Fish oil and the pan-PPAR agonist tetradecylthioacetic acid affect the amino acid and carnitine metabolism in rats.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are important in the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism. Recent studies have shown that PPARα-activation by WY 14,643 regulates the metabolism of amino acids. We investigated the effect of PPAR activation on plasma amino acid levels using two PPARα activators with different ligand binding properties, tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) and fish oil, where the pan-PPAR agonist TTA is a more potent ligand than omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Syndromes dominated by apraxia of speech show distinct characteristics from agrammatic PPA.

Objective: We assessed whether clinical and imaging features of subjects with apraxia of speech (AOS) more severe than aphasia (dominant AOS) are more similar to agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (agPPA) or to primary progressive AOS (PPAOS).

Methods: Sixty-seven subjects (PPAOS = 18, dominant AOS = 10, agPPA = 9, age-matched controls = 30) who all had volumetric MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, F18-fluorodeoxyglucose and C11-labeled Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)-PET scanning, as well as neurologic and speech and language assessments, were included in this case-control study. AOS was classified as either type 1, predominated by sound distortions and distorted sound substitutions, or type 2, predominated by syllabically segmented prosodic speech patterns.

The association between progression of atherosclerosis and the methylated amino acids asymmetric dimethylarginine and trimethyllysine.

Objective: We previously showed that treatment with folic acid (FA)/B12 was associated with more rapid progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). High doses of FA may induce methylation by increasing the availability of S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM). Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and trimethyllysine (TML) are both produced through proteolytic release following post-translational SAM-dependent methylation of precursor amino acid.

Inability to self-report pain after a stroke: a population-based study.

The frequency of not being able to self-report pain after a stroke has not been previously assessed in a population-based sample. We studied the epidemiology of this problem using a cohort of patients hospitalized after a stroke in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from June 1, 2008, to June 1, 2012. Overall, 52 of 388 (13.

Timing of prophylactic antibiotic at cesarean section: a double-blinded, randomized trial.

Objective: The purpose was to determine the effect of the timing of prophylactic antibiotics for cesarean section on post-operative infectious complications.

Study Design: This was a prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial in which patients were randomized to receive cefazolin or clindamycin either before skin incision or after cord clamp. The primary outcome was maternal infectious morbidity at 6 weeks postpartum, a composite infectious outcome, which included endometritis, urinary tract infection, wound infection and pneumonia.

Results of upper airway radiography and ultrasonography predict dynamic laryngeal collapse in affected horses.

Reasons For Performing Study: The pathogenesis of dynamic bilateral laryngeal collapse (DLC) associated with poll flexion is unknown. Diagnosis is dependent upon exercise endoscopy while replicating the flexed head position harness racehorses experience during racing.

Objectives: To describe the effects of poll flexion on rostrocaudal laryngeal positioning and laryngeal lumen width in resting horses diagnosed with DLC compared to controls, and to establish diagnostic criteria for DLC by use of diagnostic imaging.

FDG PET and MRI in logopenic primary progressive aphasia versus dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Objectives: The logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia is an atypical clinical variant of Alzheimer's disease which is typically characterized by left temporoparietal atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging and hypometabolism on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. We aimed to characterize and compare patterns of atrophy and hypometabolism in logopenic primary progressive aphasia, and determine which brain regions and imaging modality best differentiates logopenic primary progressive aphasia from typical dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Methods: A total of 27 logopenic primary progressive aphasia subjects underwent fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and volumetric magnetic resonance imaging.

Identification of an atypical variant of logopenic progressive aphasia.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between aphasia severity and neurocognitive function, disease duration and temporoparietal atrophy in 21 individuals with the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA). We found significant correlations between aphasia severity and degree of neurocognitive impairment as well as temporoparietal atrophy; but not disease duration. Cluster analysis identified three variants of lvPPA: (1) subjects with mild aphasia and short disease duration (mild typical lvPPA); (2) subjects with mild aphasia and long disease duration (mild atypical lvPPA); and, (3) subjects with severe aphasia and relatively long disease duration (severe typical lvPPA).

Microbleeds in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia.

Background: Microbleeds have been associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), although it is unclear whether they occur in atypical presentations of AD, such as the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA). We aimed to assess the presence and clinical correlates of microbleeds in lvPPA.

Methods: Thirteen lvPPA subjects underwent 3T T2*-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging and Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography imaging.

Distinct regional anatomic and functional correlates of neurodegenerative apraxia of speech and aphasia: an MRI and FDG-PET study.

Progressive apraxia of speech (AOS) can result from neurodegenerative disease and can occur in isolation or in the presence of agrammatic aphasia. We aimed to determine the neuroanatomical and metabolic correlates of progressive AOS and aphasia. Thirty-six prospectively recruited subjects with progressive AOS or agrammatic aphasia, or both, underwent the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and Token Test to assess aphasia, an AOS rating scale (ASRS), 3T MRI and 18-F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET.

Ideomotor apraxia in agrammatic and logopenic variants of primary progressive aphasia.

There are few studies examining praxis in subjects with primary progressive aphasia. The aim of this study was to examine the pattern and severity of ideomotor apraxia in subjects with logopenic and agrammatic variants of primary progressive aphasia and to determine if the presence of ideomotor apraxia correlated with specific neuroanatomical structural abnormalities. Subjects with primary progressive aphasia were prospectively recruited and classified according to published criteria.

Omega-3 Status and the Relationship between Plasma Asymmetric Dimethylarginine and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease.

Background. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase. A previous rat study revealed an ADMA lowering effect following treatment with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs).

A motor speech assessment for children with severe speech disorders: reliability and validity evidence.

Purpose: In this article, the authors report reliability and validity evidence for the Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill (DEMSS), a new test that uses dynamic assessment to aid in the differential diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).

Method: Participants were 81 children between 36 and 79 months of age who were referred to the Mayo Clinic for diagnosis of speech sound disorders. Children were given the DEMSS and a standard speech and language test battery as part of routine evaluations.

Neuroimaging comparison of primary progressive apraxia of speech and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Background And Purpose: Primary progressive apraxia of speech, a motor speech disorder of planning and programming, is a tauopathy that has overlapping histological features with progressive supranuclear palsy. We aimed to compare, for the first time, atrophy patterns, as well as white matter tract degeneration, between these two syndromes.

Methods: Sixteen primary progressive apraxia of speech subjects were age- and gender-matched to 16 progressive supranuclear palsy subjects and 20 controls.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) in two patients with 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome.

We report clinical findings that extend the phenotype of the ~550 kb 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome to include a rare, severe, and persistent pediatric speech sound disorder termed Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). CAS is the speech disorder identified in a multigenerational pedigree ('KE') in which half of the members have a mutation in FOXP2 that co-segregates with CAS, oromotor apraxia, and low scores on a nonword repetition task.

Novel candidate genes and regions for childhood apraxia of speech identified by array comparative genomic hybridization.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to identify new candidate genes and genomic copy-number variations associated with a rare, severe, and persistent speech disorder termed childhood apraxia of speech. Childhood apraxia of speech is the speech disorder segregating with a mutation in FOXP2 in a multigenerational London pedigree widely studied for its role in the development of speech-language in humans.

Methods: A total of 24 participants who were suspected to have childhood apraxia of speech were assessed using a comprehensive protocol that samples speech in challenging contexts.

Long-term treatment with the pan-PPAR agonist tetradecylthioacetic acid or fish oil is associated with increased cardiac content of n-3 fatty acids in rat.

Background: Excess peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) stimulation has been associated with detrimental health effects including impaired myocardial function. Recently, supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has been associated with improved left ventricular function and functional capacity in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. We investigated the long-term effects of the pan-PPAR agonist tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) and/or high-dose fish oil (FO) on cardiac fatty acid (FA) composition and lipid metabolism.

Parkinsonian motor features distinguish the agrammatic from logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia.

Background: Few studies have assessed parkinsonian motor features across variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Our objective was to compare degree of parkinsonian motor features between two PPA variants.

Methods: Parkinsonian motor features were assessed with the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale in prospectively recruited PPA subjects, classified based on recently published criteria.

Encoding, memory, and transcoding deficits in Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

A central question in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is whether the core phenotype is limited to transcoding (planning/programming) deficits or if speakers with CAS also have deficits in auditory-perceptual encoding (representational) and/or memory (storage and retrieval of representations) processes. We addressed this and other questions using responses to the Syllable Repetition Task (SRT) [Shriberg, L. D.

Characterizing a neurodegenerative syndrome: primary progressive apraxia of speech.

Apraxia of speech is a disorder of speech motor planning and/or programming that is distinguishable from aphasia and dysarthria. It most commonly results from vascular insults but can occur in degenerative diseases where it has typically been subsumed under aphasia, or it occurs in the context of more widespread neurodegeneration. The aim of this study was to determine whether apraxia of speech can present as an isolated sign of neurodegenerative disease.

Complex dynamic upper airway collapse: associations between abnormalities in 99 harness racehorses with one or more dynamic disorders.

Reasons For Performing Study: Many horses demonstrate dynamic collapse of more than one upper respiratory tract (URT) structure during high-speed treadmill videoendoscopy (HSTV).

Objectives: To report the frequency of complex dynamic URT collapse in harness racehorses and determine if an association exists between occurrence of certain disorders.

Methods: Retrospective study of 99 Standardbreds and Coldblooded trotters that had one or more dynamic URT disorders identified during HSTV between 1998 and 2006.

Relative prevalence of upper respiratory tract obstructive disorders in two breeds of harness racehorses (185 cases: 1998-2006).

Reasons For Performing Study: Two genetically and phenotypically distinct horse breeds are used for harness racing in Scandinavia: the Standardbred (SB) and Coldblooded Trotter. These racehorses have identical environmental, management and racing conditions. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify and compare the relative prevalence of upper respiratory tract (URT) obstructive disorders in these 2 breeds.

Comparative phylogeography of a coevolved community: concerted population expansions in Joshua trees and four yucca moths.

Comparative phylogeographic studies have had mixed success in identifying common phylogeographic patterns among co-distributed organisms. Whereas some have found broadly similar patterns across a diverse array of taxa, others have found that the histories of different species are more idiosyncratic than congruent. The variation in the results of comparative phylogeographic studies could indicate that the extent to which sympatrically-distributed organisms share common biogeographic histories varies depending on the strength and specificity of ecological interactions between them.

A novel treatment for dynamic laryngeal collapse associated with poll flexion: the modified checkrein.

Reasons For Performing The Study: Dynamic laryngeal collapse (DLC) associated with poll flexion is a performance limiting dynamic upper airway disorder commonly diagnosed in Coldblooded trotters. An inspiratory obstruction occurs when affected horses are driven with tension on the reins, inducing poll flexion. To date, surgical treatment and conservative management have failed to improve racing performance in affected horses.