Breastmilk intake and growth in infants from two to ten months

Longitudinal measurements of breastmilk intake in 48 Cambridge infants showed that intake reached a peak of 824 g/24 h in boys and 741 g/24 h in girls in the third and fourth months, respectively. Regression analysis demonstrated that, in the early months, the infants' weight accounted for a major part of the variance in breastmilk intake. Infants in non-manual social classes received more breastmilk and started solids later than those in manual groups. In the early months weight gain showed a relative increase compared to growth standards, but later infancy was characterized by a progressive deceleration in weight and length gain. Adiposity, as measured by triceps skinfold thickness differed most markedly from growth charts and was only equivalent to the tenth standard centile at all ages. The lower skinfold thickness measurements are considered to be more appropriate to breastfed infants in general.     

CT-guided brachial plexus biopsy.

We describe a technique for conducting a CT-guided biopsy of the brachial plexus region, report two illustrative cases, discuss potential complications, and conclude that, in selected cases, biopsy of lesions in the region of the brachial plexus can be performed safely with CT guidance.     

Neonatal 6-hydroxydopa, but not DSP-4, elevates brainstem monoamines and impairs inhibitory avoidance learning in developing rats

The involvement of brain monoamines in learning and memory in developing rats was studied by comparing the effects of 3 different noradrenergic neurotoxin treatments. Two experimental groups of male Sprague-Dawley rat pups were injected systemically with 50 micrograms/g of N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) either on the day of birth or on postnatal days 17-18. Rats in the third experimental group were injected systemically with 60 micrograms/g of 6-hydroxydopa (6-OHDOPA) on postnatal days 0 and 2. Control littermates received vehicle. The animals were trained on an inhibitory avoidance task on postnatal days 27-29 and tested for retention 24 h later. The drug treatments produced comparable depletion of norepinephrine in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. 6-OHDOPA, but neither DSP-4 treatment, significantly elevated brainstem concentrations of norepinephrine and serotonin. In addition, 6-OHDOPA, but not DSP-4, significantly impaired retention of the inhibitory avoidance task. The impairment did not reflect insensitivity to the footshock used in training: both neonatal drug treatments tended to lower, not raise, footshock thresholds, as measured by a flinch test. High affinity choline uptake was not affected by either neonatal drug treatment in any of the brain areas examined. Thus, the 6-OHDOPA-induced behavioral deficit did not involve altered acetylcholine function. The results implicate brainstem monoamines in the modulation of learning and memory during development.     

Spina Bifida: The Transition into Adulthood Begins in Infancy

Many concerns surround the preparation of a person with spina bifida for a successful transition into adult life and responsibilities. A model of intervention must be based on developmental concerns and timely issues from infancy through all stages of development to young-adult life. This article discusses, within a developmental framework, issues of transition in relation to physical, social, emotional, and educational/vocational needs; it also presents a conceptual framework for the transition into adulthood. Guidelines were developed by incorporating expected outcomes of people with spina bifida and using a philosophical framework that encompasses the achievement of a balance among dependence, independence, and interdependence. This model is based on developmental issues from infancy through all stages of development to young-adult life. Using this framework for care, the rehabilitation nurse can feel confident that the needs of clients with spina bifida and similar chronic conditions are being met.     

Rapidly progressive parkinsonism in a self-reported user of ecstasy and other drugs.

A 38-year-old man developed parkinsonism that progressed to Hoehn and Yahr stage 5 within 4 years of onset. Response to ropinirole deteriorated, levodopa was not tolerated, and subthalamic nucleus stimulation has provided only partial relief of symptoms. He reported heavy use of Ecstasy through most of his twenties and thirties. His neurological problems may be unrelated to his drug use, but it is also possible they represent an idiosyncratic reaction.     

Persistence of a mock bio-agent in cross-contaminated mail and mailboxes.

Among the 22 confirmed or suspected cases of anthrax during the bioterrorism incidents in 2001, all but two seemed traceable to spores from threat letters. Although no anthrax spores were found in the environments frequented by two females who died of the disease, a suspicion persists that the deaths were somehow related to the mail. This study assesses the spread and persistence of a mock biological agent from a source-letter to other mail and to a receiving mailbox. Successive placement and removal of letters were found to reduce the number of residual bio-agent particles in a mailbox. This suggests that a sweeping action is taking place that can affect the quantity of bio-agent remaining. The exercise supports the possibility that the two females were exposed to spores on mail that had been in their mailboxes although no trace of spores could later be found in their boxes.     

Spatial Learning Deficits in Mice with a Targeted Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene Disruption

Previous studies in rats using the Morris water maze suggested that the processing of spatial information is modulated by corticosteroid hormones through mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors in the hippocampus. Mineralocorticoid receptors appear to be involved in the modulation of explorative behaviour, while additional activation of glucocorticoid receptors facilitates the storage of information. In the present study we used the water maze task to examine spatial learning and memory in mice homozygous and heterozygous for a targeted disruption of the glucocorticoid receptor gene. Compared with wild-type controls, homozygous and heterozygous mice were impaired in the processing of spatial but not visual information. Homozygous mutants performed variably during training, without specific platform-directed search strategies. The spatial learning disability was partly compensated for by increased motor activity. The deficits were indicative of a dysfunction of glucocorticoid receptors as well as of mineralocorticoid receptors. Although the heterozygous mice performed similarly to wild-type mice with respect to latency to find the platform, their strategy was more similar to that of the homozygous mice. Glucocorticoid receptor-related long-term spatial memory was impaired. The increased behavioural reactivity of the heterozygous mice in the open field points to a more prominent mineralocorticoid receptor-mediated function. The findings indicate that (i) the glucocorticoid receptor is of critical importance for the control of spatial behavioural functions, and (ii) mineralocorticoid receptor-mediated effects on this behaviour require interaction with functional glucocorticoid receptors. Until the development of site-specific, inducible glucocorticoid receptor mutants, glucocorticoid receptor-knockout mice present the only animal model for the study of corticosteroid-mediated effects in the complete absence of a functional receptor.     

Search for coloured objects in natural surroundings by people with abnormal colour vision

Background: People with abnormal colour vision often report difficulty seeing coloured berries and flowers in foliage, which suggests they will have a diminished capacity for visual search when target objects are marked out by colour. There is very little experimental evidence of the effect of abnormal colour vision on visual search and none relating to search for objects in natural foliage. Method: We showed 79 subjects with abnormal colour vision (seven protanopes, 10 deuteranopes, 16 protanomals and 46 deuteranomals) and 20 subjects with normal colour vision photographs of natural scenes and asked them to locate clumps of red berries, to trace the length of a red string on grass and to name the season depicted in a photograph taken in the Autumn and the same scene photographed in the Summer. Colour vision was assessed using the Ishihara, the Medmont C100, the Farnsworth D15, the Richmond HRR and the Nagel anomaloscope. Results: All the subjects with abnormal colour vision located fewer clumps of red berries than those with normal colour vision. The subjects who failed the Farnsworth D15 performed significantly worse than those who passed but the distribution of scores in the two groups overlaps. The majority of subjects with abnormal colour vision could not trace the full length of the string: only 38 per cent of anomalous trichromats who passed the Farnsworth D15 test and three per cent of those who failed it were able to trace the full length of the string. Fifty‐five per cent of those classed as having a mild deficiency by the HRR test could trace the whole string. Most dichromats were unable to identify the Autumn season and those who did may have been assisted by guessing. Most (94 per cent) of those who passed the Farnsworth D15 test and all those classified as having a ‘mild’ deficiency by the HRR test could identify the season. Conclusions: All people with abnormal colour vision, even those with a very mild deficiency, have some degree of impairment of their ability to see coloured objects in natural surroundings. A pass at the Farnsworth D15 test or a ‘mild’ classification with the Richmond HRR test identifies those likely to have the least problems with visual search and identification tasks. The results have practical implications for the selection of personnel in occupations that involve visual search in natural terrain.