Cholinergic modulation of intrinsic fibre-evoked excitatory transmission contains a nicotinic component in immature but not adult rat piriform cortex, in vitro

The piriform cortex (PC) is highly prone to epileptogenesis, particularly in immature animals, where decreased muscarinic modulation of PC intrinsic fibre excitatory neurotransmission is implicated as a likely cause. However, whether higher levels of acetylcholine (ACh) release occur in immature vs. adult PC remains unclear. We investigated this using in vitro extracellular electrophysiological recording techniques. Intrinsic fibre-evoked extracellular field potentials (EFPs) were recorded from layers II to III in PC brain slices prepared from immature (P14–18) and adult (P > 40) rats. Adult and immature PC EFPs were suppressed by eserine (1 μM) or neostigmine (1 μM) application, with a greater suppression in immature (∼40%) than adult (∼30%) slices. Subsequent application of atropine (1 μM) reversed EFP suppression, producing supranormal (∼12%) recovery in adult slices, suggesting that suppression was solely muscarinic ACh receptor-mediated and that some ‘basal’ cholinergic ‘tone’ was present. Conversely, atropine only partially reversed anticholinesterase effects in immature slices, suggesting the presence of additional non-muscarinic modulation. Accordingly, nicotine (50 μM) caused immature field suppression (∼30%) that was further enhanced by neostigmine, whereas it had no effect on adult EFPs. Unlike atropine, nicotinic antagonists, mecamylamine and methyllycaconitine, induced immature supranormal field recovery (∼20%) following anticholinesterase-induced suppression (with no effect on adult slices), confirming that basal cholinergic ‘tone’ was also present. We suggest that nicotinic inhibitory cholinergic modulation occurs in the immature rat PC intrinsic excitatory fibre system, possibly to complement the existing, weak muscarinic modulation, and could be another important developmentally regulated system governing immature PC susceptibility towards epileptogenesis.     

Salmon pancreas disease virus, an alphavirus infecting farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L

A 5.2-kb region at the 3' terminus of the salmon pancreas disease virus (SPDV) RNA genome has been cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences show that SPDV shares considerable organizational and sequence identity to members of the genus alphavirus within the family Togaviridae. The SPDV structural proteins encoded by the 5.2-kb region contain a number of unique features when compared to other sequenced alphaviruses. Based on cleavage site homologies, the predicted sizes of the SPDV envelope glycoproteins E2 (438 aa) and E1 (461 aa) are larger than those of other alphaviruses, while the predicted size of the alphavirus 6K protein is 3.2 K (32 aa) in SPDV. The E2 and E1 proteins each carry one putative N-linked glycosylation site, with the site in E1 being found at a unique position. From amino acid sequence comparisons of the SPDV structural region with sequenced alphaviruses overall homology is uniform, ranging from 32 to 33%. While nucleotide sequence analysis of the 26S RNA junction region shows that SPDV is similar to other alphaviruses, analysis of the 3'-nontranslated region reveals that SPDV shows divergence in this region.     

The community residential treatment service: developing a continuum of prosthetic environments for the chronically disabled

Among the many issues regarding the care of chronic mental patients, none is more pressing than the need for administrative and clinical models designed to organize and systematize the efforts of diverse community service providers. This paper describes the functioning of the Community Residential Treatment Service of the South Beach Psychiatric Center, a large-scale project of a state facility created to respond to this tissue. By blending sophisticated clinical and administrative technology, programs operated by the state, voluntary, and proprietary health care sectors have been integrated to form a balanced service delivery system. This system provides a broad continuum of inpatient and outpatient residential settings developed in accordance with social learning principles. The components of the system, with the Community Residential Treatment Service as the major integrative force, are linked together by detailed contracts as well as common behavioral clinical and behavioral administrative language. The treatment successes f this system have been significant enough to suggest that a positive synergistic effect is generated by this programming combination.     

Survivorship care plan outcomes for primary care physicians,cancer survivors,and systems: a scoping review

Purpose

With the focus on survivorship care-coordination between oncology and primary care providers (PCPs), there is a need to assess the research regarding the use of survivorship care plans (SCPs) and determine emerging research areas. We sought to find out how primary care physicians have been involved in the use of SCPs and determine SCP’s effectiveness in improving care for cancer survivors. In this scoping review, we aimed to identify gaps in the current research and reveal opportunities for further research.

Methods

We followed the methodology for scoping studies which consists of identifying the research question, locating relevant studies, selecting studies, charting the data, and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results.

Results

Out of 5375 original articles identified in the literature search, 25 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Eight articles examined PCP-only related outcomes, eight examined survivor-only related outcomes, eight examined mixed outcomes between both groups, and one examined system-based outcomes. Findings highlighted several areas where SCPs may provide benefits, including increased confidence among PCPs in managing the care of survivors and increased quality of life and well-being for survivors. This research also highlighted the need for careful consideration of SCP mode of delivery and content in order to maximize their utility to patients and providers.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of this review, SCPs may benefit providers and health care systems, but the benefits to patients remain unclear. Further research on the potential benefits of SCPs to particular patient populations is warranted.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

SCPs appear to be beneficial to PCPs in improving overall quality of care. However, more work needs to be done to understand the direct impact on cancer survivors.

     

Preoperative Therapy and Pancreatoduodenectomy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: a 25-Year Single-Institution Experience

Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery - The purpose of this study was to evaluate a single-institution experience with delivery of preoperative therapy to patients with pancreatic ductal...     

Use of COOP charts in the day hospital

The day hospital is an essential component of health service provision for the elderly. Demonstrating out-come improvement has not been uniformly successful. COOP charts have been validated in general practice as a tool to demonstrate improvement in functional activity. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of the COOP system in measuring change to a rehabilitation program in an elderly care day hospital. Thirty elderly patients (F/M: 24/6 with age range 75-91 years) attending the day hospital for rehabilitation for musculoskeletal (25) or neurological (5) problems were asked to complete COOP charts during the first or second attendance and after treatment had been completed. A fall in COOP score indicates improvement. The total COOP score improved from 27.9+/-4.3 to 22.5+/-4.0 (C.I.=3.8-6.9; t value=7.2; P<0.0001). Significant improvement was documented in 7 out of 9 individual areas of function/aspects of daily living. The results show that COOP charts, which are easy to administer, may be useful in monitoring change in elderly patients attending day hospital for rehabilitation.     

Endothelial cells enhance the human pokeweed mitogen lymphocyte response

The effect of endothelial cells (EC) on lymphocyte mitogen responses was examined. Irradiated or mitomycin C treated EC were co-cultured with allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM), and proliferative responses to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. Compared to lymphocyte responses in the absence of EC, EC co-culture enhanced PWM responses at 72 hours by 55 +/- 28%, 103 +/- 24%, and 96 +/- 9% at EC:PBM ratios of 1:30, 1:10, and 1:3, respectively. The EC co-culture also resulted in significant lymphocyte responses to otherwise submitogenic doses of PWM (10(-4) micrograms/ml) as well as an accelerated kinetics of response. There was no effect of EC on PHA responses. The EC effect appeared not to require cell contact for its expression; however, supernates of EC cultures were not capable of reproducing the effect. On a cell-for-cell basis, EC were more potent in enhancing responses of adherent-cell-depleted lymphocytes than either allogeneic or syngeneic monocytes. Fibroblasts could not substitute for EC in enhancing PWM response, suggesting that the effect was not a nonspecific feeder phenomenon. The EC may play a role in modulating some immune responses in vivo, especially those occurring in areas of inflammation, neovascularization, and endothelial cell proliferation.