Somatotopic organization along the central sulcus, for pain localization in humans, as revealed by positron emission tomography

Regional cerebral blood flow was measured with positron emission tomography (PET) in six healthy volunteers at rest and during experimentally induced, sustained cutaneous pain on the dorsum of the right hand or on the dorsum of the right foot. Pain was inflicted by intracutaneous injection of capsaicin, providing a mainly C-fibre nociceptive stimulus. Statistical analysis showed significant activations along the central sulcus (SI) area when comparing pain in the hand to pain in the foot. Separate comparison of both pain states to a baseline revealed different locations along the central sulcus for hand pain and foot pain. The encountered differences are consistent with what is previously known about the somatotopics of non-painful stimuli. When comparing painful stimuli to baseline, the contralateral anterior cingulate gyrus, the ipsilateral anterior insular cortex and the ipsilateral prefrontal cortex were implicated. The results are consistent with an involvement of SI in the spatial discrimination of acute cutaneous pain. Received: 17 October 1996 / Accepted: 12 May 1997     

Differential effects of growth factors on tissue-engineered cartilage

The effects of four regulatory factors on tissue-engineered cartilage were examined with specific focus on the ability to increase construct growth rate and concentrations of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and collagen, the major extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Bovine calf articular chondrocytes were seeded onto biodegradable polyglycolic acid (PGA) scaffolds and cultured in medium with or without supplemental insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), interleukin-4 (IL-4), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) or platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). IGF-I, IL-4, and TGF-beta1 increased construct wet weights by 1.5-2.9-fold over 4 weeks of culture and increased amounts of cartilaginous ECM components. IGF-I (10-300 ng/mL) maintained wet weight fractions of GAG in constructs seeded at high cell density and increased by up to fivefold GAG fractions in constructs seeded at lower cell density. TGF-beta1 (30 ng/mL) increased wet weight fractions of total collagen by up to 1.4-fold while maintaining a high fraction of type II collagen (79 plus minus 11% of the total collagen). IL-4 (1-100 ng/mL) minimized the thickness of the GAG-depleted region at the construct surfaces. PDGF (1-100 ng/mL) decreased construct growth rate and ECM fractions. Different regulatory factors thus elicit significantly different chondrogenic responses and can be used to selectively control the growth rate and improve the composition of engineered cartilage.     

Micronutrients and Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Related to Cardiometabolic Health: Results from the EHES-LUX Study

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) characteristics include chronic inflammation and elevated oxidative stress. This study assessed associations between circulating concentrations of micronutrients/phytochemicals and inflammatory/oxidative stress markers with MetS and MetS components. Adults (N = 606) from the European Health Examination Survey in Luxembourg (2013–2015) were randomly selected. We performed a multivariable logistic regression model using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator to identify MetS-associated variables. Participants with MetS had higher concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α, leptin, insulin, and vitamins E/A, but lower concentrations of adiponectin, beta-carotene, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. A one-unit increase in log-CRP was associated with 51% greater odds of MetS (OR = 1.51 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.98)). Adults with a one-unit increase in log-leptin were 3.1 times more likely to have MetS (3.10 (2.10, 4.72)). Women with a one-unit increase in vitamin A were associated with 3% increased odds of MetS (1.03 (1.01, 1.05)), while those with a one-unit increase in log-adiponectin were associated with 82% decreased odds (0.18 (0.07, 0.46)). Chronic inflammation best characterized adults with MetS, as CRP, adiponectin, and leptin were selected as the main MetS determinants. Micronutrients did not seem to affect MetS, except for vitamin A in women.     

Correction to: Health Literacy Within a Diverse Community-Based Cohort: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a typo in co-author name.     

Development and Validation of the Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults

PurposeWe developed and validated a measure that assesses the latent construct of sexual and reproductive empowerment among adolescents and young adults. A specific measure for this group is critical because of their unique life stage and circumstances, which often includes frequent changes in sexual partners and involvement from parents in decision-making.MethodsAfter formative qualitative research, a review of the literature, and cognitive interviews, we developed 95 items representing nine dimensions of sexual and reproductive empowerment. Items were then fielded among a national sample of young people aged 15–24 years, and those who identified as sexually active completed a 3-month follow-up survey. We conducted psychometric analysis and scale validation.ResultsExploratory factor analysis on responses from 1,117 participants resulted in the Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults, containing 23 items captured by seven subscales: comfort talking with partner; choice of partners, marriage, and children; parental support; sexual safety; self-love; sense of future; and sexual pleasure. Validation using logistic regression demonstrated that the subscales were consistently associated with sexual and reproductive health information and access to sexual and reproductive health services measured at baseline and moderately associated with the use of desired contraceptive methods at 3-month follow-up.ConclusionsThe Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults is a new measure that assesses young people’s empowerment regarding sexual and reproductive health. It can be used by researchers, public health practitioners, and clinicians to measure sexual and reproductive empowerment among young people.     

Communication Patterns Among Male Couples with Open and Monogamous Agreements

Archives of Sexual Behavior - Male couples in open relationships tend to have as equally fulfilling relationships as monogamous male couples; however, less is known about communication differences...     

Uptake of iodine-123-α-methyl tyrosine by gliomas and non-neoplastic brain lesions

Using single-photon emission tomography (SPET), the radiopharmaceuticall,-3-iodine-123--methyl tyrosine (IMT) has been applied to the imaging of amino acid transport into brain tumours. It was the aim of this study to investigate whether IMT SPET is capable of differentiating between high-grade gliomas, low-grade gliomas and non-neoplastic brain lesions. To this end, IMT uptake was determined in 53 patients using the triple-headed SPET camera MULTISPECT 3. Twenty-eight of these subjects suffered from high-grade gliomas (WHO grade III or IV), 12 from low-grade gliomas (WHO grade II), and 13 from non-neoplastic brain lesions, including lesions after effective therapy of a glioma (five cases), infarctions (four cases), inflammatory lesions (three cases) and traumatic haematoma (one case). IMT uptake was significantly higher in high-grade gliomas than in low-grade gliomas and non-neoplastic lesions. IMT uptake by low-grade gliomas was not significantly different from that by non-neoplastic lesions. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 71% and 83% for differentiating high-grade from low-grade gliomas, 82% and 100% for distinguishing high-grade gliomas from non-neoplastic lesions, and 50% and 100% for discriminating low-grade gliomas from non-neoplastic lesions. Analogously to positron emission tomography with radioactively labelled amino acids and fluorine-18 deoxyglucose, IMT SPET may aid in differentiating high-grade gliomas from histologically benign brain tumours and non-neoplastic brain lesions; it is of only limited value in differentiating between non-neoplastic lesions and histologically benign brain tumours.