Transient unilateral spatial neglect during aura in a woman with sporadic hemiplegic migraine.

Background: Hemiplegic migraine is a rare form of migraine with aura characterized by motor aura. Although auras in hemiplegic migraine are typically complex with two or more aura symptoms, neglect has been rarely described.

Case Report: We report the case of a 20-year-old woman with sporadic hemiplegic migraine that was investigated for the presence of unilateral spatial neglect (USN) during aura in one of her migraine attacks.

Hemispheric dissociation of reward processing in humans: insights from deep brain stimulation.

Rewards have various effects on human behavior and multiple representations in the human brain. Behaviorally, rewards notably enhance response vigor in incentive motivation paradigms and bias subsequent choices in instrumental learning paradigms. Neurally, rewards affect activity in different fronto-striatal regions attached to different motor effectors, for instance in left and right hemispheres for the two hands.

The wnt pathway in mood disorders.

Objectives: To review the evidence of the involvement of the Wnt signalling pathway in mood disorders and in the action of drugs used to treat these disorders.

Methods: We performed a careful PubMed search using as keywords all possible terms relevant to the Wnt pathway and crossing them with each of four areas, i.e.

Acute pancreatitis in children and rotavirus infection. Description of a case and minireview.

This report describes a case of acute pancreatitis in a 2-year-old boy following rotavirus gastroenteritis. Its characteristics are analyzed and discussed in the light of another 4 cases of pancreatitis associated with rotavirus infection found through a systematic review of the international literature. None of the five children underwent surgery or was referred to an intensive care unit and all 5 children recovered with normalization of pancreatic enzymes within 5-10 days.

Antidepressant-associated mood-switching and transition from unipolar major depression to bipolar disorder: a review.

Objectives: Compare reported rates of mood-shifts from major depression to mania/hypomania/mixed-states during antidepressant (AD)-treatment and rates of diagnostic change from major depressive disorder (MDD) to bipolar disorder (BPD).

Methods: Searching computerized literature databases, followed by summary analyses.

Results: In 51 reports of patients diagnosed with MDD and treated with an AD, the overall risk of mood-switching was 8.

Context-dependent logo matching and recognition.

We contribute, through this paper, to the design of a novel variational framework able to match and recognize multiple instances of multiple reference logos in image archives. Reference logos and test images are seen as constellations of local features (interest points, regions, etc.) and matched by minimizing an energy function mixing: 1) a fidelity term that measures the quality of feature matching, 2) a neighborhood criterion that captures feature co-occurrence/geometry, and 3) a regularization term that controls the smoothness of the matching solution.

Chest MR imaging in the follow-up of pulmonary alterations in paediatric patients with middle lobe syndrome: comparison with chest X-ray.

Purpose: The authors evaluated the role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the chest in comparison with chest X-ray in the follow-up of pulmonary abnormalities detected by computed tomography (CT) in paediatric patients with middle lobe syndrome.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen patients with middle lobe syndrome (mean age 6.2 years) underwent chest CT at the time of diagnosis (100 kV, CARE dose with quality reference of 70 mAs; collimation 24×1.

Procalcitonin in detecting neonatal nosocomial sepsis.

Objective: To investigate the accuracy of procalcitonin (PCT) as a diagnostic marker of nosocomial sepsis (NS) and define the most accurate cut-off to distinguish infected from uninfected neonates.

Setting: Six neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Patients: 762 neonates admitted to six NICUs during a 28-month observational study for whom at least one serum sample was taken on admission.

The role of memantine in the treatment of psychiatric disorders other than the dementias: a review of current preclinical and clinical evidence.

Memantine, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist approved for Alzheimer's disease with a good safety profile, is increasingly being studied in a variety of non-dementia psychiatric disorders. We aimed to critically review relevant literature on the use of the drug in such disorders. We performed a PubMed search of the effects of memantine in animal models of psychiatric disorders and its effects in human studies of specific psychiatric disorders.

Synthesis of a Microcystis aeruginosa predicted metabolite with antimalarial activity.

The synthesis of a Microcystis aeruginosa predicted metabolite analog of aerucyclamide B was performed. This hexacyclopeptide was obtained from three heterocyclic building blocks by a convergent macrocycle-assembly methodology. The compound exhibited good in vitro antiplasmodial activity (IC(50): 0.

335.4 kb microduplication in chromosome band Xp11.2p11.3 associated with developmental delay, growth retardation, autistic disorder and dysmorphic features.

About 10% of causative mutations for mental retardation in male patients involve X chromosome (X-linked mental retardation, XLMR). We describe a case of a 3-year-old boy presenting with developmental delay, autistic features and growth and speech delay. Array-CGH analysis detected a microduplication on the X chromosome (Xp11.

Occipital nerve stimulation for chronic migraine: a randomized trial.

Background: Chronic migraine (CM) and medication overuse headache (MOH) are disabling conditions that may be only partially managed with conservative treatments. Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) is an innovative treatment for headache disorders.

Objectives: To investigate the safety and efficacy of ONS for CM and MOH patients and to evaluate changes in disability, quality of life, and drug intake in implanted patients.

Association of chronic hepatitis C with recurrent brief depression.

Background: Depressive syndromes, including recurrent brief depression (RBD), have frequently been observed in association with chronic diseases characterized by immune activation, such as autoimmune thyroiditis or celiac disease. However, the association of RBD with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), a disease with an increased incidence of major depressive disorders, is unknown.

Cases: 135 (83 males, 52 females) consecutive treatment-naïve patients with CHC.

14q13.1-21.1 deletion encompassing the HPE8 locus in an adolescent with intellectual disability and bilateral microphthalmia, but without holoprosencephaly.

Interstitial deletions involving 14q13.1q21.1 are rare.

A new mutation in EDA gene in X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia associated with keratoconus.

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) was first described in 1848 by Thurnam. HED belongs to ectodermal dysplasias (EDs), which are developmental impairments of ectodermal-derived tissues. X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (XLHED) is the most common form of the EDs and consists in abnormal development of teeth, hair, and eccrine sweat glands.

History of the 'geste antagoniste' sign in cervical dystonia.

The geste antagoniste is a voluntary maneuver that temporarily reduces the severity of dystonic posture or movements. It is a classical feature of focal and particularly cervical dystonia. However, the precise historical aspects of geste antagoniste still remain obscure.

The sustained mood-stabilizing effect of memantine in the management of treatment resistant bipolar disorders: findings from a 12-month naturalistic trial.

Background: We have recently provided preliminary clinical observations indicating that memantine, as augmenting agent, was associated with a meaningful antimanic and mood-stabilizing effect in treatment-resistant bipolar disorders. To further investigate the therapeutic and prophylactic action of the drug we administered memantine, as augmenting agent, to 40 treatment-resistant bipolar disorder patients, monitored and evaluated for 12 months.

Methods: The sample population encompassed 40 treatment-resistant bipolar disorder patients monitored for 12 months.

Effects of abscisic acid on ethylene biosynthesis and perception in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. flower development.

The effect of the complex relationship between ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) on flower development and senescence in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. was investigated. Ethylene biosynthetic (HrsACS and HrsACO) and receptor (HrsETR and HrsERS) genes were isolated and their expression evaluated in three different floral tissues (petals, style-stigma plus stamens, and ovaries) of detached buds and open flowers.

The Pitt-Hopkins syndrome: report of 16 new patients and clinical diagnostic criteria.

Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS) is characterized by severe intellectual disability, typical facial gestalt and additional features, such as breathing anomalies. Following the discovery of the causative haploinsufficiency of transcription factor 4 (TCF4), about 60 patients have been reported. We looked for TCF4 mutations in 63 patients with a suspected PTHS.

Lung MRI as a possible alternative to CT scan for patients with primary immune deficiencies and increased radiosensitivity.

Background: Patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) suffer from respiratory infections leading over time to permanent lung damage. Increased radiosensitivity has been described, and clinicians should consider a risk-benefit assessment when ordering a CT scan, in that the exact level of "safe" radiation exposure is unknown.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with CVID were evaluated with chest CT scan, MRI, and pulmonary function tests on the same day.

Reference values of blood cell counts in the first days of life.

The lack of updated neonatal reference values for hematological parameters impacts significantly with clinical management of both healthy and sick newborns. The present pilot study was thus aimed at assessing updated hematological Italian reference values in late preterm and term newborns. From January 2004 to December 2008 hematological laboratory tests were performed in 1175 newborns (820 healthy and 355 sick controls) between 33-41 weeks of gestation, during the first four days after birth.

Clinical application of dual-source CT in the evaluation of patients with lung cancer: correlation with perfusion scintigraphy and pulmonary function tests.

Purpose: This study was done to assess the diagnostic potential of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) in the functional evaluation of lung cancer patients undergoing surgical resection. The CT data were compared with pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy and pulmonary function tests (PFTs).

Materials And Methods: All patients were evaluated with DSCT, scintigraphy and PFTs.