase and 50% decrease in liver phenylalanine hydroxylase. Western blotting demonstrated that the lower monooxygenase activities resulted from a reduced absolute amount of tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylalanine hydroxylase protein. The findings suggest involvement of tetrahydrobiopterin in the control of the steady-state concentration of the aromatic L-amino acid monooxygenases. In addition, demonstration of central monoamine changes in the hph-1 mouse make it a possible model system for the investigation of the neuropathological mechanisms in Dopa-responsive dystonia, which has recently been linked with mutations in the gene for GTP cyclohydrolase I.     

The hemostatic system function of patients with severe forms of diphtheria

Hemostasis of 100 patients with severe diphtheria infection was studied throughout the disease. The patients were found to have marked procoagulant, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic disorders. Antithrombogenic activity of the vascular wall was also abnormal. The above impairments correlated with the symptoms severity and are interpreted as DIC syndrome which ran subclinically or as hemorrhagic syndrome. The majority of the patients underwent a hyperhypocoagulant phase of DIC syndrome.     

The structural organization of the aortic endothelium in hypercholesterolemia and the effect of L-arginine

Electron microscopic investigation of the rabbit [correction of rat] thoracic aorta revealed endothelium to be most vulnerable to the damage in experimental hypercholesterolemia. Administration of precursor of nitric oxide L-arginine against the background of hypercholesterolemia resulted in activation of functional activity of the endothelium of aorta. This notion is supported by an increase of the quantity of protein-synthesizing structures (ribosomes, polysomes, canaliculi of endoplasmic network), secretory granules vs rabbits on atherogenic diet. At stimulation of NO-synthase activity of endothelium the dilatory reactions of aortal strips to acetylcholine are improved.