Anterior and posterior commissures in agenesis of the corpus callosum: alternative pathways for attention processes?

Developmental absence (agenesis) of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is a congenital brain malformation resulting from disruption of corpus callosum formation, a structure that is crucial for the transfer and integration of information, including attention processes, across the brain. This study aimed to investigate previously proposed candidates for alternative inter-hemispheric pathways in AgCC by examining (1) white matter volume and microstructure of the anterior and posterior commissures in children with AgCC compared to typically developing controls (TDC), and (2) in children with AgCC, examine the associations of white matter volume and microstructure of the anterior and posterior commissures and any remaining corpus callosum with attention processes. Participants were 21 children with AgCC (13 complete, 8 partial) recruited from The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and 30 TDC aged 8–17 years. T1-and diffusion-weighted MR sequences were used to calculate volume and microstructural parameters. Neuropsychological testing assessed attention processes. We found the anterior commissure was significantly larger in volume in children with AgCC than TDC (p = .027), with reduced mean FA (p = .001) associated with increased mean RD (p < .001). In children with AgCC, we found microstructural properties of the anterior commissure associated with attentional processes, specifically, mean FA of the anterior commissure was associated with better divided attention (p = .03), and the association between alerting attention and mean AD and RD was found to be moderated by age (p = .027, p = .008) and the degree of corpus callosum agenesis (p = .025, p = .016). Furthermore, in partial AgCC, larger posterior commissure volume was associated with better orienting attention (p = .035). In conclusion, we provide evidence that the volume and microstructure of the anterior commissure are altered in children with AgCC, and this neuroplastic response might have an influence on attention processes

Cellulose-Enriched Microbial Communities from Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta colombica) Refuse Dumps Vary in Taxonomic Composition and Degradation Ability

Deconstruction of the cellulose in plant cell walls is critical for carbon flow through ecosystems and for the production of sustainable cellulosic biofuels. Our understanding of cellulose deconstruction is largely limited to the study of microbes in isolation, but in nature, this process is driven by microbes within complex communities. In Neotropical forests, microbes in leaf-cutter ant refuse dumps are important for carbon turnover. These dumps consist of decaying plant material and a diverse bacterial community, as shown here by electron microscopy. To study the portion of the community capable of cellulose degradation, we performed enrichments on cellulose using material from five Atta colombica refuse dumps. The ability of enriched communities to degrade cellulose varied significantly across refuse dumps. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of enriched samples identified that the community structure correlated with refuse dump and with degradation ability. Overall, samples were dominated by Bacteroidetes, Gammaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria. Half of abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) across samples were classified within genera containing known cellulose degraders, including Acidovorax, the most abundant OTU detected across samples, which was positively correlated with cellulolytic ability. A representative Acidovorax strain was isolated, but did not grow on cellulose alone. Phenotypic and compositional analyses of enrichment cultures, such as those presented here, help link community composition with cellulolytic ability and provide insight into the complexity of community-based cellulose degradation.Biological and Environmental Research/[DE-FC02-07ER64494]/BER/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DGE-1256259]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DEB-0747002]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[MCB-0702025]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Institutes of Health/[T32 GM07215]/NIH/Estados UnidosUniversidad de Costa Rica/[]/UCR/Costa RicaMinisterio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones/[]/MICITT/Costa RicaUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison's Hilldale Undergraduate Faculty Research Fellowship/[]//Estados UnidosUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Biología Celular y Molecular (CIBCM

Determination of nitroglycerin and its dinitrate metabolites in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with thermal energy analyzer detection

Highly selective and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic assay employing a thermal energy analyzer as the detector for nitroglycerin and its dinitrate metabolites in human plasma has been developed. Prior to chromatography the method employs a simple one-stage extraction step. Nitroglycerin and its dinitrate metabolites are then chromato-graphed on a 10-μm nitrile bonded phase column using an internal-external standard method. The nitroglycerin and its 1,2,3-propanetriol-1,3- and -1,2-dinitrate metabolites (glyceryl-1,3- and -1,2-dinitrate) have a retention time of 8.5, 10.5, and 11.5 min, respectively at a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min for a mobile phase of 5% v/v acetone in n-hexane. The limits of sensitivity were 0.05 ng/mL for nitroglycerin and 0.25 ng/mL for the dinitrate metabolites. Linearity of response was observed over the 0.1-2.0-ng/mL range for nitroglycerin and 0.5-10.0-ng/mL range for the dinitrate metabolites. Blood level data from a pilot study with human volunteers in receipt of an oral form of nitroglycerin is presented

Improving cardiovascular health and quality of life in people with severe mental illness: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background The estimated 300,000 adults in Australia with severe mental illness (SMI) have markedly reduced life expectancy compared to the general population, mainly due to physical health comorbidities. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the commonest cause of early death and people with SMI have high rates of most modifiable risk factors, with associated quality of life (QoL) reduction. High blood pressure, smoking, dyslipidaemia, diabetes and obesity are major modifiable CVD risk factors. Poor delivery of recommended monitoring and risk reduction is a national and international problem. Therefore, effective preventive interventions to safeguard and support physical health are urgently needed in this population. Methods This trial used a rigorous process, including extensive piloting, to develop an intervention that delivers recommended physical health care to reduce CVD risk and improve QoL for people with SMI. Components of this intervention are integrated using the Flinders Program of chronic condition management (CCM) which is a comprehensive psychosocial care planning approach that places the patient at the centre of their care, and focuses on building their self-management capacity within a collaborative approach, therefore providing a recovery-oriented framework. The primary project aim is to evaluate the effectiveness and health economics of the CCM intervention. The main outcome measures examine CVD risk and quality of life. The second aim is to identify essential components, enablers and barriers at patient, clinical and organisational levels for national, sustained implementation of recommended physical health care delivery to people with SMI. Participants will be recruited from a community-based public psychiatric service. Discussion This study constitutes the first large-scale trial, worldwide, using the Flinders Program with this population. By combining a standardised yet flexible motivational process with a targeted set of evidence-based interventions, the chief aim is to reduce CVD risk by 20%. If achieved, this will be a ground-breaking outcome, and the program will be subsequently translated nationwide and abroad. The trial will be of great interest to people with mental illness, family carers, mental health services, governments and primary care providers because the Flinders Program can be delivered in diverse settings by any clinical discipline and supervised peers.The study is funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council project grant. Project ID: APP1121334

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