Effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsy of Unverricht-Lundborg Type

Purpose : A 34-year-old woman with progressive myoclonus epilepsy of Unverricht-Lundborg type was considered for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy. Methods : After demonstration of intractability to multiple antiepileptic regimens and progressive deterioration in cerebellar function, the patient was implanted with a vagus nerve stimulator and followed for 1 year. Neurological status, seizure frequency, and parameter changes were analyzed. Results : VNS therapy resulted in reduction of seizures (more than 90%) and a significant improvement in cerebellar function demonstrated on neurological examination. The patient reported improved quality of life based in part on her ability to perform activities of daily living. Conclusions : VNS therapy may be considered a treatment option for progressive myoclonus epilepsy. The effects of VNS on seizure control and cerebellar dysfunction may provide clues to the underlying mechanism(s) of action.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65549/1/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00293.x.pd

"The California critical thinking instruments for benchmarking, program assessment, and directing curricular change"

Charles R. Phillips is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration/Dept. Chair of Pharmacy Practice, Renae J. Chesnut is Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs. Raylene M. Rospond is Dean, Pharmacy and Health Sciences. All three are in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University. They can be contacted at: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. To assess pharmacy students’ critical thinking (CT) measures and identify areas for curricular reform. Methods. Pharmacy students were given the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and Disposition Index at various points in the PharmD program. Scores were compared with a national referent group and evaluated for changes across the curriculum and between classes. Results. Students were comparable to national norms. Pretest and posttest scores for total disposition showed improvement. Scores in all subcategories except for truth-seeking were consistently above 40. The CT skills of the pharmacy students varied compared with those of referent students, but the pharmacy students’ overall score of 18 was in the 73rd percentile. Pre- and post-skills scores showed improvement. Students scoring low on the pretest improved more than those scoring high. Conclusions. Students had a consistent disposition towards CT and compared favorably to national norms. Both disposition and skills improved across the curriculum. Dimensions of critical thinking on which students score low should be areas for curricular and other program changes

Low Mate Encounter Rate Increases Male Risk Taking in a Sexually Cannibalistic Praying Mantis

Male praying mantises are forced into the ultimate trade-off of mating versus complete loss of future reproduction if they fall prey to a female. The balance of this trade-off will depend both on (1) the level of predatory risk imposed by females and (2) the frequency of mating opportunities for males. We report the results of a set of experiments that examine the effects of these two variables on male risk-taking behavior and the frequency of sexual cannibalism in the praying mantis Tenodera sinensis. We experimentally altered the rate at which males encountered females and measured male approach and courtship behavior under conditions of high and low risk of being attacked by females. We show that male risk taking depends on prior access to females. Males with restricted access to females showed greater risk-taking behavior. When males were given daily female encounters, they responded to greater female-imposed risk by slowing their rate of approach and remained a greater distance from a potential mate. In contrast, males without recent access to mates were greater risk-takers; they approached females more rapidly and to closer proximity, regardless of risk. In a second experiment, we altered male encounter rate with females and measured rates of sexual cannibalism when paired with hungry or well-fed females. Greater risk-taking behavior by males with low mate encounter rates resulted in high rates of sexual cannibalism when these males were paired with hungry females

Introduction to the functional RG and applications to gauge theories

These lectures contain an introduction to modern renormalization group (RG) methods as well as functional RG approaches to gauge theories. In the first lecture, the functional renormalization group is introduced with a focus on the flow equation for the effective average action. The second lecture is devoted to a discussion of flow equations and symmetries in general, and flow equations and gauge symmetries in particular. The third lecture deals with the flow equation in the background formalism which is particularly convenient for analytical computations of truncated flows. The fourth lecture concentrates on the transition from microscopic to macroscopic degrees of freedom; even though this is discussed here in the language and the context of QCD, the developed formalism is much more general and will be useful also for other systems.Comment: 60 pages, 14 figures, Lectures held at the 2006 ECT* School "Renormalization Group and Effective Field Theory Approaches to Many-Body Systems", Trento, Ital

Subcellular compartmentation of glutathione in dicotyledonous plants

This study describes the subcellular distribution of glutathione in roots and leaves of different plant species (Arabidopsis, Cucurbita, and Nicotiana). Glutathione is an important antioxidant and redox buffer which is involved in many metabolic processes including plant defense. Thus information on the subcellular distribution in these model plants especially during stress situations provides a deeper insight into compartment specific defense reactions and reflects the occurrence of compartment specific oxidative stress. With immunogold cytochemistry and computer-supported transmission electron microscopy glutathione could be localized in highest contents in mitochondria, followed by nuclei, peroxisomes, the cytosol, and plastids. Within chloroplasts and mitochondria, glutathione was restricted to the stroma and matrix, respectively, and did not occur in the lumen of cristae and thylakoids. Glutathione was also found at the membrane and in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. It was also associated with the trans and cis side of dictyosomes. None or only very little glutathione was detected in vacuoles and the apoplast of mesophyll and root cells. Additionally, glutathione was found in all cell compartments of phloem vessels, vascular parenchyma cells (including vacuoles) but was absent in xylem vessels. The specificity of this method was supported by the reduction of glutathione labeling in all cell compartments (up to 98%) of the glutathione-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana rml1 mutant. Additionally, we found a similar distribution of glutathione in samples after conventional fixation and rapid microwave-supported fixation. Thus, indicating that a redistribution of glutathione does not occur during sample preparation. Summing up, this study gives a detailed insight into the subcellular distribution of glutathione in plants and presents solid evidence for the accuracy and specificity of the applied method

Legal Facts and Reasons for Action: Between Deflationary and Robust Conceptions of Law’s Reason-Giving Capacity

This chapter considers whether legal requirements can constitute reasons for action independently of the merits of the requirement at hand. While jurisprudential opinion on this question is far from uniform, sceptical views are becoming increasingly dominant. Such views typically contend that, while the law can be indicative of pre-existing reasons, or can trigger pre-existing reasons into operation, it cannot constitute new reasons. This chapter offers support to a somewhat less sceptical position, according to which the fact that a legal requirement has been issued can be a reason for action, yet one that is underpinned by bedrock values which law is apt to serve. Notions discussed here include a value-based conception of reasons as facts ; a distinction between complete and incomplete reasons ; and David Enoch’s idea of triggering reason-giving. Following a discussion of criticism against the view adopted here, the chapter concludes by considering some more ‘robust’ conceptions of law’s reason-giving capacity

The Pioneer Anomaly

Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativit

Subcellular distribution of glutathione and cysteine in cyanobacteria

Glutathione plays numerous important functions in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Whereas it can be found in virtually all eukaryotic cells, its production in prokaryotes is restricted to cyanobacteria and proteobacteria and a few strains of gram-positive bacteria. In bacteria, it is involved in the protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS), osmotic shock, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals. Glutathione synthesis in bacteria takes place in two steps out of cysteine, glutamate, and glycine. Cysteine is the limiting factor for glutathione biosynthesis which can be especially crucial for cyanobacteria, which rely on both the sufficient sulfur supply from the growth media and on the protection of glutathione against ROS that are produced during photosynthesis. In this study, we report a method that allows detection and visualization of the subcellular distribution of glutathione in Synechocystis sp. This method is based on immunogold cytochemistry with glutathione and cysteine antisera and computer-supported transmission electron microscopy. Labeling of glutathione and cysteine was restricted to the cytosol and interthylakoidal spaces. Glutathione and cysteine could not be detected in carboxysomes, cyanophycin granules, cell walls, intrathylakoidal spaces, periplasm, and vacuoles. The accuracy of the glutathione and cysteine labeling is supported by two observations. First, preadsorption of the antiglutathione and anticysteine antisera with glutathione and cysteine, respectively, reduced the density of the gold particles to background levels. Second, labeling of glutathione and cysteine was strongly decreased by 98.5% and 100%, respectively, in Synechocystis sp. cells grown on media without sulfur. This study indicates a strong similarity of the subcellular distribution of glutathione and cysteine in cyanobacteria and plastids of plants and provides a deeper insight into glutathione metabolism in bacteria

Cross-sectional validation of the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire: a multidimensional instrument for assessing self-perceptions of aging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-perceptions of aging have been implicated as independent predictors of functional disability and mortality in older adults. In spite of this, research on self-perceptions of aging is limited. One reason for this is the absence of adequate measures. Specifically, there is a need to develop a measure that is theoretically-derived, has good psychometric properties, and is multidimensional in nature. The present research seeks to address this need by adopting the Self-Regulation Model as a framework and using it to develop a comprehensive, multi-dimensional instrument for assessing self-perceptions of aging. This study describes the validation of this newly-developed instrument, the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 2,033 randomly selected community-dwelling older (+65 yrs) Irish adults who completed the APQ alongside measures of physical and psychological health. The APQ assesses self-perceptions of aging along eight distinct domains or subscales; seven of these examine views about own aging, these are: timeline chronic, timeline cyclical, consequences positive, consequences negative, control positive, control negative, and emotional representations; the eighth domain is the identity domain and this examines the experience of health-related changes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mokken scale analysis showed that the majority of items within the views about aging subscales were strongly scalable. Confirmatory factor analysis also indicated that the model provided a good fit for the data. Overall, subscales had good internal reliabilities. Hierarchical linear regression was conducted to investigate the independent contribution of APQ subscales to physical and psychological health and in doing so determine the construct validity of the APQ. Results showed that self-perceptions of aging were independently related to physical and psychological health. Mediation testing also supported a role for self-perceptions of aging as partial mediators in the relationship between indices of physical functioning and physical and psychological health outcomes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Findings support the complex and multifaceted nature of the aging experience. The good internal reliability and construct validity of the subscales suggests that the APQ is a promising instrument that can enable a theoretically informed, multidimensional assessment of self-perceptions of aging. The potential role of self-perceptions of aging in facilitating physical and psychological health in later life is also highlighted.</p

Screening for Active Small Molecules in Mitochondrial Complex I Deficient Patient's Fibroblasts, Reveals AICAR as the Most Beneficial Compound

Congenital deficiency of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I (CI) is a common defect of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Despite major advances in the biochemical and molecular diagnostics and the deciphering of CI structure, function assembly and pathomechanism, there is currently no satisfactory cure for patients with mitochondrial complex I defects. Small molecules provide one feasible therapeutic option, however their use has not been systematically evaluated using a standardized experimental system. In order to evaluate potentially therapeutic compounds, we set up a relatively simple system measuring different parameters using only a small amount of patient's fibroblasts, in glucose free medium, where growth is highly OXPOS dependent. Ten different compounds were screened using fibroblasts derived from seven CI patients, harboring different mutations