Method for quantification of brain, ventricular, and subarachnoid CSF volumes from MR images.

We describe a simple, rapid, and semiautomated method of MR analysis based on mathematical modeling of MR pixel intensity histograms. The method is shown to be accurate and reliable for regional analysis of brain, central, and subarachnoid CSF volumes. Application of the method to five young and six older subjects revealed significant age-related changes in regional brain volumes whereas no difference was found for traced central CSF volumes or subarachnoid CSF volumes. We conclude that this is a simple method that can be applied to further studies of quantification of brain structure in healthy aging and brain disease.     

Lack of age-related differences in temporal lobe volume of very healthy adults.

PURPOSETo evaluate age-related differences in temporal and supratemporal brain regions in carefully selected, very healthy men 19 to 92 years of age.METHODSMR quantification of brain regions used image segmentation into cerebrospinal fluid and brain matter based on nonlinear modeling of pixel intensity distributions.RESULTSThere was a significant age-related decrease (approximately 1% per decade) of posterior frontal lobe volume, but not of temporal lobe volume. The mean volume of the right temporal lobe was significantly greater than the left, and this relation did not change with age.CONCLUSIONIn very healthy aging, the volume of the temporal lobes remains constant over the age range of human life.     

Intraoral Tumor of Chievitz in a Child

Juxtaoral organs known as organs of Chievitz are intramuscular embryonic structures found close to the angle of the mandible near the insertion of the pterygomandibular raphae. They are considered of neuroepithelial origin with no known function. We describe the first tumor of the organ of Chievitz which presented intraorally in a child. Immunohistochemically, the Chievitz nests showed positive reaction for vimentin, cytokeratins, and epithelial membrane antigen and ultrastructurally demonstrated cytoplasmic processes and intermediate filament bundles. These observations, together with light microscopic features, suggest that the epithelial nests of the organ of Chievitz are meningothelial rather than neuroepithelial. Received December 18, 1996; accepted March 13, 1997.     

Synthesis and acid ionization constants of cyclic cystine peptides

Cyclic peptide disulfides of the general formula were synthesized from the corresponding peptide derivatives [Boc-Cys(Trt)(Gly)-_n-Cys(Trt)-OBu^t] by oxidation with iodine in methanol and by subsequent removal of the terminal groups with trifluoroacetic acid. Acid ionization constants of the obtained peptides were determined by potentiometric titration in aqueous KCl (0.1 mol/L) medium. All compounds have two dissociable hydrogens, corresponding to carboxyl (pK¹= 2.35–2.84) and to terminal amino group (pK₂= 5.61–6.93); pK₁, values show first an upward and then a downward trend with the increase in ring size; the opposite is true for pK₂, values. These trends could be tentatively attributed to the intramolecular salt bridge (-COO——-NH⁺₃-) formation.     

Differential sensitivity of selected rat brain areas to excitatory neurotransmitters released by K+ depolarization

When injected intrathecally in mice in a volume of 5 microliter, adenosine had no effect on tail-flick or hot-plate reaction latencies at dosages up to 1 mM concentration. There were no other behavioral effects observed either. Injecting 1 mM of the adenosine receptor agonist, 5'-N-ethylcarboxamide adenosine (NECA) caused both motor paralysis of the hind-legs with a duration of approximately 4 h and simultaneous antinociception. A slight weakness of the hindlegs, but a profound antinociceptive effect, was observed after the 100 microM dose only. After 10 microM, there was no effect on motor behavior but still a prolongation of the tail-flick and hot-plate reaction latencies. Pretreatment with the adenosine receptor antagonist theophylline attenuated the antinociceptive effect of NECA. Activation of spinal adenosine receptors thus appears to selectively elicit analgesia.     

Counseling Fathers (2010) by C.Z. Oren and D.C. Oren

No abstract available for this article.     

Correlation of absent inner dynein arms and mucociliary clearance in a patient with Kartagener's syndrome

Recent experimental studies have demonstrated extensive biochemical differences between the outer and inner dynein arms of cilia. The inner dynein arms are now emerging as the "prime movers" for ciliary clearance. We studied ciliary motility as evidenced by radioisotope mucociliary clearance, and the ultrastructure of respiratory cilia in a patient with Kartagener's syndrome. Cilia exhibited complete absence of only the inner dynein arms, while retaining outer arms, and mucociliary clearance was totally absent. We also studied neutrophil chemotaxis and other immunologic functions in our patient and found them to be normal. Our findings demonstrate an association between the structural abnormality of absent inner dynein arms alone and ciliary immotility in Kartagener's syndrome. The neutrophil migration abnormalities may have a different mechanism which needs further study.     

A GCH1 haplotype confers sex‐specific susceptibility to pain crises and altered endothelial function in adults with sickle cell anemia

GTP cyclohydrolase (GCH1) is rate limiting for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis, where BH4 is a cofactor for nitric oxide (NO) synthases and aromatic hydroxylases. GCH1 polymorphisms are implicated in the pathophysiology of pain, but have not been investigated in African populations. We examined GCH1 and pain in sickle cell anemia where GCH1 rs8007267 was a risk factor for pain crises in discovery (n = 228; odds ratio [OR] 2.26; P = 0.009) and replication (n = 513; OR 2.23; P = 0.004) cohorts. In vitro, cells from sickle cell anemia subjects homozygous for the risk allele produced higher BH4. In vivo physiological studies of traits likely to be modulated by GCH1 showed rs8007267 is associated with altered endothelial dependent blood flow in females with SCA (8.42% of variation; P = 0.002). The GCH1 pain association is attributable to an African haplotype with where its sickle cell anemia pain association is limited to females (OR 2.69; 95% CI 1.21–5.94; P = 0.01) and has the opposite directional association described in Europeans independent of global admixture. The presence of a GCH1 haplotype with high BH4 in populations of African ancestry could explain the association of rs8007267 with sickle cell anemia pain crises. The vascular effects of GCH1 and BH4 may also have broader implications for cardiovascular disease in populations of African ancestry. Am. J. Hematol. 89:187–193, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.