Spike timing of distinct types of GABAergic interneuron during hippocampal gamma oscillations in vitro.

Gamma frequency (30-100 Hz) network oscillations occur in the intact hippocampus during awake, attentive behavior. Here, we explored the underlying cellular mechanisms in an in vitro model of persistent gamma-frequency oscillations, induced by bath application of 20 microm carbachol in submerged hippocampal slices at 30 +/- 1 degrees C. Current-source density analysis of the field oscillation revealed a prominent alternating sink-source pair in the perisomatic and apical dendritic regions of CA3.

Mechanisms underlying gamma ('40 Hz') network oscillations in the hippocampus--a mini-review.

Gamma-frequency oscillations (approximately 30-100 Hz) in cortical network activity have been proposed to provide a temporal structure for various forms of cognitive processing. This review provides an update on recent experiments addressing the mechanisms underlying gamma-frequency network oscillations in the rodent hippocampus. Particular emphasis is placed on the correlation between in vivo observations and in vitro models.

A novel peptide modulates alpha7 nicotinic receptor responses: implications for a possible trophic-toxic mechanism within the brain.

The alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) plays a key role in neural development and neurodegeneration. Here, we identify a novel, modulatory receptor ligand, a 14-amino acid peptide (AEFHRWSSYMVHWK) derived from the C-terminus of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In three different in vitro preparations, this 'AChE-peptide' is bioactive in a ligand-specific and concentration-dependent manner.

Practice parameter: laryngeal electromyography (an evidence-based review).

This paper reports on an evidence-based review of laryngeal electromyography (EMG) as a technique for use in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of laryngeal movement disorders including the laryngeal dystonias, vocal fold paralysis, and other neurolaryngological disorders. The authors performed a systematic review of the medical literature from 1944 through 2001 on the clinical application of EMG to laryngeal disorders. The review yielded 584 articles of which 33 met the predefined inclusion criteria.

Practice parameter: laryngeal electromyography (an evidence-based review).

This paper reports on an evidence-based review of laryngeal electromyography (EMG) as a technique for use in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of laryngeal movement disorders, including the laryngeal dystonias, vocal fold paralysis, and other neurolaryngological disorders. The authors performed a systematic review of the medical literature from 1944 through 2001 on the clinical application of EMG to laryngeal disorders. Thirty-three of the 584 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria.

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) in general practice: results from a pilot study in Vorarlberg, Austria.

Background: Most comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) programs refer to hospital-based settings. However the body of geriatric healthcare is provided by general practitioners in their office. Structured geriatric problem detection by means of assessment instruments is crucial for efficient geriatric care giving in the community.

Studies on aromatic compounds: inhibition of calpain I by biphenyl derivatives and peptide-biphenyl hybrids.

With the objective to understand structural features responsible for the biological activity, novel nonelectrophilic biphenyl derivatives and peptide-biphenyl hybrids have been synthesized and evaluated as calpain I inhibitors. The preliminary results indicate that the presence of additional aromatic rings (besides the biphenyl system) makes these compounds potent calpain inhibitors with IC50 values in the nanomolar range.

Acute back pain management in primary care: a qualitative pilot study of the feasibility of a nurse-led service in general practice.

Objectives: (1) To determine the acceptability of the Royal College of General Practitioner Guidelines to small samples of nurses, General Practitioners and acute back pain patients, (2) to determine what additional roles for nurses in the management of acute back pain in primary care might be acceptable to these samples, (3) to evaluate the responses of General Practitioners, nurses and patients to a suggested service model based on the RCGP Guidelines, (4) to identify opportunities for and barriers to the further development of such models and to obtain the appraisal of the above by an external group of assessors.

Methodology: Using a qualitative design the pilot study included Primary Care (General Practitioners, Practice Nurses and Patients) with the main outcome measures as: appraisal questionnaires (for RCGP Guideline), qualitative content analysis of focus group narratives, and appraisal of process and outcomes by an external panel.

Results: Attitudes towards the RCGP guidelines were positive, but professionals and patients alike did not think their recommendations could be implemented with the current service provision in primary care.

Antibodies to variant surface antigens of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes and adhesion inhibitory antibodies are associated with placental malaria and have overlapping and distinct targets.

We measured antibodies to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA)-binding and placental Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (PRBCs) among pregnant women with or without placental malaria. Immunoglobulin G to PRBC surface antigens was rare in uninfected primigravidae (3.7%), more prevalent in infected primigravidae (70%; P<.

Guanylin and uroguanylin induce natriuresis in mice lacking guanylyl cyclase-C receptor.

Background: Guanylin (GN) and uroguanylin (UGN) are intestinally derived peptide hormones that are similar in structure and activity to the diarrhea-causing Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxins (STa). These secretagogues have been shown to affect fluid, Na+, K+, and Cl- transport in both the intestine and kidney, presumably by intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent signal transduction. However, the in vivo consequences of GN, UGN, and STa on renal function and their mechanism of action have yet to be rigorously tested.

Laryngeal electromyography: an evidence-based review.

This article reports on an evidence-based review of laryngeal electromyography (EMG) as a technique for use in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of laryngeal movement disorders including the laryngeal dystonias, vocal fold paralysis, and other neurolaryngological disorders. The authors performed a systematic review of the medical literature from 1944 through 2001 on the clinical application of EMG to laryngeal disorders. Thirty-three of the 584 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria.

New oxazole-based peptidomimetics: useful building blocks for the synthesis of orthogonally protected macrocyclic scaffolds.

[structure: see text] The synthesis of a new family of densely functionalized oxazole-containing amino acids is described. These building blocks were employed for preparing macrocycles containing Lys and Glu residues by a combination of solid- and solution-phase synthesis. The resulting structures are presented as orthogonally protected scaffolds for supramolecular chemistry.

[Glomerular diseases in renal biopsy. Correlation of clinical syndromes with histological types].

Renal biopsies studied by light and electron microscopy as well as by immunohistochemistry seem to be continually necessary for an adequate typing and therapy of glomerulonephritis (GN) and other glomerular diseases. Basing on 653 renal biopsies examined in Rostock from 1990 to 1999, the morphological classification in a total of 585 cases with glomerular diseases is presented in comparison to their clinical syndromes according to the WHO classification. A nephrotic syndrome was most frequent and clinically reported in 258 of the 585 biopsy cases with glomerular diseases (44%).

Thyroarytenoid muscle responses to air pressure stimulation of the laryngeal mucosa in humans.

Others have observed glottic adduction in response to air puff stimuli and suggested that this is a reliable indicator of laryngeal sensation. We undertook to determine whether the same thresholds are found if one uses either thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle responses or subjects' reports of laryngeal sensation. We also studied the characteristics of TA responses to unilateral air pressure stimulation of the mucosa overlying the arytenoid cartilages.

Subtotal colectomy and ileocolonic anastomosis in a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig with idiopathic megacolon.

A 7-month-old sexually intact female Vietnamese pot-bellied pig was evaluated because of constipation. On abdominal palpation, a hard tubular structure was palpated in the middle of the abdomen. Abdominal radiography revealed loops of intestine that were markedly distended with ingesta, consistent with obstructive intestinal disease.

Risk of bacterial meningitis in children with cochlear implants.

Background: In June 2002, the Food and Drug Administration received reports of bacterial meningitis in patients with cochlear implants for treatment of hearing loss. Implants that included a positioner (a wedge inserted next to the implanted electrode to facilitate transmission of the electrical signal by pushing the electrode against the medial wall of the cochlea) were voluntarily recalled in the United States in July 2002.

Methods: We identified patients with meningitis and conducted a cohort study and a nested case-control investigation involving 4264 children who had received cochlear implants in the United States between January 1, 1997, and August 6, 2002, and who were less than six years of age when they received the implants.

A role for guanylate cyclase C in acid-stimulated duodenal mucosal bicarbonate secretion.

Luminal acidification provides the strongest physiological stimulus for duodenal HCO3- secretion. Various neurohumoral mechanisms are believed to play a role in acid-stimulated HCO3- secretion. Previous studies in the rat and human duodenum have shown that guanylin and Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin, both ligands of the transmembrane guanylyl cyclase receptor [guanylate cyclase C (GC-C)], are potent stimulators for duodenal HCO3- secretion.

Novel modulatory mechanisms revealed by the sustained application of nicotine in the guinea-pig hippocampus in vitro.

The alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) has been implicated widely in behavioural functions and dysfunctions related to the hippocampus, but the detailed mechanisms by which this receptor contributes to these behavioural processes have yet to be elucidated. In the present study, sustained application (5 min) of nicotine significantly lowered the threshold for synaptic plasticity, and thus a long-lasting potentiation was induced by a stimulus that would normally evoke only a short-term potentiation. This effect appeared to be mediated by alpha 7 nAChRs, as it was inhibited by the alpha 7 nAChR-specific antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin (100 nM), but not by mecamylamine (50 microM) or dihydro-beta-erythroidine (DH beta E; 1 microM) at concentrations known to be selective for non-alpha 7 nAChRs.

E. coli heat-stable enterotoxin and guanylyl cyclase C: new functions and unsuspected actions.

Some E. coli cause diarrhea by elaborating heat-labile and heat-stable (ST) enterotoxins which stimulate intestinal secretion. E.

Managing pain.

Managing pain effectively is one of the biggest challenges in medicine, and one of the areas of clinical practice where a good doctor-patient relationship can, potentially, help improve the end result. But it takes time to get this right—and requires help from other healthcare professionals, argues a nurse consultant in pain management

Chronic pain and opioids: dispelling myths and exploring the facts.

Opioid use for chronic non-malignant pain remains controversial and is surrounded by myths and misconceptions. As new research emphasises the importance of early effective pain management, comprehensive, well-researched guidelines may help the care of patients with chronic non-malignant pain.

Structure and membrane affinity of a suite of amphiphilic siderophores produced by a marine bacterium.

Iron concentrations in the ocean are low enough to limit the growth of marine microorganisms, which raises questions about the molecular mechanisms these organisms use to acquire iron. Marine bacteria have been shown to produce siderophores to facilitate iron(III) uptake. We describe the structures of a suite of amphiphilic siderophores, named the amphibactins, which are produced by a nearshore isolate, gamma Proteobacterium, Vibrio sp.

Mutant dynactin in motor neuron disease.

Impaired axonal transport in motor neurons has been proposed as a mechanism for neuronal degeneration in motor neuron disease. Here we show linkage of a lower motor neuron disease to a region of 4 Mb at chromosome 2p13. Mutation analysis of a gene in this interval that encodes the largest subunit of the axonal transport protein dynactin showed a single base-pair change resulting in an amino-acid substitution that is predicted to distort the folding of dynactin's microtubule-binding domain.