Correction to: Working Overtime: Altered Functional Connectivity in Working Memory Following Regular Cannabis Use in Young Adults

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - The caption for Fig. 1 was incorrect in this article as originally published.     

Outcomes in hallux rigidus patients treated nonoperatively: a long-term follow-up study

The purpose of this study was to analyze radiographic outcome and patient satisfaction in non-operative care of hallux rigidus. Twenty-two patients representing 24 feet were surveyed and radiographed. Average follow-up was 14.4 years (range, 12-19 years). In 75% (18/24) of the feet, the patients would "still chose not to have surgery" if they had to make the decision again. The pain remained about the same in 22 feet, improved with time in one, and became worse in one. The most common reason given for not having surgery was that the pain was not severe enough. The most common type of self-care was a shoe with an "ample toe box." More patients benefited from a stiff sole than a soft sole, but the majority of patients did not cite the sole of the shoe as being important. There was measurable loss of cartilage space radiographically over time in 16 of 24 feet, and in eight of the 16 feet, the loss of cartilage space was dramatic. The majority of hallux rigidus patients rated their pain as staying the same over a twelve-year period, despite significant deterioration of joint space noted radiographically.     

Changes in mRNA expression of grouper (Epinephelus coioides) growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I in response to nutritional status

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are key links to nutritional condition and growth regulation in teleost. To understand the endocrine mechanism of growth regulation in grouper, we cloned the cDNAs for grouper GH and IGF-I and examined their mRNA expression during different nutritional status. Grouper GH cDNA is 936 base pairs (bp) long excluding the poly-A tail. It contained untranslated regions of 85 and 231bp in the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively. It has an open reading frame of 612bp coding for a signal peptide of 17 amino acids (aa) and a mature hormone of 187aa residues. Based on the aa sequence of the mature hormone, grouper GH shows higher sequence identity (>76%) to GHs of perciforms than to GHs of cyprinids and salmonids (53-69%). Grouper preproIGF-I cDNA consisted of 558bp, which codes for 186aa. This is composed of 44aa for the signal peptide, 68aa for the mature peptide comprising B, C, A, and D domains, and 74aa for the E domain. Mature grouper IGF-I shows very high sequence identity to IGF-I of teleost fishes (84-97%) compared to advanced groups of vertebrates such as chicken, pig, and human (80%). Using DNA primers specific for grouper GH and IGF-I, the changes in mRNA levels of pituitary GH and hepatic IGF-I in response to starvation and refeeding were examined by a semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Significant elevation of GH mRNA level was observed after 2 weeks of food deprivation, and increased further after 3 and 4 weeks of starvation. GH mRNA level in fed-controls did not change significantly during the same period. Hepatic IGF-I mRNA level decreased significantly starting after 1 week of starvation until the 4th week. There was no significant change in IGF-I mRNA levels in fed-controls. One week of refeeding can restore the GH and IGF-I mRNA back to its normal levels. Deprivation of food for 1-4 weeks also resulted in cessation of growth and decrease in condition factor.     

Isolation and cDNA cloning of somatolactin in rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus).

We report the isolation and cDNA cloning of somatolactin (SL) from rabbitfish, Siganus guttatus. Rabbitfish SL was isolated from an alkaline extract of the pituitary glands by gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-100 and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. SL was monitored by immunoblotting with flounder SL antiserum. The preparation (yield: 0.86 mg/g wet tissues) contained two immunoreactive bands of 24 and 28 kDa on SDS-PAGE. Overlapping partial cDNA clones corresponding to teleost SLs were amplified by PCR from single-strand cDNA from pituitary glands. Excluding the poly(A) tail, rabbitfish SL cDNA is 1605 bp long. It contains a 693-bp open reading frame encoding a signal peptide of 24 amino acids (aa) and a mature protein of 207 aa. Rabbitfish SL has two possible N-glycosylation sites at positions 11 and 121 and seven half Cys residues. The deduced amino acid sequence shows over 80% identity with those of advanced teleosts like sea bream, red drum, and flounder, 76% with the salmonids, 57% with the eel, and 46% with the goldfish SL.     

Isolation, cDNA cloning, and growth promoting activity of rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus) growth hormone

We report the isolation, cDNA cloning, and growth promoting activity of rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus; Teleostei; Perciformes; Siganidae) growth hormone (GH). Rabbitfish GH was extracted from pituitary glands under alkaline conditions, fractionated by gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-100, and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The fractions containing GH were identified by immunoblotting with bonito GH antiserum. Under nonreducing conditions, the molecular weight of rabbitfish GH is about 19 kDa as estimated by SDS-PAGE. The purified hormone was potent in promoting growth in rabbitfish fry. Weekly intraperitoneal injections of the hormone significantly accelerated growth. This was evident 3 weeks after the start of the treatment, and its effect was still significant 2 weeks after the treatment was terminated. Rabbitfish GH cDNA was cloned to determine its nucleotide sequence. Excluding the poly (A) tail, rabbitfish GH cDNA is 860 base pairs (bp) long. It contained untranslated regions of 94 and 175 bp in the 5' and 3' ends, respectively. It has an open reading frame of 588 bp coding for a signal peptide of 18 amino acids and a mature protein of 178 amino acid residues. Rabbitfish GH has 4 cysteine residues. On the amino acid level, rabbitfish GH shows high identity (71-74%) with GHs of other perciforms, such as tuna, sea bass, yellow tail, bonito, and tilapia, and less (47-49%) identity with salmonid and carp GHs.     

mRNA expression patterns for GH, PRL, SL, IGF-I and IGF-II during altered feeding status in rabbitfish, Siganus guttatus

Feeding time is a major synchronizer of many physiological rhythms in many organisms. Alteration in the nutritional status, specifically fasting, also affects the secretion rhythms of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). In this study, we investigated whether the expression patterns for the mRNAs of GH, prolactin (PRL) and somatolactin (SL) in the pituitary gland, and insulin-like growth factor I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) in the liver of juvenile rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus) follow a rhythm according to feeding time and whether these hormone rhythms changes with starvation. Hormone mRNA levels were determined by real time PCR. The daily expression pattern for the mRNAs of GH, PRL and SL was not altered whether food was given in the morning (10:00 h) or in the afternoon (15:00 h). The daily GH mRNA expression pattern, however, was affected when food was not available for 3 days. In contrast, the daily expression pattern for IGF-I mRNA reaches its peak at roughly 5-6h after feeding. This pattern, however, was not observed with IGF-II mRNA. During 15-day starvation, GH mRNA levels in starved fish were significantly higher than the control fish starting on the 9th day of starvation until day 15. The levels returned to normal after re-feeding. In contrast to GH, PRL mRNA levels in starved fish were significantly lower than the control group starting on the 6th day of starvation until 3 days after re-feeding. SL mRNA levels were not significantly different between the control and starved group at anytime during the experiment. Both IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA levels in starved group were significantly higher than the control fish on the 3rd and 6th day of starvation. mRNA levels of both IGF-I and II in the starved fish decreased starting on the 9th day of starvation. While IGF-I mRNA levels in the starved group continued to decrease as starvation progressed, IGF-II mRNA levels were not significantly different from the control during the rest of the starvation period. The results indicate that aside from GH and IGF-I, PRL and IGF-II are likewise involved in starvation in rabbitfish.     

Daily expression patterns for mRNAs of GH, PRL, SL, IGF-I and IGF-II in juvenile rabbitfish, Siganus guttatus, during 24-h light and dark cycles

Most animals respond to changes in the external environment in a rhythmic fashion. In teleost fishes, daily rhythms are observed in plasma concentrations of some hormones but it is not clear whether these rhythms are exogenous or are entrained by predictable cues. We investigated whether the expression patterns for the mRNAs of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and somatolactin (SL) in the pituitary gland, and insulin-like growth factor-I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) in the liver, follow a daily rhythm when juvenile rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus) are reared under a normal 24-h light and dark cycle (LD), and when they are exposed to either continuous light (LL) or darkness (DD). Hormone mRNA levels were determined by real time PCR. Under LD conditions, GH mRNA expression in the pituitary was significantly lower during the light phase than during the dark phase suggesting a diurnal rhythm of expression. The rhythm disappeared when fish were exposed to LL or DD conditions. PRL mRNA expression pattern was irregular in all 3 conditions. Very low levels of SL mRNA were observed during the mid day under LD conditions. The expression pattern of SL mRNA became irregular under LL and DD conditions. No pattern could be observed in the expression profile of IGF-I and II mRNA in the liver during LD and LL conditions but a single peak in mRNA level was observed under DD conditions in both IGF-I and II. The results indicate that except for GH, the daily expression pattern for the mRNAs of the hormones examined do not seem to follow a rhythm according to light and dark cycles.     

The extrapulmonary effects of increasing doses of formoterol in patients with asthma

Objective: To assess the cardiovascular and metabolic responses to increasing doses of formoterol administered from a dry powder inhaler. Methods: Twenty patients with mild to moderate asthma were given 12, 24, 48 and 96 μg of formoterol or a matched placebo on separate days. The doses were administered using a randomised, cross-over, double-blind design. The effects on heart rate, blood pressure, electromechanical systole (QS₂I), the electrocardiographic QTc interval, plasma potassium (K); blood glucose and FEV₁ were assessed prior to, and for 9 h following each dose. Results: There was no difference between the maximum effects of formoterol 12 μg and placebo; the 24 μg dose significantly decreased plasma K (−0.2 mmol · l⁻¹) and increased blood glucose (1.8 mmol · l⁻¹) compared to placebo. The two highest doses affected most of the variables with the 96 μg dose being significantly different from placebo for all indices, heart rate (9 beats · min⁻¹), systol BP (4 mmHg), diastolic BP (−3 mmHg), QS₂I (−11 ms), QTc (17 ms), plasma K (−0.5 mmol · l⁻¹) and blood glucose (2.6 mmol · l⁻¹). All doses of formoterol increased FEV₁. Conclusion: Although there were dose-dependent effects on the extrapulmonary measurements, only the effects at the highest dose may be of clinical significance. Received: 17 June 1997 / Accepted in revised form: 12 November 1997