Lipoic acid and haloperidol-induced vacuous chewing movements: Implications for prophylactic antioxidant use in tardive dyskinesia.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD), a potentially irreversible antipsychotic (AP)-related movement disorder, is a risk with all currently available antipsychotics. AP-induced vacuous chewing movements (VCMs) in rats, a preclinical model of TD, can be attenuated by antioxidant-based treatments although there is a shortage of well-designed studies. Lipoic acid (LA) represents a candidate antioxidant for the treatment of oxidative stress-related nervous system disorders; accordingly, its effects on AP-induced VCMs and striatal oxidative stress were examined.

The promises and pitfalls of applying computational models to neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Computational models have become an integral part of basic neuroscience and have facilitated some of the major advances in the field. More recently, such models have also been applied to the understanding of disruptions in brain function. In this review, using examples and a simple analogy, we discuss the potential for computational models to inform our understanding of brain function and dysfunction.

AN AUDIT OF WHETHER PRESCRIBED DOSES ARE MEASURABLE ON THE GRADUATIONS OF ONE ORAL SYRINGE.

Aim: In paediatrics drugs are prescribed as mg/kg doses to facilitate accurate dosing. Anecdotally, some drugs are prescribed in such a way that the volume to be given is difficult to measure which may lead to inaccuracies and potential for error. Locally, errors have been reported where there has been a misunderstanding of the required dose, especially when decimal points are involved.

AN AUDIT OF THE PAEDIATRIC EMPIRIC ANTI-INFECTIVE GUIDELINES AND ANTI-INFECTIVE DRUG DOSE TABLE FOR CHILDREN.

Aim: To assess compliance with paediatric empiric anti-infective guidelines and anti-infective drug dose table for children.

Method: Data collection was carried out on the paediatric wards.

Exclusions: ▸ Bone marrow transplant patients (BMT).

"One Flare at a Time": Adaptive and Maladaptive Behaviors of Women Coping With Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to study the lived experiences of female postsecondary students diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and/or irritable bowel syndrome.

Methods: Nine women between the ages of 18 and 26 years were recruited to participate in this study. Participants completed an informed consent form and background questionnaire before completing a semi-structured one-on-one interview.

Evaporation of Particle-Stabilized Emulsion Sunscreen Films.

We recently showed (Binks et al., ACS Appl. Mater.

Disruption of a dopamine receptor complex amplifies the actions of cocaine.

Cocaine-induced increases in dopamine signaling in nucleus accumbens (NAc) play a significant role in cocaine seeking behavior. The majority of cocaine addiction research has focused on neuroanatomically segregated dopamine D1 and D2 receptor-expressing neurons, yet an involvement for those NAc neurons coexpressing D1 and D2 receptors in cocaine addiction has never been explored. In situ proximity ligation assay, confocal fluorescence resonance energy transfer and coimmunoprecipitation were used to show native D1 and D2 receptors formed a heteromeric complex in D1/D2 receptor-coexpressing neurons in rat and non-human primate NAc.

Pre-hospital thrombolysis in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a regional Australian experience.

Objective: The system of care in the Hunter New England Local Health District for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) foresees pre-hospital thrombolysis (PHT) administered by paramedics to patients more than 60 minutes from the cardiac catheterisation laboratory (CCL), and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at the CCL for others. We assessed the safety and effectiveness of the pre-hospital diagnosis strategy, which allocates patients to PHT or primary PCI according to travel time to the CCL.

Design, Setting And Participants: Prospective, non-randomised, consecutive, single-centre case series of STEMI patients diagnosed on the basis of a pre-hospital electrocardiogram (ECG), from August 2008 to August 2013.

A Ruptured Digital Epidermal Inclusion Cyst: A Sinister Presentation.

Epidermal inclusion cysts are benign cutaneous lesions caused by dermal or subdermal implantation and proliferation of epidermal squamous epithelium as a result of trauma or surgery. They are typically located on the scalp, face, trunk, neck, or back; however they can be found anywhere on the body. Lesions are asymptomatic unless complicated by rupture, malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma, or infection at which point they can clinically appear as more sinister pathologies.

Sugar addiction: the state of the science.

Purpose: As obesity rates continue to climb, the notion that overconsumption reflects an underlying 'food addiction' (FA) has become increasingly influential. An increasingly popular theory is that sugar acts as an addictive agent, eliciting neurobiological changes similar to those seen in drug addiction. In this paper, we review the evidence in support of sugar addiction.

Mgat5 modulates the effect of early life stress on adult behavior and physical health in mice.

Psychosocial adversity in early life increases the likelihood of mental and physical illness, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Mgat5 is an N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase in the Golgi pathway that remodels the N-glycans of glycoproteins at the cell surface. Mice lacking Mgat5 display conditional phenotypes in behaviour, immunity, metabolism, aging and cancer susceptibility.

The Presence of Real Food Usurps Hypothetical Health Value Judgment in Overweight People.

To develop more ecologically valid models of the neurobiology of obesity, it is critical to determine how the neural processes involved in food-related decision-making translate into real-world eating behaviors. We examined the relationship between goal-directed valuations of food images in the MRI scanner and food consumption at a subsequent ad libitum buffet meal. We observed that 23 lean and 40 overweight human participants showed similar patterns of value-based neural responses to health and taste attributes of foods.

Atypical antipsychotics and effects on feeding: from mice to men.

Rationale: So-called atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) are associated with varying levels of weight gain and associated metabolic disturbances, which in patients with serious mental illness (SMI) have been linked to non-compliance and poor functional outcomes. Mechanisms underlying AAP-induced metabolic abnormalities are only partially understood. Antipsychotic-induced weight gain may occur as a result of increases in food intake and/or changes in feeding.

Lorcaserin and CP-809101 reduce motor impulsivity and reinstatement of food seeking behavior in male rats: Implications for understanding the anti-obesity property of 5-HT2C receptor agonists.

Rationale: The 5-HT2C receptor agonist lorcaserin (Belviq®) has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of obesity. Impulsivity is a contributory feature of some eating disorders.

Objective: Experiments investigated the effect of lorcaserin and the highly selective 5-HT2C agonist CP-809101 on measures of impulsivity and on reinstatement of food-seeking behaviour, a model of dietary relapse.

Prediction error, ketamine and psychosis: An updated model.

In 2007, we proposed an explanation of delusion formation as aberrant prediction error-driven associative learning. Further, we argued that the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine provided a good model for this process. Subsequently, we validated the model in patients with psychosis, relating aberrant prediction error signals to delusion severity.

Adaptive Prediction Error Coding in the Human Midbrain and Striatum Facilitates Behavioral Adaptation and Learning Efficiency.

Effective error-driven learning benefits from scaling of prediction errors to reward variability. Such behavioral adaptation may be facilitated by neurons coding prediction errors relative to the standard deviation (SD) of reward distributions. To investigate this hypothesis, we required participants to predict the magnitude of upcoming reward drawn from distributions with different SDs.

Evaporation of Sunscreen Films: How the UV Protection Properties Change.

We have investigated the evaporation of thin sunscreen films and how the light absorption and the derived sun protection factor (SPF) change. For films consisting of solutions of common UV filters in propylene glycol (PG) as solvent, we show how evaporation generally causes three effects. First, the film area can decrease by dewetting leading to a transient increase in the average film thickness.

Clinical Decisions: Determining When to Save or Remove an Ailing Implant.

The basis for the decision to either save or remove an ailing implant is multifactorial, and, as such, it has become one of the more controversial topics in the field of dental implantology. While bone lost to peri-implant disease can now be augmented with increasing predictability, the degree of success still varies depending on the size and configuration of the osseous defect. Concurrently, with the development of improved high-reverse torque instrumentation, minimally invasive techniques can be used to easily remove an implant that is malpositioned, causing an esthetic problem, or showing advanced bone loss.

Decreased Incentive Motivation Following Knockout or Acute Blockade of the Serotonin Transporter: Role of the 5-HT2C Receptor.

Acute pharmacological elevation of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) activity decreases operant responding for primary reinforcers, suggesting that 5-HT reduces incentive motivation. The mechanism by which 5-HT alters incentive motivation is unknown, but parallel evidence that 5-HT2C receptor agonists also reduce responding for primary reinforcers implicates this receptor as a potential candidate. These experiments examined whether chronic and acute disruptions of serotonin transporter (SERT) activity altered incentive motivation, and whether the 5-HT2C receptor mediated the effects of elevated 5-HT on behavior.

Opioid Antagonists and the A118G Polymorphism in the μ-Opioid Receptor Gene: Effects of GSK1521498 and Naltrexone in Healthy Drinkers Stratified by OPRM1 Genotype.

The A118G single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP rs1799971) in the μ-opioid receptor gene, OPRM1, has been much studied in relation to alcohol use disorders. The reported effects of allelic variation at this SNP on alcohol-related behaviors, and on opioid receptor antagonist treatments, have been inconsistent. We investigated the pharmacogenetic interaction between A118G variation and the effects of two μ-opioid receptor antagonists in a clinical lab setting.

Increased body mass index is associated with specific regional alterations in brain structure.

Background: Although obesity is associated with structural changes in brain grey matter, findings have been inconsistent and the precise nature of these changes is unclear. Inconsistencies may partly be due to the use of different volumetric morphometry methods, and the inclusion of participants with comorbidities that exert independent effects on brain structure. The latter concern is particularly critical when sample sizes are modest.

Multiple markers of cortical morphology reveal evidence of supragranular thinning in schizophrenia.

In vivo structural neuroimaging can reliably identify changes to cortical morphology and its regional variation but cannot yet relate these changes to specific cortical layers. We propose, however, that by synthesizing principles of cortical organization, including relative contributions of different layers to sulcal and gyral thickness, regional patterns of variation in thickness of different layers across the cortical sheet and profiles of layer variation across functional hierarchies, it is possible to develop indirect morphological measures as markers of more specific cytoarchitectural changes. We developed four indirect measures sensitive to changes specifically occurring in supragranular cortical layers, and applied these to test the hypothesis that supragranular layers are disproportionately affected in schizophrenia.

From global to local: exploring the relationship between parameters and behaviors in models of electrical excitability.

Models of electrical activity in excitable cells involve nonlinear interactions between many ionic currents. Changing parameters in these models can produce a variety of activity patterns with sometimes unexpected effects. Further more, introducing new currents will have different effects depending on the initial parameter set.

KERNEL PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES REGRESSION FOR RELATING FUNCTIONAL BRAIN NETWORK TOPOLOGY TO CLINICAL MEASURES OF BEHAVIOR.

In this paper we present a novel method for analyzing the relationship between functional brain networks and behavioral phenotypes. Drawing from topological data analysis, we first extract topological features using from functional brain networks that are derived from correlations in resting-state fMRI. Rather than fixing a discrete network topology by thresholding the connectivity matrix, these topological features capture the network organization across all continuous threshold values.