Therapeutic effectiveness of epicranial nerve blocks on post-traumatic syndrome from head injury

The autor describes the case of a 53-year-old woman suffering from headache and dizziness, sometimes nausea, tinnitus in the right ear, and diffuse scalp allodynia following an occupational accident involving a head injury. Hyposensitizing treatment by anesthetic blockade at the emergence points of the epicranial nerves, which were hyperalgesic to fi nger pressure, rapidly controlled the allodynia and eventually the headache. Unexpectedly, the patient also reported reduced dizziness and resolution of the tinnitus. The unforeseen outcome highlights the unpredictable therapeutic potential of a simple and modestly invasive procedure. The neuropathophysiological interpretation is consequently very interesting

Rest-frame ultra-violet spectra of massive galaxies at z=3: evidence of high-velocity outflows

Galaxy formation models invoke the presence of strong feedback mechanisms that regulate the growth of massive galaxies at high redshifts. In this paper we aim to: (1) confirm spectroscopically the redshifts of a sample of massive galaxies selected with photometric redshifts z > 2.5; (2) investigate the properties of their stellar and interstellar media; (3) detect the presence of outflows, and measure their velocities. To achieve this, we analysed deep, high-resolution (R~2000) FORS2 rest-frame UV spectra for 11 targets. We confirmed that 9 out of 11 have spectroscopic redshifts z > 2.5. We also serendipitously found two mask fillers at redshift z > 2.5, which originally were assigned photometric redshifts 2.0 < z < 2.5. In the four highest-quality spectra we derived outflow velocities by fitting the absorption line profiles with models including multiple dynamical components. We found strongly asymmetric, high-ionisation lines, from which we derived outflow velocities ranging from 480 to 1518 km/s. The two galaxies with highest velocity show signs of AGN. We revised the spectral energy distribution fitting U-band through 8 micron photometry, including the analysis of a power-law component subtraction to identify the possible presence of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The revised stellar masses of all but one of our targets are >1e10 Msun, with four having stellar masses > 5e10 Msun. Three galaxies have a significant power-law component in their spectral energy distributions, which indicates that they host AGN. We conclude that massive galaxies are characterised by significantly higher velocity outflows than the typical Lyman break galaxies at z ~ 3. The incidence of high-velocity outflows (~40% within our sample) is also much higher than among massive galaxies at z < 1, which is consistent with the powerful star formation and nuclear activity that most massive galaxies display at z > 2.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Alcohol-branded merchandise : Association with Australian adolescents’ drinking and parent attitudes

There is growing evidence that young people own alcohol-branded merchandise (ABM), and that ownership influences their drinking intentions and behaviours. However, there is a paucity of research on parents' knowledge or attitudes in relation to ownership of ABM. Study 1 (n = 210) identified high levels of ownership of ABM and associations between ABM and drinking attitudes and behaviours. In Study 2, focus groups with Australian parents found that they were aware of ABM—and many had items of ABM in their home—but they had generally not engaged in consideration of the potential impact on their children. They clearly perceived ABM as advertising and, on reflection, acknowledged that this form of marketing may influence children's decisions about drinking. There is a need to raise parental awareness of the effects of ABM and to endeavour to reduce children's exposure to this influential form of alcohol marketing

Combinatorial and topological aspects of path posets, and multipath cohomology

Multipath cohomology is a cohomology theory for directed graphs, which is defined using the path poset. The aim of this paper is to investigate combinatorial properties of path posets and to provide computational tools for multipath cohomology. In particular, we develop acyclicity criteria and provide computations of multipath cohomology groups of oriented linear graphs. We further interpret the path poset as the face poset of a simplicial complex, and we investigate realisability problems

Distinct neuron phenotypes may serve object feature sensing in the electrosensory lobe of Gymnotus omarorum

Early sensory relay circuits in the vertebrate medulla often adopt a cerebellum-like organization specialized for comparing primary afferent inputs with central expectations. These circuits usually have a dual output, carried by center ON and center OFF neurons responding in opposite waysto the samestimulus at the center of their receptive fields. Here, we show in the electrosensory lateral line lobe of Gymnotiform weakly electric fish that basilar pyramidal neurons, representing ‘ON’ cells, and non-basilar pyramidal neurons, representing ‘OFF’ cells, have different intrinsic electrophysiological properties. We used classical anatomical techniques and electrophysiological in vitro recordings to compare these neurons. Basilar neurons are silent at rest, have a high threshold to intracellular stimulation, delayed responses to steady-state depolarization and low pass responsiveness to membrane voltage variations. They respond to low-intensity depolarizing stimuli with large, isolated spikes. As stimulus intensity increases, the spikes are followed by a depolarizing after-potential from which phase-locked spikes often arise. Non-basilar neurons show a pacemaker-like spiking activity, smoothly modulated in frequency by slow variations of stimulus intensity. Spike-frequency adaptation provides a memory of their recent firing, facilitating non-basilar response to stimulus transients. Considering anatomical and functional dimensions, we conclude that basilar and non-basilar pyramidal neurons are clear-cut, different anatomo-functional phenotypes. We propose that, in addition to their role in contrast processing, basilar pyramidal neurons encode sustained global stimuli such asthose elicited by large or distant objects while nonbasilar pyramidal neurons respond to transient stimuli due to movement of objects with a textured surface.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació

Do Australian adolescent female fake tan (sunless tan) users practice better sun-protection behaviors than non-users?

Objective: To determine differences in sun-protection behaviours, and incidence of sunburn, between Australian adolescent female fake tan users and non-users. Design: Cross sectional survey. Method: 398 adolescent females aged 12 to 18 years participated in a survey at public venues, schools, and online. The main outcome measures were self-reported fake tan usage in the past 12 months, frequency of sunburns and habitual sun-protection behaviours. Setting: Surveys were completed in New South Wales, Australia. Results: The prevalence of self-reported use of fake tanning products in the past 12 months among Australian adolescent females was 34.5%. Female fake tan users were significantly less likely to report wearing a hat, wearing a shirt with sleeves or wearing pants covering to the knees. There was no difference between fake tan users and non-users in use of sunscreen, seeking shade, wearing sunglasses or avoidance of peak ultraviolet (UV) hours. Logistic regression modelling, when accounting for age, desire for a tan and skin type, revealed fake tan users were more likely to experience frequent sunburns and less likely to wear protective clothing. Conclusions: Our findings show that fake tan use among Australian female adolescents is associated with decreased sun protection, specifically reduced use of both upper and lower body protective clothing. Fake tan users were significantly more likely to experience repeated sunburns, after controlling for skin type. These findings provide impetus for the development of health education programmes targeting a new sub-group of adolescents with distinct tanning behaviours

Chimeric peptide nucleic acid compounds modulate splicing of the bcl-x gene in vitro and in vivo

Alternative splicing of the bcl-x gene generates two transcripts: the anti-apoptotic bcl-xL isoform and the pro-apoptotic bcl-xS isoform. The ratio between the two isoforms is a key factor in development and in cancer progression. Here, we show that a short antisense chimeric peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligonucleotide conjugated to a polypeptide containing eight Ser-Arg repeats (SR)(8) can modulate splicing of bcl-x both in vitro and in vivo and induces apoptosis in HeLa cells. The PNA-SR oligo was targeted to a region of bcl-x that does not contain splicing regulatory sequences and was able to override the complex network of splicing enhancers and silencers that regulates the ratio between the two bcl-x isoforms. Thus, PNA-SR oligos are powerful tools that can potentially modulate splice site choice in endogenous genes independent of the presence of other splicing regulatory mechanisms on the target gene

Understanding the behaviour of the target market: what do adolescents think about when asked questions about their behaviour in the sun?

We undertook a project to develop a psychometrically sound instrument measuring adolescent sun-related behavior for use in the evaluation of a social marketing program. During the preliminary stages, we conducted a pilot study to test the face validity of the instrument with adolescents. Think-aloud sessions were completed with 24 adolescents. Results identified gaps in our understanding of adolescent sun-related behavior. Adolescents interpreted 'tanning' as specifically lying at the beach in the sun, however also reported behaviours to 'get a bit of sun', suggesting adolescents and researchers have different interpretations of key terms. The study highlights that use of the think-aloud technique can improve understanding behaviours of the target market and improve the validity of measures of adolescent sunrelated behaviour