Formation of visual memories controlled by gamma power phase-locked to alpha oscillations

Neuronal oscillations provide a window for understanding the brain dynamics that organize the flow of information from sensory to memory areas. While it has been suggested that gamma power reflects feedforward processing and alpha oscillations feedback control, it remains unknown how these oscillations dynamically interact. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) data was acquired from healthy subjects who were cued to either remember or not remember presented pictures. Our analysis revealed that in anticipation of a picture to be remembered, alpha power decreased while the cross-frequency coupling between gamma power and alpha phase increased. A measure of directionality between alpha phase and gamma power predicted individual ability to encode memory: stronger control of alpha phase over gamma power was associated with better memory. These findings demonstrate that encoding of visual information is reflected by a state determined by the interaction between alpha and gamma activity

Glutaric Aciduria Type 1 in Korea: Report of Two Novel Mutations

Glutaric aciduria type I (GA I) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase. Although over 400 patients confirmed as GA I have been reported, reports from the Asian population had contributed to the minor proportion. We recently diagnosed two cases of GA I confirmed with mutational analysis. Here, we present their rather atypical clinical presentations with genetic characteristics for the first time in Korea. Profound developmental delay from birth, association of hearing loss, and neurological improvement after surgical intervention, were considered to be different clinical features from most reported cases. One patient was a compound heterozygote for p.Ser139Leu and p.Asp220Tyr, and the other for p.Ser139Leu and Glu160X. The mutations of the two alleles (p.Asp220Tyr and p.Glu160X) were novel and reports of p.Ser139Leu were rare both in Western and other Asian populations. These might suggest different genetic spectrum of Korean GA I patients

Egy tanúságtevő hitvalló, szolgáló, tudományos és papi pálya lezárult

Passed a Wittness of the Faith, Scientist, a Servant of The Lord, True Priest: Nicefor Petrashevich (1915–2013), canon of the Preshov Greek Catholic Eparchy. Abstract Decease of the witness of the Faith, a servant of the Lord and a famous researcher of the religious folklore: Nicefor Joseph Petrashevich (1915–2013) distinguished member of the Capitol of Preshov Greek Catholic Eparchy. Born in Čukalovce, East-Slovakia (then Csukalóc, Upper-Hungary) in 1915 as the sixth of the eleven children in the family of a Greek Catholic bishop, he was inspired by his father and elder brother who served the Lord. He studied in the high school (gymnasium) of the Cistercian Order in Eger (Northern Hungary) which provided its pupils with knowledge and deep faith. He became a choir-minister of the Uzghorod Bishopric Basilica where he turned to the examination of folklore traditions reflected in the liturgical chants. Apparently, it was his calling and his findings on the Byzantine chants contributed significantly to the understanding of religious folklore. He was known as a gift ed composer and singer, too. The Greek Catholic Church was banned in the Soviet Union which obtained Subcarpathia after the World War II, and this church was oppressed in Slovakia as well, so he faced a dilemma: to convert to the Ortodox (Pravoslav) Christianity and live free, or to remain faithful to the Catholic Church and be persecuted. Moreover, he was a coelebs, a priest who did not have a wife (despite the fact that Greek Catholic priests are allowed to have families). Consequently, he could have been elected as bishop, as the higher ranks in the Byzantine Churches are open for monks. The communist authorities offered Father Nicefor the episcopate of the Slovak Ortodox Church, if he converted to the Ortodoxy. He refused it: “my head does not accept the mithra (bishops’ crone) by leaving my Catholic faith” –he said. As a result, he was imprisoned for more than two years in Slovakia. Later he came to Hungary where could not serve as a parochial priest, but worked as cantor or helping pope in various places and in centres of pilgrimage where performed the liturgy in Church Slavonic which he sang excellently. Continuing his researches in the folk sings in the liturgy and the local traditions of the liturgical chants, he gained a small grant of the Soros Foundation in 1986 and delivered lectures for two semesters at the Department of the Folklore at the Eötvös University in Budapest in 1988–89. His papers have been partially published, but most of them are still preserved as manuscripts in the Institute of Musicology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, or even in unknown places worldwide, as he sent his works to his brothers-in-faith to the United States. In his eighties, instead of enjoying the golden days of ageing, he moved to Slovakia in order to serve as a pastor who spoke both Slovakian and Hungarian as mother tongues. He was buried in Szikszó, Hungary where the Greek Catholic Bishop of Preshov and approximately forty popes from Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia commemorated him on 20 July 2013. Church historians and folklorists honored his memory as a researcher with a conference on 4 October 2013 in Szikszó. Proceedings are to be published next year. A memorial website about him is open for bloggers

Melatonin receptor 1 B polymorphisms associated with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>Two SNPs in <it>melatonin receptor 1B </it>gene, <it>rs10830963 </it>and <it>rs1387153 </it>showed significant associations with fasting plasma glucose levels and the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in previous studies. Since T2DM and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) share similar characteristics, we suspected that the two genetic polymorphisms in <it>MTNR1B </it>may be associated with GDM, and conducted association studies between the polymorphisms and the disease. Furthermore, we also examined genetic effects of the two polymorphisms with various diabetes-related phenotypes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 1,918 subjects (928 GDM patients and 990 controls) were used for the study. Two <it>MTNR1B </it>polymorphisms were genotyped using TaqMan assay. The allele distributions of SNPs were evaluated by <it>x</it>²models calculating odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and corresponding <it>P </it>values. Multiple regressions were used for association analyses of GDM-related traits. Finally, conditional analyses were also performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found significant associations between the two genetic variants and GDM, <it>rs10830963</it>, with a corrected <it>P </it>value of 0.0001, and <it>rs1387153</it>, with the corrected <it>P </it>value of 0.0008. In addition, we also found that the two SNPs were associated with various phenotypes such as homeostasis model assessment of beta-cell function and fasting glucose levels. Further conditional analyses results suggested that <it>rs10830963 </it>might be more likely functional in case/control analysis, although not clear in GDM-related phenotype analyses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There have been studies that found associations between genetic variants of other genes and GDM, this is the first study that found significant associations between SNPs of <it>MTNR1B </it>and GDM. The genetic effects of two SNPs identified in this study would be helpful in understanding the insight of GDM and other diabetes-related disorders.</p

Pediatricians and Emergency Physicians’ Recognition and Training Regarding Child Abuse

Purpose To explore the recognition levels and educational experiences of child abuse among physicians. Methods We conducted an electronic questionnaire survey of pediatricians and emergency physicians. Results Of the 245 total respondents, 63% remarked that child abuse occurred “frequently” in Korea. One hundred twenty-seven (51.8%) respondents experienced an abused child during their practice, and only 55.9% reported the event. Regarding the knowledge for obligation of report as a medical specialist, 45.7% knew where they should report the case, and 39.2% of the respondents knew the phone number of the “Child Protection Agency”. Most respondents (70.2%) answered that they had never received an education about child abuse. Some respondents answered that they had not reported a suspected abused case because they were not certain that the case was abuse and thereby felt discomfort in making the report. To enhance child abuse reports, respondents thought that an immediate intervention is necessary for the reported case. Also, they answered that their confidentialities have to be assured and that the education about child abuse is needed. Conclusion The survey results show that pediatricians and emergency physicians often do not report suspected abuse despite their suspicion of the seriousness and frequent occurrence of child abuse. Such behaviors are affected by the recognition and knowledge levels about child abuse, the experience of training for child abuse, and discomfort of the reporting process. For medical specialists’ attention and reporting of abuse, repetitive education, appropriate public relations and improvement of the reporting process are needed

Catheter Ablation of a Left Free-Wall Accessory Pathway via the Radial Artery Approach

Catheter ablation of the left free-wall accessory pathways (APs) is normally performed by the retrograde transaortic approach via a femoral artery or the transseptal approach. Here we report a case of an overt left free-wall AP, which was successfully ablated with a retrograde transaortic approach via the radial artery without any vascular complications. The patient has remained free of any symptoms or pre-excitation observed on the ECG during a 10-month post-ablation follow-up