Mental and motor development in preterm infants: the issue of corrected age.

This paper addresses the question of whether corrected age needs to be applied to both the mental and motor development of preterm infants during the whole of the first year. A neglected problem in this respect is that a precise developmental index cannot be found with very low or very high raw scores. Using an alternative measure of performance (age equivalent deviation score), 36 preterm infants without serious medical or neurological problems were compared with 21 full-term infants on the Dutch version of the Bayley Mental Scale at the corrected ages of 12, 18, 24, 39 and 52 weeks and the Psychomotor Scale at 24, 39 and 52 weeks.

Efficacy of the combination of fluoxetine and perphenazine in the treatment of psychotic depression.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of the combination of fluoxetine plus perphenazine in the treatment of psychotic depression.

Method: Thirty patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for major depression with psychotic features were treated with fluoxetine plus perphenazine for 5 weeks. Patients were assessed at baseline and weekly using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and a side-effect checklist that included specific extrapyramidal and anticholinergic side effects.

Ontogeny of the humoral immune response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in infants.

In a cohort of infants born to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected mothers, changes in the levels of HIV-1 specific antibodies were measured during the first year of life. In uninfected children, the level of antibodies to six HIV-1 antigens (gp120, p66, p41, p31, p24, and p17) decreased continuously until becoming negative. In contrast, rising levels of one or more specific antibodies were detected in 9 of 12 infected children at a median age of 6 months.

Excretion of bupropion in breast milk.

Objective: To measure the excretion of bupropion and its metabolites in breast milk. A secondary objective was to determine whether the drug accumulated in the nursing infant.

Case Summary: Milk and plasma samples were collected from a woman taking bupropion 300 mg/d in divided doses who was breastfeeding her 14-month-old son.

[Sexual attitudes and scenarios among students in France, Quebec, and Spain].

Sexual behaviors and attitudes were surveyed among 787, 17-21 years-old students in Lyon (France), Montreal (Quebec) and Salamanque and Madrid (Spain). Near 55% have had intercourse and oral sex in France, while this was the case of almost 80% in Quebec and only about 30% in Spain. Students from France and Quebec were younger at first intercourse, have had more sexual partners, and higher frequencies of intercourse and oral sex than those from Spain.

S-100 protein in normal and pathologic oral tissues. A review.

S-100 protein is an acidic calcium binding protein widely distributed in different tissues and cells of different origin. The precise biological role of S-100 is still unknown, but several features suggest a function activity for this protein. Oral tissues have not been extensively studied for S-100 protein presence.

Expression of intermediate filaments and actins in human dental pulp and embryonic dental papilla.

The localization of different cytoskeletal proteins (keratin, vimentin, desmin, actin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin) was examined by immunohistochemistry in normal human adult dental pulp and compared with dental papilla of tooth germs. Keratin and actin were localized in enamel organ. Vimentin and actin were observed in the dental papilla and in the adult dental pulp.

Changes in norepinephrine output following light therapy for fall/winter seasonal depression.

Recurrent fall/winter depressions that remit during spring and summer have been called Seasonal Affective Disorders (SAD) (Wehr and Rosenthal 1989). The pathophysiology of SAD, its relationship to nonseasonal affective disorders, and the mechanism of action of light therapy, which is effective in treating SAD, remain to be elucidated (Depue et al 1989; Jacobsen et al 1987; James et al 1986; Joseph-Vanderpool et al 1991; Skwerer et al 1988, Terman et al 1989). Norepinephrine (NE) may play a role in the mechanisms of action of many antidepressant treatments (Schildkraut 1965) that alter NE metabolism (Schildkraut et al 1964 and 1965) and decrease the urinary output of NE and its metabolites, i.

Learned helplessness and urinary MHPG levels in unipolar depression.

Objective: Studies of the learned helplessness paradigm in laboratory animals show increased central noradrenergic activity following exposure to uncontrollable stressors. In clinical studies, depressed patients as a group report higher perceptions of helplessness and powerlessness. The authors examined the relationship between perceptions of powerlessness and noradrenergic activity in depressed patients.

Comparative immunohistochemical analysis between jaw myxoma and mesenchymal cells of tooth germ.

The histogenesis of jaw myxoma is still debated. According to some authors it arises from the primitive mesenchymal components of developing teeth. In this study, we have studied the expression of S-100 protein and vimentin in dental follicle, dental papilla and periodontal ligament cells using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies.

Human odontoblasts contain S-100 protein-like immunoreactivity.

S-100 protein is a group of three closely related isoforms (S-100ao, S-100a, and S-100b). This protein was first described as unique to the nervous system but it has also been identified subsequently in a variety of cell types of neuroectodermal (i.e.

Diagnosis of vertical HIV-1 transmission using the polymerase chain reaction and dried blood spot specimens.

We have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect HIV proviral sequences in minute amounts of peripheral blood collected onto newborn screening blotters. Forty-three newborns, infants, and children of HIV-infected mothers were serially studied: dried blood spot (DBS) specimens were processed for PCR; serum was assayed for HIV antibodies, p24 antigen, and immunoglobulins; mononuclear cells were cultured and CD4 cells were quantitated by immunofluorescence. There was excellent agreement between the results of blood spot PCR, viral culture, and clinical and immunological indicators of HIV infection.

Urinary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol and the depression-type score as predictors of differential responses to antidepressants.

Pretreatment 24 hr urinary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) levels and the Depression-type (D-type) scores (derived from a multivariate discriminant function equation based on levels of urinary catecholamines and metabolites) were examined as possible predictors of antidepressant responses to either imipramine or alprazolam. In the case of imipramine, the responders had significantly lower pretreatment urinary MHPG levels (p = 0.002) and D-type scores (p less than 0.

[Myxoma of the jaws].

A review of the literature and two observations made by the Authors regarding maxillary myxoma allow a closer analysis to be made of this rare benign tumour which is, however, often recurrent in young adults. Maxillary myxoma is identified by the appearance of a non-inflammatory and often painless swelling which, in radiological terms, appears to have a zone of multilocular and sometimes unilocular osteolysis. In histological terms, this globular whitish-greyish gelatine-like tumour is made up of an abundant stroma which encloses star-shaped or fusiform cells and rare collagen fibres.

[Psychogenic oral paresthesia].

Psychogenic oral paresthesia represent a proteiform condition, more and more frequent. The failure to recognize it can lead to unjustified investigations or/and procedures. These manifestations are secondary to a psychic problem which varies in severity.