Short‐term Effects of Social Exclusion at Work and Worries on Sleep

The present study investigated short‐term effects of daily social exclusion at work on various indicators of sleep quality and tested the mediating role of work‐related worries using a time‐based diary study with ambulatory assessments of sleep quality. Ninety full‐time employees participated in a 2‐week data collection. Multilevel analyses revealed that daily workplace social exclusion and work‐related worries were positively related to sleep fragmentation in the following night. Daily social exclusion, however, was unrelated to sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency and self‐reported sleep quality. Moreover, worries did not mediate the effect of social exclusion at work on sleep fragmentation. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seroprevalence of anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antibodies in women with ovarian teratoma

Recently antibodies against neuronal receptors have been identified as cause of a new type of encephalitis. The anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDA-R) encephalitis is the prototype of these disorders. Patients have a high incidence of teratomata. Removal of teratoma is considered the essential treatment of anti-NMDA-R encephalitis. Here, we aimed to investigate whether neurologically asymptomatic individuals suffering from ovarian teratomata may have positive anti-NMDA-R antibodies to be detected by an established assay. Over a time period of 15 months, all patients suffering from ovarian teratomata without neurological symptoms were included in this prospective study. Twenty consecutive patients were pair matched to patients with other benign ovarian disease and healthy controls. Preoperatively, patients had a gynaecological examination, transvaginal ultrasound, neurological examination and determination of anti-NMDA-R antibodies. None of the patients or controls presented with neurological symptoms. All tumours could be removed completely by laparoscopy. Anti-NMDA-R antibodies were absent in the group of patients with teratomata as well as in patients with benign ovarian tumours and healthy controls. Testing for anti-NMDA-R antibodies revealed negative findings in well-characterised patients with ovarian teratomata lacking neurological symptoms. Our data support the current clinical practice that a systematic screening for anti-NMDA-R antibodies in teratoma patients is not indicated.     

Visual imagery and functional connectivity in blindness: a single-case study

We present a case report on visual brain plasticity after total blindness acquired in adulthood. SH lost her sight when she was 27. Despite having been totally blind for 43 years, she reported to strongly rely on her vivid visual imagery. Three-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of SH and age-matched controls was performed. The MRI sequence included anatomical MRI, resting-state functional MRI, and task-related functional MRI where SH was instructed to imagine colours, faces, and motion. Compared to controls, voxel-based analysis revealed white matter loss along SH’s visual pathway as well as grey matter atrophy in the calcarine sulci. Yet we demonstrated activation in visual areas, including V1, using functional MRI. Of the four identified visual resting-state networks, none showed alterations in spatial extent; hence, SH’s preserved visual imagery seems to be mediated by intrinsic brain networks of normal extent. Time courses of two of these networks showed increased correlation with that of the inferior posterior default mode network, which may reflect adaptive changes supporting SH’s strong internal visual representations. Overall, our findings demonstrate that conscious visual experience is possible even after years of absence of extrinsic input.     

The role of interstitial macrophages in nephropathy of type 2 diabetic db/db mice

Diabetic nephropathy is associated with interstitial macrophage infiltrates, but their contribution to disease progression is unclear. We addressed this question by blockade of chemokine receptor (CCR)1 because CCR1 mediates the macrophage recruitment to the renal interstitium. In fact, when CCR1 was blocked with BL5923, a novel orally available CCR1 antagonist, the interstitial recruitment of ex vivo labeled macrophages was markedly decreased in uninephrectomized male db/db mice with advanced diabetic nephropathy. Likewise, BL5923 (60 mg/kg, twice a day) orally administered from months 5 to 6 of life reduced the numbers of interstitial macrophages in uninephrectomized db/db mice. This was associated with reduced numbers of Ki-67 proliferating tubular epithelial and interstitial cells, tubular atrophy, and interstitial fibrosis in uninephrectomized db/db mice. Glomerular pathology and proteinuria were not affected by the CCR1 antagonist. BL5923 reduced renal mRNA expression of Ccl2, Ccr1, Ccr2, Ccr5, transforming growth factor-beta1, and collagen I-alpha1 when compared with untreated uninephrectomized male db/db mice of the same age. Thus, we identified a previously unrecognized role for interstitial macrophages for tubulointerstitial injury, loss of peritubular microvasculature, interstitial inflammation, and fibrosis in type 2 diabetic db/db mice. These data identify oral treatment with the CCR1 antagonist BL5923 as a potential therapy for late-stage diabetic nephropathy.     

Correction to: Closed‑suction drainage in thoracolumbar spinal surgery–clinical routine without evidence? a systematic review

European Spine Journal -