Identification of neurons with acetylcholinesterase and NADPH-diaphorase activities in the centrifugal visual system of the chick

The isthmo-optic nuclei (ION) and ectopic neurons, which constitute the centrifugal visual system (CVS), are thought to be cholinoceptive and nitrergic. However, it is not clear which neurons express these markers, namely the ones that project to the retina rather than in neurons that only participate in a local circuit. Therefore, to characterize the neurochemical patterns of the centrifugal visual system in the post-hatched chick, retinopetal cells of the isthmo-optic nuclei and the ectopic region were identified via immunolabeling for cholera toxin, a neuronal tracer, which has been injected in the ocular globe. Then, double labeled with acetylcholinesterase histochemistry to reveal cholinergic synapses, or NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry as a nitrergic marker. Briefly, acetylcholinesterase activity was present mainly in cholera toxin labeled cell bodies of the isthmo-optic nucleus and the ectopic region indicating that retinal projecting neurons of centrifugal visual system comprise a cholinoceptive pathway. On the other hand, NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry was present in the neuropile and sparse cell bodies inside of the isthmo-optic nucleus and in ectopic neurons which were not cholera toxin positive suggesting their role in an intrinsic circuit of the centrifugal visual system. These data support the idea that these two neurochemical systems are present in distinct neuronal populations in the centrifugal visual system.     

Effect of arm-shoulder fatigue on carpenters at work

Summary The purpose of the study was to analyse the effect of arm-shoulder fatigue on manual performance. Ten experienced carpenters performed three standardized tasks (nailing, sawing and screwing). Electromyographic activity was recorded from six arm-shoulder muscles and the performances were video-filmed. After 45 min of standardized arm-cranking (arm-shoulder-fatiguing exercise of approximately 70%–80% maximal oxygen consumption), the tasks were repeated. The number of work movements and the time taken for each task were recorded and the quality of the work performed was compared. After the fatiguing exercise, only nailing was perceived as being harder and more mistakes were made during nailing and sawing. Movement performance was not influenced during nailing but was slightly slower during sawing and faster during screwing. However, there were increased mean EMG amplitudes in the upper trapezius and biceps muscles during nailing, in the upper trapezius, anterior deltoid and infraspinatus muscles during sawing and in the anterior deltoid muscle during screwing. Of the muscles studied the upper trapezius and anterior deltoid muscles increased their activity most after the arm-shoulder-fatiguing exercise.     

Impact of postanesthesia care unit delirium on self-reported cognitive function and perceived health status: a prospective observational cohort study

Quality of Life Research - The objective of this study was to determine the influence of postanesthesia care unit (PACU) delirium on self-reported cognitive function and perceived health...     

Impact of Tdap vaccine during pregnancy on the incidence of pertussis in children under one year in Brazil – A time series analysis

Pertussis is a globally distributed infectious disease that is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in infants who are too young to be immunized. This disease is common in childhood, and when it occurs during the first few months of life, it leads to hospitalization and, sometimes, death. Brazil has adopted the strategy of maternal immunization against pertussis in late 2014. This study aims to analyze public data on the disease to determine whether there was an impact on the disease burden following the introduction of the vaccine Tdap in pregnant women and its magnitude. We performed a time-series analysis of the incidence of pertussis between October 2010 and January 2019. We stratified the population of interest into three groups: infants aged less than two months old, infants aged two to six months, and infants aged six months to one year, according to Brazil's vaccination schedule. We found a protective effect of maternal vaccination in all age groups, more prominent on the first group. Before the intervention, infants under two months had a higher risk of getting pertussis in comparison with infants two to six months old (HR 1.15, CI 95%: 1.11–1.19). After the intervention, age under two months is a protective factor compared with two to six months (HR 0.90, CI 95%: 0.82–0.98). The pertussis incidence reduced in all age groups and all Brazil's Regions.     

Exposure to psychosocial work strain and changes in smoking behavior during pregnancy – a longitudinal study within the Danish National Birth Cohort

Objective:Knowledge of the relationship between psychosocial strain in the work environment and smoking during pregnancy is scarce. This study aimed to examine the association between psychosocial job strain and change in smoking behavior during pregnancy.Methods:The cohort included 65 645 pregnancies from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002), where pregnant women were interviewed on job factors and lifestyle during the first and third trimesters. Smoking was categorized into non-, non-daily, and daily smoking at each interview. Psychosocial job strain was categorized into four groups based on the concept of Karasek’s demand–control model: low strain (reference), passive, active and high strain. Associations between psychosocial strain and change in smoking status between the first and second interviews were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression, separately for each smoking category at first interview.Results:Non-smoking women exposed to high strain work were more likely to become daily smokers [adjusted odds ratio (OR_adj) 1.41, (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–1.83)] compared to non-smoking women exposed to low strain work. Non-smoking women exposed to passive work were more likely to become both non-daily and daily smokers [OR_adj 1.59 (95% CI 1.21–2.08) and OR_adj 1.32 (95% CI 1.03–1.70), respectively]. Daily smoking women exposed to high strain work were less likely to decrease their smoking [OR_adj 0.57 (95% CI 0.32–0.99)] compared to daily smoking women exposed to low strain work.Conclusions:Psychosocial strain influenced the women’s smoking behavior during pregnancy, especially in job types with low control.     

Working conditions and health behavior as causes of educational inequalities in self-rated health: an inverse odds weighting approach

Objective:Using a novel mediation method that presents unbiased results even in the presence of exposure–mediator interactions, this study estimated the extent to which working conditions and health behaviors contribute to educational inequalities in self-rated health in the workforce.Methods:Respondents of the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in 16 countries were selected, aged 50–64 years, in paid employment at baseline and with information on education and self-rated health (N=15 028). Education, health behaviors [including body mass index (BMI)] and working conditions were measured at baseline and self-rated health at baseline and two-year follow-up. Causal mediation analysis with inverse odds weighting was used to estimate the total effect of education on self-rated health, decomposed into a natural direct effect (NDE) and natural indirect effect (NIE).Results:Lower educated workers were more likely to perceive their health as poor than higher educated workers [relative risk (RR) 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.37–1.60]. They were also more likely to have unfavorable working conditions and unhealthy behaviors, except for alcohol consumption. When all working conditions were included, the remaining NDE was RR 1.30 (95% CI 1.15–1.44). When BMI and health behaviors were included, the remaining NDE was RR 1.40 (95% CI 1.27–1.54). Working conditions explained 38% and health behaviors and BMI explained 16% of educational inequalities in health. Including all mediators explained 64% of educational inequalities in self-rated health.Conclusions:Working conditions and health behaviors explain over half of the educational inequalities in self-rated health. To reduce health inequalities, improving working conditions seems to be more important than introducing health promotion programs in the workforce.     

Cdc7 kinase is required for postnatal brain development

The evolutionally conserved Cdc7 kinase plays crucial roles in initiation of DNA replication as well as in other chromosomal events. To examine the roles of Cdc7 in brain development, we have generated mice carrying Cdc7 knockout in neural stem cells by using Nestin-Cre. The Cdc7^Fl/Fl Nestin^Cre mice were born, but exhibited severe growth retardation and impaired postnatal brain development. These mice exhibited motor dysfunction within 9 days after birth and did not survive for more than 19 days. The cerebral cortical layer formation was impaired, although the cortical cell numbers were not altered in the mutant. In the cerebellum undergoing hypoplasia, granule cells (CGC) decreased in number in Cdc7^{Fl/F l}Nestin^Cre mice compared to the control at E15-18, suggesting that Cdc7 is required for DNA replication and cell proliferation of CGC at mid embryonic stage (before embryonic day 15). On the other hand, the Purkinje cell numbers were not altered but its layer formation was impaired in the mutant. These results indicate differential roles of Cdc7 in DNA replication/cell proliferation in brain. Furthermore, the defects of layer formation suggest a possibility that Cdc7 may play an additional role in cell migration during neural development.     

Trophic effect of angiotensin II in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes: role of endothelin-1 and non-myocyte cells

1. Angiotensin II (AII) and the endothelins (ET) are known to be potent trophic stimuli in various cells including cardiomyocytes. In order to characterize further these effects we studied, in neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes, the effects of several endothelin-receptor antagonists and the AT₁-receptor antagonist losartan on AII- and endothelin-induced inositol phosphate (IP)-formation (assessed as accumulation of total [³H]-IPs in myo-[³H]-inositol prelabelled cells) and increase in rate of protein synthesis (assessed as [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation).
2. Endothelin (10 pM–1 μM) concentration-dependently increased IP-formation (max. increase at 100 nM ET-1: 130±14% above basal, n=25) and [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation (max. increase at 1 μM: 52±4% above basal, n=16) with an order of potency: ET-1>>ET-3. Both effects were antagonized by the ET_A/ET_B-receptor antagonist bosentan and the ET_A-receptor antagonist BQ-123, but not affected by the ET_B-receptor antagonist IRL 1038 and the AT₁-receptor antagonist losartan.
3. Pretreatment of the cells with 500 ng ml⁻¹ pertussis toxin (PTX) overnight that completely inactivated PTX-sensitive G-proteins did not attenuate but rather enhance ET-1-induced IP-formation. On the other hand, in PTX-pretreated cardiomyocytes ET-1-induced [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation was decreased by 39±5% (n=5).
4. AII (1 nM–1 μM) concentration-dependently increased IP-formation (max. increase at 1 μM: 42±7% above basal, n=16) and [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation (max. increase at 1 μM: 29±2%, n=9). These effects were antagonized by losartan, but they were also antagonized by bosentan and BQ-123.
5. In well-defined cultures of cardiomyocytes (not contaminated with non-myocyte cells) AII failed to increase [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation; addition of non-myocyte cells to the cardiomyocytes restored AII-induced increase in [³H]-phenylalanine incorporation.
6. We conclude that, in rat neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes, (a) the ET-1-induced increase in rate of protein synthesis (through ET_A-receptor stimulation) involves at least two signalling pathways: one via a PTX-insensitive G-protein coupled to IP-formation, and the other one via a PTX-sensitive G-protein, and (b) the trophic effects of AII are brought about via local ET-1 secretion upon AT₁-receptor stimulation in neonatal rat ventricular non-myocyte cells.

     

The role of radiation therapy in the treatment of anal carcinoma: Techniques and current recommendations

Background: In view of the results of surgery for anal cancer the treatment of choice is radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy. Methods: From 1987 until 1990 a total of 14 patients have undergone primarily conservative treatment at the University Clinic of Radiology in Graz. 10 patients were treated with a split-course technique of external beam and interstitial radiation over a period of 7 weeks. In 4 patients a similar radiation protocol, omitting the second implantation, was combined with 2 courses of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and Mitomycin C (MMC). Results: Permanent tumor control was achieved in 8/10 cases after radiotherapy only, with sphincter preservation in 7 patients. Combined chemo-radiotherapy yielded complete remission in 3/4 patients. All failures of therapy occurred in T3 tumors. Conclusions: At present the best results in terms of tumor response and toxicity are achieved by 5-FU and MMC given synchronously with radiotherapy. Radiation is preferably applied according to a split-course protocol, as established by Papillon.