Clinical relevance of endoscopic peri-appendiceal red patch in ulcerative colitis patients.

Background Increasing evidence is suggesting appendectomy as an alternative treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC), especially in case of histological appendiceal inflammation. Therefore, preoperative identification of appendiceal inflammation could be beneficial. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of peri-appendiceal red patch (PARP) on colonoscopy. In addition, prognostic relevance of PARP for disease course and its predictive value for histological appendiceal inflammation in patients undergoing appendectomy was assessed. Methods UC patients undergoing colonoscopy in 2014/2015 were included to determine PARP-prevalence in a cross-sectional study. Findings were correlated to patient and disease characteristics, upscaling of treatment and colectomy rates after cross-sectional colonoscopy. In patients undergoing appendiceal resection, histopathological inflammation was assessed using the Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI). Results In total, 249 patients were included of which 17.7% (44/249) had a PARP. Patients with PARP were significantly younger with a shorter disease course. The majority of patients with PARP (61.4%) was in endoscopic remission. Patients with PARP required more upscaling of medical therapy (81.8% vs. 58.0%, p < 0.01), and more PARP patients underwent colectomy (13.6% vs. 4.9%, p = 0.04). Patients with PARP had a higher median RHI in resection specimens (14 vs. 7, p < 0.01). Conclusion PARP was present during colonoscopy regardless disease activity and was predominantly found in UC patients with younger age and shorter disease duration. PARP patients had a more severe course of UC, and in case of appendectomy, more severe histopathological appendiceal inflammation. Appendectomy as an experimental therapy for UC has been suggested to be predominantly effective in UC patients with appendiceal inflammation. This study demonstrates that presence of a PARP on colonoscopy predicts appendiceal inflammation. After consensus has been reached on the therapeutic effect of appendectomy, assessing PARP presence during colonoscopy could therefore contribute to identifying patients most likely to respond

Sodium-activated potassium channels shape peripheral auditory function and activity of the primary auditory neurons in mice

Potassium (K+) channels shape the response properties of neurons. Although enormous progress has been made to characterize K+ channels in the primary auditory neurons, the molecular identities of many of these channels and their contributions to hearing in vivo remain unknown. Using a combination of RNA sequencing and single molecule fluorescent in situ hybridization, we localized expression of transcripts encoding the sodium-activated potassium channels K(Na)1.1(SLO2.2/Slack) and K(Na)1.2 (SLO2.1/Slick) to the primary auditory neurons (spiral ganglion neurons, SGNs). To examine the contribution of these channels to function of the SGNs in vivo, we measured auditory brainstem responses in K(Na)1.1/1.2 double knockout (DKO) mice. Although auditory brainstem response (wave I) thresholds were not altered, the amplitudes of suprathreshold responses were reduced in DKO mice. This reduction in amplitude occurred despite normal numbers and molecular architecture of the SGNs and their synapses with the inner hair cells. Patch clamp electrophysiology of SGNs isolated from DKO mice displayed altered membrane properties, including reduced action potential thresholds and amplitudes. These findings show that K(Na)1 channel activity is essential for normal cochlear function and suggest that early forms of hearing loss may result from physiological changes in the activity of the primary auditory neurons

Correlated Persistent Tunneling Currents in Glasses

Low temperature properties of glasses are derived within a generalized tunneling model, considering the motion of charged particles on a closed path in a double-well potential. The presence of a magnetic induction field B violates the time reversal invariance due to the Aharonov-Bohm phase, and leads to flux periodic energy levels. At low temperature, this effect is shown to be strongly enhanced by dipole-dipole and elastic interactions between tunneling systems and becomes measurable. Thus, the recently observed strong sensitivity of the electric permittivity to weak magnetic fields can be explained. In addition, superimposed oscillations as a function of the magnetic field are predicted.Comment: 4 page

Pathways between childhood victimization and psychosis-like symptoms in the ALSPAC Birth Cohort

Background: Several large population-based studies have demonstrated associations between adverse childhood experiences and later development of psychotic symptoms. However, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms involved in this pathway and the few existing studies have relied on cross-sectional assessments. Methods: Prospective data on 6692 children from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were used to address this issue. Mothers reported on children’s exposure to harsh parenting and domestic violence in early childhood, and children self-reported on bullying victimization prior to 8.5 years. Presence of children’s anxiety at 10 years and their depressive symptoms at 9 and 11 years were ascertained from mothers, and children completed assessments of self-esteem and locus of control at 8.5 years. Children were interviewed regarding psychotic symptoms at a mean age of 12.9 years. Multiple mediation analysis was performed to examine direct and indirect effects of each childhood adversity on psychotic symptoms. Results: The association between harsh parenting and psychotic symptoms was fully mediated by anxiety, depressive symptoms, external locus of control, and low self-esteem. Bullying victimization and exposure to domestic violence had their associations with psychotic symptoms partially mediated by anxiety, depression, locus of control, and self-esteem. Similar results were obtained following adjustment for a range of confounders and when analyses were conducted for boys and girls separately. Conclusions: These findings tentatively suggest that specific cognitive and affective difficulties in childhood could be targeted to minimize the likelihood of adolescents exposed to early trauma from developing psychotic symptoms

Magnetic field effect on the dielectric constant of glasses: Evidence of disorder within tunneling barriers

The magnetic field dependence of the low frequency dielectric constant $e_r$(H) of a structural glass a - SiO2 + xCyHz was studied from 400 mK to 50 mK and for H up to 3T. Measurement of both the real and the imaginary parts of $e_r$ is used to eliminate the difficult question of keeping constant the temperature of the sample while increasing H: a non-zero $e_r$(H) dependence is reported in the same range as that one very recently reported on multicomponent glasses. In addition to the recently proposed explanation based on interactions, the reported $e_r$(H) is interpreted quantitatively as a consequence of the disorder lying within the nanometric barriers of the elementary tunneling systems of the glass.Comment: latex Bcorrige1.tex, 5 files, 4 figures, 7 pages [SPEC-S02/009

Electromyographic Activity in the EEG in Alzheimer's Disease: Noise or Signal?

Many efforts have been directed at negating the influence of electromyographic (EMG) activity on the EEG, especially in elderly demented patients. We wondered whether these “artifacts” might reflect cognitive and behavioural aspects of dementia. In this pilot study, 11 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), 13 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 13 controls underwent EEG registration. As EMG measures, we used frontal and temporal 50–70 Hz activity. We found that the EEGs of AD patients displayed more theta activity, less alpha reactivity, and more frontal EMG than controls. Interestingly, increased EMG activity indicated more cognitive impairment and more depressive complaints. EEG variables on the whole distinguished better between groups than EMG variables, but an EMG variable was best for the distinction between MCI and controls. Our results suggest that EMG activity in the EEG could be more than noise; it differs systematically between groups and may reflect different cerebral functions than the EEG

Proposal of a principle cum scale analytical framework for analyzing agroecological development projects

Because agroecology has different meanings, it may be used in an arbitrary and potentially abusive way when deployed by development cooperation actors conceiving “agroecology-based” development projects. To make the appropriation of agroecology more transparent, we first review the recent attempts in academia to clarify the concept and identify two main trends: a principle-based agroecology and a series of different agroecologies. Based on a critical assessment of these attempts, we then propose a new framework to program, implement and analyze agroecological development projects: it distinguishes different agroecologies with their corresponding categories of principles and their scales of intervention. Further, we argue in favor of a specific category of methodological principles.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Changes in spontaneous movement in response to silent gaps are not robust enough to indicate the perception of tinnitus in mice

Approaches to identify the perception of tinnitus in various animal models have been difficult to apply to mouse. As a result, mice have been underutilized to investigate the cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms underlying tinnitus. A recent study in guinea pigs identified a novel spontaneous behavior (unconditioned response), changes in movement during silent gaps, that identified a subgroup of animals presumably with tinnitus. Guinea pigs identified with tinnitus failed to ''freeze'' in response to silent gaps in sound. In the hope of developing a rapid and reliable assay for mice, we used a similar approach. C57BL/6J mice underwent three trials in which spontaneous movement was video recorded in the presence of white noise interrupted with six silent gaps. Movement metrics included velocity and body movement. Before the third trial, mice underwent either sham or noise exposure to induce hearing loss and tinnitus. Auditory brainstem responses before and after noise trauma confirmed normal hearing in sham-treated animals and hearing loss in the noise-exposed cohort. No differences in the various movement metrics were detected during the silent gaps either before or after sham/noise exposure. Variability in spontaneous movement both before and after sham/noise exposure was substantially greater in mice compared to guinea pigs. Thus, this assay is not sufficiently statistically powerful to identify changes in movement that might indicate tinnitus perception in mice. Previous observations also reported increased movement overall in guinea pigs identified as suffering tinnitus. In contrast, mice showed no statistically significant differences in movement between the three trials. Despite our results, other unconditioned (as well as conditioned) behaviors should be examined in mice to test their utility to detect changes that indicate the perception of tinnitus. Such assays are essential to accelerate the use of mouse models in tinnitus research

Children’s coping with in vivo peer rejection: An experimental investigation

We examined children's behavioral coping in response to an in vivo peer rejection manipulation. Participants (N=186) ranging between 10 and 13 years of age, played a computer game based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either peer rejection (i.e., being voted out of the game) or non-rejection control. During a five-min. post-feedback waiting period children's use of several behavioral coping strategies was assessed. Rejection elicited a marked shift toward more negative affect, but higher levels of perceived social competence attenuated the negative mood shift. Children higher in depressive symptoms were more likely to engage in passive and avoidant coping behavior. Types of coping were largely unaffected by gender and perceived social competence. Implications are discussed. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Children’s Feedback Preferences in Response to an Experimentally Manipulated Peer Evaluation Outcome: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

The present study examined the linkage between pre-adolescent children’s depressive symptoms and their preferences for receiving positive vs. negative feedback subsequent to being faced with an experimentally manipulated peer evaluation outcome in real time. Participants (n = 142) ages 10 to 13, played a computer contest based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either a peer rejection (i.e., receiving the lowest total ‘likeability’ score from a group of peer-judges), a peer success (i.e., receiving the highest score), or a control peer evaluation condition. Children’s self-reported feedback preferences were then assessed. Results revealed that participants assigned to the negative evaluation outcome, relative to either the success or the control outcome, showed a significantly higher subsequent preference for negatively tuned feedback. Contrary to previous work and predictions derived from self-verification theory, children higher in depressive symptoms were only more likely to prefer negative feedback in response to the negative peer evaluation outcome. These effects for depression were not accounted for by either state mood at baseline or mood change in response to the feedback manipulation