Suppression of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms after Head Trauma

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) encompasses a spectrum of clinical symptoms characterized by unwanted thoughts coupled with an intense compulsion to act and to repeat behavior fragments in a ritualistic and stereotyped sequence. Obsessive-compulsive symptom due to brain lesions is not rare, but suppression of these symptoms after head trauma is very rare and we found only 3 cases in review of literatures from 1966 to 2001. The case of a patient suffering with severe OCD is described of note; her symptoms disappeared following right temporo-parietofrontal lesion

IL-17 and IL-22 elicited by a DNA vaccine encoding ROP13 associated with protection against Toxoplasma gondii in BALB/c mice.

Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular parasitic protozoan, is capable of infecting man and all warm-blooded animals. Cell-mediated immunity is vital in mounting protective responses against T. gondii infection. Recent studies have shown that T-helper (Th) 17 responses may play a key role in parasite control. In this current study, we constructed a DNA vaccine encoding T. gondii ROP13 in a pcDNA vector. Groups of BALB/c mice were immunized intramuscularly with pcROP13 or controls and challenged with the RH strain of T. gondii. The results showed that immunization with pcROP13 could elicit an antibody response against T. gondii. The expression of the canonical Th17 cytokines, interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22, were significantly increased after immunization with pcROP13 compared with control groups ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, vaccination resulted in a significant decrease in parasite load ( p < 0.05). The induction of Th17 related cytokines, using a ROP13 DNA vaccine, against T. gondii should be considered as a potential vaccine approach for the control of toxoplasmosis

Modified optical flow technique for cardiac motions analysis in echocardiography images

The quantitative analysis of cardiac motions in echocardiography images is a noteworthy issue in processing of these images. Cardiac motions can be estimated by optical flow (OF) computation in different regions of image which is based on the assumption that the intensity of a moving pattern remains constant in consecutive frames. However, in echocardiographic sequences, this assumption may be violated because of unique specifications of ultrasound. There are some methodsapplying the brightness variation effect in OF. Almost all of them have presented a mathematical brightness variation model globally in the images. Nevertheless, there is not a brightness variation model for echocardiographic images in these methods. Therefore, we are looking for a method to apply brightness variations locally in different regions of the image. In this study, we proposed a method to modify ausual OF technique by considering intensity variation. To evaluate this method, we implement two other OF-based methods, one usual OF method and a modified OF method applying brightness variation as a multiplier and an offset (generalized dynamic imaging model [GDIM]) and compare them with ours. These algorithms and ours were implemented on real 2D echocardiograms. Our method resulted in more accurate estimations than two others. At last, we compared our method with expert′spoint of view and observed that three distance metrics between them was appropriately smaller than other methods. The Haussdorff distance between the estimated curve defined by the proposed method and the expert defined curve is 4.81 pixels less than this distance for Lucas-Kanade and 2.28 pixels less than GDIM

IL-17 and IL-22 elicited by a DNA vaccine encoding ROP13 associated with protection against Toxoplasma gondii in BALB/c mice.

Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular parasitic protozoan, is capable of infecting man and all warm-blooded animals. Cell-mediated immunity is vital in mounting protective responses against T. gondii infection. Recent studies have shown that T-helper (Th) 17 responses may play a key role in parasite control. In this current study, we constructed a DNA vaccine encoding T. gondii ROP13 in a pcDNA vector. Groups of BALB/c mice were immunized intramuscularly with pcROP13 or controls and challenged with the RH strain of T. gondii. The results showed that immunization with pcROP13 could elicit an antibody response against T. gondii. The expression of the canonical Th17 cytokines, interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22, were significantly increased after immunization with pcROP13 compared with control groups ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, vaccination resulted in a significant decrease in parasite load ( p < 0.05). The induction of Th17 related cytokines, using a ROP13 DNA vaccine, against T. gondii should be considered as a potential vaccine approach for the control of toxoplasmosis

Diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women using automated chemiluminescence and quantitative real time PCR

Objective: To identify serodiagnosis and quantification of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection among pregnant women in Salmas, northwest of Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 276 blood samples were collected from pregnant women referred to the health care centers in Salmas city. The demographic variables were also recorded. Titers of anti-Toxoplasma IgM and IgG antibodies (Ab) were determined using the chemiluminescence immunoassay. Quantitative real-time PCR targeting the T. gondii repeated element gene was also performed on the blood sample. Results: Out of all, 19.92% (55/276) and 2.17% (6/276) patients were seropositive for anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM Ab, respectively. Moreover, the presence of T. gondii DNA was observed in 12.31% (34/276) blood samples. A significant relationship was observed between the IgG Ab seropositivity and contact with the cat as a risk factor (P=0.022). Conclusions: The seroprevalence rate of T. gondii infection in pregnant women is relatively low. Consequently, the seronegative pregnant women are at risk, and a considerable rate of positive blood samples for the presence of parasite's DNA should not be ignored. Besides, quantitative real-time PCR could be considered as an accurate method for diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis especially when the precise results are of the most importance in pregnancy. Limiting contact with cats is also suggested for pregnant women

Genetic Insights from Consanguineous Cardiomyopathy Families

Inherited cardiomyopathies are a prevalent cause of heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Both hypertrophic (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are genetically heterogeneous and typically present with an autosomal dominant mode of transmission. Whole exome sequencing and autozygosity mapping was carried out in eight un-related probands from consanguineous Middle Eastern families presenting with HCM/DCM followed by bioinformatic and co-segregation analysis to predict the potential pathogenicity of candidate variants. We identified homozygous missense variants in TNNI3K, DSP, and RBCK1 linked with a dilated phenotype, in NRAP linked with a mixed phenotype of dilated/hypertrophic, and in KLHL24 linked with a mixed phenotype of dilated/hypertrophic and non-compaction features. Co-segregation analysis in family members confirmed autosomal recessive inheritance presenting in early childhood/early adulthood. Our findings add to the mutational spectrum of recessive cardiomyopathies, supporting inclusion of KLHL24, NRAP and RBCK1 as disease-causing genes. We also provide evidence for novel (recessive) modes of inheritance of a well-established gene TNNI3K and expand our knowledge of the clinical heterogeneity of cardiomyopathies. A greater understanding of the genetic causes of recessive cardiomyopathies has major implications for diagnosis and screening, particularly in underrepresented populations, such as those of the Middle East