Panoramic diagnostic microhysteroscopy and female sterility: analysis of results in 284 patients

The results of panoramic diagnostic microhysteroscopy are reported in 284 patients with sterility or infertility problems. In 33.5% of the patients, microhysteroscopy revealed uterine pathology; in the majority of cases they were pathologies which are unanimously recognized as being causes of sterility, while in others there were pathologies whose role infertilities is still unclear. There was a good correlation between microhysteroscopy and histology in cases of endometrial hyperplasia and of endometritis, whereas in cases of endometrial polyps and functional diagnosis of the endometrium, the correlation was less satisfactory. Although it is not possible at present to draw definite conclusions about the real value and advantages of microhysteroscopy in the diagnosis of female infertility, we are convinced that it is of great use and that it should be at the basis of any investigation involving the infertile woman.     

Acute psychotropic effects of bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation and levodopa in Parkinson's disease.

High-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) improves the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Opposite changes in mood, such as mania or depression, have been reported after surgery, but it is not known whether these side effects are specifically related to STN DBS. To learn whether STN DBS also influences the limbic loop, we investigated acute subjective psychotropic effects related to levodopa or bilateral STN DBS. After a median postoperative follow-up of 12 months, 50 PD patients completed the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI), assessing subjective psychotropic effects in four conditions: off-drug/on-stimulation; off-drug/off-stimulation; on-drug/off-stimulation; and on-drug/on-stimulation. Both levodopa and STN DBS improved all the ARCI subscales, indicating subjective feelings of well being, euphoria, increase in motivation, and decrease in fatigue, anxiety, and tension. A suprathreshold dose of levodopa was significantly more effective than STN DBS, using the same electrical parameters as for chronic stimulation, on four of the five ARCI subscales. We concluded that 1) both STN DBS and levodopa have synergistic acute beneficial psychotropic effects in PD, 2) the psychotropic effects of both treatments need to be considered in the long-term management of chronic STN DBS, and 3) the results indicate an involvement of the limbic STN in mood disorders of PD.     

Auditory event-related potentials and cognitive function of preterm children at five years of age.

OBJECTIVE: In our previous study, auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) in preterm 1-year-old children had a positive deflection at 150-350 ms that correlated positively with their 2-year neurodevelopmental outcome. In a study of the same subjects at age 5, our aim was to assess AERPs and their relationship to neuropsychological test results. METHODS: Preterm small (SGA, n=13), appropriate for gestational age (AGA, n=15), and control (n=13) children were assessed with an Easy paradigm presenting a large frequency change accompanied with occasional novel sounds, and a Challenging paradigm presenting small frequency and duration changes with a rapid rate. The preterm children underwent neurocognitive tests. RESULTS: Easy paradigm. The P1 response to frequency deviant was smaller and MMN larger in the preterm than in the control children. Challenging paradigm. The P1 response to standard, frequency, and duration deviants was smaller in the preterm than in the control children. The N2 response to frequency deviant was larger in the preterm than in the control children. AGA and SGA children had similar AERPs. The P1, N2, and MMN amplitudes correlated with verbal IQ and NEPSY language subtests. CONCLUSIONS: Small P1 response(s) appears to be typical for preterm children. SIGNIFICANCE: Small P1 response in preterm children may suggest altered primary auditory processing.     

The incidence of error in young children's Wh-questions.

Many current generativist theorists suggest that young children possess the grammatical principles of inversion required for question formation but make errors because they find it difficult to learn language-specific rules about how inversion applies. The present study analyzed longitudinal spontaneous sampled data from twelve 2-3-year-old English speaking children and the intensive diary data of 1 child (age 2;7 [years;months] to 2;11) in order to test some of these theories. The results indicated significantly different rates of error use across different auxiliaries. In particular, error rates differed across 2 forms of the same auxiliary subtype (e.g., auxiliary is vs. are), and auxiliary DO and modal auxiliaries attracted significantly higher rates of errors of inversion than other auxiliaries. The authors concluded that current generativist theories might have problems explaining the patterning of errors seen in children's questions, which might be more consistent with a constructivist account of development. However, constructivists need to devise more precise predictions in order to fully explain the acquisition of questions.     

Natural killer cell activity and serum immunoglobulins in epileptic patients

Serum immunoglobulins and the activity of natural killer (NK) cells of 50 epileptic patients (eight with idiopathic generalized epilepsy and 42 with cryptogenic partial epilepsy) and 28 controls have been studied. The values of IgA, IgG and IgM were the same-in patients and controls. The NK activity in controls was linearly related to the effector-to-target ratio, but this linear relationship was not observed in epileptic patients. The cytotoxic activity of NK cells at the lowest effector-to-target ratio was significantly greater in patients than in controls. This increase was observed in each therapy group. Our results seem to confirm a disturbance of the immune system in epileptic patients and suggest that this modification of cellular immunity is not a drug effect but is related to the illness itself.     

Effects of tacrine on deficits in active avoidance performance induced by AF64A in rats

Effects of tacrine (1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9-aminoacridine) on memory deficits in rats treated with ethylcholine aziridinium ion (AF64A) were studied using active avoidance test in the two-way shuttle box. Neurotoxin AF64A injected at a dose of 6 nmol (icv, bilaterally) causes nonspecific tissue damage in hippocampal fields CA2 and CA3. Two weeks after treatment with 6 nmol, AF64A active avoidance performance of toxin-treated rats was significantly deteriorated compared to vehicle-treated animals estimated in learning test (68±3.5 and 83±3.2% of correct responses, respectively;p<0.01) and in retention test (53±5 and 76±3.6%, respectively;p<0.01). Under these conditions, chronic treatment with tacrine at a daily dose of 1 mg/kg for 12–14 d reverses the effect of AF64A on the active avoidance performance both in learning (78±3.2%) and retention (72±4%) tests. It is supposed that behavioral effects of tacrine considerably depend on a severity of neurodegeneration in the hippocampus.     

Petit Mal-Grand Mal ECT: A Method to Induce Seizures Without Barbiturate Anesthesia

Petit mal-grand mal (PM-GM) electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a technique developed by Impastato to elicit unconsciousness with a subconvulsive electrical stimulus, rather than with barbiturate anesthesia. Muscle relaxation is produced with succinylcholine chloride before stimulus is applied. The cases reported here illustrate applications of the technique to depressed patients with severe cardiac and pulmonary disease, and the use of PM-GM ECT in a patient in whom seizures could not be elicited by the usual ECT technique is described.     

Transglutaminase in cell proliferation and transformation

Transglutaminase (TGase) activity was reduced in intact mitogen-stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) when compared to intact resting PBL. Moreover, a treatment of the same quiescent immunocompetent cells with purified liver TGase and Ca²⁺ completely suppressed the mitogen-induced blast transformation. A decrease in TGase activity in neoplastically transformed seminal vesicle epithelial cells with respect to their normal parent counterpart was also observed. Our data support the notion of a possible implication of TGase in cell proliferation and transformation.     

Hormones and the immunological capacity. V. Modification of growth hormone-producing cells in the adenohypophysis of neonatally thymectomized germ-free mice: an electron microscopical study

An electron microscopical study has been carried out to evaluate the effect of neonatal thymectomy on the hypophysis of germ-free mice at different times after the operation. The results fully confirm the previous findings in neonatally thymectomized, conventional mice. Also neonatal thymectomy in germ-free mice results in degranulation of growth hormone-producing cells in the anterior pituitary gland. A large number of these cells show an enlarged endoplasmic reticulum with formation of cisternae and loss of hormone granuli. This alteration of growth hormone-producing cells is similar to that observed in other cells of the hypophysis after removal of other target glands such as thyroid or gonads. The changes in the growth hormone-producing cells in neonatally thymectomized germ-free mice occur even in the first days after birth, when the number of differentiated growth hormone-producing cells is still very low.

Some thymectomized germ-free mice showed symptoms of the wasting syndrome but the alterations in their hypophysis were not more pronounced than those observed in thymectomized germ-free but nonwasting mice. The data fit well our suggestion that the perinatal thymus is under hypophysial control and that immunological maturation depends on endocrine function.