Increased Risk of Cryptogenic Stroke Associated with Patent Foramen Ovale in Young Adults.

Ischemic stroke is defined as a reduction in blood flow to brain tissue that results in the deterioration and death of neurons in a matter of minutes. While often seen in older patients with a history of atherosclerosis of the major arteries, a subset of ischemic strokes occur in younger individuals with minimal to no prior risk factors. Further evaluation of these unknown, or cryptogenic, strokes has yielded positive findings of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) in a concerning number of cases.

Advanced Filtration Membranes for the Removal of Perfluoroalkyl Species from Water.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are two perfluoroalkyl substances that have been shown to result in several adverse health effects, including birth defects, kidney/testicular cancer, as well as liver and thyroid damage. The surfactant nature of PFOS and PFOA in water makes these compounds extremely difficult to remove from drinking water. In this paper, an efficient method to remove PFOS and PFOA from drinking water using linear fluorinated silane-functionalized aluminum oxide hydroxide (γ-AlOOH) nanowhiskers was developed.

Vortioxetine Differentially Modulates MK-801-Induced Changes in Visual Signal Detection Task Performance and Locomotor Activity.

Attention impairment is a common feature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and MDD-associated cognitive dysfunction may play an important role in determining functional status among this patient population. Vortioxetine is a multimodal antidepressant that may improve some aspects of cognitive function in MDD patients, and may indirectly increase glutamate neurotransmission in brain regions classically associated with attention function. Previous non-clinical research suggests that vortioxetine has limited effects on attention.

Cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of amphetamine, cathinone, methamphetamine, and their 3,4-methylenedioxy analogs in male rhesus monkeys.

Rationale: Synthetic cathinones have emerged as the newest class of abused monoamine transporter substrates. Structurally, these compounds are all beta-ketone amphetamine (cathinone) analogs. Whether synthetic cathinone analogs produce differential behavioral effects from their amphetamine analog counterparts has not been systematically examined.

Cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, methcathinone and their 3,4-methylenedioxy or 4-methyl analogs in rhesus monkeys.

Synthetic cathinones are beta-ketone amphetamine analogs that have emerged as a heterogeneous class of abused compounds that function as either monoamine transporter substrates or inhibitors. Pre-clinical drug discrimination procedures are useful for interrogating structure-activity relationships of abuse-related drug effects; however, in vivo structure-activity relationship comparisons between synthetic cathinones with different mechanisms of action are lacking. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of the monoamine transporter inhibitor alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (alpha-PVP) and the monoamine transporter substrate methcathinone were differentially sensitive to 3,4-methylenedioxy and 4-methyl substitutions.

Methamphetamine-like discriminative stimulus effects of bupropion and its two hydroxy metabolites in male rhesus monkeys.

The dopamine transporter (DAT) inhibitor and nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh) receptor antagonist bupropion is being investigated as a candidate 'agonist' medication for methamphetamine addiction. In addition to its complex pharmacology, bupropion also has two distinct pharmacologically active metabolites. However, the mechanism by which bupropion produces methamphetamine-like 'agonist' effects remains unknown.

Relationship between discriminative stimulus effects and plasma methamphetamine and amphetamine levels of intramuscular methamphetamine in male rhesus monkeys.

Methamphetamine is a globally abused drug that is metabolized to amphetamine, which also produces abuse-related behavioral effects. However, the contributing role of methamphetamine metabolism to amphetamine in methamphetamine's abuse-related subjective effects is unknown. This preclinical study was designed to determine 1) the relationship between plasma methamphetamine levels and methamphetamine discriminative stimulus effects and 2) the contribution of the methamphetamine metabolite amphetamine in the discriminative stimulus effects of methamphetamine in rhesus monkeys.

Tolerance and cross-tolerance to head twitch behavior elicited by phenethylamine- and tryptamine-derived hallucinogens in mice.

The serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor is a potential therapeutic target to a host of neuropsychiatric conditions, but agonist actions at this site are linked to abuse-related hallucinogenic effects that may limit therapeutic efficacy of chronic drug administration. Tolerance to some effects of hallucinogens has been observed in humans and laboratory animals, but the understanding of tolerance and cross-tolerance between distinct structural classes of hallucinogens is limited. Here, we used the drug-elicited head twitch response (HTR) in mice to assess the development of tolerance and cross-tolerance with two phenethylamine-derived [DOI (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine) and 2C-T-7 (2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylthiophenethylamine)] and two tryptamine-derived [DPT (N,N-dipropyltryptamine) and DIPT (N,N-diisopropyltryptamine)] drugs with agonist affinity for 5-HT2A receptors.

Hallucinogen-like effects of 2-([2-(4-cyano-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl) ethylamino]methyl)phenol (25CN-NBOH), a novel N-benzylphenethylamine with 100-fold selectivity for 5-HT₂A receptors, in mice.

Rationale: 2-([2-(4-cyano-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethylamino]methyl)phenol (25CN-NBOH) is structurally similar to N-benzyl substituted phenethylamine hallucinogens currently emerging as drugs of abuse. 25CN-NBOH exhibits dramatic selectivity for 5-HT2A receptors in vitro, but has not been behaviorally characterized.

Objective: 25CN-NBOH was compared to the traditional phenethylamine hallucinogen R(-)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) using mouse models of drug-elicited head twitch behavior and drug discrimination.

The prevalence of chest compression leaning during in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Objective: Successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest requires the delivery of high-quality chest compressions, encompassing parameters such as adequate rate, depth, and full recoil between compressions. The lack of compression recoil ("leaning" or "incomplete recoil") has been shown to adversely affect hemodynamics in experimental arrest models, but the prevalence of leaning during actual resuscitation is poorly understood. We hypothesized that leaning varies across resuscitation events, possibly due to rescuer and/or patient characteristics and may worsen over time from rescuer fatigue during continuous chest compressions.

Pharmacotherapy of delusional disorders in the context of offending and the potential for compulsory treatment.

Delusional disorder is an uncommon mental illness with an estimated prevalence of 0.03%. Its low prevalence has likely contributed to the paucity of research interest in this area, leading to substantial gaps in knowledge concerning its treatment and management.

Treatment of the psychotic patient who is violent.

Aggression among patients with serious mental illness occurs relatively infrequently, but it is a significant concern for patients, relatives, mental health professionals, and the public. Recognition of this risk and providing access and continuity of appropriate psychiatric care should be major clinical and administrative objectives in the management of violence in psychotic patients. To date, pharmacologic approaches have been unclear and inconsistent.

Insight into illness and attitudes toward medications among inpatients with schizophrenia.

This study assessed symptoms, severity of illness functional level, insight into illness, and attitudes toward medication in a sample of psychiatric patients who were newly admitted to a state hospital. The patients were evaluated before and after treatment with atypical, conventional, or mixed (atypical plus conventional) antipsychotic medication regimens with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Clinical Global Impression, the Global Assessment of Functioning, the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder, and the Drug Attitude Inventory. Overall, the patients showed significant improvement in symptoms, severity of illness, functional level, and insight into their illness during the course of hospitalization.