Effect of impaired recognition and expression of emotions on frontocingulate cortices: an fMRI study of men with alexithymia

OBJECTIVE: Although the brain areas involved in emotional response and in the recognition of others' emotions have been reported, the neural bases of individual differences in affective style remain to be elucidated. Alexithymia, i.e., impairment of the ability to identify and communicate one's emotional state, influences how emotions are regulated. Alexithymia has been hypothesized to involve anterior cingulate dysfunction. Therefore, the authors searched for differential cerebral regional activation in response to emotional stimuli in subjects with alexithymia. METHOD: Two groups of eight men each were selected from 437 healthy subjects on the basis of high or low scores on the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the authors compared the two groups for their regional cerebral activation in response to the presentation of pictures with validated positive or negative arousal capabilities. RESULTS: Men with alexithymia demonstrated less cerebral activation in the left mediofrontal-paracingulate cortex in response to highly negative stimuli and more activation in the anterior cingulate, mediofrontal cortex, and middle frontal gyrus in response to highly positive stimuli than men without alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide direct evidence that alexithymia, a personality trait playing a role in affect regulation, is linked with differences in anterior cingulate and mediofrontal activity during emotional stimuli processing.     

Feasibility of azithromycin prophylaxis during a pertussis outbreak among healthcare workers in a university hospital in Paris.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of azithromycin prophylaxis with respect to tolerability and compliance during a pertussis outbreak among healthcare workers in a university hospital ward. Compliance with the prophylaxis regimen was 89%; compliance was 75% from intent-to-treat perspective. The rate of adverse events was 33%. Female sex was associated with reporting of adverse events. Nonstudents and healthcare workers who reported adverse events were less compliant with the prophylaxis regimen.     

community-acquired infection with healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: the role of home nursing care.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand the role of indirect transmission in community-acquired infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). DESIGN: Prospective case-control study. SETTING: A French teaching hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 198 case patients and 198 control patients with MRSA or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus infection diagnosed between April 2002 and July 2003. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed a highly significant independent link between MRSA infection at admission and prior receipt of home nursing care (odds ratio [OR], 3.7; P<.001). Other independent risk factors were prior hospitalization (OR, 3.8; P<.001), transfer from another institution (OR, 2.3; P=.008), and age older than 65 years (OR, 1.6; P=.04). Prior home nursing care showed a frequency dose-response relationship. Eleven MRSA-infected patients had had home nursing procedures but no hospital stay in the previous 3 years. These patients' MRSA strains were related to the prevalent MRSA clone currently spreading in French hospitals. CONCLUSION: Home nursing care appears to be an independent risk factor for MRSA acquisition in the community. The reservoir probably consists of MRSA carriers discharged from the hospital. Community nurses seem to be a potential vector.     

Mapping dynamic concentration profiles with micrometric resolution near an active microscopic surface by confocal resonance Raman microscopy. Application to diffusion near ultramicroelectrodes: first direct evidence for a conproportionation reaction

Confocal Raman microspectroscopy is a very efficient means for probing the molecular composition of micrometric-sized samples. Its coupling with Raman resonance spectroscopy allows the specific tracking of very dilute species by considerably enhancing its Raman bands. Thus, spatially resolved information on the chemical composition of diffusion layers, which build up spontaneously near an active surface placed in a solution, can be obtained with a micrometric resolution. In this work, the applicability of the method for imaging diffusional transport towards ultramicroelectrodes with a micrometric resolution is examined. The efficiency and versatility of confocal resonance Raman microspectroscopy have been tested by probing the composition of the two different diffusion layers which build up in the vicinity of an ultramicroelectrode during the reduction of tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) on its first or second electrochemical wave. Besides the establishment of the method, this work affords the first direct experimental evidence of the existence and role of conproportionation reactions, which take place on the second reduction wave of EE electrochemical systems. In both cases, the concentration profiles of the radical anion TCNQ^? agree extremely well with the theoretical predictions.     

Pure-tone threshold description of an elderly French screened population.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the distribution of pure-tone hearing thresholds of a Caucasian population living in the south of France aged 70 years and older. To establish age- and sex-adjusted normative hearing thresholds based on results of subjects free of noise and ototoxic drug exposure and to compare them with hearing thresholds of exposed (E) subjects. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a longitudinal epidemiologic cohort study. SETTING: Montpellier suburb, south of France. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 778 subjects 70 years old and older were examined. Noise exposure, ototoxic medication use, and medical history were collected. Hearing thresholds were obtained via pure-tone audiometry. After excluding patients with ear-related disease, 659 subjects were further analyzed (270 men and 389 women). Noise or ototoxic medication exposure was found in 364 subjects (E subjects), whereas 295 had no exposure (nonexposed [NE] subjects). METHODS: Median pure-tone thresholds, lower deviation, and upper deviation were calculated for the NE subjects with a statistical method similar to the ISO 7029 norm and were compared with thresholds of E subjects. RESULTS: Hearing thresholds, especially in high frequencies, increased with age more for women than for men. Median thresholds of E subjects were significantly higher than those for the NE sample in men. CONCLUSION: Age- and sex-adjusted hearing thresholds could well be useful in the study of the impact of environmental and genetic factors on hearing loss in the elderly. The next step would be to quantify the impact of noise, ototoxic drug exposure, and genetics using these age- and sex-adjusted thresholds.     

Homology Models of the C Domains of Blood Coagulation Factors V and VIII: A Proposed Membrane Binding Mode for FV and FVIII C2 Domains

ABSTRACT: We present homology models of the C domains of coagulation factors V (FV) and VIII (FVIII). Using a threading approach, we identified the binding domain of galactose oxidase as an appropriate template for each C domain. The C1 and C2 domains of FV associate to form an elongated cylinder of 80Å long and 30Å diameter. The folding unit is a β-sandwich with a long axis of 40Å and a diameter of 30Å. The current model allows us to propose a membrane binding mode for the C2 domains of FV and FVIII with three major characteristics: 1) solvent-exposed hydrophobic side chains from three loops at one end of the β-sandwich are buried in the hydrophobic layer of the outer phospholipid leaflet; 2) a crown of positively charged residues is located in the polar zone of the phospholipid head groups; and 3) the long axis of the β-sandwich of the C2 domain is perpendicular to the plane of the membrane. This proposal satisfies experimentally observed characteristics of membrane binding for the C2 domain and the light chain of FVa.     

Effects of the cold pressor test on short-term fluctuations of finger arterial blood pressure and heart rate in normal subjects

The effect of the cold pressor test on autonomic cardiovascular control was studied non-invasively by means of spectrum analysis of periodic heart rate and blood pressure fluctuations in ten normal subjects. Fast Fourier Transform algorithm based on a 256-point time series (sampling rate 2 Hz, i.e. 2-min and 8-s) was used to estimate the amplitude spectra of heart rate and blood pressure rhythmicity at the low frequency (70–140 mHz) and respiration related frequency (230–270 mHz) band. Respiration rate was controlled at 250 mHz. Auto- and cross-spectral techniques were used to determine the complex relationship between systolic blood pressure and heart rate fluctuations in the frequency domain. The spectral pattern of systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a marked increment of the absolute and relative (100 multiplied with absolute value/total area under the curve of the amplitude spectrum from 15–500 mHz) low frequency component: control vs. cold pressor test—systolic blood pressure—absolute values (in [mmHg/Hz^1/2]): 634.4 ± 48.9 vs. 827.4 ± 69.9* relative values (in [%]): 26 ± 2 vs. 32 ± 2*; diastolic blood pressure —absolute values: 433.2 ± 42.3 vs. 537.2 ± 45.8* relative values: 35 ± 3 vs. 40 ± 2*, (average ± SEM, *P < 0.05). The cold pressor test induced no change in average heart rate; the absolute low frequency component in heart rate spectra increased clearly during the test: low frequency component (in [bpm/Hz^1/2]): 586.9 ± 89.9 vs. 712.0 ± 91.4*, while the relative low frequency component did not change: 29 ± 3 vs. 30 ± 3. There was no alteration in the respiration related frequency component in all time series and in the transfer gain and phase functions during cold pressor test. We conclude that the cold pressor test increases low frequency systolic blood pressure fluctuations which reflects an increase in sympathetic vasomotor control. Furthermore the cold pressor test does not induce change in the transfer gain and phase characteristics of modulation of heart rate by systolic blood pressure.     

Circannual variations of GABA content in cytosolic and crude synaptosomal fractions in some brain areas of the european hamster

In the European hamster,Cricetus cricetus, a common hibernator, over a year, the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content has been followed, in the cytosolic and crude synaptosomal fractions of the olfactocy bulbs, hypothalamus and cerebellum. In these 3 areas, the GABA content shows circannual variations of endogenous origin: in this period, in both fractions two peaks can be observed, at the beginning of spring and in autumn. These circannual variations do not follow the circannual variation of food intake or body weight.