Overt use of a tactile/kinaesthetic strategy shifts to covert processing in rehabilitation of letter-by-letter reading

Background: Letter-by-letter readers identify each letter of the word they are reading serially in left to right order before recognising the word. When their letter naming is also impaired, letter-by-letter reading is inaccurate and can render even single word reading very poor. Tactile and/or kinaesthetic strategies have been reported to improve reading in these patients, but only under certain conditions or for a limited set of stimuli.

Aims: The primary aim of the current study was to determine whether a tactile/kinaesthetic treatment could significantly improve reading specifically under normal reading conditions, i.e., reading untrained words presented in free vision and read without overt use of the strategy.

Methods & Procedures: Three chronic letter-by-letter readers participated in a tactile/kinaesthetic treatment aimed at first improving letter-naming accuracy (phase 1) and then letter-by-letter reading speed (phase 2). In a multiple case series design, accuracy and speed of reading untrained words without overt use of the trained tactile/kinaesthetic strategy was assessed before phase 1, after phase 1, and again after phase 2.

Outcomes & Results: All three patients significantly improved both their speed and accuracy in reading untrained words without overt use of the trained tactile/kinaesthetic strategy. All three patients required the additional practice in phase 2 to achieve significant improvement. Treatment did not target sentence-level reading, yet two of the three patients became so adept that they could read entire sentences.

Conclusions: This study replicates previous findings on the efficacy of tactile/kinaesthetic treatment for letter-by-letter readers with poor letter naming. It further demonstrates that this treatment can alter cognitive processing such that words never specifically trained can be read in free vision without overtly using the trained strategy. The data suggest that an important element in achieving this level of generalisation is continuing training beyond the point of initial mastery (i.e., accurate letter naming).     

A novel recombinant soluble splice variant of Met is a potent antagonist of the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-Met pathway

PURPOSE: The Met receptor tyrosine kinase and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), are involved in a wide range of biological activities, including cell proliferation, motility, invasion, and angiogenesis. The HGF/SF-Met signaling pathway is frequently activated in a variety of cancers, and uncontrolled Met activation correlates with highly invasive tumors and poor prognosis. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of a novel soluble splice variant of Met on the HGF/SF-Met pathway. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Using our alternative splicing modeling platform LEADS, we have identified a novel splice variant of the Met receptor, which encodes a truncated soluble form of the receptor. This variant was produced as a recombinant Fc-fused protein named Cgen-241A and was tested in various cell-based assays representing different outcomes of the HGF/SF-Met pathway. RESULTS: Cgen-241A significantly inhibited HGF/SF-induced Met phosphorylation as well as cell proliferation and survival. In addition, Cgen-241A showed a profound inhibitory effect on cell scattering, invasion, and urokinase up-regulation. The inhibitory effects of Cgen-241A were shown in multiple human and nonhuman cell types, representing different modes of Met activation. Furthermore, Cgen-241A showed direct binding to HGF/SF. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results indicate that Cgen-241A is a potent antagonist of the HGF/SF-Met pathway, underlining its potential as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of a wide variety of human malignancies that are dependent on this pathway.     

Supplementation of fish oil and olive oil in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated whether supplementation with olive oil could improve clinical and laboratory parameters of disease activity in patients who had rheumatoid arthritis and were using fish oil supplements. METHODS: Forty-three patients (34 female, 9 male; mean age = 49 +/- 19y) were investigated in a parallel randomized design. Patients were assigned to one of three groups. In addition to their usual medication, the first group (G1) received placebo (soy oil), the second group (G2) received fish oil omega-3 fatty acids (3 g/d), and the third group (G3) received fish oil omega-3 fatty acids (3 g/d) and 9.6 mL of olive oil. Disease activity was measured by clinical and laboratory indicators at the beginning of the study and after 12 and 24 wk. Patients' satisfaction in activities of daily living was also measured. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.05) in G2 and G3 in relation to G1 with respect to joint pain intensity, right and left handgrip strength after 12 and 24 wk, duration of morning stiffness, onset of fatigue, Ritchie's articular index for pain joints after 24 wk, ability to bend down to pick up clothing from the floor, and getting in and out of a car after 24 wk. G3, but not G2, in relation to G1 showed additional improvements with respect to duration of morning stiffness after 12 wk, patient global assessment after 12 and 24 wk, ability to turn faucets on and off after 24 wk, and rheumatoid factor after 24 wk. In addition, G3 showed a significant improvement in patient global assessment in relation to G2 after 12 wk. CONCLUSIONS: Ingestion of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids relieved several clinical parameters used in the present study. However, patients showed a more precocious and accentuated improvement when fish oil supplements were used in combination with olive oil.     

Pharmacological and phytochemical investigations of different parts of Calophyllum brasiliense (Clusiaceae)

Continuing our search for antinociceptive agents from natural sources, this study analyzed the antinociceptive effects of some fractions obtained from different parts (roots, flowers and fruits) of Calophyllum brasiliense, a Brazilian medicinal plant used to treat several diseases, including inflammation and pain. For this purpose, the writhing and formalin induced-pain models in mice were used. We also analyzed the chemical composition of these different parts and tested two pure compounds isolated from chloroform fraction (roots) identified as friedelin (1) and 1,5-dihydroxyxanthone (3), by direct comparison with authentic samples. The results showed that some fractions and both compounds exhibited considerable antinociception properties, particularly against the writhing test, and that these are more potent than acetyl salicylic acid and acetaminophen, two reference drugs used here for comparison.