Impaired trigeminal control of ingestive behavior in the Prrxl1-/- mouse is associated with a lemniscal-biased orosensory deafferentation.

Although peripheral deafferentation studies have demonstrated a critical role for trigeminal afference in modulating the orosensorimotor control of eating and drinking, the central trigeminal pathways mediating that control, as well as the timescale of control, remain to be elucidated. In rodents, three ascending somatosensory pathways process and relay orofacial mechanosensory input: the lemniscal, paralemniscal, and extralemniscal. Two of these pathways (the lemniscal and extralemniscal) exhibit highly structured topographic representations of the orofacial sensory surface, as exemplified by the one-to-one somatotopic mapping between vibrissae on the animals' face and barrelettes in brainstem, barreloids in thalamus, and barrels in cortex.

Abolition of lemniscal barrellette patterning in Prrxl1 knockout mice: Effects upon ingestive behavior.

Ingestive behaviors in mice are dependent on orosensory cues transmitted via the trigeminal nerve, as confirmed by transection studies. However, these studies cannot differentiate between deficits caused by the loss of the lemniscal pathway vs. the parallel paralemniscal pathway.

Phase II study of gemcitabine and bevacizumab as first-line treatment in taxane-pretreated, HER2-negative, locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.

Background: In first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer, the best use of the available therapeutic agents is unclear. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of combined therapy with bevacizumab and gemcitabine.

Patients: Women who were to undergo first-line treatment for locoregionally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer were eligible.

Vibrissae motor cortex unit activity during whisking.

Rats generate stereotyped exploratory (5-12 Hz) vibrissa movements when navigating through their environment. Like other rhythmic behaviors, the production of whisking relies on a subcortical pattern generator. However, the relatively large vibrissae representation in motor cortex (vMCx) suggests that cortex also contributes to the control of whisker movements.

Wally Welker and neurobehavioral evolution: an appreciation and bibliography.

The following review and appreciation of the pioneering work and character of Wallace I. (Wally) Welker provides a historical perspective on Welker's life-long quest for answers to fundamental questions on the relationships among brain, behavior, and evolution, and evaluates his impact upon comparative behavioral neuroscience.

Onset of efficacy of tadalafil once daily in men with erectile dysfunction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial.

Purpose: We evaluated the efficacy onset and safety of tadalafil 2.5 and 5 mg once daily for 14 days compared with placebo in men with erectile dysfunction.

Materials And Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group study we randomized 372 men after a 4-week run-in period to receive placebo, or tadalafil 2.

Whisking in air: encoding of kinematics by VPM neurons in awake rats.

Rodent whisking behavior generates two types of neural signals: one produced by whisker contact with objects; the other by movements in air. While kinematic signals generated by contact reliably activate neurons at all levels of the trigeminal neuraxis, the extent to which the kinematics of whisking in air are reliably encoded at each level remains unclear. Previously, we showed that the responses of trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons in awake, head-fixed rats are correlated with whisking kinematic parameters, but that individual neurons may differ substantially in the reliability of their kinematic encoding.

Durability of response following cessation of tadalafil taken once daily as treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Introduction: Research has focused on improvement of erectile function during treatment with phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, but less is known about what occurs after treatment cessation.

Aim: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to examine durability of response, defined as sustainability of erectogenic benefits following treatment cessation, in men with erectile dysfunction (ED) following long-term treatment with daily tadalafil.

Methods: The subjects (N=160) had participated in a 12-week double-blind trial followed by a one-year, open-label extension of tadalafil 5mg once daily.

Impact of tadalafil once daily in men with erectile dysfunction--including a report of the partners' evaluation.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of tadalafil 5 mg taken once daily on efficacy (erection achievement and penetration) and overall sexual satisfaction in men with erectile dysfunction (ED) and their female partners.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included data pooled from 2 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials that included 505 couples (tadalafil, n=373; placebo, n=132) in which the men received tadalafil 5 mg once daily or placebo for 12 weeks. Individual Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP) diaries were completed independently by the male subject and his female partner after each sexual intercourse attempt.

Reliability of efficacy in men with erectile dysfunction treated with tadalafil once daily after initial success.

The reliability of response to treatment is an important component of erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment. This study examined the reliability of tadalafil once daily (that is, successful attempts/total attempts) following initial successful intercourse. Data pooled from two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of men with ED who received tadalafil 2.

Improvements in confidence, sexual relationship and satisfaction measures: results of a randomized trial of tadalafil 5 mg taken once daily.

An efficacy study of tadalafil (5 mg once daily) for treating erectile dysfunction included sexual satisfaction and psychosocial outcome measures such as Treatment satisfaction (THX) domain of Sexual Life Quality Questionnaire, Self-Esteem And Relationship (SEAR) questionnaire, Sexual Encounter Profile questions 4 (SEP4; hardness satisfaction) and 5 (SEP5; overall satisfaction), intercourse satisfaction (IS) and overall satisfaction (OS) domains of International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), and partner SEP question 3 (pSEP3). After a 4-week run-in phase, participants were randomized to receive either tadalafil (N=264) or placebo (N=78) for 12 weeks. Participants and partners were more satisfied (THX) with tadalafil (75 and 73, respectively) than with placebo (51 and 55, respectively, P<0.

Impact on erectile function and sexual quality of life of couples: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of tadalafil taken once daily.

Introduction: Clinical research on erectile dysfunction (ED) has focused primarily on the male and the impact of treatment on their erectile function (EF) and sexual quality of life. However, ED affects the quality of life of both the male and the female partner. The literature examining the impact on the female partner resulting from treating the male's ED is somewhat limited.

A Phase II trial of Denileukin Diftitox in patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Denileukin diftitox, a chimeric protein, uses the cytocidal properties of diphtheria toxin to cells expressing interleukin-2 receptors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of denileukin diftitox in the treatment of advanced relapsed nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: Multicenter phase II trial in patients with NSCLC with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS 0-2, stage IIIB/IV at diagnosis, who had failed at least 1 previous chemotherapy regimen.

Whisking in air: encoding of kinematics by trigeminal ganglion neurons in awake rats.

Active sensing requires the brain to distinguish signals produced by external inputs from those generated by the animal's own movements. Because the rodent whisker musculature lacks proprioceptors, we asked whether trigeminal ganglion neurons encode the kinematics of the rat's own whisker movements in air. By examining the role of kinematics, we have extended previous findings showing that many neurons that respond during such movements do not do so consistently.

Functional assessments of the rodent facial nerve: a synkinesis model.

Objectives/hypothesis: Rodent whisker movement has been used as a tool, after facial nerve manipulation, to quantify functional recovery. We have recently established a method to study functional correlates of aberrant regeneration of the facial nerve. Our objective was to establish normative parameters for both spontaneous and induced whisking and blinking behavior in a large group of normal rats.

A system for studying facial nerve function in rats through simultaneous bilateral monitoring of eyelid and whisker movements.

The occurrence of inappropriate co-contraction (synkinesis) of facially innervated muscles in humans is a common sequela of facial nerve injury and recovery. We have developed a system for studying facial nerve function and synkinesis in restrained rats using non-contact opto-electronic techniques that enable simultaneous bilateral monitoring of eyelid and whisker movements. Whisking is monitored in high spatio-temporal resolution using laser micrometers, and eyelid movements are detected using infrared diode and phototransistor pairs that respond to the increased reflection when the eyelids cover the cornea.

Biomechanics of the vibrissa motor plant in rat: rhythmic whisking consists of triphasic neuromuscular activity.

The biomechanics of a motor plant constrain the behavioral strategies that an animal has available to extract information from its environment. We used the rat vibrissa system as a model for active sensing and determined the pattern of muscle activity that drives rhythmic exploratory whisking. Our approach made use of electromyography to measure the activation of all relevant muscles in both head-fixed and unrestrained rats and two-dimensional imaging to monitor the position of the vibrissae in head-fixed rats.

Central sleep apnea, right ventricular dysfunction, and low diastolic blood pressure are predictors of mortality in systolic heart failure.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether central sleep apnea (CSA) contributes to mortality in patients with heart failure (HF).

Background: Cheyne-Stokes breathing with CSA commonly occurs in patients with systolic HF. Consequences of CSA, including altered blood gases and neurohormonal activation, could result in further left ventricular dysfunction.

Topography of whisking II: interaction of whisker and pad.

The peripheral effector system mediating rodent whisking produces protraction/retraction movements of the whiskers and translation movements of the collagenous mystacial pad. To examine the interaction of these movements during whisking in air we used high-resolution, optoelectronic methods for two-dimensional monitoring of whisker and pad movements in head-fixed rats. Under these testing conditions (1) whisker movements on the same side of the face are synchronous and of similar amplitude; (2) pad movements exhibit the characteristic 'exploratory' rhythm (6-12 Hz) of whisking but their movements often have a low frequency (1-2 Hz) component; (3) Pad movements occur in both antero-posterior and dorso-ventral planes but there are considerable variations in the amplitude and topography of movement parameters in the two planes.

Anticipatory activity of motor cortex in relation to rhythmic whisking.

Rats characteristically generate stereotyped exploratory (5-12 Hz) whisker movements, which can also be adaptively modulated. Here we tested the hypothesis that the vibrissal representation in motor cortex (vMCx) initiates and modulates whisking by acting on a subcortical whisking central pattern generator (CPG). We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in vMCx of behaving Sprague-Dawley rats while monitoring whisking behavior through mystacial electromyograms (EMGs).

Respiratory protection provided by N95 filtering facepiece respirators against airborne dust and microorganisms in agricultural farms.

A new system was used to determine the workplace protection factors (WPF) for dust and bioaerosols in agricultural environments. The field study was performed with a subject wearing an N95 filtering facepiece respirator while performing animal feeding, grain harvesting and unloading, and routine investigation of facilities. As expected, the geometric means (GM) of the WPFs increased with increasing particle size ranging from 21 for 0.

One whisker whisking: unit recording during conditioned whisking in rats.

Understanding of the functional neurobiology of the rodent whisker system would be advanced by neurobehavioral studies in awake, behaving animals that combine unit recording from structures at various levels of the system with quantitative characterization of the kinematics and temporal organization of whisking. Such studies require the solution of a number of methodological problems. These include: chronic recording procedures ensuring unit isolation, stability and maximum yield, monitoring and display of unit activity and whisker movements within the same (ms) timeframe and behavioral paradigms which bring whisking movement parameters under the control of the experimenter rather than the rat.

Whisker motor cortex ablation and whisker movement patterns.

Previous studies, based on qualitative observations, reported that lesions of the whisker motor cortex produce no deficits in whisking behavior. We used high-resolution optoelectronic recording methods to compare the temporal organization and kinematics of whisker movements before and after unilateral lesions of whisker motor cortex in rats. We now report that while the lesion did not abolish whisking, it significantly disrupted whisking kinematics, coordination, and temporal organization.

Whisking as a "voluntary" response: operant control of whisking parameters and effects of whisker denervation.

The rat's ability to vary its whisking "strategies" to meet the functional demands of a discriminative task suggests that whisking may be characterized as a "voluntary" behavior--an operant--and like other operants, should be modifiable by appropriate manipulations of response-reinforcer contingencies. To test this hypothesis we have used high-resolution, optoelectronic "real-time" recording procedures to monitor the movements of individual whiskers and reinforce specific movement parameters (amplitude, frequency). In one operant paradigm (N = 9) whisks with protractions above a specified amplitude were reinforced (Variable Interval 30 s) in the presence of a tone, but extinguished (EXT) in its absence.

Reversible blockade of rodent whisking: Botulinum toxin as a tool for developmental studies.

Studies of sensorimotor systems such as the whisking system of rodents have suggested that associations between body movements and their sensory consequences during development may make an important contribution to the functional organization of the system. In the present study we have explored the possible utility of Botulinum toxin for developmental studies of whisking. Botox selectively blocks whisking-generated afference leaving other sources of whisker afference intact.