Developing a Brief Neuropsychological Battery for Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Impairment

ObjectivesEarly diagnosis of cognitive impairment is increasingly emphasized in the literature to facilitate timely preventive interventions. Although bedside cognitive tests such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are widely used for such early diagnostic purposes, they may not have comparable performance to a full neuropsychological battery (FNB) in diagnosing early cognitive impairment. This study investigated whether a small subset of neuropsychological tests can be added on to MoCA to match its performance to that of the FNB in discriminating mild cognitive impairment and dementia (MCI/dementia) from normal cognition.DesignCross-sectional diagnostic study.SettingAlzheimer's Disease Centers across the United States.ParticipantsOlder participants (≥50 years) who completed MoCA and the FNB (N = 9187).MeasuresThe study sample was split into two: the derivation sample (n = 1837) was used to develop a brief neuropsychological battery that best discriminated MCI/dementia (using the best-subset approach with 10-fold cross-validation); while the validation sample (n = 7350) verified its actual performance in discriminating MCI/dementia.ResultsA 3-item neuropsychological battery was identified, comprising MoCA, Benson Complex Figure Recall, and Craft Story 21 Delayed Recall. It had excellent performance in discriminating MCI/dementia from normal cognition (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] 90.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 89.2%-90.7%), which was comparable to that of the FNB (AUROC 88.4%, 95% CI 87.6%-89.2%). By contrast, MoCA alone had significantly worse AUROC (86.9%, 95% CI 86.0%-87.7%) than that of the FNB.Conclusions/ImplicationsUsing rigorous methods, this study developed a brief neuropsychological battery that maintained the brevity of a bedside cognitive test, while rivaling the diagnostic performance of an FNB in early cognitive impairment. This brief battery offers a viable alternative when the FNB is needed but cannot be feasibly administered in nonspecialty clinics. It can have a wider health systems effect of improving patients’ access to accurate diagnosis in early cognitive impairment and facilitating timely interventions to delay the progression of cognitive impairment.     

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A UNOS/OPTN Database Analysis

We previously reported poorer survival among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) compared to non-Hispanic whites at our center. In the current study, we hypothesized that these disparities would exist in a nationwide cohort of wait-listed patients with IPF. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 2635 patients with IPF listed for lung transplantation between 1995 and 2003 at 94 transplant centers in the United States. The age-adjusted mortality rate was higher among non-Hispanic blacks [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.45, p = 0.009] and Hispanics (HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.06-1.56, p = 0.01) compared to non-Hispanic whites. These findings persisted after adjustment for transplantation, medical comorbidities and socioeconomic status. Worse lung function at the time of listing appeared to explain some of these differences (HR for non-Hispanic blacks after adjustment for forced vital capacity percent predicted = 1.16, 95% CI 0.98-1.36, p = 0.09; HR for Hispanics = 1.21, 95% CI 0.99-1.48, p = 0.056). In summary, black and Hispanic patients with IPF have worse survival than whites after listing for lung transplant.     

复方碘酊消毒液中和剂试验研究

复方碘酊消毒液是含有20 g/L碘和1 g/L三氯羟基二苯醚的酒精溶液,为选择出合适的中和剂,采用化学中和法的悬液定量试验和滤膜冲洗及中和剂加滤膜冲洗法进行了试验研究。结果,硫代硫酸钠、硫代乙醇酸钠、吐温80、卵磷脂及其复方中和剂经悬液定量试验法和滤膜冲洗法,均不能中和复方碘酊消毒液对试验菌的残留作用。采用中和剂加滤膜冲洗法证明,用含5000 mg/L硫代硫酸钠+5000 mg/L吐温80+2000 mg/L硫代乙醇酸钠的磷酸盐缓冲液作为中和剂,均可有效去除复方碘酊消毒液对试验菌的残留作用;各中和剂及其中和产物对试验菌及培养基无不良影响。结论,选择复方碘酊消毒液的中和剂,不适宜用悬液定量试验法;宜采用滤膜过滤冲洗法。     

氯氮平和利培酮对精神分裂症患者体质量的影响

目的:探讨氯氮平和利培酮对精神分裂症患者体质量(体重)的影响及相关因素。方法:选择符合国际疾病分类第10版(ICD-10)精神分裂症的诊断标准,空腹血糖正常,无严重躯体疾病,1周内未用任何抗精神病药的住院患者,共计65例,其中利培酮组32例,氯氮平组33例。两组患者于治疗前和治疗6周末分别做葡萄糖耐量试验,测空腹血胰岛素,测量体质量、身高,计算体质量指数(BMI),评定阳性与阴性症状量表(PANSS)。结果:①治疗后体质量增加者氯氮平组24例(占72.7%),利培酮组19例(占59.4%);氯氮平组体质量平均增加2.5kg,利培酮组1.4kg;②氯氮平组体质量增加与进食量增加、胰岛素水平增加和PANSS评分减分率相关(P<0·05),体质量增加者餐后1h血糖升高;③利培酮组体质量增加与年龄、病程显著相关(P<0·05),与基础BMI存在负相关倾向;④两组治疗后均出现糖耐量减低(IGT)和暂时诊断糖尿病(DM)。结论:氯氮平和利培酮均能导致体质量增加,体质量增加更易对糖代谢造成不良影响。     

Strain difference in tolerance to low-temperature treatment of fertilized mouse oocytes

Background and Aims:  The aim of this study was to determine which mouse strains exhibit tolerance to cooling when fertilized oocytes have been stored at 4°C.
Methods:  In-vitro -fertilization-derived oocytes of eight mouse strains were incubated at 4°C in 20 mmol/L Hepes-potassium modified simplex optimized medium (KSOM) medium for 0, 24, 48, 60 or 72 h, and then returned to normal culture conditions at 37°C in KSOM medium. The rates of development of cultured oocytes into blastocysts and cell numbers of blastocysts were examined. In some cases, a Comet assay was carried out to evaluate DNA damage. In addition, the effects of β-mercaptoethanol on the development of the 4°C-treated oocytes were assessed.
Results:  Of the eight strains tested, BDF1, B6C3F1 and FVB/N strains exhibited relatively higher degrees of tolerance to 4°C treatment and approximately 90%, 83% and 78% of oocytes treated at 4°C for 48 h developed to morphologically normal blastocysts, respectively. Comet assay revealed no clear DNA damage in oocytes treated at 4°C. Treatment with β-mercaptoethanol failed to improve the in vitro survival rate of low-temperature-treated oocytes.
Conclusion:  Strain differences were observed in tolerance to cooling treatment when fertilized oocytes were temporarily treated with 4°C, although the reasons for this remain unclear. (Reprod Med Biol 2006; 5 : 43–50)     

Ames试验检测三硝基甲苯及其还原代谢产物的诱变性

应用Ａｍｅｓ试验检测系统观察了三硝基甲苯及其还原代谢产物４－羟氨基－２，６－二硝基甲苯（４－ＨＡ），４－氨基－２，６－二硝基甲苯（４－Ａ），２－氨基－４，６－二硝基甲苯（２－Ａ）和２，４－二氨基－６－硝基甲苯（２，４－ＤＡ）的诱变活性，实验结果显示，三硝基甲苯及其代谢产物具有明显的致突变作用，４－Ａ的直接诱变活性最强，而且移码型诱变性更为显著，在微粒体酶系统的参与下，ＴＮＴ的诱变活性增强，其代谢产     

103例角膜溃疡的病因和病原及药物敏感试验的统计分析

对１９９５年１—１２月间我院门诊１０３例角膜溃疡的病因、病原和药物敏感试验进行统计分析。病因：外伤５９例（５７．２８％），继发感染３４例（３３．０１％），原因不明８例（７．７７％），戴接触镜２例（１．９４％）。病原：真菌３５例（３３．９８％），绿脓杆菌１８例（１７．４８％），金黄色葡萄球菌１５例（１４．５６％），表皮葡萄球菌９例（８．７４％），淋球菌２例（１．９４％）。对１９例真菌性角膜溃疡同时进行细菌培养，有７例为混合感染，占３６．８４％。对几种主要检出菌的药物敏感试验表明：它们对普通抗菌素均可产生一定的耐药性