Age-related differences in the ability to perceive sad facial expressions

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Research has shown that the ability to label negative emotions displayed by facial expressions declines with age. Such studies, however, have tended to adopt the Ekman and Friesen (1976) Caucasian faces as their emotional stimuli. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the age differences in identifying negative emotions are also found using the more recent Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE). METHODS: In Experiment 1, 29 younger and 29 older individuals performed a verbal labeling emotion identification task (happy, sad, angry, frightened, disgusted, surprised, contemptuous). The ability to identify each emotion as a function of ethnicity across the age groups was examined. In order to reduce the verbal decision-making load on the task, a second experiment was conducted in which 60 younger and 60 older participants performed an emotion-matching task (sad, angry, contemptuous). RESULTS: In Experiment 1, older adults showed a significant decrement in the ability to recognize sad faces compared with younger adults, but no age x face ethnicity interaction was found. In Experiment 2, age differences were found when making same/different judgments regarding two sad faces or a sad and a contemptuous face. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that aging has an impact upon perceiving sad facial expressions, that this effect is not mediated by own-race versus other-race faces, and that age effects are not attributable to differences in verbal decision-making.     

The effect of electrode placement and pulsewidth on asystole and bradycardia during the electroconvulsive therapy stimulus

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for severe depression, and different forms are increasingly used in clinical practice. This study investigated the acute cardiac effects of different forms of ECT: bitemporal and bifrontal (1.5 times seizure threshold), and right unilateral (RUL) (five times seizure threshold). For RUL ECT, the effect of stimulus pulsewidth (1.0 or 0.3 ms) was also examined. Electrocardiograms recorded just prior to and during the ECT stimulus in 476 ECT treatments in 114 patients were examined. The degree of bradycardia (any slowing of heart rate) and incidence of asystole (absence of heart beats for ≥5 s) during the ECT stimulus were measured from these traces. Regression analyses estimated the contribution of patient and ECT treatment factors to the risk of bradycardia and asystole. Bifrontal ECT was associated with less severe bradycardia than bitemporal or RUL ECT (p<0.001). Modelling showed, for a mean pre-ECT heart rate of 85 beats per minute (bpm), expected heart rates during the stimulus were 78 bpm (bifrontal), 46 bpm (bitemporal) and 35 bpm (RUL). Bifrontal ECT was also associated with a lower incidence of asystole than RUL ECT (corrected odds ratio 1:207) and bitemporal ECT (corrected odds ratio 1:24). Ultrabrief pulsewidth stimulation resulted in lesser bradycardia and asystole than standard pulsewidth stimulation for RUL ECT. Modelling showed, for a mean pre-ECT heart rate of 86 bpm, expected heart rates were 43 bpm (ultrabrief RUL) and 26 bpm (RUL). Bradycardia and asystole were relatively common side-effects during the ECT stimulus. Bifrontal ECT was associated with the lowest risk of bradycardia and asystole during ECT and should be considered for patients at risk of arrhythmias and prolonged asystole during ECT.     

Improved eradication of Clostridium difficile spores from toilets of hospitalized patients using an accelerated hydrogen peroxide as the cleaning agent

Background  

C. difficle spores in the environment of patients with C. difficile associated disease (CDAD) are difficult to eliminate. Bleach (5000 ppm) has been advocated as an effective disinfectant for the environmental surfaces of patients with CDAD. Few alternatives to bleach for non-outbreak conditions have been evaluated in controlled healthcare studies.     

Anxiety sensitivity: Prospective prediction of anxiety among early adolescents

Emerging evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (AS) predicts subsequent development of anxiety symptoms and panic attacks as well as clinical syndromes in adult samples. The primary aim of the present study was to determine whether AS similarly acts as a vulnerability factor in the pathogenesis of anxiety symptoms among youth in early adolescence (ages 9–13). A large nonclinical community sample of youth (n = 277) was prospectively followed over 1 year. The Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI: Silverman, Fleisig, Rabian, & Peterson, 1991) served as the primary predictor. After controlling for baseline anxiety symptoms as well as depression, AS significantly predicted the future development of anxiety symptoms. Consistent with the adult literature and expectancy theory, AS appears to act as a risk factor for anxiety symptoms in youth.     

针刺临床试验干预措施报告标准的修订:CONSORT声明的扩展

"针刺临床试验干预措施报告标准"(STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture,STRICTA)于2001年和2002年在5种期刊上发表。该指南以对照检查清单及解释的形式供作者和期刊编辑使用,旨在提高针刺临床试验报告的质量,尤其是对其中干预措施的报告,因而有助于对这些试验的解释和重复。随后对STRICTA的应用及影响的述评都强调了STRICTA的价值,也提出了改进和修订的建议。为使修订过程顺利进行,STRICTA工作组、CONSORT工作组和中国Cochrane中心于2008年开始合作。召集成立的有47名成员的专家组对清单的修改稿提出了电子版反馈意见。在后来于弗莱堡(Freiburg)召开的见面会上,由21名专家组成的工作组进一步修订了STRICTA对照检查清单,并计划如何对其进行发布。新的STRICTA对照检查清单作为CONSORT的正式扩展版,包含6项条目及17条二级条目。这些条目为报告针刺治疗的合理性、针刺的细节、治疗方案、其他干预措施、治疗师的背景以及对照或对照干预提供了指南。而且,作为修订工作的一部分,...     

Cooperation between Rb and Arf in suppressing mouse retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a pediatric cancer that has served as a paradigm for tumor suppressor gene function. Retinoblastoma is initiated by RB gene mutations, but the subsequent cooperating mutational events leading to tumorigenesis are poorly characterized. We investigated what these additional genomic alterations might be using human retinoblastoma samples and mouse models. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization studies revealed deletions in the CDKN2A locus that include ARF and P16INK4A, both of which encode tumor suppressor proteins, in both human and mouse retinoblastoma. Through mouse genetic analyses, we found that Arf was the critical tumor suppressor gene in the deleted region. In mice, inactivation of one allele of Arf cooperated with Rb and p107 loss to rapidly accelerate retinoblastoma, with frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the Arf locus. Arf has been reported to exhibit p53-independent tumor suppressor roles in other systems; however, our results showed no additive effect of p53 and Arf coinactivation in promoting retinoblastoma. Moreover, p53 inactivation completely eliminated any selection for Arf LOH. Thus, our data reveal important insights into the p53 pathway in retinoblastoma and show that Arf is a key collaborator with Rb in retinoblastoma suppression.     

Pyrrolamide DNA gyrase inhibitors: fragment-based nuclear magnetic resonance screening to identify antibacterial agents

DNA gyrase is an essential enzyme in bacteria, and its inhibition results in the disruption of DNA synthesis and, subsequently, cell death. The pyrrolamides are a novel class of antibacterial agents targeting DNA gyrase. These compounds were identified by a fragment-based lead generation (FBLG) approach using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) screening to identify low-molecular-weight compounds that bind to the ATP pocket of DNA gyrase. A pyrrole hit with a binding constant of 1 mM formed the basis of the design and synthesis of a focused library of compounds that resulted in the rapid identification of a lead compound that inhibited DNA gyrase with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 3 μM. The potency of the lead compound was further optimized by utilizing iterative X-ray crystallography to yield DNA gyrase inhibitors that also displayed antibacterial activity. Spontaneous mutants were isolated in Staphylococcus aureus by plating on agar plates containing pyrrolamide 4 at the MIC. The resistant variants displayed 4- to 8-fold-increased MIC values relative to the parent strain. DNA sequencing revealed two independent point mutations in the pyrrolamide binding region of the gyrB genes from these variants, supporting the hypothesis that the mode of action of these compounds was inhibition of DNA gyrase. Efficacy of a representative pyrrolamide was demonstrated against Streptococcus pneumoniae in a mouse lung infection model. These data demonstrate that the pyrrolamides are a novel class of DNA gyrase inhibitors with the potential to deliver future antibacterial agents targeting multiple clinical indications.