Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Switching from Oral Cholinesterase Inhibitors to Rivastigmine Transdermal Patch with 1-Step Titration in Patients with Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: A 24-Week, Open-Label, Multicenter Study in Japan.

Background: Few studies have investigated treatment options for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) showing a poor response to oral cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) in Japan.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of switching from oral ChEIs to rivastigmine transdermal patch in patients with AD.

Methods: In this multicenter, open-label, phase IV study in outpatient clinics in Japan, patients with mild-moderate AD who had a poor response to or experienced difficulty in continuing donepezil or galantamine were switched to rivastigmine transdermal patch (5 cm; loaded dose 9 mg, delivery rate 4.

Inquiring about insomnia may facilitate diagnosis of depression in the primary care setting.

Aim: Depression is often undiagnosed in primary care. Asking about sleep status is much easier than asking about mood. This study was conducted to examine the relation between insomnia and depression.

A survival motor neuron:tetanus toxin fragment C fusion protein for the targeted delivery of SMN protein to neurons.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a degenerative disorder of spinal motor neurons caused by homozygous mutations in the survival motor neuron (SMN1) gene. Because increased tissue levels of human SMN protein (hSMN) in transgenic mice reduce the motor neuron loss caused by murine SMN knockout, we engineered a recombinant SMN fusion protein to deliver exogenous hSMN to the cytosolic compartment of motor neurons. The fusion protein, SDT, is comprised of hSMN linked to the catalytic and transmembrane domains of diphtheria toxin (DTx) followed by fragment C of tetanus toxin (TTC).

Prevention and treatment of malignant syndrome in Parkinson's disease: a consensus statement of the malignant syndrome research group.

We report a consensus statement of the collaborative research group on the prevention and treatment of malignant syndrome (MS) in Parkinson's disease. The syndrome is quite similar to neuroleptic MS. Although sudden withdrawal of levodopa was the most frequent cause, many other precipitating events were found such as intercurrent infections, dehydration, hot weather, discontinuation of other anti-parkinsonian drugs, and "wearing off" phenomenon.

[A 52-year-old woman with dyskinesia, epilepsy and gait disturbance].

We report a 52-year-old Japanese woman who developed dyskinesia, epilepsy, and gait disturbance. She was well until 35 years of age, when she noted the onset of gait disturbance. She also noted abnormal involuntary movements in her limbs.

Hybrid microfabricated device for field measurement of atmospheric sulfur dioxide.

A miniaturized planar-membrane-based gas collector of 800 nL internal liquid volume was integrated with a microfabricated conductivity detector to measure atmospheric SO2. This device is operated with a dilute H2SO4/ H202/2-propanol absorber for a finite integration period (typically, 1.5 min) without liquid flow.

[A 68-year-old woman with dementia and parkinsonism].

We report a 68-year-old woman who developed progressive dementia and parkinsonism. She was well until 1990 when she was 58 years of age. She started to show memory loss.