Preparation and immunological determination of rat antithrombin III

Antithrombin III was purified from rat plasma to a single component by the procedures including polyethylene glycol precipitation, affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose, isoelectric focusing and polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. Rat antithrombin III was found to be a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of about 6.4 × 10⁴ daltons and a pI of 4.85.

The purified rat antithrombin III was injected to rabbits to produce specific antibody, which was found to cross-react with a plasma component, probably antithrombin III, of mice, monkeys and humans but not with guinea pig and dog plasmas.

The specific antiserum was applied to immunological determination of plasma antithrombin III levels in rats to find that antithrombin III was significantly increased with a minor increase in its complexed form during thrombus formation in an experimental venous thrombosis which was induced by insertion of a stainless steel wire coil into the inferior vena cava. The increase in antithrombin III, most of which was in free form, was thought to be a response to local inflammation due to the operation, because a similar elevation of plasma antithrombin III was observed with sham-operated rats.     

A portable,automated device applied to training a hyperactive child

Previously, devices on controlling hyperactivity through automated behavior modification procedures were not employed in generalization training because their use was limited to the time the subject spent in the experimental setting. The present study evaluated a portable device designed to overcome this limitation. It was worn by the subject and contained a mercury switch sensor that responded to a postural orientation consistent with in-seat behavior. It also had a timer-controlled buzzer that was automatically activated at the end of 2-min periods of continuous sitting. The buzzing tone was terminated when the subject pressed a reset button that started a new timing cycle. At the end of a 20-min period, he received one cent for each buzzer activation. This procedure was successfully applied to increase the in-seat behavior of a hyperactive boy. Once control was established with the automated device, it was transferred to a kitchen timer which, in turn, was successfully faded out.     

Embolic Pontine Infarction in a Nonhypertensive Patient Following Coronary Angioplasty

A 63-year-old woman was found to have decreased vibration, light touch, and proprioception sensations in the right hemibody, following cardiac angioplasty. The patient was not hypertensive although she had a h1story of hypercholesterolemia and was a smoker. Magnetic resonance images of the brain demonstrated abnormal signal intensity in the left paramedian basis pons anterior to the fourth ventricle. The lesion was believed to be consistent with a lacunar infarction. Unlike this woman, the majority of patients who have a small-vessel stroke are usually diabetic or hypertensive. The interesting features here were that the stroke was a complication of coronary angioplasty, was cardioembolic to the pons, and was falsely localized to the thalamus. In addition, rarely does an embolic stroke involve a single brainstem tract     

A Lie and a Mistress: On Increasing the Believability of Your Alibi

The present study was designed to assess whether or not the presentation method and the salaciousness of an alibi affect its evaluation. Community participants (n = 150) were asked to evaluate the salacious or non-salacious alibi of a crime suspect. The alibi was either presented immediately after arrest by the suspect or was changed after the initial alibi turned out to be incorrect. The incorrect alibi was due to either a misrecollection or a deliberate lie. We found that when the initial alibi was changed into a salacious one, the believability increased. This effect was larger when the initial alibi was a lie than when it was a misrecollection. The results of the present study demonstrate that, contrary to common belief, a changed salacious alibi can lead to an increase in alibi believability.     

Surgical treatment of experimental limbic status epilepticus

Limbic status epilepticus was induced by means of a KA microinjection into unilateral amygdala, and the focus extirpation (amygdalotomy) was made in order to examine whether the status was suppressed or not. The amygdalotomy was effective when the status was mild and the focus was circumscribed to the amygdala. However, the surgery was no more effective when a severe limbic status was induced and a secondary epileptogenic focus was established. Within 8 hours after induction of the limbic status, neuronal cell damage was observed in the pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampus.     

Short-term memory storage and retention: an event-related brain potential study.

This experiment was concerned with event-related brain potential (ERP) activity related to short-term storage and retention of information in working memory. Our approach was to record the ERPs elicited by a stimulus that had to be memorized while varying the number of items (1, 3 or 6) in the task stimulus. In order to distinguish between ERP effects associated with perceptual complexity and retention of information, there was a second condition in which subjects were required to search the task stimulus for a match with a previously presented item. Thus, in the search condition subjects only had to remember one item (match or mismatch). ERP activity was recorded for 2450 msec after task stimulus offset. Two long-duration components varied as a function of task and memory load: a posterior positive wave and a frontal negative wave. Posterior positive wave amplitude was directly related to information load in the memory task but was negligible in the search task. Following the posterior positive wave was a frontal negative wave which occurred at the highest load level in the memory task but was totally absent in the search task. A P3b was elicited in both tasks. P3b was sensitive to information acquisition processes, but it did not distinguish between memory retention and visual search processes. While P3b amplitude did not vary with task or load, its latency increased with load in both tasks.     

Auditory short-term memory in the Japanese monkey

Auditory short-term memory in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) was studied using a GO/NO GO auditory delayed matching to sample task. Three temporal parameters: delay interval, intertrial interval and sample stimulus duration were manipulated. Delayed matching performance deteriorated as the delay interval was lengthened, and reached a near chance level at 16 sec. Longer intertrial intervals and sample duration ameliorated performance. When the number of the sample stimulus was increased to 3 tones to examine a serial position effect, a primary effect was not observed, although a recency effect was obtained. The fragility of auditory delayed matching performance was discussed.     

75Se-seleno-methionine-actin as a probe for determination of platelet production rate

Synthesis of actin is a reasonably correct representation of the platelet production rate. Measurement of actin production obviates some of the drawbacks encountered in currently available methods. Platelet actin was characterized on polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses using methylated radioactive rabbit actin as a reference. Platelet actin was unambiguously identified by showing that it forms a complex with DNAase-I similar to the complex obtained with pure rabbit actin. Six days after intravenous injection of 75Se-seleno-methionine actin was one of the most highly labelled platelet components. The platelet pellet (one rat per sample) was solubilized with 1% Triton X-100, 0.75 M guanidine-HCl and dialyzed in a medium containing 1% SDS (to eliminate Triton X-100 and guanidine-HCl). A carefully measured aliquot was deposited on a polyacrylamide gel. After electrophoresis in the presence of SDS the radioactivity of the actin band was measured and the ratio of the total actin radioactivity to the injected radioactivity was taken as a measure of platelet production. The validity of the actin probe was tested with populations of normal animals. The specific radioactivity of actin was proportional to the injected dose of 75Se-seleno-methionine up to 1 mCi/kg animal. A semi-log plot of actin specific radioactivity vs time exhibited a pseudo-first order decrease. Another constituent with a high specific radioactivity (XM) was excluded as a suitable probe because it was shown to be an adsorbed plasma protein.     

Double-blind test on the efficacy of methylcobalamin on sleep–wake rhythm disorders

The therapeutic effect of methylcobalamin (Met-12) on sleep-wake rhythm disorders was examined in a double-blind test. In the test group which was given a large dosage, a higher percentage of improvement was found compared to the control group with a small dosage, although the difference was not significant. The test group inconsistently showed significant improvement in both the sleep-wake cycle parameters and in clinical symptoms. The tendency was for the results to show a beneficial effect of Met-12 on rhythm disorders. However, because the percentage of improvement was low and significant improvement was inconsistent, Met-12 might be considered to have a low therapeutic potency and possible use as a booster for other treatment methods of the disorders.     

Photodynamic therapy of malignant brain tumours

Fifty patients with malignant supratentorial tumours were treated with intra-operative photodynamic therapy (PDT); in 33 cases the tumour was recurrent. In 45 patients the tumour was a cerebral glioma and in 5 cases a solitary cerebral metastasis. All patients received a porphyrin photosensitizer 18-24 hours pre-operatively. Photoillumination was carried out at 630 nm to a tumour cavity created by radical tumour resection and/or tumour cyst drainage. The light energy density ranged from 8 to 175 J/cm2. In 8 patients additional interstitial light was administered. The operative mortality was 4%. Follow up has ranged from 1 to 30 months. The median survival for the 45 primary malignant tumours was 8.6 months with a 1 and 2 year actuarial survival rate of 32% and 18%, respectively. In 12 patients a complete or near complete CT scan response was identified post PDT. These patients tended to have a tumour geometry (eg. cystic) that allowed complete or near complete light distribution to the tumour. The median survival for this group was 17.1 months with a 1 and 2 year actuarial survival of 62% and 38%, respectively. In the 33 cases who did not have a complete response the median survival was 6.5 months with a 1 and 2 year actuarial survival of 22% and 11%, respectively. Photodynamic therapy of malignant brain tumours can be carried out with acceptable risk. Good responses appear to be related to adequate light delivery to the tumour.     

La nostalgie : psychopathologie de l’exil et du paradis perdu

In 1688, the Swiss physician Johanus Hoferus created a medical neologism: nostalgia, which was to become widely used. It was conceived as an illness caused by exile from the mother country. It was characterized by fevers, consumption and depression, which could become lethal and was due to a painful desire to return to their homeland. Initially it was a typical condition of Swiss mercenaries. Then the term was extended to all soldiers exposed to similar harsh, frightful and isolation circumstances, especially during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars; then to all dramatically displaced populations. It was considered as an equivalent of bereavement and melancholia, severe stress and impossibility to cope. This psychopathological model was applied to the million French Algerians (pieds-noirs) who had to leave their native country suddenly in dramatic conditions in the wake of the civil war for independence.     

Effects of left parietal injury on covert orienting of attention

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of left parietal injury on covert visual attention during a detection task and a pointing task. METHODS: The Posner's paradigm was given to a patient who was found at the age of 74 to have spent all his life without the left parietal lobe as a result of a congenital perinatal insult and to a control subject. In one session subjects were required to provide an arbitrary response at stimulus appearance (key press). In another session subjects were required to point to the stimulus. RESULTS: The patient was able to disengage covert attention from a cued position when the task was to provide an arbitrary key press response in a similar fashion to a control subject with no neurological deficits. By contrast, he was impaired in disengaging attention from a cued position when the task was to reprogramme an overt pointing action. CONCLUSIONS: Response to cued information is differentially available depending on task. It is suggested that mechanisms concerned with the attention for action systems are located within the left parietal lobe.     

Summation of arousal in partial fetishism

A summation model of classical conditioning was used to describe the deviant sexual arousal pattern of a male psychiatric patient. Penile assessment showed a response to a compound stimulus (radio static plus a picture of a woman) that was approximately equal to the sum of the responses to each component alone. The subject's self-report of sexual arousal followed a similar pattern. A distinction was made between total and patial fetishism. It was suggested that what may be particularly troublesome in partial fetishism is the potential for high levels of summated arousal.     

Truly a team effort

Jane was a healthy 16 year old girl who attended a high school dance and subsequently had a grand mal seizure--her first! She was taken home, developed a decreasing level of consciousness and was admitted to the local hospital, where it progressed to status epilepticus. We will describe the classifications of seizures including status epilepticus, which demands the highest level of clinical expertise and attention to preventative medicine, for a desirable outcome. During the eleven months of care a massive multi disciplinary team approach was instituted which extended across borders. Jane's story demonstrates a truly Neuroscience team effort from acute care to a rehabilitation center to home.     

Reading aloud as rehabilitation method for children with dyslexia detected at the first grade in their primary school

We provided reading aloud instructions to a child who was diagnosed with dyslexia in a regular class of 69 first graders, comprising 33 boys and 36 girls, during a test of reading sentences aloud. The instructions consisted of a 2-step approach, i.e., decoding instruction and vocabulary instruction. First, a decoding instruction, which emphasized an important point in effortless decoding, was presented to the child. Next, a vocabulary instruction, which aimed to facilitate word-form recognition, was provided. We found that, the decoding instruction was effective in decreasing the number of reading errors, and that the vocabulary instruction was effective against reducing the time taken to read aloud.     

Enhanced nociceptive behaviour following conditioning injection of formalin in the perioral area of the rat

The possible existence of long-term modifications in response to a transient nociceptive conditioning stimulation was investigated in the rat in three experiments. (1) A nociceptive conditioning stimulus was delivered in the form of a s.c. formalin injection (conditioning injection) in the left upper lip. Evaluation of the nociceptive behaviour triggered by another formalin injection (testing injection) made in the controlateral right upper lip was carried out in distinct groups of rats 7, 14 or 28 days after the conditioning. An enhanced nociceptive response at days 7 and 14 and a return to the baseline at day 28 were observed. (2) A similar protocol was developed with formalin used for both conditioning and testing but an anaesthetic blockade of the infraorbital nerve was performed just before the conditioning injection to suppress the initial barrage. The change observed at day 7 was suppressed by the nerve block. (3) A conditioning nociceptive stimulus was applied either ipsilaterally to the right lower lip or to the tail. An increased nociceptive response was observed when the conditioning stimulus was applied to the same side as the test stimulus but no increase in the formalin test response was detected when the conditioning stimulus was applied to the tail. These results indicated that, after a single formalin injection in the left upper lip, a hyperexcitability developed that depended on the initial barrage, lasted for at least 2 weeks, was no longer present at 4 weeks and might rely on a segmental mechanism. The hypothesis of a central sensitization triggered by an initial barrage and maintained by an ongoing input induced from the periphery is discussed.     

Force transition control within a movement sequence in parkinson's disease

Summary An experiment was performed which examined movement planning and force transition control in six patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) during a sequence of five finger taps at either a fast (200 ms) or slow (600 ms) temporal speed. The patients acted as their own controls and performed finger taps under three task conditions: (1) where all taps had to be of the same force intensity: no stress; (2) where it was known that one of the taps had to be executed with an augmented force: stress simple reaction time (SRT); and (3) where it was not known prior to initiation which one of the taps was to be more forcefully produced: stress choice reaction time (CRT). Reaction time data revealed a between-condition effect where stress SRT was faster than stress CRT and no stress was faster than both. Under both speed conditions, the interval after the stressed tap was profoundly lengthened. It was found that the lengthening was due to increases in both lift and dwell times for the slow tapping rate. In contrast, at the fast tapping rate, proportionately more of the interval increase was due to the increase in lift time. These findings suggest that patients with Parkinsons disease, when performing under a motor program mode, have difficulty in initiating a sequence and making a transition to lighter force levels after a stressed tap.This research was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, grant no. NS17421     

No correlation between cerebral blood flow and neurologic recovery after reversible total cerebral ischemia in the dog

This study was conducted to determine if regional cerebral flow during the first day after total cerebral ischemia was correlated with neurologic deficit and eventual survival. Dogs were subjected to 11 min of total cerebral ischemia (TCI) produced by an arterial and venous double balloon occlusion method. Recovery was allowed for up to 7 days after reperfusion, whereupon it was reassessed in survivors. Blood flow, determined by the radiolabeled microsphere method, was determined before TCI and at times up to 24 h after reperfusion. Blood flow during reperfusion after TCI followed the expected pattern of immediate hyperperfusion followed by prolonged hypoperfusion. TCI of 11 min duration resulted in a 50% mortality rate by 1 week. No positive correlation between magnitude or duration of hypoperfusion and neurologic deficit or mortality was found. It was concluded that improved postischemic blood flow cannot be used as a criterion for assessing drug therapy without reference to metabolic demand. The observation of a statistical correlation between dogs that survived and lower hematocrit was reported. It was suggested that the prolonged hypoperfusion encountered after TCI was not pathological, but rather served as a mechanism to limit oxygen exposure to the brain during a vulnerable period and, thus, was part of a controlled attempt at recovery of function by the central nervous system.     

Phonological naming therapy in jargon aphasia: positive but paradoxical effects.

This article is a single-case investigation of phonological naming therapy. The individual involved had fluent jargon speech, with neologisms, verbal paraphasias, and paragrammatisms. The jargon was underpinned by a severe anomia. Content words were rarely accessed either in spontaneous speech or naming. Single word investigations highlighted some preserved skills. Auditory comprehension, at least for concrete words, was relatively intact and although nonwords could not be repeated, words could, and at a level which was far superior to naming. The patient also had some ability to respond to phonological cues. These results suggested that phonological representations were preserved and that there were some intact semantic abilities. It seemed that the naming disorder was primarily due to an inability to access phonology from semantics. Therapy took a phonological approach. The patient was encouraged to reflect upon the syllabic structure and first phoneme of pictured targets. Subsequently, she was required to use this partial phonological knowledge as a self-cue. It was hypothesized that this therapy might equip the subject with a self-cuing naming strategy. Posttherapy investigations of naming demonstrated dramatic improvements, which generalized to untreated items. However, there was little evidence that these were due to a self cuing strategy. Performance on phonological judgment and discrimination assessments, which required conscious phonological reflection, was unchanged, and there were no signs that the patient was self-cuing during naming. Reasons for these paradoxical results are discussed.