Epiretinal membrane formation associated with spontaneous massive periretinal proliferation.

A 74-year-old man with cardiovascular disease and epiretinal membrane formation developed spontaneous massive periretinal proliferation over a period of 3 months. No surgery was performed at any stage. A 3-year follow-up is described and theories concerning the production of these 2 entities are discussed.     

Lateral asymmetry: Hard or simple-minded?

A letter or a three-dimensional shape was presented in the center of the visual field. Following the off-set of this stimulus either a comparison letter or a three-dimensional shape was flashed briefly in either the right or left visual field. The subject's task was to respond SAME, or DIFFERENT. The stimuli could be in the same plane, rotated in two dimensions (letters) or in three dimensions (three-dimensional shapes). The left visual field presentations (right hemisphere) of same-pair matches for letters only produced faster reaction times and fewer errors. In all other conditions reaction time measures showed no hemisphere effects. By contrast, error score data indicated that the left hemisphere was overwhelmingly more accurate.     

Cellular dielectric spectroscopy: a label-free comprehensive platform for functional evaluation of endogenous receptors

The CellKey (MDS Sciex, South San Francisco, CA) system enables comprehensive pharmacological evaluation of cell surface receptors, including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and tyrosine kinase receptors, using adherent and suspension cell lines and primary cells. A unique application enabled by the ability of the CellKey system to reliably quantify activation of endogenous receptors is receptor panning. This application allows investigators to easily screen disease-relevant cell types for functionally active target receptors by treating cells with a panel of receptor-specific ligands. Receptor panning of multiple cell types including Chinese hamster ovary, human embryonic kidney 293, HeLa, U-937, U-2 OS, and TE671 cells resulted in the identification of many functionally active, differently coupled endogenous GPCRs, some of which have not been previously documented in the literature. Upon detecting GPCR activation in live cells, unique cellular dielectric spectroscopy (CDS) response profiles are generated within minutes that reflect the signaling pathways utilized and have been shown to be characteristic of Gs, Gq, and Gi GPCRs. The fact that the CDS response profiles are predictive of the G-protein coupling mechanism of the receptor was demonstrated by using examples of subtype-selective agonists/antagonists to identify the subtypes of the endogenous histamine and beta-adrenergic receptors expressed in U-2 OS cells. A direct correlation is shown between receptor subtype G-protein coupling and CDS response profile. In addition, complex pharmacology, including detection of partial agonism and Schild analysis for endogenous receptors, is presented. The CellKey system allows investigators to conduct studies using endogenously expressed receptors to generate data that are physiologically relevant and in disease context.     

Some clinical, social and psychological characteristics of migraine subjects in the general population

A very careful enquiry within adequate sub-samples of the general population of a market town and its surrounding villages has revealed (a) no special relationship between so-called tension headaches and migraine as defined; (b) a two-year prevalence of migraine more or less similar to that reported elsewhere, i.e. approximately 10% of males and 25% of females being affected; (c) a greater prevalence of migraine amongst professional and managerial classes; (d) similar clinical features to those commonly described before; (e) that approximately 50% of the subjects had consulted their general practitioners and/or other doctors on account of the headache; (f) that actual migraine female subjects are significantly more anxious and depressed than normal subjects whilst at the same time reporting themselves as more sociable than others; they also complain more of other functional somatic disturbance; (g) that such differences were not always detected in the smaller male sample who showed similar tendencies only in respect of anxiety and other somatic complaint; (h) that subjects who described themselves on the questionnaire as having migraine but who were not on careful scrutiny always found to have it, showed as a population a higher degree of neurotic disability, including phobic avoidance patterns, than the population who actually have the condition.     

Anatomy in a new curriculum: facilitating the learning of gross anatomy using web access streaming dissection videos

As anatomy course hours have decreased, it has become increasingly important to provide tools that facilitate laboratory task efficiency. Digital video clips were created to present dissection guidance to medical students. The video clips communicate challenging aspects of the dissection process with succinct visual demonstrations easily accessed via an online course site. Students were asked to complete a survey designed to assess the quality and utility of the videos. Survey respondents indicated that the videos enhanced the quality of the anatomy course as well as their individual performances. This teaching tool enhances student competencies in human gross anatomy.