Laterality of cross-modal spatial processing

This study examined the laterality of spatial-form perception in normal adults using a cross-modal matching paradigm involving visual and tactile processing. Randomly generated eight-point and 12-point Vanderplas and Garvin (1959) patterns were used as the stimuli. In a visual-to-tactile task, a lateralized visual pattern was followed immediately by a haptic task requiring subjects to discriminate which of two simultaneously felt shapes matched the visual pattern. In a tactile-to-visual task, subjects decided which of two simultaneously felt shapes matched a lateralized visual pattern presented after haptic manipulation. There were no main effects for laterality or for sex differences. Matching accuracy was better in the visual-to-tactile task and for less complex stimuli. A visual field by feeling hand interaction showed best recognition accuracy when visual-feeling hand combinations on the same side of the body were used in the two matching tasks. These data reflect a stimulus-response compatibility explanation of spatial-form perception that is consistent with a behavioral and not a cerebral asymmetry model.     

The presence of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in the ovarian follicles and corpora lutea of pregnant swine.

Steroid hormones play an essential role in the ovarian cyclicity control and the progress of pregnancy. One of the crucial enzymes in the steroidogenesis is 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Delta5-Delta4 isomerase (3betaHSD). The aim of the present study was to localize both 3betaHSD mRNA and protein in the ovary of pregnant swine. The immunolocalization of 3betaHSD was performed on paraplast sections of follicles and corpora lutea obtained on various days of gestation: 10, 18, 32, 50, 71 and 90 POST COITUM (p.c.). The obtained results were compared with those concerning follicular and luteal development in the ovaries of the cycling pig. Differences in 3betaHSD distribution between the ovarian follicles of cycling and pregnant pigs were concerned mainly in the pattern of immunostaining of the theca interna cells. In the porcine ovaries obtained on various days of pregnancy, some follicles exhibited positive immunostaining in most theca interna cells, while in other follicles this enzyme was expressed only in a relatively small percentage of theca interna cells. In the corpora lutea of the estrous cycle and pregnancy changes in the pattern of immunostaining were observed. At early and mid pregnancy (up to 71 day p.c.) 3betaHSD was observed in the large luteal cells while on day 71 p.c. the enzyme was present exclusively in the small luteal cells. The expression of 3betaHSD mRNA was detected by the use of RT-PCR technique in all investigated samples isolated at different stages of pregnancy.     

Risikoanalyse und präoperative Prophylaxemaßnahmen

Zusammenfassung Probleml?sungsstrategien zu perioperativen Prophylaxema?nahmen umfassen mehr Studienarten als Tierexperimente und kontrollierte klinische Studien. Dabei verhelfen Methoden der kognitiven Psychologie und künstlichen Intelligenz zu neuen Verfahren, um kontroverse Standpunkte in der klinischen Versorgung zu formalisieren. Der Weg vom Tierexperiment zur klinischen Indikation, mag mühevoll und beschwerlich sein, aber die Strategie hat sich bei der perioperativen Antihistaminikaprophylaxe als eine neue Form der Prophylaxe schon bew?hrt. Gerade wurde im Refresher Course der ASA, der amerikanischen Gesellschaft für An?sthesie und Intensivmedizin, diese Prophylaxe für alle US-An?sthesisten empfohlen. Mit Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Lo 199/16-2).     

Histamine release during induction of anaesthesia and preparation for operation in patients undergoing general surgery: Incidence and clinically severe cases

Histamine release events were shown in a prospective randomized controlled trial in patients undergoing elective general surgery with an extraordinarily high incidence: 73 per cent. This high incidence was explained by several factors: — the sample size which was much greater than in previous studies — the improved plasma histamine assay — the precise definition of histamine release in clinical conditions and its measurement at the top of Bateman functions — the standardized induction of anaesthesia and preparation of the surgical patient — and finally the considerable number of cancer patients since more than 60% of the reactions >5 ng/ml occurred in this group which comprised only 20% of the study population.

Two cases of life-threatening anaphylactoid reactions occurred in this trial corresponding to an incidence of 1 per cent. This was — again — very high compared to previous epidemiological studies. Both cases were again cancer patients and occurred in the placebo group — information given by the external study advisory group for further treatment of the individual patient.

The data on the high incidence of histamine release including the high incidence of life-threatening reactions favourrationally a preoperative H₁ ⁻+H₂-prophylaxis with the drugs used in this study: dimetindene and cimetidine. The question of the incidence was one of the unsettled problems which led to this trial. Analysis of the first 180 patients already answered this question more than we had ever expected.

     

Reconstituted Newcastle disease virus envelopes as a split vaccine.

Isolated envelope proteins of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were inserted into the lipid bilayer of artificial vesicles to create a viral envelope-like structure. The structure-containing viral antigens at high density elicited a strong immune response, in contrast to purified viral proteins. The artificial envelopes or immunosomes possessed several advantageous properties when used as vaccines. They elicited a faster response and the immunity lasted longer in animals treated with these vesicles than in controls vaccinated with envelope proteins in combination with traditional adjuvants. A further useful feature of the artificial envelopes is that no inflammatory lesions develop at the site of their injection.     

Periictal diffusion-weighted imaging in a case of lesional epilepsy

PURPOSE: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) has been used for the early diagnosis of acute ischemic lesions in humans and in animal models of focal status epilepticus. We hypothesized that DWI may be a sensitive, noninvasive tool for the localization of the epileptogenic area during the periictal period. METHODS: A periictal DWI study was performed on a 35-year-old patient during focal status epilepticus with repetitive prolonged focal motor seizures originating from a lesion in the right frontal lobe. DWI results were analyzed visually and by calculating apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. RESULTS: On DWI, a single area of signal increase (decrease in ADC) was found in the region of focal electrocorticographic seizures that was mapped intraoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Ictal/postictal DWI may be a useful technique for seizure localization in patients with lesional epilepsy.     

The expression of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synucleins in olfactory mucosa from patients with and without neurodegenerative diseases

A family of homologous proteins known as alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synuclein are abundantly expressed in brain, especially in the presynaptic terminal of neurons. Although the precise function of these proteins remains unknown, alpha-synuclein has been implicated in synaptic plasticity associated with avian song learning as well as in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with LBs (DLB), some forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and multiple system atrophy (MSA). Since olfactory dysfunction is a common feature of these disorders and the olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) of the olfactory epithelium (OE) regenerate throughout the lifespan, we used antibodies specific for alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synucleins to examine the olfactory mucosa of patients with PD, DLB, AD, MSA, and controls without a neurological disorder. Although antibodies to alpha- and beta-synucleins detected abnormal dystrophic neurites in the OE of patients with neurodegenerative disorders, similar pathology was also seen in the OE of controls. More significantly, we show here for the first time that alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synucleins are differentially expressed in cells of the OE and respiratory epithelium and that alpha-synuclein is the most abundant synuclein in the olfactory mucosa, where it is prominently expressed in ORNs. Moreover, alpha- and gamma-synucleins also were prominent in the OE basal cells, which include the progenitor cells of the ORNs in the OE. Thus, our data on synuclein expression within the OE may signify that synuclein plays a role in the regeneration and plasticity of ORNs in the adult human OE.