bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
59 “Lithium Damaged My Spine” Might not Be a Delusion After All
Authors: Zaidi Muhammad , Prabhu Anurag , Martell Jose Perez , Dhir Sakshi 
Published: March 2019

AbstractBackgroundLithium remains to be the drug of choice for treating BPAD for the past few decades. There is extensive literature showing the effectiveness of Lithium when used as a mood stabilizing agent in bipolar spectrum disorders. However significant number of articles show that a third of the patients who receive lithium for their symptomology not only do not show any response but also may show deterioration of their clinical symptoms. (However, research shows that Lithium may negatively affect a third of the patients depending on various factors). The side effect profile of Lithium and especially its neurotoxic effects were discussed in depth in literature over the last decade. Although Lithium remains first choice as maintenance treatment for bipolar affective disorder, about half of all individuals may stop their treatment at some point, despite its proven benefits concerning the prevention of severe affective episodes and suicide.MethodsThe authors performed a systematic literature review to recognize the significance of negative effects of Lithium in a minority of patient population and also comment on the factors influencing patient compliance. We ran a literature search on Pubmed using the following terms: “Lithium” AND (“schizoaffective disorder [MeSH terms]” OR “Bipolar Affective disorder [MeSH terms]” ). Our inclusion criteria were studies which have observed effects of Lithium in schizoaffective patient population or bipolar affective patient population. Studies with other concurrent diagnoses were excluded.Case presentationWe discuss a fifty nine year old male with a history of multiple admissions to a forensic hospital care setting. He initially endorsed a diagnosis of Psychotic disorder NOS which was later changed to schizoaffective disorder during his subsequent admissions. He presented with affective psychotic features where his mood was labile shifting from melancholic to euphoric and a concurrent history of auditory verbal hallucinations. He displayed paranoid non-bizarre persecutory delusions and also alleged that one of his doctors had hated him and put him on Lithium as a form of punishment. He claims that Lithium, as a result, has significantly affected him negatively and also damaged his nerves. This led the authors to explore the significance of use of Lithiumin people with schizoaffective disorders and also bipolar affective disorders. We also discuss the disease course in the patient and his clinical response to use of various psychotropic medications.ConclusionsThe case exemplifies the negative effects of Lithium when used as a mood stabilizer in patient population that is susceptible to its adverse effects due to various factors.
74 Alpha Lipoic Acid Responsive Hypergeusia
Authors: Cormie Sarah E. , Hirsch Alan R. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractIntroductionImprovement in hypergeusia in response to alpha lipoic acid treatment has not heretofore been described. Such a case is presented.MethodsCase Study: A 64 year old right handed nasute female noted the sudden onset of salty hypergeusia, about 200% saltier than foods should be. Concurrently she experienced a constant phantogeusia of salt involving the front half of her tongue, lips, and inside her mouth. She denied any smell problems, cacogeusia, or palinageusia. This persisted for five months until treatment with 1800mg/day of alpha lipoic acid, whereupon, over a one month duration, the salty hypergeusia gradually resolved. Suppression of the salty hypergeusia continued until she developed an upper respiratory infection, whereupon, despite the continuation of alpha lipoic acid, the salty hypergeusia returned to 250% of normal. During the cold, her ability to taste dropped down from 100% to 80%, and ability to smell dropped from 100% to 50% and upon resolution of the cold, the senses returned to normal and the salty hypergeusia remitted.ResultsAbnormalities in Neurologic Examination: Reflexes: 3+ bilateral quadriceps femoris and pendular. Chemosensory testing: Olfaction: Alcohol Sniff Test: 12 (hyposmia), Phenylethyl Alcohol Threshold: greater than –2 (anosmia). Suprathreshold Amyl Acetate Odor Intensity Testing: parallel pattern (normosmia). Pocket Smell Test: 4(normosmia). Retronasal Olfactory Testing: Retronasal Smell Index: 8(normosmia). Gustatory testing: Propylthiouracil Disc Taste Test: 5(normogeusia). Taste Super threshold Testing: normogeusia to sodium chloride, sucrose, and phenylthiocarbamol: hypogeusia(10–30%) to urea; ageusia(0%) to hydrochloric acid. Taste Quadrant Testing: taste weakness to sodium chloride for the entire mouth.DiscussionThe alpha lipoic acid may have acted to improve smell and associated enhanced retro nasal smell, inhibiting savory gustatory discharge, and thus, effectively reducing salt perception. Such a mechanism would also explain the recurrence of hypergeusia with the upper respiratory infection; the infection presumably transiently reducing the olfactory ability, overcoming any olfactory enhancing effects of alpha lipoic acid. On the other hand, this agent could have acted to improve smell as well as taste. With such enhanced chemosensory capacity, the normal olfactory and gustatory components of food would have inhibited competing pathologically discharging gustatory receptors for salt, reducing dysgeusia and hypergeusia. Moreover, the alpha lipoic acidmay have acted to focus the patient’s attention on the gustatory stimulation which may have caused her to perceive not just the predominant salt sensation but enhanced perception of the other gustatory sensations which acted to competitively inhibit the perception of salt. Further investigation of alpha lipoic acid in the management of dysgeusia and hypergeusia is warranted.
80 Misdiagnosis as a Cause of Treatment Failure in Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy (rTMS) for MDD
Authors: Malik Sitwat , Malik Azfar , Mercille Kimberly 
Published: March 2019

Background and ObjectiveResearch suggests that repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is effective, safe, and proven treatment option for patients with treatment resistant major depressive disorder (MDD). Success rate is high, around 65–70% nationwide. Around 30% patients are still not responding to the treatment. Objective of this study is to evaluate the cause of treatment failure or non-responsiveness of TMS treatment despite high efficacy of the therapy. This is the first study to evaluate the cause of treatment failure of TMS therapy.MethodRetrospective, 16months, post- TMS treatment, Clinical rating scales PHQ-9 and GAD-7.68 patients who got treatment over 16months were included in the study, inclusion criteria for thisstudyincludes patients with primary diagnosis of MDD, have previously received at least 20 TMS treatmentsand must be evaluated with at least two clinical rating scales that were entered each day during treatment.ResultNumber of treated patients:68Patients responded to treatment: 50 (73.5%)Patients not responded: 18 (26.4%)Mean # of treatments received:37Mean Baseline PHQ-9 Score:19Mean Outcome PHQ-9 Score:7To evaluate the cause of treatment failure in 18 non-responsive patients, patient charts were reviewed in detail. Patients were interviewed near the end of treatment, during follow-ups, and over the phone. It was established that they were either misdiagnosed, have symptoms of other psychiatric disorders such as bipolar depression, have dual diagnoses (e.g: MDD with anxiety, OCD, PTSD) or unclear diagnoses and in need of further psychiatric evaluations. The variety of these diagnostic scenarios mentioned are not typically treated with TMS therapy or treated differently with TMS as compared to MDD, hence the explanation of therapy failure.ConclusionNumber one cause of TMS treatment failure is misdiagnosis due to various reasons. That includes failure to be accurately diagnosed by a primary psychiatrist, as those patients did not have primary psychiatrist and were referred by primary care physicians and were getting treated for MDD without a proper psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis. However, due to the limitations of the study due to small sample size, we propose that further investigations are needed to be replicated in larger patient population.
82 Ice Melts Phantogeusia: Cold Inhibition of Gustatory Hallucinations
Authors: Mutti Suhanna , Hirsch Alan R. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractIntroductionRelief of phantogeusia through ice cube stimulation has not heretofore been noted.MethodsThis 70-year-old left handed (familial) female noted the onset, three and a half years ago, of reduced taste 80 percent of normal, distorted taste, hallucinated metallic taste, and BMS. Upon application of an ice cube to the tongue, both the metallic taste and the BMS resolved for a few seconds, without impairing her true taste ability. With repeat application, the alleviation effect persists.ResultsAbnormalities in Neurologic Examination: Sensory Examination: Decreased pinprick and temperature bilateral lower extremities. Reflexes: 3+ throughout. Bilateral positive Hoffman’s reflexes. Chemosensory testing: Olfaction: Brief Smell Identification Test: 9 (normosmia). Retronasal Smell Index: 10 (normosmia). Gustation: Propylthiouracil Disc Taste Test: 5 (normogeusia).DiscussionTransient Receptor Potential 5, is expressed in tongue taste buds, facilitating sweet perception, and is temperature dependent (Fujiyama, 2010). Ice may act to reduce such sweet taste receptor discharge, causing an imbalance in taste fiber discharge thus inhibiting the perceived metallic taste. In those who suffer from intractable phantogeusia, a trial of ice cubes or mechanisms to reduce temperature of the tongue is warranted.
93 Practical Outpatient Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Use Disorder
Authors: Kim Youngjung , Hack Laura M , Ahn Elizabeth S , Kim Jungjin 
Published: March 2019

AbstractAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is commonly encountered in clinical practice. A combination of psychosocial intervention and pharmacotherapy is the cornerstone of AUD treatment. Despite their efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness, clinicians are reluctant to prescribe medications to treat individuals with AUD. Given the high rate of relapse with psychosocial intervention alone, increasing patient access to this underutilized treatment has the potential to improve clinical outcome in this difficult-to-treat population. Herein, we provide practical pharmacotherapy strategies to improve treatment outcome for AUD. We review the efficacy and side effects of both on- and off-label agents with a particular focus on clinical applicability. Recommendations are supported by findings from randomized controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyses selected to be representative, where possible, of current treatment guidelines. The goal of this paper is to help readers use pharmacotherapy with greater confidence when treating patients with AUD.
97 My Inner Blizzard: Effect of Weather on Multiple Sclerosis Exacerbation
Authors: Winchester Chevelle R. , Batta Priya , Davinder Dhillon , Hirsch Alan R. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractStudy ObjectiveExacerbation of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms prior to weather change has not heretofore been described.MethodsCase Study: A 60 year old right handed female with lifelong anxiety and four years of depression presented with a 20 year history of MS manifested by bilateral lower extremity pain and weakness and urinary incontinence. Since the onset, she observed that approaching storms or weather changes cause her symptoms to worsen. This manifests one day prior to the meteorological shifts of rain or snow. This occurs whether she is at home or on vacation and unlike the weatherman, “she is never wrong.” The aggravation of symptomatology would consist of worsening leg pain and weakness of both lower extremities so that her functional status changes from using a cane to a wheelchair. These symptoms begin one day prior to the storm and gradually worsen to the point of maximum intensity as the storm arrives. The baseline pain is usually 5/10 in severity but with the storm it increases to 8/10. The pain, which progressively worsens as the storm advances, is a vice-like numbness in her shins and spasm in her legs. The pain and weakness will persist for as long as the storm lasts. The pain diminishes and the motor symptoms improve six hours after the storm is over. She can differentiate approaching snow or rain such that snow causes more intense symptoms. She denies change in symptomatology on airplanes or when she is present at high altitude such as Las Vegas or Colorado. She also affirms that her symptoms are worse when she is in a hot tub and better in a cold-water bath. She reports that there is a family history of similar ability to predict the weather in a cousin and nephew, both who also suffer from MS.ResultsAbnormalities in Neurological Examination: BP 159/115. Pulse 100. Mental Status Examination: disheveled. Depressed mood with congruent affect. Short-term memory: 5 digits forwards, 2 digits backwards. Recent memory: able to recall none of 4 objects in 3minutes without improvement with reinforcement. Unable to interpret similarities or proverbs. Poor ability to calculate. Reflexes: 3+ bilateral lower extremities. Clock Drawing Test: 1 (abnormal).ConclusionsUhthoff’s phenomena (hot bath test) is well described in MS (Humm, 2004), however the worsening of symptoms prior to weather change has not been reported. Possible mechanisms include meteorological induced anxiety and depression with associated exacerbation (Ackerman, 1998). Other possible mechanisms include misattribution, selective recall, or a misreporting due to psychological needs for acceptance by examiner, similar to the Hawthorne effect (observer effect) (Adair, 1984). With the approaching storms there could be a change in internal temperature, which then preferentially affects areas of demyelination (Kudo, 2014). It is worth querying those with epoch associated neurological disorders as to linkage with meteorological events.
Coherence‐Based Approaches for Estimating the Composition of the Seismic Wavefield
Authors: Coughlin M. , Harms J. , Bowden D. C. , Meyers P. , Tsai V. C. , Mandic V. , Pavlis G. , Prestegard T. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractAs new techniques exploiting the Earth's ambient seismic noise field are developed and applied, such as for the observation of temporal changes in seismic velocity structure, it is crucial to quantify the precision with which wave‐type measurements can be made. This work uses array data at the Homestake mine in Lead, South Dakota, and an array at Sweetwater, Texas, to consider two aspects that control this precision: the types of seismic wave contributing to the ambient noise field at microseism frequencies and the effect of array geometry. Both are quantified using measurements of wavefield coherence between stations in combination with Wiener filters. We find a strong seasonal change between body‐wave and surface‐wave content. Regarding the inclusion of underground stations, we quantify the lower limit to which the ambient noise field can be characterized and reproduced; the applications of the Wiener filters are about 4 times more successful in reproducing ambient noise waveforms when underground stations are included in the array, resulting in predictions of seismic time series with less than a 1% residual, and are ultimately limited by the geometry and aperture of the array, as well as by temporal variations in the seismic field. We discuss the implications of these results for the geophysics community performing ambient seismic noise studies, as well as for the cancellation of seismic Newtonian gravity noise in ground‐based, sub‐Hertz, gravitational‐wave detectors.
Lithospheric Thickness of Volcanic Rifting Margins: Constraints From Seaward Dipping Reflectors
Authors: Tian Xiaochuan , Buck W. Roger 
Published: March 2019

AbstractSeaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) are large piles of seaward thickening volcanic wedges imaged seismically along most rifted continental margins. Despite their global ubiquity, it is still debated whether the primary cause of SDR formation is tectonic faulting or magmatic loading. To study how SDRs might form, we developed the first two‐dimensional thermomechanical model that can account for both tectonics and magmatism development of SDRs during rifting. We focus here on the magmatic loading mechanism and show that the shape of SDRs may provide unprecedented constraints on lithospheric strength at volcanic rifting margins. For mapping SDRs geometries to lithospheric strength, a sequence of model lithospheric rheologies are treated, ranging from analytic thin elastic plates to numerical thick elasto‐visco‐plastic crust and mantle layers with temperature and stress‐dependent viscosity. We then analyzed multichannel seismic depth‐converted images of SDRs from Vøring and Argentinian rifted margins in terms of geometric parameters that can be compared to our model results. This results in estimates for the lithospheric thickness during rifting at the two margins of 3.4 and 5.7 km. The plate thickness correlates inversely with mantle potential temperature at these margins during rifting, as estimated by independent studies.
Roles of the Tropical/Extratropical Intraseasonal Oscillations on Generating the Heat Wave Over Yangtze River Valley: A Numerical Study
Authors: Qi Xin , Yang Jing , Gao Miaoni , Yang Hongwei , Liu Hongbo 
Published: March 2019

AbstractYangtze River Valley (YRV) is the core region for the occurrence of heat wave (HW) in China. HW over YRV has been reported to be associated with intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) from tropical/extratropical regions. However, the specific roles of these ISOs on the generation of HW cannot be separated in the observational analysis. This study identified the impact of ISOs from tropic/extratropic on the period of HW development through partial lateral forcing (PLF) experiments using the Weather Research and Forecasting model for a typical ISO‐related HW event over YRV in 2012. The observations show that a remarkable eastward/westward extension of South Asian high/western North Pacific subtropical high accompanied the HW occurrence. Accordingly, this anomalous strong high pressure produced the HW through horizontal warm advection and adiabatic heating, which was related to a lower‐level westward propagating meridional dipole anomaly and an upper‐level eastward migrating wave train from the extratropical region. The PLF experiments confirmed that this HW event was caused by the propagation of intraseasonal perturbations from the surrounding regions. The tropical westward propagating meridional dipole anomaly directly generated a lower‐level anomalous anticyclone in the early period of HW development, whereas extratropical intraseasonal forcing primarily contributed to the eastward extension of the South Asian high in the late, which jointly established the strong high pressure and caused the HW. The PLF experiments also indicate plausible tropical–extratropical interaction of intraseasonal perturbations over YRV. Improving the prediction skills of the tropical/extratropical ISOs may facilitate the subseasonal forecast of the local HW events.
Sea Surface Temperatures and Paleoenvironmental Variability in the Central Mediterranean During Historical Times Reconstructed Using Planktonic Foraminifera
Authors: Incarbona Alessandro , Jonkers Lukas , Ferraro Serena , Sprovieri Rodolfo , Tranchida Giorgio 
Published: March 2019

AbstractThe ongoing anthropogenic‐induced warming assessment requires a robust background from regional sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions. Planktonic foraminifera have yielded valuable insights into late Quaternary SST dynamics, but the techniques to estimate SST from fossil assemblages have only rarely been used in very recent sedimentary records (the last 2,000 years). Here we use two transfer function methods, modern analog technique and artificial neural networks, to reconstruct SST variability in two cores from the Central Mediterranean Sea that span the last five centuries. Both cores show similar and considerable changes in the planktonic foraminifera assemblages. However, the inferred mean annual SSTs only varied in a narrow range, in agreement with instrumental data that go back to 1850 CE. Our reconstructions extend this time frame and indicate that SST variability did not exceed 1.5 °C over the past three centuries. Rather than temperature, we suggest that the changes in the assemblages reflect switches between sea surface winter/spring productivity and a deep winter mixed layer, due to the atmosphere/ocean interplay that governs different productivity modes in neighboring mesoscale gyres.
Genome Analysis of A Novel Recombinant Human Adenovirus Type 1 in China
Authors: Zhang Wanju , Huang Lisu 
Published: March 2019

AbstractHuman adenovirus (HAdV) group C are the common etiologic in infants with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). In the study, we report that a novel recombinant HAdV-C group strain (SH2016) was isolated from an infant with SARI in Shanghai in Feb. 4, 2016. The whole-genome sequence of SH2016 strain was generated and compared to other HAdV genomes publicly available. The strain SH2016 genome contains 35,946 nucleotides and coded 40 putative proteins, which was divided into 11 regions. RDP and phylogenetic analyses of the complete genome showed that the SH2016 strain was arranged into a novel subtype and might be recombined with HAdV-1 and HAdV-2. Our finding indicated that the frequent recombination among the HAdV-C group played an important role in driving force for polymorphism of human HAdV-C group prevalent in Shanghai, China. Further epidemiological surveillance of HAdV-C group is necessary to explore whether the novel HAdV-C group will maintain long-term stability. And the pathogenicity and clinical characteristics of the novel HAdV-C group member should be done more.
Glatiramer Acetate modulates ion channels expression and calcium homeostasis in B cell of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
Authors: Criscuolo C. , Cianflone A. , Lanzillo R. , Carrella D. , Carissimo A. , Napolitano F. , de Cegli R. , de Candia P. , La Rocca C. , Petrozziello T. , Matarese G. , Boscia F. , Secondo A. , Di Bernardo D. , Brescia Morra V. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractTo investigate the effects of Glatiramer Acetate (GA) on B cells by an integrated computational and experimental approach. GA is an immunomodulatory drug approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). GA effect on B cells is yet to be fully elucidated. We compared transcriptional profiles of B cells from treatment-naïve relapsing remitting MS patients, treated or not with GA for 6 hours in vitro, and of B cells before and after six months of GA administration in vivo. Microarrays were analyzed with two different computational approaches, one for functional analysis of pathways (Gene Set Enrichment Analysis) and one for the identification of new drug targets (Mode-of-action by Network Analysis). GA modulates the expression of genes involved in immune response and apoptosis. A differential expression of genes encoding ion channels, mostly regulating Ca2+ homeostasis in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was also observed. Microfluorimetric analysis confirmed this finding, showing a specific GA effect on ER Ca2+ concentration. Our findings unveils a GA regulatory effect on the immune response by influencing B cell phenotype and function. In particular, our results highlight a new functional role for GA in modulating Ca2+ homeostasis in these cells.