Cold Weather Injury in a Special Operations Aviation Crew Member: A Case Report.

As arctic warfare becomes a center focus within Special Operations, cold weather injury looms as both a medical and operational threat. While cold weather injury can range from pernio to hemodynamically unstable systemic hypothermia, the more minor injuries are far more common. However, these present a challenge in austere medical care and can drastically impact mission capability.

Formation of hydrated PEG layers on magnetic iron oxide nanoflowers shows internal magnetisation dynamics and generates high in-vivo efficacy for MRI and magnetic hyperthermia.

Multicore magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, nanoflowers (NFs), have potential biomedical applications as efficient mediators for AC-magnetic field hyperthermia and as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging due to their strong magnetic responses arising from complex internal magnetic ordering. To realise these applications amenable surface chemistry must be engineered that maintain particle dispersion. Here a catechol-derived grafting approach is described to strongly bind polyethylene glycol (PEG) to NFs and provide stable hydrogen-bonded hydrated layers that ensure good long-term colloidal stability in buffers and media even at clinical MRI field strength and high concentration.

The Resilience of Final-Year Pharmacy Students and Aspects of the Course They Found to Be Resilience-Building.

Background: This work aimed to investigate final year pharmacy students’ resilience (as determined by the CD-RISC-25 tool), whether students considered certain aspects of the course to be resilience-building, and the role of the university in developing this attribute. Methods: Following ethical approval and an invitation to participate, data were collected from consenting students at Queen’s University Belfast via a pre-piloted paper-based questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were performed.

Neurologic toxicity of carbamazepine in treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

Carbamazepine is a medication used to treat a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions including seizure disorders, neuropathic pain syndromes, and bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, its pharmacokinetics and side effect profile may lead to significant toxicities due to its sodium channel blockade. In 2019, there were over 1500 cases of isolated carbamazepine toxicity reported to poison centers across the United States.

Portal Venous Thrombosis in a Special Operations Paratrooper: A Case Report.

Portal vein thrombosis is the thrombotic occlusion of the extrahepatic portal system, which can propagate towards the vena caval system. Although rare, it occurs primarily in those with cirrhosis, intra-abdominal infections, malignancy, or hypercoagulable disorders. This report describes the first reported case of a soldier within special operations without identifiable risk factors who was found to have a completely occlusive portal vein thrombosis after approximately 10 days of insidious abdominal pain.

Development of a novel mammalian display system for selection of antibodies against membrane proteins.

Reliable, specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are important tools in research and medicine. However, the discovery of antibodies against their targets in their native forms is difficult. Here, we present a novel method for discovery of antibodies against membrane proteins in their native configuration in mammalian cells.

Draft Genome Sequence and Annotation of Acinetobacter junii MHI21018, Isolated from Bovine Colostrum.

We report here the draft genome sequence of Acinetobacter junii MHI21018, isolated in 2009 from bovine colostrum. The draft genome sequence is composed of 3,267,995 bp, has a GC content of 38.54%, and was assembled into 114 contigs (contig size, >500 bp) with an value of 72,566 bp.

Prefrontal and parietal correlates of cognitive control related to the adult outcome of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosed in childhood.

The protracted and highly variable development of prefrontal cortex regions that support cognitive control has been purported to shape the adult outcome of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This neurodevelopmental model was tested in a prospectively followed sample of 27 adult probands who were diagnosed with ADHD in childhood and 28 carefully matched comparison subjects aged 21-28 years. Probands were classified with persistent ADHD or remitted ADHD.

Reduced prefrontal efficiency for visuospatial working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Visuospatial working memory impairments have been implicated in the pathophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, most ADHD research has focused on the neural correlates of nonspatial mnemonic processes. This study examined brain activation and functional connectivity for visuospatial working memory in youth with and without ADHD.

Guanfacine modulates the emotional biasing of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity for cognitive control.

Functional interactions between amygdala and prefrontal cortex provide a cortical entry point for emotional cues to bias cognitive control. Stimulation of α2 adrenoceptors enhances the prefrontal control functions and blocks the amygdala-dependent encoding of emotional cues. However, the impact of this stimulation on amygdala-prefrontal interactions and the emotional biasing of cognitive control have not been established.

Emotional bias of cognitive control in adults with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Affect recognition deficits found in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the lifespan may bias the development of cognitive control processes implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. This study aimed to determine the mechanism through which facial expressions influence cognitive control in young adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. Fourteen probands with childhood ADHD and 14 comparison subjects with no history of ADHD were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a face emotion go/no-go task.

Methylphenidate and brain activity in a reward/conflict paradigm: role of the insula in task performance.

Psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate, are thought to improve information processing in motivation-reward and attention-activation networks by enhancing the effects of more relevant signals and suppressing those of less relevant ones; however the nature of such reciprocal influences remains poorly understood. To explore this question, we tested the effect of methylphenidate on performance and associated brain activity in the Anticipation, Conflict, Reward (ACR) task. Sixteen healthy adult volunteers, ages 21-45, were scanned twice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they performed the ACR task under placebo and methylphenidate conditions.

Thalamo-cortical activation and connectivity during response preparation in adults with persistent and remitted ADHD.

Objective: The neural correlates of stimulus-driven processes, such as response preparation, have been posited to be associated with the onset of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while being distinct from the neural mechanisms associated with recovery. The authors tested this hypothesis in adults with remitted and persistent ADHD.

Method: Thirty-eight young adults who were diagnosed with combined-type ADHD in childhood (probands) and 32 carefully matched comparison subjects were followed longitudinally and scanned with functional MRI while performing an event-related cued reaction time task.

Effects of motivation on reward and attentional networks: an fMRI study.

Existing evidence suggests that reward and attentional networks function in concert and that activation in one system influences the other in a reciprocal fashion; however, the nature of these influences remains poorly understood. We therefore developed a three-component task to assess the interaction effects of reward anticipation and conflict resolution on the behavioral performance and the activation of brain reward and attentional systems. Sixteen healthy adult volunteers aged 21-45 years were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the task.

Guanfacine modulates the influence of emotional cues on prefrontal cortex activation for cognitive control.

Rationale: Functional interactions between limbic regions that process emotions and frontal networks that guide response functions provide a substrate for emotional cues to influence behavior. Stimulation of postsynaptic α₂ adrenoceptors enhances the function of prefrontal regions in these networks. However, the impact of this stimulation on the emotional biasing of behavior has not been established.

Dopamine transporter gene variation modulates activation of striatum in youth with ADHD.

Polymorphisms in the 3'UTR variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) of exon 15 of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) have been linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); moreover, variability in DAT1 3'UTR genotype may contribute to both heterogeneity of the ADHD phenotype and differences in response to stimulant medications. The impact of this VNTR on neuronal function in individuals with ADHD remains unclear despite evidence that the polymorphisms influence dopamine transporter expression. Thus, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the impact of DAT1 3'UTR genotype on brain activation during response inhibition in unmedicated children and adolescents with ADHD.

Guanfacine potentiates the activation of prefrontal cortex evoked by warning signals.

Background: Warning signals evoke an alert state of readiness that prepares for a rapid response by priming a thalamo-frontal-striatal network that includes the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Animal models indicate that noradrenergic input is essential for this stimulus-driven activation of DLPFC, but the precise mechanisms involved have not been determined. We tested the role that postsynaptic alpha(2A) adrenoceptors play in the activation of DLPFC evoked by warning cues using a placebo-controlled challenge with the alpha(2A) agonist guanfacine.

Assessing the molecular genetics of the development of executive attention in children: focus on genetic pathways related to the anterior cingulate cortex and dopamine.

It is well known that children show gradual and protracted improvement in an array of behaviors involved in the conscious control of thought and emotion. Non-invasive neuroimaging in developing populations has revealed many neural correlates of behavior, particularly in the developing cingulate cortex and frontostriatal circuits. These brain regions, themselves, undergo protracted molecular and cellular change in the first two decades of human development and, as such, are ideal regions of interest for cognitive- and imaging-genetic studies that seek to link processes at the biochemical and synaptic levels to brain activity and behavior.