AKT2 modulates astrocytic nicotine responses .

A better understanding of nicotine neurobiology is needed to reduce or prevent chronic addiction, ameliorate the detrimental effects of nicotine withdrawal, and increase successful cessation of use. Nicotine binds and activates two astrocyte-expressed nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), α4β2 and α7. We recently found that ( or ) expression is restricted to astrocytes in mice and humans.

Utilizing the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Explore Palliative Care Program Implementation for American Indian and Alaska Natives throughout the United States.

A significant shortage of palliative care (PC) services exists for American Indian and Alaska Native people (AI/ANs) across the United States. Using an implementation science framework, we interviewed key individuals associated with AI/AN-focused PC programs to explore what is needed to develop and sustain such programs. To identify facilitators of implementation and barriers to sustainability associated with the development of PC programs designed for AI/ANs across the United States.

Immunohistological Examination of AKT Isoforms in the Brain: Cell-Type Specificity That May Underlie AKT's Role in Complex Brain Disorders and Neurological Disease.

Protein kinase B (PKB/AKT) is a central kinase involved in many neurobiological processes. AKT is expressed in the brain as three isoforms, AKT1, AKT2, and AKT3. Previous studies suggest isoform-specific roles in neural function, but very few studies have examined AKT isoform expression at the cellular level.

Isoform-specific roles for AKT in affective behavior, spatial memory, and extinction related to psychiatric disorders.

AKT is implicated in neurological disorders. AKT has three isoforms, AKT1/AKT2/AKT3, with brain cell type-specific expression that may differentially influence behavior. Therefore, we examined single isoform, conditional brain-specific , and double mutant mice in behaviors relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders.

Atrial arrhythmias and patient-reported outcomes in adults with congenital heart disease: An international study.

Background: Atrial arrhythmias (ie, intra-atrial reentrant tachycardia and atrial fibrillation) are a leading cause of morbidity and hospitalization in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). Little is known about their effect on quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in adults with CHD.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of atrial arrhythmias on PROs in adults with CHD and explore geographic variations.

Male mate choice for a female ornament in a monogamous cichlid fish, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi.

Male ram cichlid, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, spent significantly more time associating with animated female images compared to static images of the same female, indicating that males of the species reliably respond to computer-animated images of conspecific females. Female M. ramirezi temporarily display a pink-coloured belly, and this study showed that males spent significantly more time associating with animated female images displaying a pink-coloured belly compared to animated female images with pink belly colour removed.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and patient-reported outcomes in adults with congenital heart disease: An international study.

Background: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are increasingly being used to prevent sudden death in the growing population of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, little is known about their impact on patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess and compare PROs in adults with CHD with and without ICDs.

Diptera of Canada.

The Canadian Diptera fauna is updated. Numbers of species currently known from Canada, total Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), and estimated numbers of undescribed or unrecorded species are provided for each family. An overview of recent changes in the systematics and Canadian faunistics of major groups is provided as well as some general information on biology and life history.

AKT isoforms have distinct hippocampal expression and roles in synaptic plasticity.

AKT is a kinase regulating numerous cellular processes in the brain, and mutations in are known to affect brain function. AKT is indirectly implicated in synaptic plasticity, but its direct role has not been studied. Moreover, three highly related AKT isoforms are expressed in the brain, but their individual roles are poorly understood.

A Review of the Potential Pathogenicity and Management of Frequent Premature Ventricular Contractions.

Very frequent premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) may be a reversible cause of dilated cardiomyopathy. Literature on this largely unrecognized entity has increased in the last 15 years. This paper reviews the literature on the consequences of frequent PVCs on myocardial function and management of PVC-associated cardiomyopathy.

Addressing Intimate Partner Violence: Reducing Barriers and Improving Residents' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Practices.

Objective: This study aims to assess residents' attitudes, knowledge, practices, and barriers in addressing intimate partner violence and create a curriculum targeting self-identified deficits.

Methods: The authors developed and distributed a survey to residents across multiple specialties at a large academic institution. A workshop was developed using obstetrics/gynecology residents' data, with post-intervention data collected to assess for changes.

Late-onset-psychosis: cognition.

Background: The objectives of the study were to characterize and compare the cognitive profile and natural evolution of patients presenting late-onset psychotic symptoms (LOPS: onset ≥ 50 years old) to those of elderly patients (≥ 50 years old) with life-long/early-onset schizophrenia (EOS: onset <40 years old).

Methods: Neuropsychological profiles of 15 LOPS patients were compared to those of 17 elderly EOS patients and to those of two control groups (n = 11/group). The evolution of the two patient groups was compared using an independent diagnostic consensual procedure involving a geriatric psychiatry physician/clinician and a neuropsychologist blinded to the initial psychiatric diagnosis.

Insights from the examination of verbal and spatial memory errors in relation to clinical symptoms of patients with recent-onset schizophrenia.

Introduction: Memory deficits in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) are considered as a key feature of the clinical manifestations of the disease. In order to further examine the role and nature of memory deficits in SZ, the pattern of errors in verbal and spatial serial recall tasks committed by SZ patients was compared to that of healthy controls. We also tested the relationship between these memory errors and clinical symptoms.

The Peruvian Truth Commission's mental health reparations: empowering survivors of political violence to impact public health policy.

The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), formed in 2001, turned national attention toward the serious mental health consequences of the country's 20-year internal armed conflict. The TRC prioritized reparations in mental health, using a legal justification that provided victims-survivors of the war with a rights-based framework for demanding that the public sector attend to their mental health needs. Since the majority of victims-survivors come from historically poor, rural, and marginalized populations and have tended to not exercise their right to health for a variety of social, economic, and cultural reasons, framing mental health in terms of rights helps to empower these people to impact the development of appropriate policies in mental health.

Fine motor dexterity is correlated to social functioning in schizophrenia.

Objective: To identify neuropsychological domains, including fine motor dexterity, that are related to social functioning in schizophrenia.

Method: Thirty-six DSM-IV schizophrenic subjects were assessed using the Purdue Pegboard test, the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting test, the Tower of London, Schwartz' Reaction Time and Wechsler's Associate Learning and Digit Span tests. Social functioning was measured by the Social and Occupational Functional Assessment Scale.

Disruptive vocalizations: a means to communicate in dementia?

Disruptive vocalizations (DVs) constitute a serious problem in geriatric nursing homes. The current literature suggests that DV can be interpreted as a way for demented persons with language limitations to communicate with others. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, 59 participants were recruited from six nursing homes to form two groups: one group of individuals with preserved language skills (PLS) and another group with altered language skills (ALS).

A pilot neuropsychological study of Kraepelinian and non-Kraepelinian schizophrenia.

Objective: This is the first study to report a direct comparison of neuropsychological performance in Kraepelinian vs. non-Kraepelinian schizophrenia (SZ).

Methods: 17 Kraepelinian and 19 non-Kraepelinian subjects were assessed on a neuropsychological battery including the Purdue Pegboard, Schwartz' Reaction Time task, the Modified Card Sorting Test, the Wechsler's Associate Learning Test and the Digit Span.

[Behavior and beliefs in amateur open water activities. Study of beliefs and attitudes with respect to health risks].

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore beliefs, attitudes and suggestions concerning effective interventions to promote the use of sun protection, the use of personal flotation devices (PFDs) and the avoidance of contact with water unfit for swimming.

Method: Interviews were conducted with 36 users and 2 river park activity coordinators on a river in the Greater Montreal area.

Results: The respondents recognized the existence of a certain number of negative beliefs and barriers associated with the adoption of safe behaviours, in particular the pointlessness and inconvenience of means of protection against the sun and the wearing of PFDs, the negligible effects of polluted water on health and the thrill of defying bans.

[The habits and perceptions of participants in water and other outdoor activities in terms of risk behaviors].

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the habits and perceptions of participants in water and other outdoor activities in terms of health risk behaviours.

Method: A survey was undertaken of 1,200 users of a river in the Greater Montreal area.

Results: Only about 30% of respondents used some form of protection against the sun during every outing.

The effect of timing of a standard meal on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the novel atypical antipsychotic agent ziprasidone.

Study Objective: To evaluate the influence of a high-fat meal on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the novel atypical antipsychotic drug ziprasidone.

Design: Open, randomized, three-way crossover study.

Setting: University-based research facility.

Attention disturbance in clinical depression. Deficient distractor inhibition or processing resource deficit?

Cognitive impairments in depression have recently been proposed as secondary to more basic attentional disturbances. Studies have shown that performance on the Stroop Color-Word Test is impaired in depressives, but it is not clear whether this impairment reflects a primary distractor inhibition disturbance or a more global cognitive dysfunction, such as a reduction of processing resources. In the present study, unmedicated clinical depressives were evaluated using a computerized Stroop Color-Word Test and the Visuo-Spatial Interference Test, a selective attention task that makes fewer demands on resources.

The severity of visual hemineglect follows a bimodal frequency distribution.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the severity of visual hemineglect follows a unimodal or bimodal frequency distribution. Seventy-seven consecutive patients with a unilateral cerebral infarct (36 left- and 41 right-hemisphere lesions) were evaluated. The severity of neglect was measured as the number of omissions on a line cancellation task.

[Frontal lobe hypoactivity in schizophrenia: change in perspective].

Many attempts to isolate a dysfunctional site in the brain of schizophrenic patients have converged in a neuropathological conception of the disease based on frontal lobe hypoactivity. Recent data from studies using cytoarchitectony, computerized tomographic scans, cerebral regional blood flow, smooth pursuit eye movements and neuropsychological assessments are discussed. Current data on the hypofrontality hypothesis in schizophrenia seem to suggest an associationist rather than a localisationist perspective of the disorder.