Information gathering during contests: the relationship between lateralisation and contestant behaviour during fallow deer fights.

One class of model relating to animal contest behaviour assumes that individuals gather information concerning their opponents' competitive ability; these models argue that such a process allows contestants to avoid engaging in dangerous fighting behaviour with a superior opponent. The brain hemispheres of vertebrates are lateralised in that they are specialised for processing different type of information. Within the context of the current study, we might expect that lateralisation would play a role in facilitating the assessment of opponent quality; nevertheless, the degree of lateralisation shown by individuals can vary suggesting that contest behaviour might also vary based on the ability to process information about competitor quality.

Testosterone level and the effect of levodopa and agonists in early Parkinson disease: results from the INSPECT cohort.

Background: To determine if testosterone levels are influenced by dopaminergic therapy in Parkinson disease (PD) patients. Testosterone level has been reported to be low in patients with PD and other neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we sought to determine whether dopaminergic therapy (i.

Quantifying the impact of woodpecker predation on population dynamics of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis).

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is an invasive beetle that has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) since it was accidentally introduced to North America in the 1990s. Understanding how predators such as woodpeckers (Picidae) affect the population dynamics of EAB should enable us to more effectively manage the spread of this beetle, and toward this end we combined two experimental approaches to elucidate the relative importance of woodpecker predation on EAB populations.

Assessing the potential of e-mail for communicating drug therapy recommendations to physicians in patients with heart failure and ventricular-assist devices.

Purpose: This project explores electronic mail (e-mail) as a potential medium for pharmacists to communicate pharmacotherapy interventions to prescribers.

Methods: This retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted at an urban, academic teaching hospital. The pharmacist attempted a drug therapy intervention via e-mail when unable to make face-to-face contact with the attending physician.

Low incidence of pseudoprogression by imaging in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients treated with cediranib in combination with chemoradiation.

Background: Chemoradiation (CRT) can significantly modify the radiographic appearance of malignant gliomas, especially within the immediate post-CRT period. Pseudoprogression (PsP) is an increasingly recognized phenomenon in this setting, and is thought to be secondary to increased permeability as a byproduct of the complex process of radiation-induced tissue injury, possibly enhanced by temozolomide. We sought to determine whether the addition of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling inhibitor (cediranib) to conventional CRT had an impact on the frequency of PsP, by comparing two groups of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma before, during, and after CRT.

Effective anticoagulation for a percutaneous ventricular assist device using a heparin-based purge solution.

Objective: To report on a series of patients who were successfully anticoagulated with a novel protocol including a heparin-based purge solution.

Case Summary: Four patients were supported for a total of 300 hours on the new Impella anticoagulation protocol, which was based on our current nurse-driven cardiology heparin protocol. Three patients were in cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction, and 1 patient was in shock from severe aortic valvular disease.

Improved tumor oxygenation and survival in glioblastoma patients who show increased blood perfusion after cediranib and chemoradiation.

Antiangiogenic therapy has shown clear activity and improved survival benefit for certain tumor types. However, an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of action of antiangiogenic agents has hindered optimization and broader application of this new therapeutic modality. In particular, the impact of antiangiogenic therapy on tumor blood flow and oxygenation status (i.

Dissociations in the effect of delay on object recognition: evidence for an associative model of recognition memory.

Rats were administered 3 versions of an object recognition task: In the spontaneous object recognition task (SOR) animals discriminated between a familiar object and a novel object; in the temporal order task they discriminated between 2 familiar objects, 1 of which had been presented more recently than the other; and, in the object-in-place task, they discriminated among 4 previously presented objects, 2 of which were presented in the same locations as in preexposure and 2 in different but familiar locations. In each task animals were tested at 2 delays (5 min and 2 hr) between the sample and test phases in the SOR and object-in-place task, and between the 2 sample phases in the temporal order task. Performance in the SOR was poorer with the longer delay, whereas in the temporal order task performance improved with delay.

Association of cerebrospinal fluid β-amyloid 1-42, T-tau, P-tau181, and α-synuclein levels with clinical features of drug-naive patients with early Parkinson disease.

Importance: We observed a significant correlation between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of tau proteins and α-synuclein, but not β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ1-42), and lower concentration of CSF biomarkers, as compared with healthy controls, in a cohort of entirely untreated patients with Parkinson disease (PD) at the earliest stage of the disease studied so far.

Objective: To evaluate the baseline characteristics and relationship to clinical features of CSF biomarkers (Aβ1-42, total tau [T-tau], tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 [P-tau181], and α-synuclein) in drug-naive patients with early PD and demographically matched healthy controls enrolled in the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) study.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional study of the initial 102 research volunteers (63 patients with PD and 39 healthy controls) of the PPMI cohort.

Kinetic modeling, test-retest, and dosimetry of 123I-MNI-420 in humans.

Unlabelled: In vivo imaging of adenosine 2A receptors (A2A) in the brain has attracted significant interest from the scientific community, because studies have shown that dysregulation of these receptors is implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson and Huntington diseases. This work aimed to describe the kinetic properties, test-retest results, and dosimetry estimates of (123)I-MNI-420, a SPECT radiotracer for the in vivo imaging of A2A in the brain.

Methods: Nine healthy human subjects were enrolled in this study; 7 completed (123)I-MNI-420 brain SPECT studies, and 2 participated in whole-body planar imaging evaluating (123)I-MNI-420 biodistribution and dosimetry.

Vessel architectural imaging identifies cancer patient responders to anti-angiogenic therapy.

Measurement of vessel caliber by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valuable technique for in vivo monitoring of hemodynamic status and vascular development, especially in the brain. Here, we introduce a new paradigm in MRI termed vessel architectural imaging (VAI) that exploits an overlooked temporal shift in the magnetic resonance signal, forming the basis for vessel caliber estimation, and show how this phenomenon can reveal new information on vessel type and function not assessed by any other noninvasive imaging technique. We also show how this biomarker can provide new biological insights into the treatment of patients with cancer.

Research on the premotor symptoms of Parkinson's disease: clinical and etiological implications.

Background: The etiology and natural history of Parkinson's disease (PD) are not well understood. Some non-motor symptoms such as hyposmia, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and constipation may develop during the prodromal stage of PD and precede PD diagnosis by years.

Objectives: We examined the promise and pitfalls of research on premotor symptoms of PD and developed priorities and strategies to understand their clinical and etiological implications.

Methodological review of treatments for nonparaphilic hypersexual behavior.

Research on nonparaphilic hypersexual behavior has increased in recent years. In the present article, the authors conducted a methodological review of empirical studies that evaluated a treatment for nonparaphilic hypersexual behavior. The authors reviewed several characteristics of the extant studies, including the participants, research designs, treatments evaluated, assessment of nonparaphilic hypersexual behavior, and outcomes.

Pentoxifylline for the treatment of hemolytic anemia in a patient who developed recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding while on continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support.

Pentoxifylline is an agent that improves red blood cell deformability (known as a hemorrheologic effect) and reduces blood viscosity. Here, we present a case of a patient with hemolytic anemia after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation that was successfully treated with pentoxifylline. Our case is a 64-year-old African American woman who was implanted with a HeartMate II device on August 6, 2010, as a bridge to transplant for end-stage heart failure.

Alzheimer's disease diagnosis by detecting exogenous fluorescent signal of ligand bound to Beta amyloid in the lens of human eye: an exploratory study.

We report results of a clinical exploratory human trial involving 10 participants using a combination of a fluorescent ligand and a laser scanning device, SAPPHIRE System, as an aid in the diagnosis of Probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such a technique has been used in vivo of a human lens. The primary goal of the clinical trial, in addition to safety assessment, was to evaluate efficacy of the system.

The impact of pharmacist-directed patient education and anticoagulant care coordination on patient satisfaction.

Background: Patient satisfaction data played a role in determining Medicare reimbursement as of October 2012. Clinical pharmacy services could improve satisfaction of hospital inpatients but it is unclear whether this relates to performance on standardized hospital surveys.

Objective: To describe the impact on patient satisfaction of patient education and follow-up care coordination provided by an inpatient pharmacist-directed anticoagulation service (PDAS).

Dorsal hippocampal involvement in conditioned-response timing and maintenance of temporal information in the absence of the CS.

Involvement of the dorsal hippocampus (DHPC) in conditioned-response timing and maintaining temporal information across time gaps was examined in an appetitive Pavlovian conditioning task, in which rats with sham and DHPC lesions were first conditioned to a 15-s visual cue. After acquisition, the subjects received a series of non-reinforced test trials, on which the visual cue was extended (45 s) and gaps of different duration, 0.5, 2.

The effect of stimulus distribution form on the acquisition and rate of conditioned responding: implications for theory.

In four experiments rats were conditioned to an auditory conditioned stimulus (conditioned stimulus; CS) that was paired with food, and learning about the CS was compared across two conditions in which the mean duration of the CS was equated. In one, the CS was of a single, fixed duration on every trial, and in the other the CS duration was drawn from an exponential distribution, and hence changed from trial to trial. Higher rates of conditioned responding to the fixed than to the variable stimulus were observed, in both between- (Experiment 1) and within-subject designs (Experiments 2 and 3).

Bevacizumab treatment for meningiomas in NF2: a retrospective analysis of 15 patients.

Bevacizumab treatment can result in tumor shrinkage of progressive vestibular schwannomas in some neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) patients but its effect on meningiomas has not been defined. To determine the clinical activity of bevacizumab against NF2-related meningiomas, we measured changes in volume of meningiomas in NF2 patients who received bevacizumab for treatment of progressive vestibular schwannomas. A radiographic response was defined as a 20% decrease in tumor size by volumetric MRI analysis.

Plasma apolipoprotein A1 as a biomarker for Parkinson disease.

Objective: To identify plasma-based biomarkers for Parkinson disease (PD) risk.

Methods: In a discovery cohort of 152 PD patients, plasma levels of 96 proteins were measured by multiplex immunoassay; proteins associated with age at PD onset were identified by linear regression. Findings from discovery screening were then assessed in a second cohort of 187 PD patients, using a different technique.

Sperm DNA damage has a negative association with live-birth rates after IVF.

Sperm DNA damage has a negative impact on pregnancy rates following assisted reproduction treatment (ART). The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between sperm DNA fragmentation and live-birth rates after IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The alkaline Comet assay was employed to measure sperm DNA fragmentation in native semen and in spermatozoa following density-gradient centrifugation in semen samples from 203 couples undergoing IVF and 136 couples undergoing ICSI.

Successful treatment of a continuous flow left ventricular assist device thrombosis with eptifibatide.

Left ventricular assist device thrombosis is a rare but potentially lethal complication of mechanical circulatory support. Here, we present a case of successful treatment of a suspected HeartMate II thrombosis with the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, eptifibatide. The patient presented with signs and symptoms of heart failure, along with acute kidney injury and hemolytic anemia that did not respond to diuresis, inotrope support, or anticoagulation.