Mondayitis

Mondayitis is a widely known and discussed condition in popular culture. Searching for “Mondayitis” on PubMed, however, will not return any positive results (as of Sunday 6 September 2015). We hope to address this gap in knowledge by proposing a number of possible hypotheses as to its cause, and so assist a keen researcher in directing his or her energies in the most fruitful direction for further exploration

Mondayitis

Mondayitis is a widely known and discussed condition in popular culture. Searching for “Mondayitis” on PubMed, however, will not return any positive results (as of Sunday 6 September 2015). We hope to address this gap in knowledge by proposing a number of possible hypotheses as to its cause, and so assist a keen researcher in directing his or her energies in the most fruitful direction for further exploration

'Insulin neuritis' to 'treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes': new name, same mystery

Insulin neuritis is a historical term for an acute neuropathy affecting patients with diabetes who achieve rapid re-establishment of previously poor glycaemic control. It presents with neuropathic pain, symptoms of autonomic dysfunction or a combination of both. Recently, it has been proposed that 'treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes' would be a more accurate name for this entity. The management focuses on controlling the symptoms while they gradually improve with time

Clot retrieval and acute stroke care.

Resource distribution in stroke care must be rational and evidence-based, not driven by media coverag

Effect of donepezil on transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters in Alzheimer's disease

INTRODUCTION: There is a need for a reliable, noninvasive biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We assessed whether short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), a transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigm that assesses cholinergic circuits of the brain, could become such a biomarker. METHODS: Nineteen patients with AD underwent four SAI testing sessions. The timing of their usual donepezil dose was altered to create different cholinergic states for each session. This was compared to the SAI results from 20 healthy subjects. RESULTS: SAI was not able to distinguish the different cholinergic states assessed in our study. There appeared to be a diurnal variation in cholinergic function in the control group, which was not present in the AD cohort. DISCUSSION: SAI does not appear to have a role in diagnosis and assessment of AD patients. The loss of diurnal variation, however, warrants further investigation as it may provide further biochemical insights about AD

Effect of donepezil on transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters in Alzheimer's disease

Introduction: There is a need for a reliable, noninvasive biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We assessed whether short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), a transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigm that assesses cholinergic circuits of the brain, could become such a biomarker. Methods: Nineteen patients with AD underwent four SAI testing sessions. The timing of their usual donepezil dose was altered to create different cholinergic states for each session. This was compared to the SAI results from 20 healthy subjects. Results: SAI was not able to distinguish the different cholinergic states assessed in our study. There appeared to be a diurnal variation in cholinergic function in the control group, which was not present in the AD cohort. Discussion: SAI does not appear to have a role in diagnosis and assessment of AD patients. The loss of diurnal variation, however, warrants further investigation as it may provide further biochemical insights about AD

Molecular Inconsistencies in a Fragile X Male with Early Onset Ataxia

Mosaicism for FMR1 premutation (PM: 55–199 CGG)/full mutation (FM: >200 CGG) alleles or the presence of unmethylated FM (UFM) have been associated with a less severe fragile X syndrome (FXS) phenotype and fragile X associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS)—a late onset neurodegenerative disorder. We describe a 38 year old male carrying a 100% methylated FM detected with Southern blot (SB), which is consistent with complete silencing of FMR1 and a diagnosis of fragile X syndrome. However, his formal cognitive scores were not at the most severe end of the FXS phenotype and he displayed tremor and ataxic gait. With the association of UFM with FXTAS, we speculated that his ataxia might be related to an undetected proportion of UFM alleles. Such UFM alleles were confirmed by more sensitive PCR based methylation testing showing FM methylation between 60% and 70% in blood, buccal, and saliva samples and real-time PCR analysis showing incomplete silencing of FMR1. While he did not meet diagnostic criteria for FXTAS based on MRI findings, the underlying cause of his ataxia may be related to UFM alleles not detected by SB, and follow-up clinical and molecular assessment are justified if his symptoms worsen

Three applications of path integrals: equilibrium and kinetic isotope effects, and the temperature dependence of the rate constant of the [1,5] sigmatropic hydrogen shift in (Z)-1,3-pentadiene

Recent experiments have confirmed the importance of nuclear quantum effects even in large biomolecules at physiological temperature. Here we describe how the path integral formalism can be used to describe rigorously the nuclear quantum effects on equilibrium and kinetic properties of molecules. Specifically, we explain how path integrals can be employed to evaluate the equilibrium (EIE) and kinetic (KIE) isotope effects, and the temperature dependence of the rate constant. The methodology is applied to the [1,5] sigmatropic hydrogen shift in pentadiene. Both the KIE and the temperature dependence of the rate constant confirm the importance of tunneling and other nuclear quantum effects as well as of the anharmonicity of the potential energy surface. Moreover, previous results on the KIE were improved by using a combination of a high level electronic structure calculation within the harmonic approximation with a path integral anharmonicity correction using a lower level method.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure