An fMRI study of affective state and medication on cortical and subcortical brain regions during motor performance in bipolar disorder.

Structural neuroimaging studies have identified abnormalities in the basal ganglia in patients with bipolar disorder. Findings have been mixed with regard to affective state and have not elaborated on the role of medication on functional brain activity. The aims of the present study were to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test whether depressed and manic bipolar disorder patients differ in terms of activity in cortical and subcortical brain areas and to examine the effects of psychotropic medication.

Expression of cardiac neural crest and heart genes isolated by modified differential display.

The invasion of the cardiac neural crest (CNC) into the outflow tract (OFT) and subsequent outflow tract septation are critical events during vertebrate heart development. We have performed four modified differential display screens in the chick embryo to identify genes that may be involved in CNC, OFT, secondary heart field, and heart development. The screens included differential display of RNA isolated from three different axial segments containing premigratory cranial neural crest cells; of RNA from distal outflow tract, proximal outflow tract, and atrioventricular tissue of embryonic chick hearts; and of RNA isolated from left and right cranial tissues, including the early heart fields.

Vitamin E treatment for tardive dyskinesia. Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study #394 Study Group.

Background: Several short-term, controlled trials have documented the efficacy of vitamin E in treating tardive dyskinesia. However, the persistent nature of the disease prompted us to perform a multicenter, longer-term trial of vitamin E.

Methods: The study was a prospective, randomized, 9-site trial of up to 2 years of treatment with d-vitamin E (1600 IU/d) vs matching placebo.

Modification of the current profile in high-performance plasmas using off-axis electron-cyclotron-current drive in DIII-D.

Recent DIII-D experiments using off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) have demonstrated the ability to modify the current profile in a plasma with toroidal beta near 3%. The resulting plasma simultaneously sustains the key elements required for Advanced Tokamak operation: high bootstrap current fraction, high beta, and good confinement. More than 85% of the plasma current is driven by noninductive means.

Specific and nonspecific treatment factors in the experimental analysis of behavioral treatment efficacy.

Interest in the empirical demonstration of the clinical efficacy of psychosocial treatments has been rekindled by societal concerns over accountability and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of mental health services. Behavior therapy has had a long history of experimental research on treatment efficacy and enjoys a visible presence in contemporary mental health practice. The demonstration of behavioral treatment efficacy, however, requires experimental evidence that shows the efficacy of prescriptive structured procedures beyond nonspecific factors in delivery of such procedures.

The inhibitory function of B7 costimulators in T cell responses to foreign and self-antigens.

When antigen-presenting cells (APCs) encounter inflammatory stimuli, they up-regulate their expression of B7. A small amount of B7 is also constitutively expressed on resting APCs, but its function is unclear. Here we show that initiation of T cell responses requires the expression of B7 on immunizing APCs, but the responses are much greater in the absence of basal B7 expression.

Spontaneous hemarthrosis of the knee associated with clopidogrel and aspirin treatment.

We report a case of a 76-year-old-man who developed spontaneous hemarthrosis of his right knee following clopidogrel-aspirin treatment. Clopidogrel is an ADP receptor antagonist and in combination with aspirin widely used in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease to reduce the incidence of ischemic events. To date, no case of spontaneous hemarthrosis following clopidogrel-aspirin therapy has been reported.

Oxidative mechanisms and tardive dyskinesia.

Tardive dyskinesia has been and continues to be a significant problem associated with long-term antipsychotic use, but its pathophysiology remains unclear. In the last 10 years, preclinical studies of the administration of antipsychotics to animals, as well as clinical studies of oxidative processes in patients given antipsychotic medications, with and without tardive dyskinesia, have continued to support the possibility that neurotoxic free radical production may be an important consequence of antipsychotic treatment, and that such production may relate to the development of dyskinetic phenomena. In line with this hypothesis, evidence has accumulated for the efficacy of antioxidants, primarily vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), in the treatment and prevention of tardive dyskinesia.

Fear, disgust, and information processing in specific phobia: the application of signal detection theory.

A growing body of research suggests that individuals with small animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) phobias respond to phobia-relevant stimuli with a combination of fear and disgust. Despite the recognition that disgust may serve a functional role in phobic avoidance behavior, little is known about biased information processing for disgust-related material. Two studies examined recognition memory, using signal detection analyses, for phobia-relevant and general disgust pictures.

Emotional responding to fearful and disgusting stimuli in specific phobics.

Individuals with small animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) phobias respond to phobia-relevant stimuli with both fear and disgust. However, recent studies suggest that fear is the dominant emotional response in animal phobics whereas disgust is the primary emotional response in BII phobics. The present study examined emotional responding toward pictures of spiders, surgical procedures, and two categories of general disgust elicitors (rotting food and body products) among analogue spider phobics, BII phobics, and nonphobics.

Treatment predictors of extrapyramidal side effects in patients with tardive dyskinesia: results from Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study 394.

Predictors for the development of tardive dyskinesia (TD) have been studied extensively over the years, yet there are few studies of predictors of the course of TD after it has developed. Moreover, few studies have examined predictors of the course of other extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) in patients maintained on neuroleptics. The purpose of this study was to determine which modifiable variables are important in the prediction of EPS in patients with persistent TD over a period of as long as 2 years.

Glomerulonephritis for the generalist.

Glomerulonephritis is a common renal disorder, and a leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Glomerulonephritis can present in protean ways, with general features including proteinuria, hematuria, renal failure, and hypertension. Recent advances in our knowledge of glomerulonephritis have indicated that in many cases early therapeutic intervention can lead to improvement in renal function, long-term preservation of renal function, or slowing of the progression to end-stage renal failure.

Sakai et al. is not an adequate demonstration of TFT effectiveness.

Sakai et al. (2001) report an uncontrolled case series of TFT treatments applied to a wide range of psychological complaints in a large health maintenance facility. They analyze verbal report measures of symptom severity and conclude that the specific treatment is effective for a wide range of psychological problems.

Relationship of gender and age at onset of schizophrenia to severity of dyskinesia.

The authors examined severity of dyskinesia in 119 men and 44 women, comparing by gender those with late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) versus early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). Women with LOS and men with EOS had more severe dyskinesia than men with LOS and women with EOS. Many factors, including the length of neuroleptic treatment, alcohol and smoking history, and menopausal status, may contribute to the severity of dyskinesia in older patients with schizophrenia.

Regulation of cytoplasmic calcium levels by two nitric oxide receptors.

We examined the effects of dissolved nitric oxide (NO) gas on cytoplasmic calcium levels ([Ca(2+)](i)) in C6 glioma cells under anoxic conditions. The maximum elevation (27 +/- 3 nM) of [Ca(2+)](i) was reached at 10 microM NO. A second application of NO was ineffective if the first was >0.

[Intermediate term outcome of of a hip prosthesis revision system].

The Zweymüller shaft for uncemented total hip arthroplasty was developed in the early 1970s. Encouraged by the clinical results with this stem, which was mainly used in primary arthroplasty, longer fitting stems were added to the line to accommodate bony defects and to allow for an optimal load transfer from proximal to distal. The principal of the design is to allow an optimal distal fixation while allowing the bone to remodel in the proximal part.

Vertebrate model systems in the study of early heart development: Xenopus and zebrafish.

Xenopus and zebrafish serve as outstanding models in which to study vertebrate heart development. The embryos are transparent, allowing observation during organogenesis; they can be obtained in large numbers; and they are readily accessible to embryologic manipulation and microinjection of RNA, DNA, or protein. These embryos can live by diffusion for several days, allowing analysis of mutants or experimental treatments that perturb normal heart development.

Paris-Trousseau syndrome platelets in a child with Jacobsen's syndrome.

The thrombocytopenia in an infant with clinical features of Jacobsen's syndrome characterized by multiple congenital anomalies, cardiac defects, psychomotor retardation, and deletion of chromosome 11 at 11q23.3 has been evaluated. Study of his platelets in the electron microscope revealed giant alpha granules in his cells identical in appearance to those reported in the family with Paris-Trousseau syndrome.

Increased levels of serum hepatocyte growth factor in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Blood levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) have been found to be elevated in patients with chronic renal failure. The cause of the increase in this mitogen is unclear. We determined serum HGF levels in 34 patients on maintenance dialysis and ten healthy volunteers.