Organ specific apoptosis following polymicrobial intraperitoneal infection

Background Leukocyte apoptosis allows safe removal of potentially harmful cells and facilitates resolution of inflammation. We hypothesized that the number of apoptotic cells changes in a disproportionate fashion in parenchymal organs in response to intra-abdominal infection. Materials and methods The percentage of apoptotic cells in the liver, spleen, lung, and peripheral blood was evaluated following cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice. Tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were measured as an index of neutrophil extravasation. Results Liver & spleen MPO continually increased, while lung MPO remained low after CLP. In parallel to the increase in MPO, liver & spleen apoptosis continually increased throughout the 9-day follow-up period, whereas lung apoptosis remained unchanged. Conclusions The distribution of apoptotic cells during intraperitoneal infection occurs in an organ specific manner, with significant increases in the spleen and liver. This distribution likely reflected the clearance of apoptotic cells as the inflammatory focus became contained. Supported by the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, John H. Davis Research Scholarship, and by the Veterans Administration Merit Review Project 0005. Received 7 October 2005; returned for revision 22 November 2005; accepted by G. Wallace 23 December 2005     

Enhanced zinc consumption causes memory deficits and increased brain levels of zinc

Zinc deficiency has been shown to impair cognitive functioning, but little work has been done on the effects of elevated zinc. This research examined the effect on memory of raising Sprague-Dawley rats on enhanced levels of zinc (10 ppm ZnCO3; 0.153 mM) in the drinking water for periods of 3 or 9 months, both pre- and postnatally. Controls were raised on lab water. Memory was tested in a series of Morris Water Maze (MWM) experiments, and zinc-treated rats were found to have impairments in both reference and working memory. They were significantly slower to find a stationary platform and showed greater thigmotaxicity, a measure of anxiety. On a working memory task, where the platform was moved each day, zinc-treated animals had longer latencies over both trials and days, swam further from the platform, and showed greater thigmotaxicity. On trials using an Atlantis platform, which remained in one place but was lowered on probe trials, the zinc-treated animals had significantly fewer platform crossings, spent less time in the target quadrant, and did not swim as close to the platform position. They had significantly greater latency on nonprobe trials. Microprobe synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (microSXRF) confirmed that brain zinc levels were increased by adding ZnCO3 to the drinking water. These data show that long-term dietary administration of zinc can lead to impairments in cognitive function.     

认知疗法治疗强迫症的对照研究

目的　探讨认知疗法治疗强迫症的疗效。方法　对 6 0例符合 CCMD-2 -R诊断标准 ,且 Y-BOCS量表评分≥ 1 6分的强迫症病人 ,随机分到认知治疗组 ( 30例 )和氯丙咪嗪组 ( 30例 ) ,两组在氯丙咪嗪常规治疗的同时 ,其中一组加用认知治疗 ,共治疗 8周。在治疗前、后两组均进行临床疗效评估和 Y-BOCS量表评分。结果　认知治疗组痊愈 1 1例、显效 1 6例、有效 3例。氯丙咪嗪组痊愈 6例、显效 1 4例、有效 1 0例。两组痊愈和显效比较有显著差异 ( P<0 .0 5 )。 Y-BOCS量表减分率 :认知治疗组 5 4 .90 % ,氯丙咪嗪组 4 2 .33% ,两组比较有显著差异 ( P<0 .0 5 )。结论　认知疗法配合药物治疗强迫症比单用氯丙咪嗪治疗强迫症疗效更好     

Psychopathology and Public Policy

An effective definition of psychopathology would be helpful in distinguishing between normal and abnormal behavior and would provide guidance for important public policy decisions. Overinclusive definitions, such as the capacity/disability formulation, do not provide meaningful direction for defining need or assessing eligibility for insurance or other entitlements. Coping failures due to lack of skill, inadequate preparation, or other factors should be distinguished from those due to dysfunction or disturbance of psychological mechanisms. The capacity/disability formulation encourages confusion between different performance decrements and gives no guidance for appropriate boundaries for psychotherapy.     

Modern Mind-Brain Reading: Psychophysiology, Physiology, and Cognition

This paper reviews the actual and potential benefits of a marriage between cognitive psychology and psychophysiology. Psychophysiological measures, particularly those of the event-related brain potential, can be used as markers for psychological events and physiological events. Thus, they can serve as "windows" on the mind and as "windows" on the brain. These ideas are illustrated in the context of a series of studies utilizing the lateralized readiness potential, a measure of electrical brain activity that is related to preparation for movement. This measure has been used to illuminate presetting processes that prepare the motor system for action, to demonstrate the presence of the transmission of partial information in the cognitive system, and to identify processes responsible for the inhibition of responses. The lateralized readiness potential appears to reflect activity in motor areas of cortex. Thus, this measure, along with other psychophysiological measures, can be used to understand how the functions of the mind are implemented in the brain.     

Psychophysiological Correlates of Electrodermal Lability

This study of 75 college student subjects investigated the psychophysiological correlates of electrodermal lability. Resting-stabile and resting-labile subjects were defined as those who were respectively below and above the median of all same-sex subjects in frequency of nonspecific skin conductance responses during rest, whereas stimulus-stabile and stimulus-labile subjects were those respectively below and above the median in trials to habituation of the skin conductance orienting response. These two classification systems were found to be highly correlated with one another, but not entirely equivalent. With both lability measures, labiles had higher resting skin conductance levels than stabiles and also exhibited larger skin conductance orienting responses to both signal and nonsignal tones. Labiles produced orienting responses with shorter latencies, rise times, and half recovery-times. Resting-labiles also differed from resting-stabiles in the components of the triphasic heart rate response to the tones, having larger decelerative responses. The data are consistent with the view that labiles are better able than stabiles to allocate attentional capacity to environmental events and to respond to changing demands in an attentional situation.     

Psychophysiological Predictors of Attentional Dysfunction in Children with Congenital Heart Defects

Cardiac responses to non-signal stimuli and to signal stimuli in a vigilance task were examined in children born with congenital heart defects (CHD), and in normal and attention deficit disordered (ADD) subjects. Overall task performance was lower in subjects with heart defects and in the ADD group. Cardiac measures revealed that normal children displayed significantly larger heart rate deceleration to the target stimuli than did either of the clinical groups. Moreover, although no group differences were observed in the cardiac response to non-signal auditory stimuli, exaggerated heart rate deceleration was observed to vibrotactile stimuli in both the clinical groups. Regression analyses revealed that the magnitude of the cardiac response to somatosensory stimuli was predictive of task performance (both within and between subject groups), with larger responses associated with higher error rates and lower perceptual sensitivity. Results were suggestive of a predictive relationship between somatosensory reactivity and neuropsychological maturation.     

难治性便秘综合治疗及影响因素的评价

目的评价综合治疗对难治性便秘的疗效及影响因素。方法将84例难治性便秘分为非重叠组和重叠组。应用个体化综合治疗4周,观察便秘症状评分变化及总有效率,分析IC患者的重叠症状和心理障碍状态对疗效的影响。结果(1)84例便秘患者中,重叠组和非重叠组分别占40.5%和59.5%。(2)重叠组和非重叠组的总有效率分别为50.0%和78.0%(P<0.05)。(3)对37例IC患者的心理测试调查显示,59.4%(22/37)有心理障碍状态,重叠组和非重叠组伴有心理障碍状态对治疗的总有效率分别为4.8%和31.5%(P<0.05)。结论适合个体化的综合治疗使多数难治性便秘缓解症状,但伴有重叠症状,尤其心理障碍状态则影响疗效。     

Motor and cognitive deficits in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice after closed head injury

Previous studies suggest that traumatic brain injury is associated with increased risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, the extent of the risk seems to be most pronounced in Alzheimer's disease patients who carry the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E, suggesting a connection between susceptibility to head trauma and the apolipoprotein E genotype. Apolipoprotein E-deficient mice provide a useful model for investigating the role of this lipoprotein in neuronal maintenance and repair. In the present study apolipoprotein E-deficient mice and a closed head injury experimental paradigm were used to examine the role of apolipoprotein E in brain susceptibility to head trauma and in neuronal repair. Apolipoprotein E-deficient mice were assessed up to 40 days after closed head injury for neurological and cognitive functions, as well as for histopathological changes in the hippocampus. A neurological severity score used for clinical assessment revealed more severe motor and behavioural deficits in the apolipoprotein E-deficient mice than in the controls, the impairment persisting for at least 40 days after injury. Performance in the Morris water maze, which tests spatial memory, showed a marked learning deficit of the apolipoprotein E-deficient mice when compared with injured controls, which was apparent for at least 40 days. At this time, histopathological examination revealed overt neuronal cell death bilaterally in the hippocampus of the injured apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

The finding that apolipoprotein E-deficient mice exhibit an impaired ability to recover from closed head injury suggests that apolipoprotein E plays an important role in neuronal repair following injury and highlights the applicability of this mouse model to the study of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved.