Gut-Initiated Alpha Synuclein Fibrils Drive Parkinson's Disease Phenotypes: Temporal Mapping of non-Motor Symptoms and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by progressive motor as well as less recognized non-motor symptoms that arise often years before motor manifestation, including sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Despite the heavy burden on the patient's quality of life, these non-motor manifestations are poorly understood. To elucidate the temporal dynamics of the disease, we employed a mouse model involving injection of alpha-synuclein (αSyn) pre-formed fibrils (PFF) in the duodenum and antrum as a gut-brain model of Parkinsonism.

The effects of mesh bioprosthesis on the spermatic cord structures: a preliminary report in a canine model.

Purpose: The use of mesh bioprosthesis during inguinal herniorrhaphy is now considered routine. To our knowledge, no studies have examined the effects of mesh induced fibrosis on the structure and function of the adjacent spermatic cord. We present our experience in a canine model.

Immune tolerance: a synopsis of the international experience.

Because of the increased morbidity and cost of care associated with inhibitor development, immune tolerance therapy (ITT) is of crucial value in the care of haemophilia. The 24-year experience with this modality, primarily in the treatment of factor VIII inhibitors, has included the use of both high and low doses of clotting factor, with and without immune modulation. Overall success rates for ITT in haemophilia A have been similar (63-83%), while median time to IT has been variable (1.

A longitudinal study of job strain and ambulatory blood pressure: results from a three-year follow-up.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the hypothesis that exposure to "job strain" is related to increased ambulatory blood pressure (ABP).

Method: Participants were 195 men who wore an ABP monitor for 24 hours on two occasions 3 years apart. Job strain status, evaluated at each assessment, was used to identify four groups: those not having job strain at either assessment (N = 138), those having job strain at both times (N = 15), and two crossover groups.

The soluble recombinant form of a binding protein/receptor for the globular domain of C1q (gC1qR) enhances blood coagulation.

The gC1qR is a ubiquitously expressed, 33 kDa cellular protein which recognizes the globular domains of C1q. Recent evidence suggests that the gC1qR also serves as the Zn(++)-dependent endothelial cell binding site for factor XII and high-molecular-weight kininogen, and activates intrinsic coagulation and kinin pathways in purified systems. In addition, activated lymphocytes have been reported to release soluble gC1qR.

Lymphoma.

Lymphomas are rare tumors, which can be unilateral or bilateral. Lymphomas may affect the conjunctiva, the eyelid, and the orbit; and they may be diagnosed systemically. Ophthalmic nurses are the perfect health care professionals to educate and provide the care for these patients.

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) inhibits insulin-like growth factor binding protein I (IGFBP-1) production in luteinized human granulosa cells with a potency similar to insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and higher than insulin.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein I (IGFBP-I) is produced by human granulosa cells and may be important in follicular development. Production of IGFBP-I in human granulosa cells is under inhibitory control of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). It had not been known if IGF-II affected IGFBP-I production in these cells.

Early experience with the contraceptive use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate in an inner-city clinic population.

There are few data on the experience of American women with the injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) since its recent approval by the Food and Drug Administration for contraceptive use in the United States. An exploratory study was conducted using chart reviews and telephone interviews of 261 women who initiated DMPA use between December 1992 and June 1994 at either a hospital-based (48%) or community-based (49%) clinic in New York City. Most DMPA users were single (70%), had had at least one birth (88%), had had at least one abortion (67%) and had ever practiced contraception (75% of those with available data).

"Failure to thrive" in older adults.

The term "failure to thrive" is frequently used to describe older adults whose independence is declining. The term was exported from pediatrics in the 1970s and is used to describe older adults with various concurrent chronic diseases, functional impairments, or both. Despite this heterogeneity, failure to thrive has had its own international Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code since 1979 and has been approached as a clinically meaningful diagnosis in many review articles.

The practice of surgical staging and its impact on adjuvant treatment recommendations in patients with stage I endometrial carcinoma.

A survey of American gynecologic oncologists was undertaken to assess their compliance with current surgical staging criteria in patients with early endometrial carcinoma. One hundred forty-four members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists responded to the survey. Respondents treated an average of 22 new cases annually.

The topography of bilateral retinoblastoma lesions.

Purpose: The anatomic location of intraocular retinoblastoma foci was investigated in patients with bilateral retinoblastoma. The study was designed to evaluate the retinal topography of intraocular tumors and their time course of presentation.

Methods: A retrospective study of 565 eyes with bilateral retinoblastoma was conducted.

Surgical management of congenital saccular cysts of the larynx.

Congenital saccular cysts of the larynx are unusual lesions that commonly present with respiratory obstruction in infants and children. The saccular cyst may result from an atresia of the laryngeal saccule orifice or may represent the retention of mucus in the collecting ducts of submucosal glands located around the ventricle. Traditionally, the treatment of the lesions has been endoscopic unroofing or marsupialization.

Gastric outlet obstruction and gastric infarct in junctional epidermolysis bullosa.

A newborn boy had junctional epidermolysis bullosa, duodenal obstruction, and gastric infarction, a newly described combination that extends the spectrum of gastrointestinal findings associated with junctional epidermolysis bullosa. The infant underwent feeding jejunostomy, but died 16 days after birth. This report emphasizes the need for gastrointestinal assessment in any neonate suspected of having epidermolysis bullosa, especially if the pregnancy was complicated by polyhydramnios.

Variability in lesion depth on prone and supine CT scans of the chest: implications for the accuracy of transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy.

Transthoracic needle biopsy of the lung is often performed fluoroscopically in the prone position; nodule depth measurements are made from accompanying computed tomographic (CT) scans performed supine. We evaluated the effect of prone and supine positioning on the effect of nodule depth as measured from the skin surface. Twenty consecutive patients having CT-guided biopsy performed in the prone position were assessed.

Pharmacokinetics of cardiovascular drugs in children. Inotropes and vasopressors.

Infants and children with congenital or acquired heart disease and children with systemic disease often require pharmacological support of their failing circulation. Catecholamines may serve as inotropic (enhance myocardial contractility) or vasopressor (elevate systemic vascular resistance) agents. Noncatecholamine inotropic agents, such as the cardiac glycosides or the bipyridines, may be used in place of, or in addition to, catecholamines.

Direct in vivo observation of transventricular absorption in the hydrocephalic dog using magnetic resonance imaging.

Rationale And Objectives: A model of chronic noncommunicating hydrocephalus in canines was developed, and gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, physiologic and morphologic studies were performed to investigate transventricular absorption of cerebrospinal fluid.

Methods: Chronic hydrocephalus was induced in 12 mongrel dogs by injection of a silastic mixture into the prepontine cisterns. Ventricular pressure was measured during the development of hydrocephalus, and lateral ventriculo-ventricular perfusions with Gd-DTPA were performed under controlled conditions during serial magnetic resonance imaging studies.

Case report: anaesthetic ejaculation resolved in integrative sex therapy.

The following case illustrates the treatment of a relatively rare ejaculatory dysfunction wherein a patient does not experience any genital pleasure or sensation during his ejaculatory phase. However, ejaculation is physiologically normal with a propulsive ejection of semen.

Assessment of survival and microscopic changes in porcine skin flaps undergoing immediate intraoperative tissue expansion.

The technique of rapid intraoperative tissue expansion has been used with increasing frequency in the clinical setting over the last several years. This technique takes advantage of the skin's ability to immediately stretch and increase in surface area when expanded under a constant load. Sixteen random-pattern, rapidly expanded skin flaps on 10 domestic male pigs were studied to assess the predictive value of the fluorescein test for flap viability after rapid intraoperative tissue expansion.

Histological and bacteriological findings in long-term ileocystoplasty and colocystoplasty in the rat.

The long-term effects of bladder reconstruction using bowel were studied in rats. Bladder surgery consisted of cystotomy and closure, ileo- or colocystoplasty, or placement of a reverse serosal (Thal) patch of ileum. At least one-third of all groups received prophylactic cefaclor, postoperatively.

The patterning of psychological attributes and distress by "job strain" and social support in a sample of working men.

As a test of the "job strain" (job demands-control) model, 297 healthy men aged 30-60 were recruited at eight New York City worksites. The association among job demands and control, social support, and psychological outcomes was tested using both ANCOVA and moderated multiple regression, controlling for demographic variables. The job strain model was supported by various psychological outcome measures, with workers in "active" jobs reporting the highest level of Type A behavior, job involvement, and positive attributional style, workers in "low-strain" jobs reporting the lowest job dissatisfaction and trait anxiety, workers in "passive" jobs reporting the most external locus of control and trait anxiety, and workers in "high-strain" jobs reporting the highest job dissatisfaction.

Relation between job strain, alcohol, and ambulatory blood pressure.

"Job strain" (defined as high psychological demands and low decision latitude on the job) has been previously reported to be associated with increased risk of hypertension and increased left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in a case-control study of healthy employed men, aged 30-60 years, without evidence of coronary heart disease. We hypothesized that job strain would be associated with increased ambulatory blood pressure (AmBP). A total of 264 men at eight work sites wore an AmBP monitor for 24 hours on a working day.