Painting the picture: Australasian medical student views on wellbeing teaching and support services.

Objective: To explore medical students' views on support services, stigma, and teaching of wellbeing in light of their experiences of stress and distress.

Design, Participants And Setting: Quantitative survey of medical students at five universities in Australia and New Zealand in November 2007.

Main Outcome Measures: Medical students' experiences of support services, stigma attached to undergoing stress and distress, and teaching of wellbeing.

Effect of methamphetamine dependence on everyday functional ability.

Background: Methamphetamine (METH) is an increasingly popular and highly addictive psychostimulant with a significant impact on public health. Chronic METH exposure has been associated with neurotoxic effects, profound neuropsychological deficits, and impaired quality of life, but few studies have examined the effect of the drug on the ability to carry out everyday activities. We assessed the effect of METH dependence on everyday functioning using the UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA-2), a performance-based measure designed to evaluate real-life skills.

Oropharyngeal cancer: a case for single modality treatment with transoral laser microsurgery.

Objective: To demonstrate the role of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in the treatment of oropharyngeal cancer.

Design: A 2-center retrospective case series analysis.

Setting: Two tertiary care medical centers.

GBR 12909 administration as a mouse model of bipolar disorder mania: mimicking quantitative assessment of manic behavior.

Rationale: Mania is a core feature of bipolar disorder (BD) that traditionally is assessed using rating scales. Studies using a new human behavioral pattern monitor (BPM) recently demonstrated that manic BD patients exhibit a specific profile of behavior that differs from schizophrenia and is characterized by increased motor activity, increased specific exploration, and perseverative locomotor patterns as assessed by spatial d.

Objectives: It was hypothesized that disrupting dopaminergic homeostasis by inhibiting dopamine transporter (DAT) function would produce a BD mania-like phenotype in mice as assessed by the mouse BPM.

A reverse-translational study of dysfunctional exploration in psychiatric disorders: from mice to men.

Context: Bipolar mania and schizophrenia are recognized as separate disorders but share many commonalities, which raises the question of whether they are the same disorder on different ends of a continuum. The lack of distinct endophenotypes of bipolar mania and schizophrenia has complicated the development of animal models that are specific to these disorders. Exploration is fundamental to survival and is dysregulated in these 2 disorders.

Heart rate variability in bipolar mania and schizophrenia.

Background: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction and reduced heart rate variability (HRV) have been reported in a wide variety of psychiatric disorders, but have not been well characterized in bipolar mania. We recorded cardiac activity and assessed HRV in acutely hospitalized manic bipolar (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) patients compared to age- and gender-matched healthy comparison (HC) subjects.

Method: HRV was assessed using time domain, frequency domain, and nonlinear analyses in 23 manic BD, 14 SCZ, and 23 HC subjects during a 5min rest period.

Changing the local coordination environment in mono- and bi- nuclear lanthanide complexes through "click" chemistry.

Alkyne appended lanthanide complexes derived from DO3A undergo copper catalysed cycloaddition reactions with azides to form triazole appended complexes: coordination of one of the triazole nitrogen atoms to the metal centre changes the local coordination environment and the spectroscopic properties of the complex.

Performance of the hepatic encephalopathy scoring algorithm in a clinical trial of patients with cirrhosis and severe hepatic encephalopathy.

Objectives: The grading of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is based on a combination of indicators that reflect the state of consciousness, intellectual function, changes in behavior, and neuromuscular alterations seen in patients with liver failure.

Methods: We modified the traditional West Haven criteria (WHC) to provide an objective assessment of the cognitive parameters to complement the subjective clinical ratings for the performance of extracorporeal albumin dialysis (ECAD) using a molecular adsorption recirculating system in patients with cirrhosis and severe (grade III / IV) encephalopathy. The HE Scoring Algorithm (HESA) combined clinical indicators with those derived from simple neuropsychological tests,the latter more often used in milder grades of HE (I / II).

Sensitised luminescence in lanthanide containing arrays and d-f hybrids.

Sensitised luminescence from lanthanide complexes offers many potential advantages in imaging and assay, particularly when coupled with time-gating protocols that can be used to gate out background signal. In this perspective, we discuss the routes by which lanthanide arrays and polymetallic d-f hybrids can be prepared by conventional synthesis and self-assembly, and discuss and evaluate the possibilities for exploiting and evaluating the intermediates in the sensitisation process, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms of energy transfer.

The quantitative assessment of motor activity in mania and schizophrenia.

Background: Increased motor activity is a cardinal feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD), and is thought to reflect dopaminergic dysregulation. Motor activity in BD has been studied almost exclusively with self-report and observer-rated scales, limiting the ability to objectively quantify this behavior. We used an ambulatory monitoring device to quantify motor activity in BD and schizophrenia (SCZ) patients in a novel exploratory paradigm, the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM).

Beyond the numbers: expanding the boundaries of neuropsychology.

Beyond the Numbers: Expanding the Boundaries of Neuropsychology was Dr Perry's 2007 presidential address in the annual conference of the National Academy of Neuropsychology. In his address he discussed the achievements of the science of neuropsychology and highlighted some areas that exemplified the expansion of the boundaries of neuropsychology. These areas are: (i) the study of neuropsychological functioning in new or non-traditional populations, particularly seemingly healthy people and people with non-brain diseases; (ii) the interface of cognition and genetics; (iii) the use of the process approach as a means of understanding brain functioning; and (iv) a translational application to the science of neuropsychology.

Everglades restoration and water quality challenges in south Florida.

This paper provides background information and a brief overview of water quality issues for the rest of the papers in this volume that are concerned with Everglades restoration. The Everglades of Florida have been diminished over 50% of their former extent. The Everglades are no longer a free-flowing wetland ecosystem, but are now subject to a complicated system of water management that is regulated primarily for flood control and consumptive use.

Prepulse inhibition of startle in adults with ADHD.

Prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI) is a measure of sensorimotor gating, a pre-conscious regulator of attention. PPI is impaired in adults with schizophrenia and several other neuropsychiatric disorders associated with attentional abnormalities. The core feature of ADHD involves deficits in attention and, like schizophrenia, ADHD is associated with dysregulation of cortical-striatal circuits and dopamine transmission.

Impairments in fine-motor coordination and speed of information processing predict declines in everyday functioning in hepatitis C infection.

Research increasingly supports the neurovirulence of chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). For example, HCV infection has been associated with neuropsychological impairment in several ability areas, including psychomotor skills. This study aimed to examine whether HCV-associated neuropsychological impairment is predictive of declines in the independent performance of physical (PADLs) and instrumental (IADLs) activities of daily living.

Transoral laser microsurgery for recurrent laryngeal and pharyngeal cancer.

Study Design And Setting: A two-center prospective case series analysis.

Patients: One hundred fourteen patients with previously treated laryngeal or pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent salvage transoral laser microsurgery (TLM).

Interventions: TLM in 114 patients, neck dissection in 22 (19%) patients, adjuvant radiotherapy in 12 (11%) patients.

Transoral laser microsurgery for untreated glottic carcinoma.

Objectives: To report the oncology and functional outcomes of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) for untreated glottic carcinoma.

Study Design: A 2 center prospective case series analysis.

Setting: Academic, tertiary referral centers.

A method to optimize the response range while maintaining Rorschach Comprehensive System validity.

Brief and lengthy Rorschach records have been identified as common problems in protocol administration. Clinicians have debated how to prevent overly short and long records, but they have been reluctant to alter standardized administration for fear of introducing bias. The present study examines a nonintrusive method for constraining responses by prompting for an extra response when only one is offered per card and by removing the card after four responses are given.

Introduction to the Hepatic Encephalopathy Scoring Algorithm (HESA).

A primary obstacle to early diagnosis and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is the lack of a well-validated, standardized assessment method. The purpose of this study was to present preliminary validity data on a new method of grading HE, the Hepatic Encephalopathy Scoring Algorithm (HESA), which combines clinical impressions with neuropsychological performances to characterize HE. Participants were 49 inpatients admitted for complications of end stage liver disease.

A reverse-translational approach to bipolar disorder: rodent and human studies in the Behavioral Pattern Monitor.

Mania is the defining feature of bipolar disorder (BD). There has been limited progress in understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of BD mania and developing novel therapeutics, in part due to a paucity of relevant animal models with translational potential. Hyperactivity is a cardinal symptom of mania, traditionally measured in humans using observer-rated scales.

Cognitive dysfunction in chronic hepatitis C: a review.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common blood-borne illness that affects up to 2% of the world's population and almost 4 million Americans. Cognitive impairment, or difficulty with thinking, has become a well-established symptom in persons with end stage liver disease. It was previously assumed that cognitive impairment was a consequence of cirrhosis-associated hepatic encephalopathy.

Abdominoperineal resection: how is it done and what are the results?

Abdominoperineal resection (APR) for many years was the treatment of choice for most patients with rectal cancer. Recent advances in surgical technique and other treatment modalities have led to a marked increase in the rate of sphincter-sparing operations, with a concomitant decrease in APR. However, it is still necessary in selected patients, especially those with very distal tumors or poor sphincter function.