The relationships of personal resources with symptom severity and psychosocial functioning in persons with schizophrenia: results from the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses study

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience - The relationships of personal resources with symptom severity and psychosocial functioning have never been tested systematically in a...     

ENPP1基因多态位点与左心室肥厚的关系研究

Objective To examine the association between genetic polymorphism of rs1409181 in ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) among older Chinese in Guangzhou. Methods 390 subjects aged ≥50 years were randomly selected from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study-CVD. Information on personal history, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and lipids were collected. Color Doppler ultrasound was used to measure the indicators of LVH, including left ventricular internal diastolic diameter (LVIDD) , thickness of the interventricular septum diastolic wall (IVSD) and the posterior wall diastolic diameter (LVPWD). LVIDD was calculated using Devereux ventricular mass (LVM)equation while the Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) equation was used to estimate LVH. The genotype of rs1409181 was determined by Taqman SNP genotyping kits using the ABI 7900HT real time PCR system. Results In the GG, CG and CC genotype groups, the proportions of LVH were 21.5%, 28.2% and 37.5% respectively. Compared with GG, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for the LVH were 1.39(0.78-2.50) and 2.36(1.21-4.60) for CG genotype and CC genotype of ENPP1 respectively (P for trend=0.01). Conclusion Polymorphism of ENPP1 gene rs1409181 was associated with LVH in the older Chinese people in Guangzhou.     

Treatment of pain in chronic calcifying pancreatitis with endoscopy and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. A case report

Abdominal pain is the most frequent symptom of chronic pancreatitis and may, on occasions, lead to great treatment problems. The case of a 56-years-old patient with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis calcifying who showed intracanalicular lithiasis is reported. Treatment with endoscopy and extracorporal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was successful.     

Anesthesia Management and Recovery after Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery

Open abdominal procedures are associated with high levels of postoperative surgical stress that can impede recovery of physiological functions. Trauma resulting from aggressive manipulation of organs, and especially the intestine, can increase postoperative complications and result in delay in normal recovery. In an attempt to minimize complications and overall duration of hospital stay, fast track strategies, called “early recovery after surgery” (ERAS) protocols, have been adopted. Laparoscopic surgery has recently been identified as a major component of rapid recovery. One of the key differences between the open and the laparoscopic approach is the use of pneumoperitoneum for organ exposure during laparoscopy. Prolonged increase in abdominal pressure in addition to patient positioning can have a profound effect on hemodynamic parameters such as central venous pressure (CVP), cardiac output and intracranial pressure. Modifications in fluid administration, the choice of anesthetic agent and the depth of neuromuscular blockade are indicated to accommodate to the conditions imposed by pneumoperitoneum. Postoperatively, laparoscopic surgery is usually associated with less aggressive analgesia management. Based on ERAS protocols, patients are encouraged to initiate early oral feeding and to resume physical activity as soon as possible after abdominal surgery. While laparoscopic abdominal surgery is associated with reduced needs for pain medication, there appear to be no significant differences in early enteral feeding and mobilization between laparoscopic procedures and open surgery. When all factors are taken into consideration, however, laparoscopic colorectal surgery is associated with significant reduction in the duration of the total hospital stay, and is therefore recommended whenever feasible.     

Neurocognitive indices of executive hypercontrol in obsessive-compulsive disorder

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive impairment, more often involving memory and/or executive functions, has been reported in obsessive-compulsive (OC) patients. The present study aimed at: i) replicating, in an independent sample, previous findings by our group showing neurocognitive slowness limited to executive tasks; ii) assessing the influence of deficit in general cognitive abilities on executive dysfunction. METHOD: A comprehensive neuropsychological battery was administered to 30 drug-free OC patients and 30 healthy controls. RESULTS: Obsessive-compulsive patients performed worse on visuospatial tests, were slower on executive tasks, and performed worse on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. After covarying for Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised performance Intellectual Quotient, a lesser degree of executive dysfunction was observed. CONCLUSION: Obsessive-compulsive patients exhibit an impairment of executive functions, especially when tasks also require visuospatial abilities. The impairment might reflect a hyperactivity of the executive control.     

A Study of PCR with DNA Extracted from Single Cell Isolated from Histological Sections

1　Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ　　ＩｔｉｓｋｎｏｗｎｂｙａｌｌｔｈａｔｐｕｒｉｆｉｅｄｓａｍｐｌｅＤＮＡｉｓｎｅｃｅｓｓａｒｙｔｏｃａｒｒｙｏｕｔｔｈｅ ｐｏｌｙｍｅｒａｓｅｃｈａｉｎｒｅａｃｔｉｏｎｂｅｃａｕｓｅｏｆｉｔｓｈｉｇｈｓｅｎｓｉｔｉｖｉｔｙ .ＩｎｔｉｓｓｕｅｓａｆｆｅｃｔｅｄｂｙＨｏｄｇｋｉｎｓｄｉｓｅａｓｅ ,ｔｈｅｎｅｏｐｌａｓｔｉｃｅｌｅｍｅｎｔｓ ,Ｈ/Ｒ Ｓｃｅｌｌｓ (ｕｓｕａｌｌｙｌｅｓｓｔｈａｎ 1% )ａｍｉｄｓｔａｍａｊｏｒｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｏｆｌｙｍｐｈｏｃｙｔｅｓ ,ｐｌａ…     

Ultrastructural findings in progressive macular hypomelanosis indicate decreased melanin production

Background The pathogenesis of progressive macular hypomelanosis (PMH) is unknown. Recently, Westerhof et al. (Arch Dermatol 2004; 140: 210–214) hypothesized that Propionibacterium acnes produces a depigmenting factor that interferes with melanogenesis in the skin, resulting in hypopigmented spots. The purpose of the study is to gain an insight into the pathogenesis of PMH. Materials and methods We took a biopsy of 2‐mm diameter from normal and lesional skin in eight PMH patients. Using electron microscopy, we compared melanization of melanosomes, melanosome transfer and amount of epidermal melanin in normal and lesional skin. Result Compared to non‐lesional skin, we observed a decrease of epidermal melanin and less melanized melanosomes in lesional skin of all patients. When comparing normal and lesional skin of patients with skin type V and VI, we observed a difference in melanosome size and maturation and a switch of transferred melanosomes from single stage IV transferred melanosomes to aggregated stage I, II and III transferred melanosomes, as seen in healthy skin of skin type I to IV. Conclusion Hypopigmentation in PMH seems to be the result of an altered melanogenesis based on a decrease in melanin formation and a change in the distribution of melanosomes. In lesional skin of PMH patients with skin type V and VI less melanized, aggregated melanosomes in stead of single, mature melanosomes are transferred from melanocytes to keratinocytes. This results in a decrease of epidermal melanin. Further investigations are needed to determine the precise role of Propionibacterium acnes in this alteration of melanogenesis.     

Quantitative differences in developmental profiles of spontaneous activity in cortical and hippocampal cultures

Background

Neural circuits can spontaneously generate complex spatiotemporal firing patterns during development. This spontaneous activity is thought to help guide development of the nervous system. In this study, we had two aims. First, to characterise the changes in spontaneous activity in cultures of developing networks of either hippocampal or cortical neurons dissociated from mouse. Second, to assess whether there are any functional differences in the patterns of activity in hippocampal and cortical networks.

Results

We used multielectrode arrays to record the development of spontaneous activity in cultured networks of either hippocampal or cortical neurons every 2 or 3 days for the first month after plating. Within a few days of culturing, networks exhibited spontaneous activity. This activity strengthened and then stabilised typically around 21 days in vitro. We quantified the activity patterns in hippocampal and cortical networks using 11 features. Three out of 11 features showed striking differences in activity between hippocampal and cortical networks: (1) interburst intervals are less variable in spike trains from hippocampal cultures; (2) hippocampal networks have higher correlations and (3) hippocampal networks generate more robust theta-bursting patterns. Machine-learning techniques confirmed that these differences in patterning are sufficient to classify recordings reliably at any given age as either hippocampal or cortical networks.

Conclusions

Although cultured networks of hippocampal and cortical networks both generate spontaneous activity that changes over time, at any given time we can reliably detect differences in the activity patterns. We anticipate that this quantitative framework could have applications in many areas, including neurotoxicity testing and for characterising the phenotype of different mutant mice. All code and data relating to this report are freely available for others to use.