The effects of sex and hormonal status on restraint-stress-induced working memory impairment

Background  

Restraint stress has been shown to elicit numerous effects on hippocampal function and neuronal morphology, as well as to induce dendritic remodeling in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the effects of acute restraint stress on PFC cognitive function have not been investigated, despite substantial evidence that the PFC malfunctions in many stress-related disorders.     

Epitope mapping of the Lassa virus nucleoprotein using monoclonal anti-nucleocapsid antibodies

Summary Monoclonal antibodies with differing specificity were prepared against the Josiah strain of the Lassa virus. All monoclonal antibodies were characterized by subclass determination and the immunofluorescence test against Lassa, LCM (WE & Arm strain), Junin, Machupo, and other arenavirus antigens. In radioimmune precipitation tests using purified Lassa virus antigen all monoclonal antibodies precipitated a single band of 60 kd, specific for the viral nucleoprotein (p 60). Three domains (A, B, C) were identified on the surface of the Lassa virus nucleoprotein using an ELISA-inhibition test. All domains carried different Lassa virus specific epitopes. In addition, the A-domain carried a group specific epitope present within the arenavirus family as a whole as shown by cross-reaction in immunofluorescence tests. The B-domain only carries Lassa virus specific epitopes, whereas the C-domain has a type specific and a subgroup specific (Lassa, LCM) epitope.     

Effect of Serum pH on Bilirubin-Protein Binding

Progressive increase of the serum pH upon standing and storage in different conditions is documented. Bilirubin albumin titration studies were performed on serum of different pH by Sephadex gel filtration and horseradish peroxidase oxidation methods. Results showed that different pH produced different titration curves and that more reproducible and consistent results were obtained with the peroxidase oxidation titration method. Addition of HC1 and CO₂ to the serum also produced different bilirubin-protein titration results. For blirubin albumin binding studies, we suggest to adjust the pH to 7.4 with CO₂ to obtain clinically meaningful data.     

Comparison of [11C]UCB-J and [18F]FDG PET in Alzheimer’s disease: A tracer kinetic modeling study

[¹¹C]UCB-J PET for synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 A (SV2A) has been proposed as a suitable marker for synaptic density in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We compared [¹¹C]UCB-J binding for synaptic density and [¹⁸F]FDG uptake for metabolism (correlated with neuronal activity) in 14 AD and 11 cognitively normal (CN) participants. We assessed both absolute and relative outcome measures in brain regions of interest, i.e., K₁ or R₁ for [¹¹C]UCB-J perfusion, V_T (volume of distribution) or DVR to cerebellum for [¹¹C]UCB-J binding to SV2A; and K_i or K_iR to cerebellum for [¹⁸F]FDG metabolism. [¹¹C]UCB-J binding and [¹⁸F]FDG metabolism showed a similar magnitude of reduction in the medial temporal lobe of AD –compared to CN participants. However, the magnitude of reduction of [¹¹C]UCB-J binding in neocortical regions was less than that observed with [¹⁸F]FDG metabolism. Inter-tracer correlations were also higher in the medial temporal regions between synaptic density and metabolism, with lower correlations in neocortical regions. [¹¹C]UCB-J perfusion showed a similar pattern to [¹⁸F]FDG metabolism, with high inter-tracer regional correlations. In summary, we conducted the first in vivo PET imaging of synaptic density and metabolism in the same AD participants and reported a concordant reduction in medial temporal regions but a discordant reduction in neocortical regions.     

Multi-quadrant biopsy technique improves diagnostic ability in large heterogeneous renal masses. Abel EJ,Heckman JE,Hinshaw L,Best S,Lubner M,Jarrard DF,Downs TM,Nakada SY,Lee FT Jr,Huang W,Ziemlewicz T.J Urol. 2015 Oct;194(4):886-91. [Epub 2015 Mar 30]. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.03.106.

Purpose

Percutaneous biopsy obtained from a single location is prone to sampling error in large heterogeneous renal masses, leading to nondiagnostic results or failure to detect poor prognostic features. We evaluated the accuracy of percutaneous biopsy for large renal masses using a modified multi-quadrant technique vs. a standard biopsy technique.