Cardiac sensitivity to rewards in cognitively inflexible nonclinical participants.

Background: In psychopathologies characterized by compulsive decision-making, core impairments include cognitive inflexibility and excessive sensitivity to rewards. It has been posited that traits shared by nonclinical individuals and psychiatric patients could help explain the pathogenesis of compulsive decision-making.

Methods: To investigate whether cognitive inflexibility predisposes nonclinical individuals to poor choices and hyper-reactivity to reward, we recruited people with high and low scores for cognitive persistence and used the Iowa Gambling Task to assess decision-making and cardiac reactivity to monetary gains/losses.

Chelation therapy with 3,4,3-Li(1,2-HOPO) after pulmonary exposure to plutonium in rats.

Internal exposure to plutonium can occur through inhalation for the nuclear worker, but also for the public if the radionuclide was released into the atmosphere in the context of a nuclear accident or terrorist attack. DieThylenetriaminePentaAcetic acid (DTPA) is currently still the only authorized chelator that can be used to decorporate internalized plutonium. The Linear HydrOxyPyridinOne-based ligand named 3,4,3-Li(1,2-HOPO) remains the most promising drug candidate to replace it in the hopes of improving chelating treatment.

Excretion of Pu-238 during Long-term Chelation Therapy by Repeated DTPA Inhalation.

An individual underwent an extensive diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) chelation therapy that started several months after plutonium incorporation, most likely by inhalation of a soluble compound. After receiving multiple intravenous infusions of DTPA, the patient continued the treatment by pulmonary delivery of aerosolized DTPA. The purpose of the present work is to provide and discuss the bioassay data obtained during the DTPA aerosol therapy and compare them with those under the DTPA infusion therapy that have been largely interpreted elsewhere.

Interpretation of Enhanced Fecal and Urinary Plutonium Excretion Data under a 2-y Regular DTPA Treatment Started Months after Intake.

In a worker who had internalized plutonium, most likely through inhalation of a somewhat soluble compound, an extensive diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) treatment regimen was initiated several months after contamination. Numerous radiotoxicological analyses were performed in both fecal and urinary specimens collected, sometimes for three consecutive days after DTPA administration. Activity measurements showed the continued effectiveness of DTPA intravenous infusions in removing plutonium from tissues of retention even if the treatment regimen started very belatedly after contamination.

Emotional reactivity to binge food and erotic cues in women with bulimia nervosa symptoms.

Background: Studies on food cue reactivity have documented that altered responses to high-calorie food are associated with bulimic symptomatology, however, alterations in sexual motivations and behaviors are also associated clinical features in this population, which justify their inclusion as a research target. Here, we study responses to erotic cues-alongside food, neutral and aversive cues-to gain an understanding of specificity to food versus a generalized sensitivity to primary reinforcers.

Methods: We recorded peripheral psychophysiological indices -the startle reflex, zygomaticus, and corrugator responses-and self-reported emotional responses (valence, arousal, and dominance) in 75 women completing the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R).

Food addiction symptoms are related to neuroaffective responses to preferred binge food and erotic cues.

It has been proposed that some individuals succumb to maladaptive eating behaviors because, like those with addiction, they attribute high incentive salience to food-associated cues. Here, we tested whether women that attribute high incentive salience to food-associated cues report high food addiction symptomatology. In 76 college women, we assessed self-reported food addiction symptoms using the Yale Food Addiction Scale and we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs, a direct measure of brain activity) to preferred food, erotic, unpleasant, and neutral images.

DTPA-Coated Liposomes as a New Delivery Vehicle for Plutonium Decorporation.

Administration of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) is the treatment approach used to promote the decorporation of internalized plutonium. Here we evaluated the efficacy of PEGylated liposomes coated with DTPA, primarily designed to prevent enhanced plutonium accumulation in bones, compared to marketed nonliposomal DTPA and liposomes encapsulating DTPA. The comparative effects were examined in terms of reduction of activity in tissues of plutonium-injected rats.

Chelation Treatment by Early Inhalation of Liquid Aerosol DTPA for Removing Plutonium after Rat Lung Contamination.

Occupational contamination is a potential health risk associated with plutonium inhalation. DTPA remains the chelating drug of choice to decorporate plutonium. In this study, plutonium was found to be more effectively removed from lungs by a single inhalation of nebulized DTPA solution at only 1.

Americium biodistribution in rats after wound contamination with different physicochemical forms in the presence or absence of plutonium: analyses using STATBIODIS.

Americium (Am) biodistribution data obtained after wound contamination in rats were analysed to evaluate and quantify the influence of different physicochemical forms of Am in the presence or absence of plutonium (Pu). The biodistribution data were individual Am daily urinary excretion and tissue retention. The data were analysed with STATBIODIS, a statistical tool developed in the laboratory and based on the R language.

Neural Processing of Food and Erotic Cues in Bulimia Nervosa.

Objective: Event-related brain potential (ERP) studies have shown that bulimia nervosa (BN) is associated with facilitated processing of disorder-specific stimuli, visible in altered early components during presentation of food cues and bodies varying in size. Less is known about BN and late ERPs, typically less influenced by perceptual features and regarded as more reliable indices of motivational relevance. The purpose of this study was to use the late positive potential (LPP) to investigate the motivational significance of BN-relevant stimuli.

Delivery of DTPA through Liposomes as a Good Strategy for Enhancing Plutonium Decorporation Regardless of Treatment Regimen.

In this study, we assessed the efficacy of unilamellar 110-nm liposomes encapsulating the chelating agent diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) in plutonium-exposed rats. Rats were contaminated by intravenous administration of the soluble citrate form of plutonium. The comparative effects of liposomal and free DTPA at similar doses were examined in terms of limitation of alpha activity burden in rats receiving various treatment regimens.

Decorporation Approach after Rat Lung Contamination with Plutonium: Evaluation of the Key Parameters Influencing the Efficacy of a Protracted Chelation Treatment.

While the efficacy of a protracted zinc (Zn)- or calcium (Ca)-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) treatment in reducing transuranic body burden has already been demonstrated, questions about therapeutic variables remain. In response to this, we designed animal experiments primarily to assess both the effect of fractionation of a given dose and the effect of the frequency of dose fraction, with the same total dose. In our study, rats were contaminated intravenously with plutonium (Pu) then treated several days later with Ca-DTPA given at once or in various split-dose regimens cumulating to the same total dose and spread over several days.

Affective Pictures and the Open Library of Affective Foods (OLAF): Tools to Investigate Emotions toward Food in Adults.

Recently, several sets of standardized food pictures have been created, supplying both food images and their subjective evaluations. However, to date only the OLAF (Open Library of Affective Foods), a set of food images and ratings we developed in adolescents, has the specific purpose of studying emotions toward food. Moreover, some researchers have argued that food evaluations are not valid across individuals and groups, unless feelings toward food cues are compared with feelings toward intense experiences unrelated to food, that serve as benchmarks.

Decorporation of Pu/Am Actinides by Chelation Therapy: New Arguments in Favor of an Intracellular Component of DTPA Action.

Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) is currently still the only known chelating drug that can be used for decorporation of internalized plutonium (Pu) and americium (Am). It is generally assumed that chelation occurs only in biological fluids, thus preventing Pu/Am deposition in target tissues. We postulate that actinide chelation may also occur inside cells by a mechanism called "intracellular chelation".

Heart rate and P300: Integrating peripheral and central indices of cognitive processing.

To assess the integration of peripheral (heart rate, HR) and central (event-related potential, P300) measures of cognition, the present study varied inter-stimulus presentation time (ISI) and employed comparable data reduction methods for the HR and ERP data. Young adults (n=33) performed an auditory oddball count task in which the ISI was varied (short vs. long, to maximize target detection for both measures) and task condition (single stimulus, short-ISI oddball, long-ISI oddball, to assay stimulus presentation condition between HR and P300).

Meet OLAF, a good friend of the IAPS! The Open Library of Affective Foods: a tool to investigate the emotional impact of food in adolescents.

In the last decades, food pictures have been repeatedly employed to investigate the emotional impact of food on healthy participants as well as individuals who suffer from eating disorders and obesity. However, despite their widespread use, food pictures are typically selected according to each researcher's personal criteria, which make it difficult to reliably select food images and to compare results across different studies and laboratories. Therefore, to study affective reactions to food, it becomes pivotal to identify the emotional impact of specific food images based on wider samples of individuals.

Differential contribution of XPC, RAD23A, RAD23B and CENTRIN 2 to the UV-response in human cells.

Several genes in human cells are activated by physical genotoxic agents in order to regenerate cell homeostasis. Among the pathways contributing to this response, nucleotide excision repair (NER) is unique in restoring the nucleotide sequence of the DNA molecule without generating mutations. The first step of NER is mediated by a protein complex composed of XPC, RAD23B, an ubiquitin receptor and CENTRIN 2, an EF-hand calcium binding protein.

Scan patterns when viewing natural scenes: emotion, complexity, and repetition.

Eye movements were monitored during picture viewing, and effects of hedonic content, perceptual composition, and repetition on scanning assessed. In Experiment 1, emotional and neutral pictures that were figure-ground compositions or more complex scenes were presented for a 6-s free viewing period. Viewing emotional pictures or complex scenes prompted more fixations and broader scanning of the visual array, compared to neutral pictures or simple figure-ground compositions.

Comparing sleep-loss sleepiness and sleep inertia: lapses make the difference.

To compare the behavioral effects of sleep-loss sleepiness (performance impairment due to sleep loss) and sleep inertia (period of impaired performance that follows awakening), mean response latencies and number of lapses from a visual simple reaction-time task were analyzed. Three experimental conditions were designed to manipulate sleepiness and sleep-inertia levels: uninterrupted sleep, partial sleep reduction, and total sleep deprivation. Each condition included two consecutive nights (the first always a night of uninterrupted sleep, and the second either a night of uninterrupted sleep, a night when sleep was reduced to 3 h, or a night of total sleep deprivation), as well as two days in which performance was assessed at 10 different time points (08:00, 08:30, 09:00, 09:30, 10:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:00, and 23:00 h).

The pupil as a measure of emotional arousal and autonomic activation.

Pupil diameter was monitored during picture viewing to assess effects of hedonic valence and emotional arousal on pupillary responses. Autonomic activity (heart rate and skin conductance) was concurrently measured to determine whether pupillary changes are mediated by parasympathetic or sympathetic activation. Following an initial light reflex, pupillary changes were larger when viewing emotionally arousing pictures, regardless of whether these were pleasant or unpleasant.

The combined effects of xeroderma pigmentosum C deficiency and mutagens on mutation rates in the mouse germ line.

Spontaneous and induced mutation rates at two expanded simple tandem repeat (ESTR) loci were studied in the germ line of xeroderma pigmentosum group C (Xpc) knockout mice defective in global genome nucleotide excision repair. Spontaneous and radiation-induced mutation rates in homozygous Xpc(-/-) males were significantly higher than those in isogenic wild-type (Xpc(+/+)) and heterozygous (Xpc(+/-)) mice. In contrast, exposure to the monofunctional alkylating agent ethylnitrosourea resulted in similar increases in ESTR mutation rates across all genotypes.

Poly(ethylene oxide) facilitates the characterization of an affinity between strongly basic proteins with DNA by affinity capillary electrophoresis.

In order to study kin17 protein-DNA affinity, we have developed a fast and reproducible capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis of a strongly basic protein: kin17 protein, using a nonpermanent coating based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) to avoid adsorption of kin17. The coating procedure was optimized to provide a residual and stable electroosmotic flow (EOF = 5 x 10(-5) cm(2)/V x s), exhibiting RSD of 0.3% and excellent long-term stability.