Neurobehavioral effects among subjects exposed to high static and gradient magnetic fields from a 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging system--a case-crossover pilot study.

The interactive use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques is increasing in operating theaters. A study was performed on 17 male company volunteers to assess the neurobehavioral effects of exposure to magnetic fields from a 1.5 Tesla MRI system. The subjects' neurobehavioral performances on a neurobehavioral test battery were compared in four 1-hr sessions with and without exposure to magnetic fields, and with and without additional movements. Adverse effects were found for hand coordination (-4%, P < 0.05; Pursuit Aiming II) and near visual contrast sensitivity (-16% and -15%, P < 0.10; Vistech 6000). The results from the remaining tests were inconclusive due to a strong learning effect. No additional effect from gradient fields was detected. The results indicate that working near a 1.5 Tesla MRI system may lead to neurobehavioral effects. Further research is recommended, especially in members of operating teams using interactive MRI systems.     

Sex- and time-dependent changes in neurochemical and hormonal variables induced by predictable and unpredictable footshock.

Previous experiments have revealed sex-dependent effects of inescapable shock in rats. Behavior of male rats was more severely disrupted by inescapable shock than behavior of female rats. These sex differences were found after 1- and 24-hour intervals but not after a 72-hour interval. The present experiment was designed to study various physiological parameters at 1-, 4- and 24-hour intervals after inescapable footshock. The predictability of shock was manipulated by adding a compound light and tone stimulus that preceded shock presentation for one group but was not correlated with shock presentation for another group of subjects. Noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and metabolites of these 3 transmitters were measured in the frontal cortex. Transient shock-induced increments in dopamine and metabolites of dopamine and serotonin were found, but the sex of the animal did not differentially affect this neurotransmitter response. In addition to neurotransmitter concentrations in the frontal cortex, levels of corticosterone were measured in plasma. The pituitary-adrenal axis was activated for a longer period in females than males after shock. The present data do not provide evidence that behavioral sex differences induced by inescapable shock are paralleled by sex differences in neurotransmitter activity. In addition, sex-dependent effects of predictability of shock on neurotransmitter activity were not detected. The relevance of the observed sex-dependent responses in the pituitary-adrenal system is discussed.     

Expression of histidine decarboxylase in human colonic cancer cells and adenomatous polyps

Inflammation Research -     

Relationship between resting alpha activity and the ERPs obtained during a highly demanding selective attention task.

In spite of previous reports on the relationship between ongoing EEG and ERPs, there remains a lack of agreement on the nature of their nexuses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between resting EEG and the ERP components in two groups of healthy subjects with different levels of performance in a highly demanding selective visual attention task. Young adults were classified according to the amount of their correct responses in the task, into high (HP; averaged hits (AH): 86%) and low performance groups (LP; AH: 59%). EEG was recorded during rest, prior to task performance and absolute (AP) and relative power (RP), as well as inter- (rTER) and intrahemispheric (rTRA) correlation were calculated. ERPs during task performance were also obtained and their amplitude and latency measures were assessed. Results showed that individuals with better behavioral performance had a higher synchronization between both hemispheres during rest as well as higher amplitude and shorter latencies of N2 and P3. Principal Component Analysis revealed that alpha2 AP and RP were inversely related to P2 and N2 latency. Higher values of alpha1 and alpha2 rTER were clustered with higher P3 amplitude and shorter reaction time. In conclusion, the differences in the cortical organization of HP and LP at rest (EEG) seem to be associated to the way the brain reacts during information processing (ERPs).     

心脏瓣膜置换术后中远期疗效分析

目的　分析探讨心脏瓣膜置换术的中远期疗效。方法　 1978年至 2 0 0 1年 12月 ,行瓣膜置换手术 2 14 1例 ,同期随访 16 81例 ,计 80 2 1 1人·年 ,平均 4 77人·年。通过回顾病因、手术方式、瓣膜类型等因素 ,观察术后病人心功能改善情况 ,病死率及并发症等 ,采用t检验 ,多因素回归等统计学方法分析。结果　 92例死亡。总体生存率 5年为 (92 3± 2 2 ) % ,10年生存率为 (90 1± 2 7) %。并发症有血栓栓塞、机械瓣膜功能障碍、瓣周漏、溶血、机械瓣膜感染性心内膜炎。术后心功能 (NYHA)与术前比较有明显的提高。结论　 1.机械瓣置换术后中远期疗效满意 ,病死率及并发症均较低 ;与术前心功能和手术种类直接相关 ;2 .使用保留瓣下结构及三尖瓣成形术对术后心功能恢复有明显效果 ;3.术中良好心肌保护是提高手术成功率的关键。     

Kinetics of bactericidal and sporicidal effects of a disinfectant against bacteria isolated from hospital units]

The bactericidal and sporicidal activities of a peracetic acid disinfectant commonly used in hospitals (Acetoper 200) was studied using three bacterial species recovered in water from hemodialysis machines and humidifiers, i.e., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia liquefaciens, and Bacillus subtilis (spores). The method used was derived from AFNOR norms NF T 72-151 and NF T 72-231. For each strain, three concentrations of disinfectant were tested. Counts were performed every five minutes for one hour to evaluate killing kinetics. For both Gram-negative organisms, survival curves were biphasic, whereas B. subtilis counts decreased logarithmically. Both concentration and time influenced the 5 log10 decrease in counts. With S. liquefaciens and B. subtilis (spores), the 5 log10 decrease was not reached with low levels of disinfectant. In every case, the D value decreased substantially with increasing levels of disinfectant.     

Corticofugal modulation of the information processing in the auditory thalamus of the cat

Summary Single unit activity of 355 cells was recorded in the auditory thalamus of anesthetized cats before, during, and after the inactivation by cooling of the ipsilateral primary auditory cortex (AI). Most of the units (n = 288) showed similar functional characteristics of firing before and after the cryogenic blockade of AI. The spontaneous firing rate remained unchanged by cooling in 20% of the units and decreased in the majority of them (60%). In some regions, i.e. dorsal division of the medial geniculate body (MGB), lateral part of the posterior group of the thalamus, and auditory sector of the reticular nucleus of the thalamus, the maximum firing rate evoked by white noise bursts was generally affected by cooling in the same direction and to the same extent as the spontaneous activity. Units in the ventral division of MGB showed a characteristic increase of signal-to-noise ratio during cortical cooling. The corticofugal modulation led to the appearance or disappearance of the best frequency of tuning in 51 units and changed it by more than 0.5 octave in 34 units. The bandwidths of different response patterns to pure tones stimulation were used to define a set of functional properties. During cryogenic blockade of AI, two cortically modulated sub-populations of units were usually distinguished that exhibited changes for a given functional property. The complexity and diversity of the effects of cortical inactivation suggest that the corticothalamic projection may be the support for selective operations such as an adaptive filtering of the incoming acoustic signal at the thalamic level adjusted as a function of cortical activity.     

Glucocorticoids Decrease Hippocampal and Prefrontal Activation during Declarative Memory Retrieval in Young Men

Glucocorticoids (GCs, cortisol in human) are associated with impairments in declarative memory retrieval. Brain regions hypothesized to mediate these effects are the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Our aim was to use fMRI in localizing the effects of GCs during declarative memory retrieval. Therefore, we tested memory retrieval in 21 young healthy males in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover design. Participants encoded word lists containing neutral and emotional words 1 h prior to ingestion of 20 mg hydrocortisone. Memory retrieval was tested using an old/new recognition paradigm in a rapid event-related design. It was found that hydrocortisone decreased brain activity in both the hippocampus and PFC during successful retrieval of neutral words. These observations are consistent with previous animal and human studies suggesting that glucocorticoids modulate both hippocampal and prefrontal brain regions that are crucially involved in memory processing. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.