bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Down‐regulation of amygdala preprotachykinin A mRNA but not3H‐SP receptor binding sites in subjects affected by mood disorders and schizophrenia
Authors: Carletti Renzo , Corsi Mauro , Melotto Sergio , Caberlotto Laura 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIncreasing evidence suggests that substance P (SP) neurokinin‐1 (NK1) receptors are involved in stress and emotional responses, representing a potential target for the treatment of anxiety and depression in humans. Given the important role of the amygdaloid complex in the regulation of emotional behavior, we examined the mRNA levels of preprotachykinin A [PPT‐A, a precursor of both SP and neurokinin A (NKA)] and3H‐SP binding sites in the amygdala of patients affected by bipolar disorder, major depression or schizophrenia as compared with matched control individuals. By means ofin situhybridization, a significant reduction of PPT‐A mRNA expression levels was detected in the three diagnostic groups, mainly in the basal, lateral and accessory basal amygdaloid nuclei, but not in the temporal cortical area proximal to the amygdala. Receptor autoradiography performed on adjacent sections showed no change in3H‐SP binding sites as compared with controls. No significant correlation was found between levels of PPT‐A mRNA expression or binding sites and subject age, gender, hemisphere side, cause of death or history of substance misuse (marijuana, alcohol, cocaine/amphetamine). An inverse relationship between PPT‐A mRNA expression levels and lifetime antipsychotic treatment (Fluphenazine) in the schizophrenic and bipolar disorder groups was found. Post‐mortem delay was also negatively correlated with NK1 binding sites. The results confirm an involvement of the tachykinins in psychiatric disorders, suggesting there is a generalized impairment of the SP system in the amygdala in mood disorders and schizophrenia rather than this being a disease‐related phenomenon.
Right ear advantage for conspecific calls in adults and subadults, but not infants, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus): hemispheric specialization for communication?
Authors: Böye M. , Güntürkün O. , Vauclair J. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper explores functional hemispheric asymmetries in the perception of auditory signals in a marine mammal species, the sea lion. Using a head‐orienting task toward sounds we found a right ear – left hemisphere – advantage for conspecific calls in adult and subadult California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) that was absent in infants. Non‐conspecific sounds did not elicit lateralized reactions in any age group. These findings show that maturational steps regarding communication in the brain of pinnipeds are similar to those described in primates. Such a result in a semi‐aquatic species distant from primates on the phylogenetic tree speaks for a stability and an ancient emergence of the left hemispheric specialization for vocal communication. The origin of what seems to be a widespread brain feature might be searched in the temporal and spectral communicative sound's characteristics rather than in its semantic value.
Volume‐sensitive chloride channels in mouse cortical neurons: characterization and role in volume regulation
Authors: Inoue Hana , Mori Shin‐ichiro , Morishima Shigeru , Okada Yasunobu 
Published: January 2009

AbstractBecause persistent swelling causes cell damage and often results in cell death, volume regulation is an important physiological function in both neuronal and non‐neuronal cells. Brain cell swelling has been observed not only in various pathological conditions but also during physiological synaptic transmissions. Volume‐sensitive anion channels have been reported to play an important role in the regulatory volume decrease occurring after osmotic swelling in many cell types. In this study, using a two‐photon laser scanning microscope and patch‐clamp techniques, we found that mouse cortical neurons in primary culture exhibit regulatory volume decrease after transient swelling and activation of Cl– currents during exposure to a hypotonic solution. The regulatory volume decrease was inhibited by Cl– channel blockers or K+ channel blockers. Swelling‐activated Cl– currents exhibited outward rectification, time‐dependent inactivation at large positive potentials, a low‐field anion permeability sequence, an intermediate unitary conductance and sensitivity to known blockers of volume‐sensitive Cl– channels. Thus, it is concluded that the activity of the volume‐sensitive outwardly rectifying Cl– channel plays a role in the control of cell volume in cortical neurons.
The dependence of the auditory evoked N1m decrement on the bandwidth of preceding notch‐filtered noise
Authors: Okamoto H. , Kakigi R. , Gunji A. , Kubo T. , Pantev C. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe auditory evoked response is known to be changed by a preceding sound. In this study we investigated by means of magnetoencephalography how a preceding notch‐filtered noise (NFN) with different bandwidths influences the human auditory evoked response elicited by the following test stimulus. We prepared white noise (WN) and four NFNs which were derived from WN by suppressing frequency regions around 1 kHz with 1/8‐, 1/4‐, 1/2‐ and 1‐octave bandwidths. Stimulation for 3 s with this set of noises resulted in differences in responsiveness to a 1‐kHz test tone presented 500 ms after the offset of the noises. The N1m response to the 1‐kHz test tone stimulus was at a minimum when the preceding NFN had 1/4‐octave stop‐band frequencies as compared with 1/8‐, 1/2‐ and 1‐octave NFN and WN. This N1m decrement is explained by the imbalanced neural activities caused by habituation and lateral inhibition in the auditory system. The results contribute to understanding of the inhibitory system in the human auditory cortex.
Central nucleus of amygdala projections to rostral ventrolateral medulla neurones activated by decreased blood pressure
Authors: Saha Sikha , Drinkhill Mark J. , Moore Jonathan P. , Batten Trevor F. C. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) participates in cardiovascular regulation during emotional behaviour but it has not been established whether any of these effects are mediated through its direct connections to blood pressure‐regulating neurones in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). The RVLM contains barosensitive neurones that maintain resting blood pressure via their projections to sympathetic preganglionic neurones in the thoracic spinal cord. In this study on rats, we used combined anterograde neuronal tracing of CeA projections with confocal and electron microscopic immunohistochemical detection of phenylethanolamine‐N‐methyltransferase, the adrenaline‐synthesizing enzyme present in C1 catecholamine neurones of the RVLM, and Fos, the protein product of thec‐fosproto‐oncogene. Fos expression in barosensitive neurones was stimulated by an intravenous infusion of the hypotensive agent sodium nitroprusside. Injection of the tracer biotin dextran amine (10‐kDa form) into the CeA resulted in anterograde labelling of axons and varicosities throughout the RVLM without retrograde labelling of somata in any brain area. With confocal microscopy, presumptive CeA terminals were found in close apposition to adrenergic (phenylethanolamine‐N‐methyltransferase‐immunoreactive) and non‐adrenergic neurones that displayed Fos‐immunoreactive nuclei in response to decreased blood pressure. Electron microscopic analysis confirmed that some labelled terminals of CeA axons made synaptic contact withc‐fos‐activated adrenergic neurones. The results provide evidence that cardiovascular influences elicited from the CeA during stressful events may be mediated, at least in part, via monosynaptic neural projections to barosensitive sympathetic blood pressure‐regulating neurones in the RVLM.
Recapitulating emotional context: activity of amygdala, hippocampus and fusiform cortex during recollection and familiarity
Authors: Fenker Daniela B. , Schott Björn H. , Richardson‐Klavehn Alan , Heinze Hans‐Jochen , Düzel Emrah 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe amygdala is thought to enhance long‐term memory for emotionally arousing events by modulating memory formation and storage in the hippocampus and in neocortical areas. Recent animal studies have raised the possibility that cooperativity between amygdala and hippocampus contributes to the retrieval of fear memories. The functional contributions of the amygdala to the retrieval of emotional memories in humans are less well known. Here, in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, 20 healthy subjects studied neutral words in the context of a fearful or a neutral human face. In a subsequent test, they made ‘remember’ (conscious recollection of the study context), ‘know’ (familiarity in the absence of conscious recollection) and ‘new’ judgements on the studied and newly presented neutral words, in the absence of face stimuli. At test, bilateral amygdala, hippocampus and fusiform face area (FFA) were more strongly activated during recollection than during familiarity. Higher activity for fearful than for neutral study context was found in bilateral FFA during recollection but not during familiarity. This difference recapitulated higher activity for fearful than for neutral context in the FFA during study. These data suggest that the amygdalae and hippocampi contribute to the retrieval of emotion‐laden context memories by coordinating the reactivation of stored representations in neocortical areas, such as the FFA. However, there also was a recapitulation of emotional study context in the right amygdala during familiarity only, which might therefore be related to affective implicit memory.
Determination of the pharmacodynamic interaction of propofol and dexmedetomidine during esophagogastroduodenoscopy in children
Authors: HAMMER GREGORY B. , SAM WAI JOHNN , CHEN MICHAEL I. , GOLIANU BRENDA , DROVER DAVID R. 
Published: January 2009

SummaryObjectives:  Propofol is a sedative‐hypnotic drug commonly used to anesthetize children undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective alpha‐2 adrenergic receptor agonist that has been utilized in combination with propofol to provide anesthesia. There is currently no information regarding the effect of intravenous dexmedetomidine on the propofol plasma concentration–response relationship during EGD in children. This study aimed to investigate the pharmacodynamic interaction of propofol and dexmedetomidine when used in combination for children undergoing EGD.Methods:  A total of 24 children undergoing EGD, ages 3–10 years, were enrolled in this study. Twelve children received dexmedetomidine 1 μg·kg−1 given over 10 min as well as a continuous infusion of propofol delivered by a computer‐assisted target‐controlled infusion (TCI) system with target plasma concentrations ranging from 2.8 to 4.0 μg·ml−1 (DEX group). Another group of 12 children undergoing EGD also received propofol administered by TCI targeting comparable plasma concentrations without dexmedetomidine (control group). We used logistic regression to predict plasma propofol concentrations at which 50% of the patients exhibited minimal response to stimuli (EC50 for anesthesia).Results:  The EC50 ± se values in the control and DEX groups were 3.7 ± 0.4 μg·ml−1 and 3.5 ± 0.2 μg·ml−1, respectively. There was no significant shift in the propofol concentration–response curve in the presence of dexmedetomidine.Conclusion:  The EC50 of propofol required to produce adequate anesthesia for EGD in children was unaffected by a concomitant infusion of dexmedetomidine 1 μg·kg−1 given over 10 min.
A left paraglossal approach for oral intubation in children scheduled for bilateral orofacial cleft reconstruction surgery – a prospective observational study
Authors: SEN INDU , KUMAR SUSHIL , BHARDWAJ NEERJA , WIG JYOTSNA 
Published: January 2009

SummaryBackground:  Children with orofacial cleft defects are expected to have difficult airways. Conventional midline laryngoscopic approach of oral intubation can lead to iatrogenic tissue trauma. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of left paraglossal laryngoscopy as a primary technique for airway management in these children.Methods:  After institutional ethical committee approval and informed consent, we enrolled 21 children with uncorrected bilateral lip and palate deformities (BL CL/P). Anesthesia was induced with halothane (0.5–4%) in 100% oxygen. After obtaining intravenous access, fentanyl 1.5 μg·kg−1 and atracurium 0.5 mg·kg−1 were administered. Endotracheal intubation was performed with Miller’s straight blade laryngoscope, introduced using left paraglossal approach. Difficulty of intubation was scored according to modified Intubation Difficulty Scale.Results:  Data consists of 21 children (15 males and six females), mean age 1.31 ± 1.18 years and weight 9.27 ± 2.57 kg. Laryngoscopic view obtained was CL II (7[33.3%]) and CL I (14[66.6%]) respectively (Figure 1). All the children could be easily intubated using left paraglossal approach, only 2/3 of them needed optimal external laryngeal manipulation to help achieving it. Though intubation could be done in the first attempt in 19 children, two infants (9½ and 11 months) required one size smaller endotracheal tube and were intubated in the second attempt using left paraglossal approach. Perioperative course was uneventful in all the children. Distribution of Intubation Difficulty scale (IDS) Score in BL CL/P patients. n (%) IDS: 0 (intubation without difficulty), IDS: 1 (slight difficulty; OELM applied/additional intubation attempt), IDS: >5 (Moderate to Major difficulty), IDS: = α (Impossible intubation).imageConclusion:  Keeping in mind midline tissue support loss in cleft deformities, we propose routine use of left paraglossal laryngoscopic approach for intubating children with uncorrected BL CL/P anomalies.
Reduced neorectal capacitance is a more important factor for impaired defecatory function after rectal resection than the anal sphincter pressure
Authors: Schuld J. , Kreissler‐Haag D. , Remke M. , Steigemann N. , Schilling M. , Scheingraber S. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractObjective  The role of the diverse anorectal diagnostic tools like manometry and determination of the preception threshold and the maximal tolerable volume is still a matter of debate. Currently, there is a scarcity of physiological data in the long‐term follow‐up of patients who underwent sphincter‐preserving rectal resection. The aim of this study was therefore to perform these anorectal physiological measurements and to correlate the determined parameters with a faecal incontinence score.Method  In 45 patients, anorectal manometry, electromyography (EMG) and neorectal volume measurements were performed 21.6 ± 1.4 months after rectal resection. Additionally, patients answered questions to help in the determination of a modified faecal incontinence score.Results  More than half of the patients had more than four bowel movements per day and suffered from defecatory urgency, evacuation and discrimination problems. Manometric data were not related to any functional deficits. In contrast, perception threshold and maximal tolerable volume were correlated with the faecal incontinence score.Conclusion  Defecatory problems especially after radiochemotherapy are still common after rectal resection and the satisfactory functionality post resection should not be oversimplified to just the number of bowel movements. A precondition of an adequate defecation is not only the integrity of the sphincter muscles, but also the recovery of the rectal reservoir function.
Hand‐assisted laparoscopic surgery may be a useful tool for surgeons early in the learning curve performing total abdominal colectomy
Authors: Ozturk E. , Kiran R. P. , Remzi F. , Geisler D. , Fazio V. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractObjective  We evaluated outcomes after hand‐assisted (HALC) and straight laparoscopic (LC) techniques for the initial laparoscopic total abdominal colectomy (TAC) procedures performed by surgeons starting their laparoscopic careers.Method  The first eight HALC cases of two surgeons performing TAC by this technique (Group A) were compared with the first (Group B) and last eight (Group C) TAC cases of three surgeons performing LC. Groups A and B were compared with a matched group of open total colectomy cases (Group D) and to the eight cases performed by an experienced surgeon (Group E). Demographics, intra‐operative and postoperative outcomes including operation time, morbidity, conversion and readmission rates and length of hospital stay (LOS) were compared using Wilcoxon or Chi‐squared tests.Results  Demographics of the patients were similar. Groups A, B C and E had similar operating time (P = 0.10) which was significantly longer than Group D (P < 0.0001). Morbidity (P = 0.75) and readmission rates were similar (P = 0.89). Conversion rate was significantly higher for Group B (Group B: 41.7%vs Group A: 0%, P = 0.008), in the early period. LOS was comparable between minimally invasive groups but significantly shorter than open surgery group (P = 0.0005). For Groups A and C, operating time (P = 0.55), conversion rate (P = 0.11), morbidity (P = 0.83) and LOS (P = 0.12) were similar.Conclusions  Hand‐assisted laparoscopic colectomy may be associated with a significantly shorter learning curve for TAC as results are better than early LC and comparable with LC performed by experienced laparoscopic surgeons. It may be a better option for surgeons early in their laparoscopic career.
The role of SMAD4 in early‐onset colorectal cancer
Authors: Royce S. G. , Alsop K. , Haydon A. , Mead L. , Smith L. D. , Tesoriero A. A. , Giles G. G. , Jenkins M. A. , Hopper J. L. , Southey M. C. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractObjective  Chromosomal loss within the region of 18q and loss of SMAD4 expression have been reported to be frequent somatic events during colorectal cancer tumour progression; however, their associations with age at onset have not been widely studied.Method  We analysed 109 tumours from a population‐based case‐family study based on colorectal cancers diagnosed before the age of 45 years. These patients with early‐onset colorectal cancer had been previously screened for germ‐line mismatch repair gene mutations, microsatellite instability (that included the mononucleotide repeat in TGFβRII) and somatic k‐ras mutations. We measured SMAD4 protein expression using immunohistochemistry and SMAD4 copy number using quantitative real‐time PCR.Results  Loss of SMAD4 protein expression was observed in 27/109 (25%) of cancers tested and was more commonly observed in rectal tumours (15/41, 36%) when compared with tumours arising in the colon (11/66, 17%) (P = 0.04). There was no association between SMAD4 protein expression and TGFβR11 mutation status, SMAD4 copy number, family history, MSI status, tumour stage or grade.Conclusion  Loss of SMAD4 expression is a common feature of early‐onset colorectal tumours as it is in colorectal cancers diagnosed in other age‐groups. Taken together, the molecular pathways (genetic and epigenetic) now known to be involved in early‐onset colorectal cancer only explain a small proportion of the disease and require further exploration.
Changing bodies, changing narratives and the consequences of tellability: a case study of becoming disabled through sport
Authors: Smith Brett , Sparkes Andrew C. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article explores the life story of a young man who experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) and became disabled though playing the sport of rugby union football. His experiences post SCI illuminate the ways in which movement from one form of embodiment to another connects him to a dominant cultural narrative regarding recovery from SCI that is both tellable and acceptable in terms of plot and structure to those around him. Over time, the obdurate facts of his impaired and disabled body lead him to reject this dominant narrative and move into a story line that is located on Norrick's (2005) upper‐bounding side of tellability. This makes it transgressive, frightening, difficult to hear, and invokes the twin processes of deprivation of opportunity and infiltrated consciousness as described by Nelson (2001). These, and the effects of impairment, are seen to have direct consequences for the tellability of embodied experiences along with identity construction and narrative repair over time. Finally, some reflections are offered on how the conditions that negate the telling of his story might be challenged.
Tales of biographical disintegration: how parents make sense of their sons’ suicides
Authors: Owens Christabel , Lambert Helen , Lloyd Keith , Donovan Jenny 
Published: January 2009

AbstractSuicide research relies heavily on accounts provided by bereaved relatives, using a method known as the psychological autopsy. Psychological autopsy studies are invariably quantitative in design and their findings reinforce the medical model of suicide, emphasising the role of mental illness. They largely ignore the meanings that narrators attach to events, the nature of the sense‐making task and the influences bearing upon it. This study drew on psychological autopsy data but used qualitative analytic methods. Fourteen semi‐structured interviews with the parents of young men aged 18–30 who had taken their own lives form the basis for this paper. Some parents represent their sons as victims who were cruelly destroyed by external forces, while others portray them as agents of their own destruction. Either way, their narratives are dominated by moral rather than medical categories and by questions of personal accountability. We show how the parents use the interview to perform a complex reconstructive task, striving to piece together both their son's and their own shattered biographies and repair damage to their moral identities. We argue that their stories represent survival tools, enabling them not only to make sense of the past but also to face their own future.
Sociology, systems and (patient) safety: knowledge translations in healthcare policy
Authors: Jensen Casper Bruun 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn 2000 the American Institute of Medicine, adviser to the federal government on policy matters relating to the health of the public, published the report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which was to become a call to arms for improving patient safety across the Western world. By re‐conceiving healthcare as a system, it was argued that it was possible to transform the current culture of blame, which made individuals take defensive precautions against being assigned responsibility for error – notably by not reporting adverse events, into a culture of safety. The IOM report draws on several prominent social scientists in accomplishing this re‐conceptualisation. But the analyses of these authors are not immediately relevant for health policy. It requires knowledge translation to make them so. This paper analyses the process of translation. The discussion is especially pertinent due to a certain looping effect between social science research and policy concerns. The case here presented is thus doubly illustrative: exemplifying first how social science is translated into health policy and secondly how the transformation required for this to function is taken as an analytical improvement that can in turn be redeployed in social research.