Automatic needle insertion diminishes pain during growth hormone injection

Non-compliance in children receiving growth hormone (GH) treatment is often caused by pain on injection and difficulties in administration of GH. It has been suggested that automatic needle insertion diminishes pain perception. We quantitatively measured pain intensity on injection with two prototype pens for GH administration, providing either manual or automatic sc needle insertion, using a combined visual analogue/facial scale and a five-item scale in 18 children. With the automatic pen there was a significantly lower maximum pain score compared with the manual pen (median 28.5 versus 52.0mm) as well as a lower mean pain score (mean 13.7 versus 23.5 mm). The five-item scale revealed that automatic needle insertion was significantly less painful than manual insertion and 13 patients chose to continue treatment with the automatic pen. In conclusion, pain during GH injection can be significantly diminished by automatic needle insertion, which may improve compliance in long-term GH treatment.     

Visual adaptation to patterns containing two-dimensional spatial structure

Adaptation experiments have been carried out using gratings periodic in two dimensions. The threshold elevation effect was measured using such patterns both as test gratings and as adaptation gratings. It is shown that the threshold elevation effect is selective for the length of bars in the gratings, the maximum effect occurring when the bar length in the adaptation grating is the same as that in the test grating. This selectivity holds for bar lengths less than about three times the bar width, whereas for longer bars, the threshold elevation effect is independent of the bar length. It is suggested that there are two populations of mechanism; one population which is length selective and responds to bars with length to width ratio less than three, and another population which is not length selective and responds to bars with length to width ratio greater than three. The orientation selectivity is calculated for the latter population of mechanism and shown to be in agreement with experimental data on the orientation selectivity of the threshold elevation effect for linear gratings.     

Cardiovascular risk factors in a Melanesian population apparently free from stroke and ischaemic heart disease: the Kitava study

Abstract. Objectives. To compare cardiovascular risk factor levels between non-westernized Melanesians, apparently free from stroke and ischaemic heart disease [1], and healthy Swedish populations, and to analyse, among adult Melanesians, relations with age, sex and smoking status. Design. Cross-sectional survey. Subjects. (i) Traditional horticulturalists in Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, uninfluenced by western diet. This study tested 151 males and 69 females aged 14–87 years with 76% and 80% smokers over 20 years, (ii) Healthy Swedish reference populations. Main outcome measures. Sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, weight, height, body mass index, circumferences of waist, pelvis and mid upper arm, triceps skinfold thickness, fasting serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, estimated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein Al and apolipo-protein (a). Results. Compared to Sweden, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index and triceps skinfold thickness were substantially lower in Kitava, where all subjects ≥ 40 years were below Swedish medians. Among males ≥ 20 and females ≥ 60 years systolic blood pressure was lower in Kitavans. Fasting serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B were 10–30% lower in Kitavan males ≥ 40 and females ≥ 60 years. Triglycerides were higher in Kitavans aged 20–39. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol did not differ while apolipoprotein Al was lower in Kitavans. Apolipoprotein (a) tended to be lower in Kitavans, but the differences were small. Conclusions. Of the analysed variables, leanness and low diastolic blood pressure seem to offer the best explanations for the apparent absence of stroke and ischaemic heart disease in Kitava. The lower serum cholesterol may provide some additional benefit. Differences in dietary habits may explain the findings.     

Public health, conflict and human rights: toward a collaborative research agenda

Although epidemiology is increasingly contributing to policy debates on issues of conflict and human rights, its potential is still underutilized. As a result, this article calls for greater collaboration between public health researchers, conflict analysts and human rights monitors, with special emphasis on retrospective, population-based surveys. The article surveys relevant recent public health research, explains why collaboration is useful, and outlines possible future research scenarios, including those pertaining to the indirect and long-term consequences of conflict; human rights and security in conflict prone areas; and the link between human rights, conflict, and International Humanitarian Law.     

Preclinical characterization of WAY-211612: a dual 5-HT uptake inhibitor and 5-HT1A receptor antagonist and potential novel antidepressant

Background and purpose

As a combination of 5-HT selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) with 5-HT_1A receptor antagonism may yield a rapidly acting antidepressant, WAY-211612, a compound with both SSRI and 5-HT_1A receptor antagonist activities, was evaluated in preclinical models.

Experimental approach

Occupancy studies confirmed the mechanism of action of WAY-211612, while its in vivo profile was characterized in microdialysis and behavioural models.

Key results

WAY-211612 inhibited 5-HT reuptake (K_i = 1.5 nmol·L⁻¹; K_B = 17.7 nmol·L⁻¹) and exhibited full 5-HT_1A receptor antagonist activity (K_i = 1.2 nmol·L⁻¹; K_B = 6.3 nmol·L⁻¹; I_max 100% in adenyl cyclase assays; K_B = 19.8 nmol·L⁻¹; I_max 100% in GTPγS). WAY-211612 (3 and 30 mg·kg⁻¹, po) occupied 5-HT reuptake sites in rat prefrontal cortex (56.6% and 73.6% respectively) and hippocampus (52.2% and 78.5%), and 5-HT_1A receptors in the prefrontal cortex (6.7% and 44.7%), hippocampus (8.3% and 48.6%) and dorsal raphe (15% and 83%). Acute or chronic treatment with WAY-211612 (3–30 mg·kg⁻¹, po) raised levels of cortical 5-HT approximately twofold, as also observed with a combination of an SSRI (fluoxetine; 30 mg·kg⁻¹, s.c.) and a 5-HT_1A antagonist (WAY-100635; 0.3 mg·kg⁻¹, s.c). WAY-211612 (3.3–30 mg·kg⁻¹, s.c.) decreased aggressive behaviour in the resident-intruder model, while increasing the number of punished crossings (3–30 mg·kg⁻¹, i.p. and 10–56 mg·kg⁻¹, po) in the mouse four-plate model and decreased adjunctive drinking behaviour (56 mg·kg⁻¹, i.p.) in the rat scheduled-induced polydipsia model.

Conclusions and implications

These findings suggest that WAY-211612 may represent a novel antidepressant.     

半边旗提取物5F-Na盐溶液的制备及体外抑癌作用研究

目的:制备5F-Na盐,并观察其对肺癌细胞株NCL-H460和肝癌细胞株BEL-7402的杀伤作用。方法:加入0.5mol·L-1NaOH使半边旗提取物5F完全溶解,稀HCl调节pH值为7.4,加入磷酸盐缓冲液使其pH值稳定,高效液相色谱法测定5F-Na盐溶液中5F的含量。通过MTT法检测所制备5F-Na盐溶液对肺癌细胞株NCL-H460和肝癌细胞株BEL-7402的杀伤作用。结果:所制备5F-Na盐溶液中5F为标示量的(100.51±2.18)%,其对NCl-H460细胞株24、48、72h的IC50分别为23.7、14.2、7.0μg·mL-1,对BEL-7402细胞株24、48、72h的IC50分别为157.3、41.5、21.0μg·mL-1。结论:本研究制备的5F-Na盐溶液能有效抑制癌细胞株生长增殖。     

Interactions between sleep disorders and oral diseases

Dental sleep medicine is a rapidly growing field that is in close and direct interaction with sleep medicine and comprises many aspects of human health. As a result, dentists who encounter sleep health and sleep disorders may work with clinicians from many other disciplines and specialties. The main sleep and oral health issues that are covered in this review are obstructive sleep apnea, chronic mouth breathing, sleep‐related gastroesophageal reflux, and sleep bruxism. In addition, edentulism and its impact on sleep disorders are discussed. Improving sleep quality and sleep characteristics, oral health, and oral function involves both pathophysiology and disease management. The multiple interactions between oral health and sleep underscore the need for an interdisciplinary clinical team to manage oral health‐related sleep disorders that are commonly seen in dental practice.