The Analgesic Effect of Morphine on Peripheral Opioid Receptors: An Experimental Research.

Opioids represent one of the key pillars in postoperative pain management, but their use has been associated with a variety of serious side effects. Thus, it is crucial to investigate the timing and course of opioid administration in order to ensure a best efficacy to side-effect profile. The aim of our article was to investigate the analgesic effects of locally administered morphine sulfate (intraplantar) in a carrageenan-induced inflammation model in rats.

The First Romanian Robotic-Assisted Mastectomy: A Starting Point for a Literature Review.

The advancements in the field of robotic surgery have led to its use in breast surgery. We report the first robotic-assisted nipple-sparing mastectomy (RNSM) using the da Vinci Xi surgical system, in Romania, for a patient with contralateral breast cancer. Immediate breast reconstruction was performed using a silicone implant.

New Insights Into Pharmacology of GABAA Receptor Alpha Subunits-Selective Modulators.

Background: Benzodiazepines have long held a leading position in medical therapeutics, known for their multiple common therapeutic properties and primarily being prescribed for anxiety and insomnia. However, their lack of specificity and various side effects have led to a reevaluation of their long-term use, resulting in a rapid growth in the literature focusing on targeted therapies.

Areas Of Uncertainty: Despite many efforts, uncertainties persist and there are heterogeneous findings across studies regarding the pharmacological effects attributed to gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor subunits.

Use of a Tumor Bed Boost in the Radiotherapy after Oncoplastic Breast Conserving Surgery.

Use of a radiotherapy (RT) tumor bed boost in addition to whole breast irradiation (WBI) after oncoplastic breast conserving surgery (OBCS) can be very challenging due to the massive tissue displacements. The aim of our study is to present relevant RT data regarding the use of a boost RT in patients who underwent OBCS and received adjuvant RT at Neolife Medical Center Bucharest. 12 patients treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), after OBCS, using conventional or hypofractionated schedules, between 10/2018 and 12/2020 were included in the study.

Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy in Patients with Breast Cancer.

The rate of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) increased within the recent years. The main reasons are: genetic testing, availability of breast reconstruction, more often use of preoperative breast MRI, improvement of postoperative aesthetic results and reimbursement of breast reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to analyze the indication of CPM, it's evolution and the surgical techniques used for this type of surgery.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Pedophilic Fantasies, Desires, and Activities Questionnaire.

Although sexual interest in children is a risk factor for recidivism of sexual offenses against children, there is a dearth of measures for assessing its current level in patients with pedophilic disorder. The objective was to develop the Pedophilic Fantasies, Desires, and Activities Questionnaire (PFDAQ) to assess the current level of sexual interest in patients with pedophilic disorder. In total, 57 patients with pedophilic disorder and 53 controls were recruited.

Brain processing of pictures of children in men with pedophilic disorder: A positron emission tomography study.

Although structural and functional neuroimaging techniques have recently been used to investigate the mechanisms of sexual attraction to children, a hallmark of pedophilic disorder, the differences in the processing of child sexual stimuli between men attracted to children and those attracted to adults remain unclear. Here, our purpose was to identify through positron emission tomography the brain responses of 15 male outpatients with pedophilic disorder to validated visual sexual stimuli depicting children (VSSc) and to compare them with 15 male healthy controls matched for sexual orientation (to female or male adults), age, and handedness. The patients' sample comprised both offenders and non-offenders.

Brain responses to pictures of children in men with pedophilic disorder: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Structural and functional neuroimaging techniques have recently been used to investigate the mechanisms of sexual attraction to children, a hallmark of pedophilic disorder, and have reported many contradictory or non-replicated findings. Here, our purpose was to identify through functional magnetic resonance imaging the brain responses of 25 male outpatients with pedophilic disorder to visual stimuli depicting children (VSc) and to compare them with 24 male healthy controls matched on sexual orientation (to female or male adults), age, and handedness. No region was differentially activated across the two groups in response to VSc.

Radiation Therapy Following Breast Conserving Surgery for Ductal Carcinoma in situ: Yes or No?

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive precursor to breast cancerand represents a heterogenous group of lesions with different malignant potential. Despite several randomized trials, there is still controversy regarding the optimal local treatment for DCIS patients. The addition of radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery approximately halves the local recurrence risk but has no impact on long-term survival.

The cortical sensory representation of genitalia in women and men: a systematic review.

Background : Although genital sensations are an essential aspect of sexual behavior, the cortical somatosensory representation of genitalia in women and men remain poorly known and contradictory results have been reported. Objective : To conduct a systematic review of studies based on electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging studies, with the aim to identify insights brought by modern methods since the early descriptions of the sensory homunculus in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). Results : The review supports the interpretation that there are two distinct representations of genital sensations in SI, one on the medial surface and the other on the lateral surface.

Reading the Freudian theory of sexual drives from a functional neuroimaging perspective.

One of the essential tasks of neuropsychoanalysis is to investigate the neural correlates of sexual drives. Here, we consider the four defining characteristics of sexual drives as delineated by Freud: their pressure, aim, object, and source. We systematically examine the relations between these characteristics and the four-component neurophenomenological model that we have proposed based on functional neuroimaging studies, which comprises a cognitive, a motivational, an emotional and an autonomic/neuroendocrine component.

[Pedophilia: contribution of neurology and neuroimaging techniques].

Introduction: Pedophilia is characterized by a persistent sexual interest of an adult for prepubescent children. The development of neuroimaging techniques such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is starting to clarify the cerebral basis of disorders of sexual behavior such as pedophilia, which had been previously suggested by case studies.

Objective: To review structural and functional neuroimaging studies of pedophilia.

Real-time functional magnetic imaging-brain-computer interface and virtual reality promising tools for the treatment of pedophilia.

This chapter proposes a prospective view on using a real-time functional magnetic imaging (rt-fMRI) brain-computer interface (BCI) application as a new treatment for pedophilia. Neurofeedback mediated by interactive virtual stimuli is presented as the key process in this new BCI application. Results on the diagnostic discriminant power of virtual characters depicting sexual stimuli relevant to pedophilia are given.

A pilot study of the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy on brain activation pattern in a man with pedophilia.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, such as leuprorelin, are recommended in the patients with pedophilia at highest risk of offending. However, the cerebral mechanisms of the effects of these testosterone-decreasing drugs are poorly known. This study aimed to identify changes caused by leuprorelin in a pedophilic patient's brain responses to pictures representing children.

Evaluating major depressive episodes through the algorithmically structured systematic exploration of subject's state of mind.

Background/aims: Whereas instruments are available to diagnose depression and to rate its severity, there is a lack of instruments to assess the phenomenology of depression, i.e. a set of mental phenomena that constitute subjective experience.

Activation of mirror-neuron system by erotic video clips predicts degree of induced erection: an fMRI study.

Although visually-induced erection is a common occurrence in human male behaviour, the cerebral underpinnings of this response are not well-known. We hypothesized that the magnitude of induced erection would be linearly correlated with the activation of the mirror-neuron system in response to sexually explicit films. When presented with sexual video clips, eight out of ten healthy subjects had an erectile response demonstrated through volumetric penile plethysmography.

Influencing vascular reactivity in vivo by histaminergic agonists and antagonists.

The eye is a target organ for the action of several topical or systemic drugs. The aim of the present study is to analyze the differences in reactivity between the iris and conjunctiva vessels after the topical administration of histamine and histamine receptor blockers respectively. Using a novel non-invasive technique for the quantification of the vascular diameters in the eye vessels, the response of these vessels to histamine, to H1 receptor blocker promethazine, and to H2 receptor blocker ranitidine versus vehicle (control) was analyzed.

Neuroanatomical correlates of penile erection evoked by photographic stimuli in human males.

The objective of this study was to identify the cerebral correlates of the early phase, and of low to moderate levels, of penile tumescence using for the first time a volumetric measure of the penile response. We hypothesized that (i) regions whose response had been found correlated with circumferential penile responses in previous studies would be identified with volumetric plethysmography and (ii) that other brain regions, including the amygdalae, would be found using the more sensitive volumetric measurement. In ten healthy males, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study brain responses to sexually stimulating photographs and to various categories of control photographs.

Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in treated and untreated hypogonadal patients.

Objective: Although various brain regions have been shown to respond to the presentation of visual sexual stimuli (VSS), whether these regions are specifically mediating sexual arousal or whether they mediate general emotional or motivational arousal is unknown. To clarify this issue, our purpose was to map the regions where the response to VSS was related to plasma testosterone. Specific objectives were (i) to identify regions that respond differentially to VSS in untreated hypogonadal patients compared with healthy controls and (ii) to identify in hypogonadal patients the regions that respond differentially to VSS as a function of therapeutically induced increased testosterone levels.

Effect of kanamycin and gentamicin on frog n. sciatic--m. gastrocnemian preparation.

The effect of kanamycin and gentamicin on frog n.sciatic-m.gastrocnemian preparatus was analyzed.

Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in healthy men: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

The brain plays a central role in sexual motivation. To identify cerebral areas whose activation was correlated with sexual desire, eight healthy male volunteers were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Visual stimuli were sexually stimulating photographs (S condition) and emotionally neutral photographs (N condition).

Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in men with hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Although hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is a common condition and has long been hypothesized to result from malfunctions of the cerebral control mechanisms that adjust the level of sexual motivation, very little is known about the pathophysiology of this disorder. The primary objective was to identify in patients with HSDD brain regions where functional perturbations disrupt the regulation of sexual motivation. We used positron emission tomography to compare seven male patients with HSDD with eight healthy men on their regional cerebral blood flow responses to visual sexual stimuli (VSS) of graded intensity.

Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in human males.

Despite its critical sociobiological importance, the brain processing of visual sexual stimuli has not been characterized precisely in human beings. We used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to investigate responses of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in nine healthy males presented with visual sexual stimuli of graded intensity. Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to locate brain regions whose activation was associated with the presentation of the sexual stimuli and was correlated with markers of sexual arousal.

Neuroanatomical correlates of visually evoked sexual arousal in human males.

Brain areas activated in human male sexual behavior have not been characterized precisely. For the first time, positron emission tomography (PET) was used to identify the brain areas activated in healthy males experiencing visually evoked sexual arousal. Eight male subjects underwent six measurements of regional brain activity following the administration of [15O]H2O as they viewed three categories of film clips: sexually explicit clips, emotionally neutral control clips, and humorous control clips inducing positive but nonsexual emotions.