Enhanced brainstem cerebral blood flow accompanies symptoms of anhedonia in young adults

Study: Midbrain serotonergic projections are of crucial theoretical significance for mood disorders. Furthermore, learned helplessness (LH) is associated with enhanced metabolic activity in rodent serotonergic midbrain models. However, little evidence supports serotonergic projections in predicting illness severity. We employed arterial spin labeling (ASL) to measure whole brain cerebral blood flow (CBF) in distressed and healthy individuals varying in anxiety and anhedonia. Methods: 36 distressed (27 females; mean age=22.2, SD=2.1) and 34 healthy (19 females; mean age=21.5, SD=1.8) individuals underwent a resting acquisition. Blood flow was measured using a multiband pseudo continuous ASL sequence. Regional cerebral perfusion data was collected with 25 slices, multiband factor=5, 4mm slick thickness, FA=90, 64x64 resolution, FOV=192x912, TR/TE=3.5s/19ms, labeling time=1.5s and postlabeling delay=1.7s. Anhedonia was measured using the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire Anhedonic Depression Scale (MASQ-ADS), with the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) as a secondary measure. Anxiety was measured using the MASQ General Distress Anxious Symptoms Scale. Anhedonia, anxiety and group were included in the regression model. Results: Anhedonia (MASQ-ADS) was associated with increased CBF in the midbrain (T=5.24, p_FWE=0.033), proximal to putative locations of the dorsal/median raphe nuclei (-12, -34, -26). Similar, although weaker, findings were observed with the SHAPS. Conclusion: Anhedonia is associated with altered CBF in the midbrain in a young adult population showing heterogeneous symptoms of distress. Significance: ASL may provide a particularly promising tool to examine enhanced local perfusion, potentially reflecting underlying midbrain serotonergic activity, which is predicted on the basis of LH studies in rodents but has thus far been difficult to investigate in humans

Esophagojejunal Anastomosis Fistula, Distal Esophageal Stenosis, and Metalic Stent Migration after Total Gastrectomy

Esophagojejunal anastomosis fistula is the main complication after a total gastrectomy. To avoid a complex procedure on friable inflamed perianastomotic tissues, a coated self-expandable stent is mounted at the site of the anastomotic leak. A complication of stenting procedure is that it might lead to distal esophageal stenosis. However, another frequently encountered complication of stenting is stent migration, which is treated nonsurgically. When the migrated stent creates life threatening complications, surgical removal is indicated. We present a case of a 67-year-old male patient who was treated at our facility for a gastric adenocarcinoma which developed, postoperatively, an esophagojejunostomy fistula, a distal esophageal stenosis, and a metallic coated self-expandable stent migration. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an esophagojejunostomy fistula combined with a distal esophageal stenosis as well as with a metallic coated self-expandable stent migration

Relevance of the body mass index in the cognitive status of diabetic patients with different alcohol-drinking patterns

Nowadays the general relevance of alcohol consumption in diabetes is extremely controversial. There are recent reports that alcohol consumption could result in a decreased incidence of diabetes, as well as other studies demonstrating a positive association between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes; there are also reports arguing for an inverse association between the two or for no correlation at all. The different results obtained in these studies could be explained by the existence of several confounders that could influence the outcome of the aforementioned studies. In this paper, we studied the possible relevance of BMI as a confounder in the relationship between alcohol consumption in diabetes and cognitive function, by analyzing the correlations between BMI values in diabetic patients with different alcohol drinking patterns and the subdomains from some main psychometric tests, such as MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and MOCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). Our results provide evidence for BMI as a possible confounder of the relationship between alcohol consumption in diabetes and cognitive function. We found a significant increase (p<0.0001) in BMI values in patients with diabetes compared to our control group. Most importantly, significant correlations between BMI parameters in alcohol-consuming diabetic patients and most of the subdomains for psychometric testing

The ElectricalVehicle Simulator for Charging Station in Mode 3 of IEC 61851-1 Standard

As fuel consumption in the transport sector has increased at a faster pace than in other sectors, the use of electromobility represents the main strategy adopted by the automotive industry. In this context, as the number of electrical vehicles (EVs) will increase, it will also be necessary to increase the number of charging stations. The present paper presents a complete solution for charging stations that can be located in the office or mall parking area. This solution includes a mode 3 AC charging stations of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61851-1 Standard, an EV simulator for testing the good functionality of the charging stations (i.e., communications, residual-current device (RCD) protection) and a software application used for controlling the charging process by the programmable logic controller (PLC)

Nanotechnology in the Diagnostic and Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common liver malignancy and is among the top five most common cancers. Despite the progress of surgery and chemotherapy, the results are often disappointing, in part due to chemoresistance. This type of tumor has special characteristics that allow the improvement of diagnostic and treatment techniques used in clinical practice, by combining nanotechnology. This article presents a brief review of the literature focused on nano-conditioned diagnostic methods, targeted therapy, and therapeutic implications for the pathology of hepatocellular carcinoma. Within each subdomain, several modern technologies with significant impact were highlighted: serological, imaging, or histopathological diagnosis; intraoperative detection; carrier-type nano-conditioned therapy, thermal ablation, and gene therapy. The prospects offered by nanomedicine will strengthen the hope of more efficient diagnoses and therapies in the future

Early Impulsivity in Youth at Familial Risk of Bipolar Disorder

Impulsivity is a core feature of bipolar disorder (BD), and it has even been suggested as a possible cognitive endophenotype of the disorder. Response inhibition is a way to test impulsivity behaviorally. Adults with BD exhibit altered response inhibition in the context of emotionally salient information; however, more studies are needed to determine to what extent youth at risk for BD exhibit altered response inhibition in emotionally salient context. We use the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), Affective Go/No-Go Task (AGN) to measure response inhibition in the context of emotionally salient information, and hypothesized that in comparison to controls, at-risk BD youth will show altered response inhibition on the AGN task.\ud \ud Results indicate younger BD offspring exhibit more commission errors than controls, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses were not driving the results. Our finding supports response inhibition as a marker of risk for BD or future psychopathology; however, current findings suggest this effect occurs in younger at-risk BD youth