The Effect of Agglomeration on Arsenic Adsorption Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

The presence of arsenic in groundwater and other drinking water sources presents a notable public health concern. Although the utilization of iron oxide nanomaterials as arsenic adsorbents has shown promising results in batch experiments, few have succeeded in using nanomaterials in filter setups. In this study, the performance of nanomaterials, supported on sand, was first compared for arsenic adsorption by conducting continuous flow experiments.

Young Women do it Better: Sexual Dimorphism in Temporal Discrimination.

The temporal discrimination threshold (TDT) is the shortest time interval at which two sensory stimuli presented sequentially are detected as asynchronous by the observer. TDTs are known to increase with age. Having previously observed shorter thresholds in young women than in men, in this work we sought to systematically examine the effect of sex and age on temporal discrimination.

Non-parametric bootstrapping method for measuring the temporal discrimination threshold for movement disorders.

Objective: Recent studies have proposed that the temporal discrimination threshold (TDT), the shortest detectable time period between two stimuli, is a possible endophenotype for adult onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia (AOIFD). Patients with AOIFD, the third most common movement disorder, and their first-degree relatives have been shown to have abnormal visual and tactile TDTs. For this reason it is important to fully characterize each participant's data.

Sun exposure is an environmental factor for the development of blepharospasm.

Background: Adult-onset isolated focal dystonia may present with various phenotypes including blepharospasm and cervical dystonia. Although inherited in an autosomal dominant manner with a markedly reduced penetrance, environmental factors are considered important in disease penetrance and expression. We observed a marked variation by latitude in the reports of the frequency of patients with blepharospasm relative to those with cervical dystonia; we hypothesised that sun exposure is an environmental risk factor for the development of blepharospasm in genetically susceptible individuals.

A headset method for measuring the visual temporal discrimination threshold in cervical dystonia.

Background: The visual temporal discrimination threshold (TDT) is the shortest time interval at which one can determine two stimuli to be asynchronous and meets criteria for a valid endophenotype in adult-onset idiopathic focal dystonia, a poorly penetrant disorder. Temporal discrimination is assessed in the hospital laboratory; in unaffected relatives of multiplex adult-onset dystonia patients distance from the hospital is a barrier to data acquisition. We devised a portable headset method for visual temporal discrimination determination and our aim was to validate this portable tool against the traditional laboratory-based method in a group of patients and in a large cohort of healthy controls.

An evaluation of the role of environmental factors in the disease penetrance of cervical dystonia.

Background: Adult onset primary torsion dystonia (AOPTD) is a poorly penetrant autosomal dominant disorder; most gene carriers are non-manifesting despite having reached an adequate age for penetrance. It is hypothesised that genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors may exert protective or deleterious effects on penetrance of AOPTD. By examining environmental exposure history in cervical dystonia patients and their similarly aged unaffected siblings we aimed to determine the role of previous environmental exposures in relation to disease penetrance.

Cervical dystonia: a disorder of the midbrain network for covert attentional orienting.

While the pathogenesis of cervical dystonia remains unknown, recent animal and clinical experimental studies have indicated its probable mechanisms. Abnormal temporal discrimination is a mediational endophenotype of cervical dystonia and informs new concepts of disease pathogenesis. Our hypothesis is that both abnormal temporal discrimination and cervical dystonia are due to a disorder of the midbrain network for covert attentional orienting caused by reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibition, resulting, in turn, from as yet undetermined, genetic mutations.

Temporal discrimination, a cervical dystonia endophenotype: penetrance and functional correlates.

The pathogenesis of adult-onset primary dystonia remains poorly understood. There is variable age-related and gender-related expression of the phenotype, the commonest of which is cervical dystonia. Endophenotypes may provide insight into underlying genetic and pathophysiological mechanisms of dystonia.

The endophenotype and the phenotype: temporal discrimination and adult-onset dystonia.

The pathogenesis and the genetic basis of adult-onset primary torsion dystonia remain poorly understood. Because of markedly reduced penetrance in this disorder, a number of endophenotypes have been proposed; many of these may be epiphenomena secondary to disease manifestation. Mediational endophenotypes represent gene expression; the study of trait (endophenotypic) rather than state (phenotypic) characteristics avoids the misattribution of secondary adaptive cerebral changes to pathogenesis.

Pallidal stimulation for cervical dystonia does not correct abnormal temporal discrimination.

Background: We investigated whether clinical improvement observed after deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) in cervical dystonia (CD) is paralleled by the normalisation of temporal discrimination thresholds (TDTs), a marker of abnormal sensory processing in CD.

Methods: TDT was tested in 11 patients with CD after they received DBS and was compared with TDT scores from 24 patients with CD and a group of 61 controls.

Results: A clear clinical response to GPi-DBS was demonstrated (total Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale scores fell from 50 to 18; P < 0.

VGKC positive autoimmune encephalopathy mimicking dementia.

Voltage gated potassium channel antibodies (VGKC Abs) are known to cause three rare neurological syndromes- neuromyotonia, Morvan's syndrome and limbic encephalitis although an increasing array of other associated neurological symptoms are becoming recognised. The authors describe the case of a 60-year-old female who presented to the neurology clinic with an apparent early onset dementing process. She was noted to have both extrapyramidal and frontal release signs on examination and was admitted for further evaluation.