无（外侧）额叶皮质是否更好？额叶病变患者解决洞察力问题

最近提出的关于额叶功能的理论认为前额叶皮质，尤其是其背外侧面在确定适合一项特殊任务的一系列反应中起重要作用，并在选择中使上述反应发生偏差。这些活动事实上是为任何类型的非常规任务而执行，而不考虑内容的差别。本研究旨在通过一项解决“洞察力”问题的测试任务（即火柴杆算术作业），来验证Frith“塑造反应空间”假说的预测效力。从Knoblich等人对健康人不能解决火柴杆问题的解释和Frith关于额叶背外侧皮质作用的理论，作者推导出与直觉相左的预测，即对这些相对复杂的任务，外侧额叶皮质局部损伤的患者可能比1组健康受试者完成得更好。要求35例经CT或MRI扫描证实为单个局部脑损伤的患者（年龄为26—65岁）和23例健康受试者（年龄为34—62岁）完成火柴杆作业。研究结果似乎与理论上的预测相一致，虽然仅有43％的健康受试者能解决最困难的火柴杆问题（“C类”），但是却有82％的额叶外侧损伤患者完成了类似问题（Fisher精确概率检验，P〈0．05）。总之，对Frith和Knoblich等人理论的结合进行了确证。     

Cervical necrotizing fasciitis in an uncontrolled type II diabetic patient

We report a case of cervical necrotizing fasciitis (CNF) in a female having uncontrolled type II diabetes mellitus. The patient was presented to us after 20 days of preliminary symptoms. The aetiology of microbial inoculation in subdermal tissue was not known. The isolate was Staphylococcus aureus. In spite of the delay in presentation, the patient was successfully treated with combined antimicrobial and surgical intervention.     

Enzootic Nasal Adenocarcinoma of Sheep in Slovenia

Clinicopathological and electron microscopical findings of eight cases of enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma of sheep, diagnosed solely in one big flock in Slovenia between years 2001 and 2003 are described. All affected sheep were female, their mean age was 4.5 ± 1.5 years and they either belonged to the Istrian pramenka breed (five sheep) or were crossbreeds (three sheep). Tumours that arose from the ethmoid area of the nasal cavity were unilateral in six cases (75%) and bilateral in two cases (25%). All tumours were classified as adenocarcinomas by histopathological examination and they displayed either a combination of tubular and papillary growth or less often solely tubular proliferation. No metastases were detected in regional lymph nodes, brain or other organs. Electron microscopical studies performed on the reprocessed paraffin‐embedded tissues revealed the presence of the virus‐like particles with an average diameter between 70 and 90 nm.     

Hemichorea associated with polycythaemia vera

Abstract Chorea is a rare complication of polycythaemia vera. Polycythaemic chorea occurs predominantly in females and usually in generalised form. We present a 66-year-old woman with acute onset hemichorea-ballism with no vascular pathology in the basal ganglia region. A clear relationship was observed between the onset of chorea and worsening of haematological parameters in the patient. After repeated phlebotomies the patient's clinical status was improved. Polycythaemic chorea must be considered, especially in the elderly, as early diagnosis leads to effective treatment and prevention of complications.     

Caudate nucleus volume and cognitive performance: Are they related in childhood psychopathology?

BACKGROUND: Impaired neuropsychological test performance, especially on tests of executive function and attention, is often seen in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Structures involved in fronto-striatal circuitry, such as the caudate nucleus, may support these cognitive abilities. However, few studies have examined caudate volumes specifically in children with ASD, or correlated caudate volumes to cognitive ability. METHODS: Neuropsychological test scores and caudate volumes of children with ASD were compared to those of children with bipolar disorder (BD) and of typically developing (TD) children. The relationship between test performance and caudate volumes was analyzed. RESULTS: The ASD group displayed larger right and left caudate volumes, and modest executive deficits, compared to TD controls. While caudate volume inversely predicted performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in all participants, it differentially predicted performance on measures of attention across the ASD, BD and TD groups. CONCLUSIONS: Larger caudate volumes were related to impaired problem solving. On a test of attention, larger left caudate volumes predicted increased impulsivity and more omission errors in the ASD group as compared to the TD group, however smaller volume predicted poorer discriminant responding as compared to the BD group.     

Tuberculosis trends in Madrid, 1994-2003: impact of immigration and HIV infection.

SETTING: Tuberculosis (TB) cases reported from nine districts of Madrid, where the percentage of immigrant population varied from 1.9% in 1996 to 12.2% in 2003. OBJECTIVE: To describe the trends in TB incidence from 1994 to 2003. DESIGN: Observational study. RESULTS: Between 1994-1995 and 2002-2003, the TB rate decreased from 48.5 (95% CI 45.8-51.1) to 23.3 per 100000 population (95% CI 21.5-25.1) (P < 0.001). The percentage of TB cases co-infected with HIV decreased from 55.9% in 1994 to 14.3% in 2003 (P < 0.001), whereas TB cases in foreigners increased from 2.6% in 1994 to 33.7% in 2003 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although the TB rates showed a marked decrease in the study period, the increasing impact of immigration contributed to slowing down the trend.     

Erythropoietin stimulates wound healing and angiogenesis in mice.

Erythropoietin exerts hematopoietic effects by stimulating proliferation of early erythroid precursors. Nonhematopoietic effects of erythropoietin have also been shown. It may act as a new angiogenic factor in wound healing. This study aimed to investigate the effect of systemic administration of recombinant human erythropoietin on wound healing in mice. Dorsal incisional wounds were performed in mice, which were then divided into two groups; a group treated for 7 days with recombinant human erythropoietin, and a control group. Sacrificing animals on day 7, the wound tissues were collected for analysis of wound breaking strength, malondialdehyde, a marker of lipid peroxidation, hydroxyproline, an index of reparative collagen deposition, reduced glutathione levels, and for histological evaluation. The immunohistochemical determination of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which is believed to be the most prevalent angiogenic factor throughout the skin repair process, was also studied. The treatment significantly increased wound breaking strength by decreasing malondialdehyde and increasing hydroxyproline levels on day 7 after wounding. No statistically meaningful change was observed in reduced glutathione content. VEGF was immunostained significantly more on wound tissue of treated animals compared to the control group. Recombinant human erythropoietin treatment may be effective in wound healing due to inhibition of lipid peroxidation, deposition of collagen, and VEGF expression in wound area.     

Synthesis of 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline derivatives and study of their effect on arterial pressure

A series of 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines and the related 4-alkyl-1,2-dihydro-benzo[f]isoquinolines was synthesized using reactions of dialkylbenzylcarbinols and their naphthyl analogs with alkylcyanides. Experiments showed that 1-alkyl-6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines typically produce a hypotensive action, while the benzo-annelated structures usually exhibit a hypertensive effects. The most active compound decreases the arterial pressure in cats by 52 Torr and the effect lasts for about 4 hours. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 15–17, March, 2006.