Neuropathological Diagnostic Criteria for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and Other Human Spongiform Encephalopathies (Prion Diseases)

Neuropathological diagnostic criteria for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and other human transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (prion diseases) are proposed for the following disease entities: CJD - sporadic, iatrogenic (recognised risk) or familial (same disease in 1st degree relative): spongiform encephalopathy in cerebral and/or cerebellar cortex and/or subcortical grey matter; or encephalopathy with prion protein (PrP) immuno-reactivity (plaque and/or diffuse synaptic and/or patchy/perivacuolar types). Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) (in family with dominantly inherited progressive ataxia and/or dementia): encephalo(myelo)pathy with multicentric PrP plaques. Familial fatal insomnia (FFI) (in member of a family with PRNP178 mutation): thalamic degeneration, variable spongiform change in cerebrum. Kuru (in the Fore population). Without PrP data, the crucial feature is the spongiform change accompanied by neuronal loss and gliosis. This spongiform change is characterised by diffuse or focally clustered small round or oval vacuoles in the neuropil of the deep cortical layers, cerebellar cortex or subcortical grey matter, which might become confluent. Spongiform change should not be confused with non-specific spon-giosis. This includes status spongiosus (“spongiform state”), comprising irregular cavities in gliotic neuropil following extensive neuronal loss (including also lesions of “burnt-out” CJD), “spongy” changes in brain oedema and metabolic encephalopathies, and artefacts such as superficial cortical, perineuronal, or perivascular vacuolation; focal changes indistinguishable from spongiform change may occur in some cases of Alzheimer's and diffuse Lewy body diseases. Very rare cases might not be diagnosed by these criteria. Then confirmation must be sought by additional techniques such as PrP immunoblotting, preparations for electron microscopic examination of scrapie associated fibrils (SAF), molecular biologic studies, or experimental transmission.     

Use of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in a community sample

The authors assessed the prevalence of Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) clusters in a community sample and the association between these syndromes and psychosocial variables. A group of 347 consecutive subjects from the general population were administered the semistructured interview for DCPR and a self-rating scale (the Psychosocial Index). A DCPR syndrome was identified in 59% of subjects. These subjects showed more stress and distress and less well-being than those without a DCPR syndrome. Some DCPR syndromes (alexithymia, Type A behavior, irritable mood) are frequently encountered in a community sample and are associated with impairment in quality of life. Other syndromes (demoralization, persistent somatization) that have been frequently found in medically ill persons were uncommon in this general-population sample.     

How Developmental Psychopathology Theory and Research Can Inform the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project

The recently proposed Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project has the potential to stimulate new research and overcome many of the limitations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders taxonomy. In the present article we focus, in three main sections, on how theory and research from developmental psychopathology can inform RDoC. First, we discuss the ontology of mental illness and the potential advantages of the RDoC approach to understanding the nature of mental illness. Second, we note potential issues to consider when implementing the RDoC framework, including (a) integrating developmental processes, (b) classifying mental illness within a dimensional approach, and (c) avoiding problems associated with biological reductionism. Third, we describe how a developmental psychopathology perspective may inform each of these potential issues within RDoC. Finally, we highlight the study of emotion and the centrality of affective processes within the RDoC framework. Specifically, we describe how constructionist models of emotion are consistent with developmental psychopathology and how this perspective on emotion can help to guide RDoC research.     

人在摔倒时股骨上端承载能力的有限元分析——(I)有限元分析模型及股骨失效准则的建立

摔跤后,骨折已成为老年人最严重的损伤之一。有限元分析被证实在股骨的结构分析中是一项非常有用的工具。我们建立了股骨上端的有限元模型,并基于有关文献中关于股骨密质骨和松质骨的强度实验数据建立了Hoffm an失效准则。有限元模型和失效准则用前人的实验结果进行了验证。结果表明:预测的松质骨失效载荷仅比实验值低0.5%,而密质骨失效载荷仅比实验值高4.2%。这说明我们建立的有限元模型结合Hoffm an失效准则将很好地预测人摔倒时股骨的承载能力。     

Criteria for diagnosing DIC

The differences between reagents of prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen and fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products(FDP) were examined in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and without DIC. The sensitivity of the PT ratio for DIC is lowered by the PT reagent with a high international sensitivity index, and the difference between PT reagents was marked. The sensitivity of PT-international normalized ratio (INR) for DIC was higher than that of the PT ratio and the difference between reagents in PT-INR was low. Though the difference between reagents for fibrinogen is slight, the usefulness in diagnosing DIC is also slight. Though the sensitivity of FDP for DIC was good, the difference between FDP reagents was marked. Therefore, standardization of PT and FDP seems to be necessary. Concordance of overt-DIC diagnostic criteria by the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) and DIC diagnostic criteria of Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare (JMHW) was about 70%, and overt-DIC diagnostic criteria of ISTH seemed to diagnose the typical type of DIC diagnosed by JMHW criteria. Finally, the diagnostic criteria of non-overt DIC are expected to become increasingly important.     

Performance Evaluation of Five Different Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) Diagnostic Criteria for Predicting Mortality in Patients with Complicated Sepsis

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a major complication in sepsis patients. We compared the performance of five DIC diagnostic criteria, focusing on the prediction of mortality. One hundred patients with severe sepsis or septic shock admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled. Routine DIC laboratory tests were performed over the first 4 days after admission. The overall ICU and 28-day mortality in DIC patients diagnosed from five criteria (International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis [ISTH], the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine [JAAM], the revised JAAM [R-JAAM], the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare [JMHW] and the Korean Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis [KSTH]) were compared. Both KSTH and JMHW criteria showed superior performance than ISTH, JAAM and R-JAAM criteria in the prediction of overall ICU mortality in DIC patients (odds ratio 3.828 and 5.181, P = 0.018 and 0.006, 95% confidence interval 1.256–11.667 and 1.622–16.554, respectively) when applied at day 1 after admission, and survival analysis demonstrated significant prognostic impact of KSTH and JMHW criteria on the prediction of 28-day mortality (P = 0.007 and 0.049, respectively) when applied at day 1 after admission. In conclusion, both KSTH and JMHW criteria would be more useful than other three criteria in predicting prognosis in DIC patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.     

Pathomorphological Criteria of Arrhythmogenic Heart

Pathomorphological criteria of arrhythmogenic heart include structural compartmentalization with primary changes in the right ventricle and interventricular septum, fibro- and lipomatosis of the myocardium, and disseminated coronary obstruction. Ischemic focuses in the conducting system are the site of formation of arrhythmogenic substance promoting the development and progression of cardiac arrhythmias. Cardioneuropathy and pathological motility of the interventricular septum lead to systolic dysfunction and contribute to asynchronous excitation and contraction of ventricles in arrhythmogenic heart.     

Antibacterial Activity of Moxifloxacin (Bay 12-8039) against Aerobic Clinical Isolates, and Provisional Criteria for Disk Susceptibility Tests

 Moxifloxacin (Bay 12–8039), ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin were compared in vitro against 1074 clinical isolates gathered from different medical centers throughout North America during the winter months of 1997. Moxifloxacin E tests and broth microdilution tests gave comparable results. Moxifloxacin was particularly potent against respiratory pathogens such as Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Ciprofloxacin was the most potent study drug against the family of Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp. For tests of 5 μg moxifloxacin disks, zone size criteria of ≤17 mm for resistant (MIC ≥8 μg/ml) and ≥21 mm for susceptible (MIC ≤2 μg/ml) are provisionally proposed for use while clinical trials are under way.     

Validity of Interpretation Criteria for Standardized Western Blots (Immunoblots) for Serodiagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis Based on Sera Collected throughout Europe

Western blotting (WB; immunoblotting) is a widely used tool for the serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB), but so far, no generally accepted criteria for performance and interpretation have been established in Europe. The current study was preceeded by a detailed analysis of WB with whole-cell lysates of three species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (U. Hauser, G. Lehnert, R. Lobentanzer, and B. Wilske, J. Clin. Microbiol. 35:1433-1444, 1997). In that study, interpretation criteria for a positive WB result were developed with the data for 330 serum samples (from patients with LB in different stages [n = 189] and from a control group [n = 141]) originating mostly from southern Germany. In the present work, the interpretation criteria for strains PKo (Borrelia afzelii) and PBi (Borrelia garinii) developed in the previous study were reevaluated with 224 serum samples (from patients with LB in different stages [n = 97] and from a control group [n = 127]) originating from throughout Europe that were provided by the European Union Concerted Action on Lyme Borreliosis (EUCALB). De novo criteria were developed on the basis of the reactivities of the EUCALB sera and were evaluated with the data for the samples from southern Germany. Comparison of all results led to the following recommendations: For WB for immunoglobulin G (IgG), at least two bands among p83/100, p58, p43, p39, p30, OspC, p21, p17, and p14 for PKo and at least one band among p83/100, p39, p30, OspC, p21, and p17b for PBi; for WB for IgM, at least one band among p39, OspC, and p17 or a strong p41 band for PKo and at least one band among p39 and OspC or a strong p41 band for PBi. WB with PKo was the most sensitive, and this strain is recommended for use in WB for the serodiagnosis of LB throughout Europe.     

Criteria for psychotherapeutic outcome.

In an attempt to investigate the results of a variety of psychotherapies offered in the psychiatric clinic of the Beth Israel Hospital, we have used twelve outcome criteria for improvement. Findings on 53 patients treated by 14 therapists are presented, and a tentative comparison is made between a homogeneous group of patients who received short-term and long-term psychotherapies. Although a somewhat higher percentage of the long-term patients obtained symptomatic improvement compared to the short-term ones, impressive changes in motivation for change, self-esteem and interpersonal relations seem to have taken place in the short-term psychotherapy group.     

Myoepithelioma: Definitions and Diagnostic Criteria

Due to their infrequency and multiplicity of histopathology, myoepitheliomas present difficulties in diagnosis and classification. Cellular varieties can be misdiagnosed as malignancies. Improvements in and clarification of diagnostic criteria are, therefore, required. A key to determining diagnostic criteria for myoepitheliomas is to study cellular morphology, cytoplasmic filament expression, and ultrastructural features of the nonluminal, i.e., neoplastic myoepithelial/basal, tumor cells of pleomorphic adenomas, and apply this information to defining myoepitheliomas. Cytologic and growth patterns of nonluminal cells in pleomorphic adenomas, including plasmacytoid cells, are reflected in myoepitheliomas. Results also indicate that muscle-specific actin and myofilaments are expressed only in a proportion of cases, and generally in not more than 60-70% of nonluminal cells in pleomorphic adenoma; this also applies to benign and malignant myoepitheliomas. The absence of these markers does not exclude a diagnosis of myoepithelioma. Vimentin and glial acidic fibrillary protein, however, are strongly and diffusely expressed in the majority of pleomorphic adenomas and myoepitheliomas and are more reliable markers for these tumors than muscle-specific actin. Like so many other salivary gland tumors, myoepitheliomas present an equally complex histomorphology and variable expression of antigenic markers, only some of which are associated with myoepithelial and basal cells of the acini and ducts of the normal salivary gland.