Evidence of language-related left hypofrontality in Major Depression: An EEG Beta band study

Major depression (MDD) has been associated with an altered EEG frontal asymmetry measured in resting state; nevertheless, this association has showed a weak consistency across studies. In the present study, which starts from an evolutionistic view of psychiatric disorders, we investigated frontal asymmetry in MDD, using language as a probe to test the integrity of large inter- and intra-hemispheric networks and processes. Thirty MDD patients (22 women) and 32 matched controls (HC) were recruited for an EEG recording in resting state and during two linguistic tasks, phonological and semantic. Normalized alpha and beta EEG spectral bands were measured across all three conditions in the two groups. EEG alpha amplitude showed no hemispheric asymmetry, regardless of group, both at rest and during linguistic tasks. During resting state, analysis of EEG beta revealed a lack of hemispheric asymmetry in both groups, but during linguistic tasks, HC exhibited the typical greater left frontal beta activation, whereas MDD patients showed a lack of frontal asymmetry and a significantly lower activation of left frontal sites. In depressed patients, positive affect was negatively correlated with depression levels and positively correlated with left frontal EEG beta amplitude. Language represents the human process that requires the largest level of integration between and within the hemispheres; thus, language asymmetry was a valid probe to test the left frontal alteration encompassing highly impairing psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and MDD. Indeed, these severe diseases are marked by delusions, ruminations, thought disorders, and hallucinations, all of which have a clear linguistic or metalinguistic basis

Quantum three-body system in D dimensions

The independent eigenstates of the total orbital angular momentum operators for a three-body system in an arbitrary D-dimensional space are presented by the method of group theory. The Schr\"{o}dinger equation is reduced to the generalized radial equations satisfied by the generalized radial functions with a given total orbital angular momentum denoted by a Young diagram $[\mu,\nu,0,...,0]$ for the SO(D) group. Only three internal variables are involved in the functions and equations. The number of both the functions and the equations for the given angular momentum is finite and equal to $(\mu-\nu+1)$.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, RevTex, Accepted by J. Math. Phy

Casimir energy and black hole pair creation in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime

Following the subtraction procedure for manifolds with boundaries, we calculate by variational methods, the Schwarzschild-de Sitter and the de Sitter space energy difference. By computing the one loop approximation for TT tensors we discover the existence of an unstable mode even for the non-degenerate case. This result seems to be in agreement with the sub-maximal black hole pair creation of Bousso-Hawking. The instability can be eliminated by the boundary reduction method. Implications on a foam-like space are discussed.Comment: 19 pages,RevTeX with package epsf and four eps figures. Added other references. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

The bulk correlation length and the range of thermodynamic Casimir forces at Bose-Einstein condensation

The relation between the bulk correlation length and the decay length of thermodynamic Casimir forces is investigated microscopically in two three-dimensional systems undergoing Bose-Einstein condensation: the perfect Bose gas and the imperfect mean-field Bose gas. For each of these systems, both lengths diverge upon approaching the corresponding condensation point from the one-phase side, and are proportional to each other. We determine the proportionality factors and discuss their dependence on the boundary conditions. The values of the corresponding critical exponents for the decay length and the correlation length are the same, equal to 1/2 for the perfect gas, and 1 for the imperfect gas

Pioglitazone Prevents Capillary Rarefaction in Streptozotocin-Diabetic Rats Independently of Glucose Control and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression

Background/Aims: Reduction of capillary network density occurs early in the development of metabolic syndrome and may be relevant for the precipitation of diabetes. Agonists of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma transcription factor are vasculoprotective, but their capacity for structural preservation of the microcirculation is unclear. Methods: Male Wistar rats were rendered diabetic by streptozotocin and treated with pioglitazone in chow for up to 12 weeks. Capillary density was determined in heart and skeletal muscle after platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) immunostaining. Hallmarks of apoptosis and angiogenesis were determined. Results: Capillary density deteriorated progressively in the presence of hyperglycemia (from 971/mm(2) to 475/mm(2) in quadriceps muscle during 13 weeks). Pioglitazone did not influence plasma glucose, left ventricular weight, or body weight but nearly doubled absolute and relative capillary densities compared to untreated controls (1.2 vs. 0.6 capillaries/myocyte in heart and 1.5 vs. 0.9 capillaries/myocyte in quadriceps muscle) after 13 weeks of diabetes. No antiapoptotic or angiogenic influence of pioglitazone was detected while a reduced expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-3 alpha and PPAR coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1 alpha) mRNA as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein possibly occurred as a consequence of improved vascularization. Conclusion: Pioglitazone preserves microvascular structure in diabetes independently of improvements in glycemic control and by a mechanism unrelated to VEGF-mediated angiogenesis. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Social competitiveness and plasticity of neuroendocrine function in old age: influence of neonatal novelty exposure and maternal care reliability

Abstract Early experience is known to have a profound impact on brain and behavioral function later in life. Relatively few studies, however, have examined whether the effects of early experience remain detectable in the aging animal. Here, we examined the effects of neonatal novelty exposure, an early stimulation procedure, on late senescent rats' ability to win in social competition. During the first 3 weeks of life, half of each litter received daily 3-min exposures to a novel environment while the other half stayed in the home cage. At 24 months of age, pairs of rats competed against each other for exclusive access to chocolate rewards. We found that novelty-exposed rats won more rewards than home-staying rats, indicating that early experience exerts a life-long effect on this aspect of social dominance. Furthermore, novelty-exposed but not home-staying rats exhibited habituation of corticosterone release across repeated days of social competition testing, suggesting that early experience permanently enhances plasticity of the stress response system. Finally, we report a surprising finding that across individual rat families, greater effects of neonatal novelty exposure on stress response plasticity were found among families whose dams provided more reliable, instead of a greater total quantity of, maternal care

Epidemiology of Pain in People With Dementia Living in Care Homes: Longitudinal Course, Prevalence, and Treatment Implications

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordIntroduction Knowledge regarding the longitudinal course, impact, or treatment implications of pain in people with dementia living in care homes is very limited. Methods We investigated the people with dementia living in 67 care homes in London and Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. Pain, dementia severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, depression, agitation, and quality-of-life were measured using appropriate instruments at baseline (N = 967) and after 9 months (n = 629). Results Baseline prevalence of pain was 35.3% (95% CI 32.3–38.3). Pain severity was significantly correlated with dementia severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, depression, agitation, and quality of life at both time points. Regular treatment with analgesics significantly reduced pain severity. Pain was significantly associated with more antipsychotic prescriptions. Pain was significantly associated (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.18–1.85) with all-cause mortality during follow-up. Conclusions Pain is an important determinant of neuropsychiatric symptoms, mortality, quality-of-life, and antipsychotic prescriptions. Improved identification, monitoring, and treatment of pain are urgent priorities to improve the health and quality-of-life for people with dementia.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR

Binge-Pattern Alcohol Exposure during Puberty Induces Long-Term Changes in HPA Axis Reactivity

Adolescence is a dynamic and important period of brain development however, little is known about the long-term neurobiological consequences of alcohol consumption during puberty. Our previous studies showed that binge-pattern ethanol (EtOH) treatment during pubertal development negatively dysregulated the responsiveness of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, as manifested by alterations in corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), arginine vasopressin (AVP), and corticosterone (CORT) during this time period. Thus, the primary goal of this study was to determine whether these observed changes in important central regulators of the stress response were permanent or transient. In this study, juvenile male Wistar rats were treated with a binge-pattern EtOH treatment paradigm or saline alone for 8 days. The animals were left undisturbed until adulthood when they received a second round of treatments consisting of saline alone, a single dose of EtOH, or a second binge-pattern treatment paradigm. The results showed that pubertal binge-pattern EtOH exposure induced striking long-lasting alterations of many HPA axis parameters. Overall, our data provide strong evidence that binge-pattern EtOH exposure during pubertal maturation has long-term detrimental effects for the healthy development of the HPA axis

Jet production in charged current deep inelastic e⁺p scatteringat HERA

The production rates and substructure of jets have been studied in charged current deep inelastic e⁺p scattering for Q² > 200 GeV² with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 110.5 pb⁻¹. Inclusive jet cross sections are presented for jets with transverse energies E_{T}^{jet} > 5 GeV. Measurements of the mean subjet multiplicity, 〈n_{sbj}〉, of the inclusive jet sample are presented. Predictions based on parton-shower Monte Carlo models and next-to-leading-order QCD calculations are compared to the measurements. The value of α_{s} (M_{z}), determined from 〈n_{sbj}〉 at y_{cut} = 10⁻² for jets with 25 < E_{T}^{jet} < 119 GeV, is α_{s} (M_{z}) = 0.1202 ± 0.0052 (stat.)_{-0.0019}^{+0.0060} (syst.)_{-0.0053}^{+0.0065} (th.). The mean subjet multiplicity as a function of Q² is found to be consistent with that measured in NC DIS

Multijet production in neutral current deep inelastic scattering at HERA and determination of α_{s}

Multijet production rates in neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured in the range of exchanged boson virtualities 10 5 GeV and –1 < η_{LAB}^{jet} < 2.5. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations describe the data well. The value of the strong coupling constant α_{s} (M_{z}), determined from the ratio of the trijet to dijet cross sections, is α_{s} (M_{z}) = 0.1179 ± 0.0013 (stat.)_{-0.0046}^{+0.0028}(exp.)_{-0.0046}^{+0.0028}(th.)