Factors affecting conscious awareness in the recollective experience of adults with Asperger's syndrome.

have shown a small but significant impairment of autonoetic awareness or remembering involved in the episodic memory experiences of adults with Asperger's syndrome. This was compensated by an increase in experiences of noetic awareness or knowing. The question remains as to whether the residual autonoetic awareness in Asperger individuals is qualitatively the same as that of typical comparison participants.

A dynamic model for estimating changes in health status and costs.

We develop an innovative method to assess total treatment costs over a finite period of time while incorporating the dynamics of change in the health status of patients. Costs are incurred through medical care use while patients sojourn in health states. Because complete ascertainment of costs and observation of events are not always feasible, some patient utilization will be incomplete and events will also be censored.

Longitudinal analysis of censored medical cost data.

This paper applies the inverse probability weighted (IPW) least-squares method to estimate the effects of treatment on total medical cost, subject to censoring, in a panel-data setting. IPW pooled ordinary-least squares (POLS) and IPW random effects (RE) models are used. Because total medical cost might not be independent of survival time under administrative censoring, unweighted POLS and RE cannot be used with censored data, to assess the effects of certain explanatory variables.

Ghrelin stimulates insulin-induced glucose uptake in adipocytes.

The gastric and hypothalamic hormone ghrelin is the endogenous agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor GHS-R1(a). Ghrelin stimulates growth hormone release and appetite via the hypothalamus. However, putative direct peripheral effects of ghrelin remain poorly understood.

Agouti related protein (AgRP) is upregulated in Cushing's syndrome.

Alpha melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) is an agonist at the melanocortin 3 (MC3-R) and melanocortin 4 (MC4-R) receptors. Alpha-MSH stimulates corticosterone release from rat and human adrenal cells. Patients with Cushing's syndrome have elevated levels of serum alpha-MSH.

Biocatalytic amide reduction using Clostridium sporogenes.

Washed cells of Clostridium sporogenes reduced benzamide (up to 20 mM: ) to benzylamine in yields up to 73% using H2 as electron donor with less than 10 g biocatalyst/l over 24 h. Product formation exhibited complex kinetics, with a lag before benzylamine production began. Very little substrate was hydrolysed since the maximum yield of benzoic acid was only 9% of the substrate added.

Cognitive functioning in children with early onset type 1 diabetes and severe hypoglycemia.

Objective: To investigate whether severe hypoglycemia in young children with early-onset type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is associated with subsequent abnormalities in cognitive status.

Study Design: Recruitment was from a large population-based database of children and adolescents with T1DM. Children and adolescents with early-onset T1DM (<6 years) were eligible for the study.

Implantation of fibre encapsulated RIN 1056a cells transfected with NPY cDNA into the lateral ventricle of rats alters body weight.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide thought to play an important role in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. Our aim was to over-express bioactive NPY in the lateral ventricle by implanting cells transfected with NPY cDNA. Cells from the RIN 1056a clonal rat islet cell line were transfected with NPY cDNA.

Attenuated peptide YY release in obese subjects is associated with reduced satiety.

The responses of the gut hormone peptide YY (PYY) to food were investigated in 20 normal-weight and 20 obese humans in response to six test meals of varying calorie content. Human volunteers had a graded rise in plasma PYY (R2 = 0.96; P < 0.

Superfetation as a cause of growth discordance in a multiple pregnancy.

A triplet pregnancy is described, in which the diagnosis of in utero growth restriction is questioned after postnatal suspicion of superfetation, by using neurosonography and ophthalmic examination to aid gestational age assessment.

Post-embryonic ablation of AgRP neurons in mice leads to a lean, hypophagic phenotype.

Agouti-related protein (AgRP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are colocalized in arcuate nucleus (arcuate) neurons implicated in the regulation of energy balance. Both AgRP and NPY stimulate food intake when administered into the third ventricle and are up-regulated in states of negative energy balance. However, mice with targeted deletion of either NPY or AgRP or both do not have major alterations in energy homeostasis.

Three-dimensional finite element modeling of ligaments: technical aspects.

The objective of this paper is to describe strategies for addressing technical aspects of the computational modeling of ligaments with the finite element (FE) method. Strategies for FE modeling of ligament mechanics are described, differentiating between whole-joint models and models of individual ligaments. Common approaches to obtain three-dimensional ligament geometry are reviewed, with an emphasis on techniques that rely on volumetric medical image data.

Death due to malathion poisoning.

Malathion is a commonly available insecticide with relatively low toxicity. A study was undertaken in South Australia over a 20-year period to assess the characteristic features of deaths associated with malathion. A total of 5 cases were found, in each of which exposure to malathion had been intentional.

Conscious control and memory awareness when recognising famous faces.

We describe an experiment that investigated levels-of-processing effects in recognition memory for famous faces. The degree of conscious control over the recognition decisions was manipulated by using a response deadline procedure, and memory awareness associated with those decisions was assessed using a standard remember-know paradigm. Levels-of-processing effects were found at both short and long response deadlines, and at both deadlines those effects occurred only in remembering.

The therapeutic potential of synthetic multivalent carbohydrates.

Recent progress has been made in constructing synthetic multivalent carbohydrate ligands targeted at known or probable multivalent carbohydrate ligand receptors. Multivalency can dramatically compensate for the weak affinities of individual carbohydrate ligand moieties. Multivalent branched ligand mimetics have been described bearing multiple mannoside, galactoside, lactoside and Sialyl Lewis X (SLe(x)) moieties.

Hypothalamic cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons coexpress the NOP1 receptor and nociceptin alters CART and AgRP release.

Nociceptin or orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) and its receptor NOP1 are expressed in hypothalamic nuclei involved in energy homeostasis. N/OFQ administered by intracerebroventricular or arcuate nucleus (ARC) injection increases food intake in satiated rats. The mechanisms by which N/OFQ increases food intake are unknown.

Memory awareness following speeded compared with unspeeded picture recognition.

A remember-know paradigm was used to assess memory awareness following speeded and unspeeded yes/no picture recognition. The beneficial effects of picture size congruency at study and test occurred with speeded as well as with unspeeded recognition. In each case, they were associated with remembering, not with knowing, which remained invariant.

Central relaxin-3 administration causes hyperphagia in male Wistar rats.

Relaxin-3 (INSL-7) is a recently discovered member of the insulin superfamily. Relaxin-3 mRNA is expressed in the nucleus incertus of the brainstem, which has projections to the hypothalamus. Relaxin-3 binds with high affinity to the LGR7 receptor and to the previously orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPCR135.

Influence of posture on the incidence of vein cannulation during epidural catheter placement.

Background And Objective: Epidural vein cannulation has long been recognized as a problem in parturients due to distension of epidural veins. Epidural vein engorgement is maximal when the pregnant woman is in the supine position and minimal in the lateral position. Following an initial observation of an apparently high incidence of epidural vein cannulation in the sitting position, a randomized trial was conducted to document whether such an association existed.

Cancer, Medicaid enrollment, and survival disparities.

Background: The current article examined survival for adults < 65 years old diagnosed with breast, colorectal, or lung carcinoma who were either Medicaid insured at the time of diagnosis, Medicaid insured after diagnosis, or non-Medicaid insured.

Methods: The authors hypothesized that subjects enrolling in Medicaid after they were diagnosed with cancer would explain disparate survival outcomes between Medicaid and non-Medicaid-insured subjects. The authors used the Michigan Tumor Registry, a population-based cancer registry covering the State of Michigan, to identify subjects who were diagnosed with the cancer sites of interest (n = 13,740).

Vitrectomy for dense vitreous hemorrhage in infancy.

Purpose: To report clinical data, including etiology and visual outcome, in newborns requiring vitrectomy for dense vitreous hemorrhage.

Methods: In this retrospective case series, we surveyed subscribers to the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus ListServe regarding patients under their care.

Results: A total of 28 eyes of 21 patients were included.

Hydrogenation of C-C double bonds in an ionic liquid reaction system using the obligate anaerobe, Sporomusa termitida.

Sporomusa termitida reduced caffeate (1mM) in anaerobic, two-liquid phase, reaction systems containing either tetradecane or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [[bmim][PF6]] (20% v/v). The initial rate and final product yield were 20 and 7% lower, respectively, in [bmim][PF6]. Since caffeate partitioned only into the aqueous phase, the lower rate cannot be attributed to mass transfer barriers.

The management of dural puncture in obstetrics and the efficacy of epidural blood patches.

Epidural blood patch is the definitive treatment for post dural puncture headaches (PDH), providing acceptable short-term relief. Disappointingly however debate exists as to their long-term success. To investigate their efficacy in our practice, a retrospective audit of all epidural blood patches performed over a four year period was performed.

Exploration of DSM-IV criteria in primary care patients with medically unexplained symptoms.

Objectives: Investigators and clinicians almost always rely on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th edition's (DSM-IV) somatoform disorders (and its derivative diagnoses) to characterize and identify patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Our objective was to evaluate this use by determining the prevalence of DSM-IV somatoform and nonsomatoform disorders in patients with MUS proven by a gold standard chart review.

Methods: In a community-based staff model HMO, we identified subjects for a clinical trial using a systematic and reliable chart rating procedure among high-utilizing MUS patients.