Posterior division of the internal iliac artery: Anatomic variations and clinical applications.

Objective: The objective of the study was to characterize the anatomy of the internal iliac artery (IIA) and its posterior division branches and to correlate these findings to IIA ligation.

Study Design: Dissections were performed in 54 female cadavers.

Results: Average length of IIA was 27.

Sensitivity to Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 in mice is dependent on environment and genetic background.

Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) is a well-characterized probiotic bacterium. Although genomic comparisons of EcN with the uropathogenic E. coli strain CFT073 revealed high degrees of similarity, EcN is generally considered a non-pathogenic organism.

Israeli psychiatric inpatients go to the polls.

In 1996, mobile polls were introduced in Israel, enabling physically and emotionally ill inpatients to vote. We surveyed the rate of participation of inpatients at Lev-Hasharon Mental Health Center in parliamentary elections, their feelings regarding voting, and the nature of their vote, compared with the general population. One hundred eighteen of 306 (38.

Neurocognitive deterioration in elderly chronic schizophrenia patients with and without PTSD.

Neurocognitive deficits are associated with chronic schizophrenia and aging. We investigated whether elderly chronic schizophrenia inpatients who also suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have more severe cognitive impairment than elderly schizophrenia inpatients that do not. Fourteen schizophrenia inpatients that are Holocaust survivors and suffer from PTSD (survivor group) were compared with schizophrenia inpatients not exposed to the holocaust and without PTSD (comparison group) using neurocognitive assessments and psychiatric evaluation instruments.

Foreign objects in the vagina of a mentally ill woman: case series.

Objective: Reports of the insertion of foreign objects to the vagina by psychiatric patients are scant. We present two such cases.

Methods: Case I resulted from psychotic content and auditory command hallucinations.

Feeling the real world: limbic response to music depends on related content.

Emotions are often object related--they are about someone or something in the world. It is yet an open question whether emotions and the associated perceptual contents that they refer to are processed by different parts of the brain or whether the brain regions that mediate emotions are also involved in the processing of the associated content they refer to. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we showed that simply combining music (rich in emotion but poor in information about the concrete world) with neutral films (poor in emotionality but rich in real-world details) yields increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, and lateral prefrontal regions.

Rederivation of Helicobacter hepaticus-infected Mongolian gerbils by Caesarean section and cross-fostering to rats and mice.

The Mongolian gerbil serves as an animal model for a wide range of diseases. As these animals are extensively used for the study of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis, naturally occurring infections with rodent Helicobacter species in gerbils are a possible source of interference in studies of H. pylori-associated disease.

Longitudinal study of acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociation following myocardial infarction.

Since dissociation has been recognized as a marker of posttraumatic processes, this study examines the chronological relations between dissociation and stress reactions (acute stress disorder, ASD, and posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD) following myocardial infarction (MI). One hundred sixteen MI patients were examined twice: within 1 week of the trauma (time 1) and 7 months later (time 2). Sixty-seven matched controls were studied in a parallel interval.

The effect of humorous movies on inpatients with chronic schizophrenia.

We assessed the impact of humorous movies on psychopathology, anxiety, depression, anger, social functioning, insight, and therapeutic alliance in schizophrenia inpatients. Twenty-nine psychiatric inpatients in open wards participated in the study. The study group viewed humorous and the control group viewed neutral movies daily for 3 months.

[Ethical considerations of psychiatric treatment in chronic post traumatic stress following multiple casualty attacks].

Israeli society has been repeatedly exposed to traumatic stress following terrorist attacks with multiple casualties. Individuals who are subjected to these incidents experience various mental reactions, including traumatism, fear, loss and bereavement. Unfortunately, evidence based medical knowledge is lacking regarding natural methods for dealing with incidents that may precipitate traumatic stress, ways of identifying people who are more likely to develop post traumatic symptoms, or suggestions on early interventions that may avert the onset of these symptoms.

Molecular mechanisms of disturbed electrolyte transport in intestinal inflammation.

Diarrhea is the hallmark of both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease. Loss of resorptive area, destruction of epithelial cells, leaky tight junctions, and release of inflammatory mediators and products from immune cells that stimulate fluid secretion all have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diarrhea. Very early studies in patients, however, have pinpointed the overwhelming transport abnormality in inflamed intestinal mucosa: a virtually complete loss of sodium resorptive capacity.

Mental health and resiliency following 44 months of terrorism: a survey of an Israeli national representative sample.

Background: Israeli citizens have been exposed to intense and ongoing terrorism since September 2000. We previously studied the mental health impact of terrorism on the Israeli population (Bleich et al., 2002), however the long-term impact of ongoing terrorism has not yet been examined.

Does psychiatric comorbidity affect drug abuse treatment outcome? A prospective assessment of drug abuse, treatment tenure and infectious diseases in an Israeli methadone maintenance clinic.

Objective: The influence of psychiatric comorbidity in drug addicts on therapeutic outcome is an important unresolved issue. We studied the links between patterns of psychiatric comorbidity and psychological distress with treatment outcome variables.

Method: 151 methadone maintenance patients underwent a structured clinical interview, twice-weekly urinalysis for traces of drugs of abuse, and completed psychological distress and risk-taking questionnaires for periods of up to three years.

Cd14, Gbp1, and Pla2g2a: three major candidate genes for experimental IBD identified by combining QTL and microarray analyses.

Induction of inflammatory bowel (IBD)-like disease in mice by a targeted mutation in the Il10 gene (Il10(-/-)) is inbred strain dependent. C3H/HeJBir (C3) mice are colitis susceptible, whereas C57BL/6J (B6) mice are resistant. Genetic dissection of this susceptibility revealed 10 colitogenic quantitative trait loci (QTL).

Environment as a critical factor for the pathogenesis and outcome of gastrointestinal disease: experimental and human inflammatory bowel disease and helicobacter-induced gastritis.

Environmental factors play an important role in the manifestation, course, and prognosis of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis. These two disease complexes were chosen for a discussion of the contribution of environmental factors to the disease outcome in humans and animal models. Dissecting complex diseases like IBD and Helicobacter-induced gastritis has shown that the outcome of disease depends on the allelic constellation of a host and the microbial and physical environments.

Is terror gender-blind? Gender differences in reaction to terror events.

Objective: This study examines gender differences in posttraumatic vulnerability in the face of the terror attacks that occurred during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. In addition, the contribution of level of exposure, sense of safety, self-efficacy, and coping strategies is assessed.

Method: Participants were 250 men and 262 women, who constitute a representative sample of Israel's adult population.

Video testimony of long-term hospitalized psychiatrically ill Holocaust survivors.

Objective: Many Holocaust survivors who have both psychotic disorders and residual symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remain chronically hospitalized in psychiatric institutions. This study investigated the clinical benefits of a therapeutic process facilitating a detailed videotaped account of traumatic experience (testimony method) in elderly long-term hospitalized Holocaust survivors.

Method: Twenty-four schizophrenia patients (mean age=72.

CpG motifs of bacterial DNA essentially contribute to the perpetuation of chronic intestinal inflammation.

Background & Aims: Recently, we demonstrated a proinflammatory effect of cytosin-guanosin dinucleotide (CpG)-oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) treatment in established dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. Here, we investigated whether DNA derived from luminal bacteria plays a role in the perpetuation of chronic intestinal inflammation.

Methods: Toll-like receptor (TLR9)-deficient and wild-type (wt) control mice were used for the induction of chronic DSS colitis.

Emotional impact of exposure to terrorism among young-old and old-old Israeli citizens.

Objective: Since September 2000, continuous terrorist attacks have exposed Israeli society to trauma, and the impact of these events on the mental health of the elderly Israeli population remains unclear. The authors sought to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress-related symptoms of distress, depression, optimism, self-efficacy, and sense of safety of the young-old and old-old Jewish population after 19 months of intense terrorism in Israel, in order to identify correlates of the psychological sequelae and compare symptoms and coping methods of these populations with those of younger adults.

Methods: Authors did a telephone survey using stratified sampling with a national sample of young-old (65-74 years old), old-old (>74 years old) and a comparison group of younger adults (18-64 years old).

Genetic analysis of the LEW.1AR1-iddm rat: an animal model for spontaneous diabetes mellitus.

The LEW.1AR1-iddm/Ztm rat is a new animal model of type 1 diabetes mellitus, which shows an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance for the diabetes-inducing gene. The aim of this study was to define predisposing loci of the diabetic syndrome by linkage analysis using microsatellite markers.

Evaluation of psychiatric disability in PTSD of military origin.

Background: Israeli veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) filed claims for recognition of their mental disability and for compensation underwent thorough psychiatric evaluations conducted by an interdisciplinary team.

Objective: To study the clinical features and functional impairment of PTSD veterans who filed claims for psychiatric disability. To evaluate possible relationships among severity of PTSD, psychiatric comorbidity and level of disability.

The contribution of social disability to the evaluation of mental disability among PTSD veterans.

Background: Israeli veterans who claim for recognition of their mental disability and compensation undergo multi-professional assessments including a detailed psychosocial evaluation.

Objectives: To conduct a systematic evaluation of the social disabilities of veterans with PTSD; to examine the relationships between the various aspects of their social disability and their PTSD symptom severity, on the one hand, and the ratings they receive from psychiatrists determining their overall disability, on the other hand.

Method: The study was conducted on 120 veterans with PTSD, all filing for compensation.

[Psychiatric patients, dialysis, kidney transplant: case report and discussion].

Psychiatric patients' coping capacity with various life situations is limited due to their mental illness. This difficulty is even more pronounced when dealing with severe physical conditions such as kidney failure, the need for dialysis and kidney transplant. In the past, similar to patients who suffered from additional physical conditions, patients with major psychiatric disorders, long-term psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, were not considered candidates for dialysis treatment.