Experience-dependent plasticity of gustatory insular cortex circuits and taste preferences.

Early experience with food influences taste preference in adulthood. How gustatory experience influences development of taste preferences and refinement of cortical circuits has not been investigated. Here, we exposed weanling mice to an array of taste solutions and determined the effects on the preference for sweet in adulthood.

A Cluster of Five Deaths Due to Methanol Toxicity After Apparent Hand Sanitizer Ingestion in the Setting of Chronic Alcoholism.

Methanol toxicity and its associated pathologies have been widely studied, however, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in methanol toxicity due to apparent consumption of contaminated hand sanitizer. We report a cluster of five deaths and one presumed death due to the apparent consumption of hand sanitizer, contaminated with methanol, in the setting of chronic alcoholism. The deaths occurred in Coconino County, Arizona, over a four-and-a-half-month period (June-October 2020), before and during a Food and Drug Administration recall of contaminated hand sanitizer.

Two Single-Drug Fatal Intoxications by Mitragynine.

Mitragyna speciosa, a species of plant that is native to Thailand, Malaysia and Southeast Asia, contains two major psychoactive alkaloids: mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Pharmacologically, the alkaloids exhibit biphasic effects-at low doses, stimulant effects are realized, while high doses exhibit sedative effects. For years, the plant has been used recreationally and medicinally for these effects, but its use has been implicated in and associated with intoxications and deaths.

Concrete Repair Durability.

The repairs of building structures are inevitable and indispensable. Repairs are used to restore or maintain the usability of existing facilities, often contributing to the extension of their expected service life, increasing the sustainability of building resources. Given that conservation rules are observed, repairs are also used to save monuments.

Implementation of a Nurse-Empowered Renal Anemia Protocol in Children.

A high proportion of patients on hemodialysis persist with low hemoglobin levels despite receiving treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. A registered nurse-driven renal anemia protocol was designed and implemented by a team in a pediatric hemodialysis unit. We compared proportion of patients achieving the target hemoglobin (Hgb) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) before and after the implementation of the protocol.

Dynamic Representation of Taste-Related Decisions in the Gustatory Insular Cortex of Mice.

Research over the past decade has established the gustatory insular cortex (GC) as a model for studying how primary sensory cortices integrate sensory, affective, and cognitive signals. This integration occurs through time-varying patterns of neural activity. Selective silencing of GC activity during specific temporal windows provided evidence for GC's role in mediating taste palatability and expectation.

Sustainable Test Methods for Construction Materials and Elements.

The laboratory testing of the construction materials and elements is a subset of activities inherent in sustainable building materials engineering. Two questions arise regarding test methods used: the relation between test results and material behavior in actual conditions on the one hand, and the variability of results related to uncertainty on the other. The paper presents the analysis of the results and uncertainties of the simple two independent test examples (bond strength and tensile strength) in order to demonstrate discrepancies related to the ambiguous methods of estimating uncertainty and the consequences of using test methods when method suitability for conformity assessment has not been properly verified.

Gustation and Olfaction: The Importance of Place and Time.

Animals can smell odors from the external environment or from their mouth via two routes: orthonasal and retronasal, respectively. Little is known about how the brain processes orthonasal and retronasal odors associated with taste, but a new study has revealed an important role for the gustatory cortex in such odor processing.

Stable olfactory sensory neuron in vivo physiology during normal aging.

Normal aging is associated with a number of smell impairments that are paralleled by age-dependent changes in the peripheral olfactory system, including decreases in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and in the regenerative capacity of the epithelium. Thus, an age-dependent degradation of sensory input to the brain is one proposed mechanism for the loss of olfactory function in older populations. Here, we tested this hypothesis by performing in vivo optical neurophysiology in 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old mice.

Common origin of all three coronary arteries from the right sinus of Valsalva - first case study accompanied by mitral valve prolapse and vein anomaly, second case study followed by successful percutaneous coronary intervention of right coronary artery stenosis.

Congenital anomalies of the coronary arteries can be divided into two broad categories: those that alter myocardial perfusion and those that do not. In coronary anomalies not altering myocardial perfusion, the coronary arteries originate from the aorta, but their origins are in unusual positions. Although myocardial perfusion is normal, the angiographer may have trouble locating them.

Differences in peripheral sensory input to the olfactory bulb between male and female mice.

Female mammals generally have a superior sense of smell than males, but the biological basis of this difference is unknown. Here, we demonstrate sexually dimorphic neural coding of odorants by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), primary sensory neurons that physically contact odor molecules in the nose and provide the initial sensory input to the brain's olfactory bulb. We performed in vivo optical neurophysiology to visualize odorant-evoked OSN synaptic output into olfactory bub glomeruli in unmanipulated (gonad-intact) adult mice from both sexes, and found that in females odorant presentation evoked more rapid OSN signaling over a broader range of OSNs than in males.

Left atrial myxoma in a patient with a biventricular pacemaker.

Myxomas make up about 50% of benign cardiac neoplasms. The most common location is within the left atrium. At the initial stage they do not exhibit any specific clinical symptoms, so they are often diagnosed by accident or during examinations recommended for other reasons.

Assessment of chest X-ray images in newborns with respiratory disorders.

The aim of the study was to analyze major radiological signs on chest X-ray images of neonates with respiratory disorders. The analyzed group consisted of 84 neonates; 56 were born prematurely. In total, 386 X-ray photographs of the neonates were taken; of these, 301 were chest radiographs.

Intranasal exposure to manganese disrupts neurotransmitter release from glutamatergic synapses in the central nervous system in vivo.

Chronic exposure to aerosolized manganese induces a neurological disorder that includes extrapyramidal motor symptoms and cognitive impairment. Inhaled manganese can bypass the blood-brain barrier and reach the central nervous system by transport down the olfactory nerve to the brain's olfactory bulb. However, the mechanism by which Mn disrupts neural function remains unclear.

Functional rehabilitation of cadmium-induced neurotoxicity despite persistent peripheral pathophysiology in the olfactory system.

Intranasal exposure to the heavy metal cadmium has been linked to olfactory dysfunction and neurotoxicity. Here, we combine optical imaging of in vivo neurophysiology, genetically defined anatomical tract tracing, mass spectrometry, and behavioral psychophysical methods to evaluate the persistent harmful effects of acute intranasal exposure to cadmium in a mouse model and to investigate the functional consequences of sensory rehabilitation training. We find that an acute intranasal instillation of cadmium chloride leads to an accumulation of cadmium in the brain's olfactory bulb that persists for at least 4 weeks.

In vivo visualization of olfactory pathophysiology induced by intranasal cadmium instillation in mice.

Intranasal exposure to cadmium has been related to olfactory dysfunction in humans and to nasal epithelial damage and altered odorant-guided behavior in rodent models. The pathophysiology underlying these deficits has not been fully elucidated. Here we use optical imaging techniques to visualize odorant-evoked neurotransmitter release from the olfactory nerve into the brain's olfactory bulbs in vivo in mice.

Primary pneumonic plague contracted from a mountain lion carcass.

Background: Primary pneumonic plague is a rare but often fatal form of Yersinia pestis infection that results from direct inhalation of bacteria and is potentially transmissible from person to person. We describe a case of primary pneumonic plague in a wildlife biologist who was found deceased in his residence 1 week after conducting a necropsy on a mountain lion.

Methods: To determine cause of death, a postmortem examination was conducted, and friends and colleagues were interviewed.

Fatal capnocytophaga infection associated with splenectomy.

A case of fatal sepsis due to Capnocytophaga species is described. Capnatophaga canimorsus and C. cynodegmi can cause localized wound infections and/or systemic infections in people who have been bitten, licked, scratched, or merely exposed to cats or dogs, especially splenectomized individuals.

Pena-Shokier phenotype: case presentation and review.

Pena-Shokier phenotype is an early lethal disorder involving multiple joint contractures, facial anomalies, and pulmonary hypoplasia. Alternative terms for this syndrome used in the literature include fetal hypokinesia syndrome, lethal congenital contracture syndrome, and Pena-Shokier syndrome type I. The etiology for the early cases was attributed to neuromuscular disease, with deformations owing to weakness or paralysis of the motor unit.

Hematologic masquerade of rhabdomyosarcoma.

We present the case of a 12-year-old boy admitted with the diagnosis of acute leukemia, but found to have an infiltration of the marrow by an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) as determined by the cytogenetic demonstration of a t(2;13)(q25;q14). A primary tumor could not be found. With this case as a basis, we have tabulated features of all similar cases in the literature and discuss the possible optimal approaches to establishing the correct diagnosis in such patients.

[Transposition of great vessels in Cantrell syndrome].

A case is presented of complete transposition of great vessels with atrial and ventricular septum defect and coarctation of the pulmonary artery in Cantrell syndrome. The Cantrell syndrome consists of: congenital heart disease, defect of pericardium, diaphragm, sternum, and anterior abdomen wall. In all cases of Cantrell syndrome described as yet ventricular septum defect was present alone or in combination with other intracardiac defects.

[A case of endocardial elastosis in a 5-week old infant].

A case is presented of fulminant endocardial elastosis in a 5-week-old infant. The baby died after four days from the appearance of the first pathological symptoms with evidence of extreme circulatory insufficiency. Of main importance for intravital diagnosis was echocardiographic examination.