Selective degeneration of central photoreceptors after hyperbaric oxygen in normal and metallothionein-knockout mice.

Purpose: Metallothioneins (MTs) in the brain and retina are believed to bind metals and reduce free radicals, thereby protecting neurons from oxidative damage. This study was undertaken to investigate whether retinal photoreceptor (PR) cells lacking MTs are more susceptible to hyperbaric oxygen (HBO)-induced cell death in vivo.

Methods: Wild-type (WT) and MT-knockout (MT-KO) mice lacking metallothionein (MT)-1 and MT-2 were exposed to three atmospheres of 100% oxygen for 3 hours, 3 times per week for 1, 3, or 5 weeks.

The accessory optic system: basic organization with an update on connectivity, neurochemistry, and function.

The accessory optic system (AOS) is formed by a series of terminal nuclei receiving direct visual information from the retina via one or more accessory optic tracts. In addition to the retinal input, derived from ganglion cells that characteristically have large receptive fields, are direction-selective, and have a preference for slow moving stimuli, there are now well-characterized afferent connections with a key pretectal nucleus (nucleus of the optic tract) and the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus. The efferent connections of the AOS are robust, targeting brainstem and other structures in support of visual-oculomotor events such as optokinetic nystagmus and visual-vestibular interaction.

Wellness lifestyles II: Modeling the dynamic of wellness, health lifestyle practices, and Network Spinal Analysis.

Objective: Empirical application of a theoretical framework linking use of Network Spinal Analysis (NSA; a holistic, wellness-oriented form of complementary and alternative medicine [CAM]), health lifestyle practices, and self-reported health and wellness.

Design: Cross-sectional self-administered survey study.

Respondents: Two thousand five hundred and ninety-six (2596) patients from 156 offices of doctors who were members of the Association for Network Chiropractic (currently titled Association for Network Care); estimated response rate was 69%.

Wellness lifestyles I: A theoretical framework linking wellness, health lifestyles, and complementary and alternative medicine.

Scholarship concerning complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices within the United States could benefit from incorporating sociological perspectives into the development of a comprehensive research agenda. We review the literature on health and wellness emphasizing definitions and distinctions, the health lifestyles literature emphasizing issues of both life choices and life chances, and studies of CAM suggesting utilization as an aspect of a wellness lifestyle. This review forms the foundation of a new theoretical framework for CAM research based on the interrelationship of CAM with health promotion, wellness, and health lifestyles.

Midbrain connections of the olivary pretectal nucleus in the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus): implications for the pupil light reflex pathway.

Midbrain projections of the pretectal olivary nucleus (PON) were studied in the marmoset, a New World primate. The fluorescent retrograde tracers Fluoro-Gold (FG) and Fast Blue (FB) were injected into the Edinger-Westphal (EW) nucleus and the lateral terminal nucleus (LTN), respectively. EW nucleus injections resulted in retrograde labeling of significant numbers of FG-positive neurons of the PON as well as a small number of cells in the LTN.