Alcohol and the Psychophysiological Detection of Deception

Psychophysiological detection of deception examinations were conducted on 40 subjects. Of these, 32 were “guilty” of a mock crime and 8 were innocent. Sixteen guilty subjects committed the crime while intoxicated and the remaining 16 committed the crime sober. These two groups of guilty subjects were subdivided such that half of each group was examined with the polygraph while intoxicated and the other half was examined while sober. Two questioning techniques were used in the examination, a Control Question Test and the Guilty Knowledge Test. Measures of skin resistance, heart rate and respiration were recorded. The principal findings were that alcohol intoxication during the crime reduced detectability with detection scores derived from the measurement of skin resistance responses on the Control Question Test and on the Guilty Knowledge Test. The analyses of guilt/innocent classifications, based on the detection scores, showed these classifications to be affected by alcohol intoxication.     

Quantitation of the reconstruction quality of a four-dimensional computed tomography process for lung cancer patients

We have developed a four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) technique for mapping breathing motion in radiotherapy treatment planning. A multislice CT scanner (1.5 mm slices) operated in ciné mode was used to acquire 12 contiguous slices in each couch position for 15 consecutive scans (0.5 s rotation, 0.25 s between scans) while the patient underwent simultaneous quantitative spirometry measurements to provide a sorting metric. The spirometry-sorted scans were used to reconstruct a 4D data set. A critical factor for 4D CT is quantifying the reconstructed data set quality which we measure by correlating the metric used relative to internal-object motion. For this study, the internal air content within the lung was used as a surrogate for internal motion measurements. Thresholding and image morphological operations were applied to delineate the air-containing tissues (lungs, trachea) from each CT slice. The Hounsfield values were converted to the internal air content (V). The relationship between the air content and spirometer-measured tidal volume (v) was found to be quite linear throughout the lungs and was used to estimate the overall accuracy and precision of tidal volume-sorted 4D CT. Inspection of the CT-scan air content as a function of tidal volume showed excellent correlations (typically r>0.99) throughout the lung volume. Because of the discovered linear relationship, the ratio of internal air content to tidal volume was indicative of the fraction of air change in each couch position. Theoretically, due to air density differences within the lung and in room, the sum of these ratios would equal 1.11. For 12 patients, the mean value was 1.08 +/- 0.06, indicating the high quality of spirometry-based image sorting. The residual of a first-order fit between v and V was used to estimate the process precision. For all patients, the precision was better than 8%, with a mean value of 5.1% +/- 1.9%. This quantitative analysis highlights the value of using spirometry as the metric in sorting CT scans. The 4D reconstruction provides the CT data required to measure the three-dimensional trajectory of tumor and lung tissue during free breathing.     

Simple spike firing in the posterior lateral cerebellar cortex of Macaque Mulatta was correlated with success–failure during a visually guided reaching task

Evidence has been accumulating which supports a role for the cerebellum in motor learning. Motor learning is though to be mediated by complex spikes acting as an error signal, which when firing in conjunction with simple spike activity modify synapses between parallel fibers and Purkinje cells. We studied the activity of neurons in the posterior lateral cerebellar cortex of macaques that were performing reaches to visual targets. We found that simple spike firing in many of these neurons was modulated by whether the monkey successfully hit the target or not. The success–failure modulation was present for reaches using either arm and could persist for several hundred milliseconds into a period when the monkey was constrained from moving its arms. This temporally extended success–failure activity could interact with complex spike firing in order to enhance learning, particularly when the motor command is temporally separated from sensory feedback.     

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in developing countries: epidemiology, microbiology, clinical features, treatment, and prevention

ETEC is an underrecognized but extremely important cause of diarrhea in the developing world where there is inadequate clean water and poor sanitation. It is the most frequent bacterial cause of diarrhea in children and adults living in these areas and also the most common cause of traveler's diarrhea. ETEC diarrhea is most frequently seen in children, suggesting that a protective immune response occurs with age. The pathogenesis of ETEC-induced diarrhea is similar to that of cholera and includes the production of enterotoxins and colonization factors. The clinical symptoms of ETEC infection can range from mild diarrhea to a severe cholera-like syndrome. The effective treatment of ETEC diarrhea by rehydration is similar to treatment for cholera, but antibiotics are not used routinely for treatment except in traveler's diarrhea. The frequency and characterization of ETEC on a worldwide scale are inadequate because of the difficulty in recognizing the organisms; no simple diagnostic tests are presently available. Protection strategies, as for other enteric infections, include improvements in hygiene and development of effective vaccines. Increases in antimicrobial resistance will dictate the drugs used for the treatment of traveler's diarrhea. Efforts need to be made to improve our understanding of the worldwide importance of ETEC.     

Development of monoclonal mouse antibodies specific for allergenic components in ryegrass (Lolium perenne) pollen

The development of monoclonal mouse antibodies against ryegrass (Lolium perenne) pollen allergens is described. Hybridoma colonies secreting antibodies specific for allergenic components were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Positive colonies were cloned and expanded. The pollen components with which the monoclonal antibodies interact were identified and characterised following sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electrophoretic transfer to nitrocellulose. In this paper six monoclonal mouse antibodies are described. Three antibodies interact with a single molecule of between 30,000 and 35,000 daltons. One antibody interacts with a component of 16,000 daltons whereas the remaining two antibodies react with more than one component, one reacting with two components at 28,000 and 30,000, and the other with five components having molecular weights between 18,000 and 71,000 daltons.     

The in vitro transformation of thymocytes and lymphocytes from humans, rabbits and guinea-pigs and from thymomas

The response of human, rabbit and guinea-pig thymocytes in culture to blastogenic stimulants such as phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and staphylococcal filtrate (SF) was usually considerably less than that seen with equivalent numbers of peripheral blood and lymph node lymphocytes.     

Expression of silencer of death domains and death-receptor-3 in normal human kidney and in rejecting renal transplants

We have previously reported the pattern of cellular expression of tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFR) in human kidney and their altered expression in transplant rejection. We have extended our studies to examine the expression of Silencer of Death Domains (SODD), a protein that binds to the cytoplasmic portion of TNFR1 to inhibit signaling in the absence of ligand. In normal human kidney SODD is expressed in glomerular endothelial cells where it colocalizes with TNFR1. During acute rejection both SODD and TNFR1 are lost from glomeruli, but we found strong expression of SODD on the luminal surface of tubular epithelial cells. This occurs in the absence of detectable TNFR1 expression, suggesting that SODD could interact with other proteins at these sites. Several other members of the TNF superfamily, including Fas and death receptors (DR)-3, -4, and -5, also contain intracellular death domains, but SODD only interacts with the death domain of DR3. We therefore studied the expression of DR3 in human kidney, and report that this death receptor is up-regulated in renal tubular epithelial cells and endothelial cells of some interlobular arteries, in parallel with SODD, during acute transplant rejection. In less severe rejection episodes, DR3 and SODD were more focally induced, generally at sites of mononuclear cell infiltrates. In ischemic allografts, eg, with acute tubular necrosis but no cellular rejection, DR3 was induced on tubular epithelial cells and on glomerular endothelial cells. These data confirm that TNF receptor family members are expressed in a regulated manner during renal transplant rejection, and identify DR3 as a potential inducible mediator of tubular inflammation and injury.     

Functional MRI of visuospatial working memory in schizotypal personality disorder: a region-of-interest analysis

BACKGROUND: Functional MRI studies have begun to identify neural networks implicated in visuo-spatial working memory in healthy volunteers and patients with schizophrenia. The study of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) provides regional analysis in unmedicated patients in the schizophrenia spectrum. METHOD: Unmedicated patients with SPD by DSM-IV criteria and normal controls were assessed with fMRI while performing a visuo-spatial working-memory task. It required the subjects to retain the location of three dots located on the circumference of an imaginary circle and then respond to a query display in which one dot was presented and the subject required to press a button to indicate whether the probe dot location was previously displayed. Subject groups did not differ significantly in spatial memory scores. The exact Talairach and Tournoux coordinates of brain areas previously reported to show activation with spatial memory tasks were assessed. RESULTS: The majority of these locations showed BOLD response activation significantly less in patients during the memory retention period, including the left ventral prefrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, intraparietal cortex and posterior inferior gyrus. Regions in the right middle prefrontal and prestriate cortex showed greater activation at a trend level for patients with SPD than for normal controls. In addition, we replicated the findings of increased activation with the task in healthy volunteers in the premotor areas, ventral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: SPD patients show decreased activation compared to healthy volunteers in key frontal regions and we also provided a partial replication of findings reported in healthy subjects.     

A nephelometric study of the reaction of monoclonal rheumatoid factor with heat aggregated gamma globulin and sera from patients with immune complex diseases.

Monoclonal rheumatoid factors (MCRF) have previously been used in a variety of assays for the detection of IgG-containing circulating immune complexes. We have isolated a MCRF from a patient with a lymphoproliferative disorder and have used a nephelometric technique to characterize its reaction with heat-aggreagated gammaglobulin (HAGG) used as a source of artificial immune complexes. The method is simple, economical and rapid and will detect as little as 6 microgram/ml of HAGG over a wide range of physicochemical conditions. A clinical study demonstrated that the sera from thirty-five out of fifty-eight patients (59%) with rheumatoid arthritis and twenty-one out of seventy-four patients (28%) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) gave increased precipitation with MCRF compared with 232 blood donors. However, in marked contrast to previous studies, sucrose gradient ultracentrifugal analysis of nine strongly precipitating sera revealed that in eight the MCRF precipitated with material sedimenting in the monomeric IgG position. In only one specimen did the MCRF react with material sedimenting in heavier regions. It is suggested that different MCRFs vary in the specificity for binding IgG complexes and these reagents should be carefully characterized before becoming established in nephelometric assays for circulating immune complexes.     

Hydrophobic IgG-containing immune complexes in the plasma of autoimmune MRL/lpr mice, lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus-infected mice, and pigs: association with transforming growth factor-beta and pH-dependent amplification

Persistent infection of mice with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) is associated with polyclonal B cell activation, autoimmunity, and circulating hydrophobic IgG-containing immune complexes (ICs), which bind to the surfaces of uncoated ELISA plates in the presence of 0.05% Tween 20. We demonstrate here that hydrophobic IgG-containing ICs also appear naturally in the plasma of autoimmune MRL/lpr mice. These and the similar hydrophobic ICs of LDV-infected mice as well as pigs coincide on ELISA plate surfaces with TGF-beta, apparently in the form of an IgG-TGF-beta complex. Circulating hydrophobic IgG-containing ICs are also susceptible to considerable amplification in vitro by exposure to alkaline conditions. By this latter method, the fraction of in vivo hydrophobic IgG, relative to the maximum in vitro chemically inducible IgG, was found to be about 20% in the plasma of LDV-infected mice, 5% in normal mouse plasma, and less than about 2% in pig plasma. These results indicate the potential for both chemically induced and protein-binding contributions to the generation of hydrophobic IgG-containing molecules, and have implications for immunopathological mechanisms in autoimmunity and persistent virus infections.