Emotional evaluation and memory in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) affects emotional evaluation, but less is known regarding the patients' ability to remember emotional stimuli. Here, bvFTD patients and age-matched controls studied positive, negative, and neutral pictures followed by a recognition memory test. Compared to controls, bvFTD patients showed a reduction in emotional evaluation of negative scenes, but not of positive or neutral scenes. Additionally, the patients showed an overall reduction in recognition memory accuracy, due to impaired recollection in the face of relatively preserved familiarity. These results show that bvFTD reduces the emotional evaluation of negative scenes and impairs overall recognition memory accuracy and recollection

Comparison of manual and semi-automated delineation of regions of interest for radioligand PET imaging analysis

BACKGROUND As imaging centers produce higher resolution research scans, the number of man-hours required to process regional data has become a major concern. Comparison of automated vs. manual methodology has not been reported for functional imaging. We explored validation of using automation to delineate regions of interest on positron emission tomography (PET) scans. The purpose of this study was to ascertain improvements in image processing time and reproducibility of a semi-automated brain region extraction (SABRE) method over manual delineation of regions of interest (ROIs). METHODS We compared 2 sets of partial volume corrected serotonin 1a receptor binding potentials (BPs) resulting from manual vs. semi-automated methods. BPs were obtained from subjects meeting consensus criteria for frontotemporal degeneration and from age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Two trained raters provided each set of data to conduct comparisons of inter-rater mean image processing time, rank order of BPs for 9 PET scans, intra- and inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), repeatability coefficients (RC), percentages of the average parameter value (RM%), and effect sizes of either method. RESULTS SABRE saved approximately 3 hours of processing time per PET subject over manual delineation (p 0.8) for both methods. RC and RM% were lower for the manual method across all ROIs, indicating less intra-rater variance across PET subjects' BPs. CONCLUSION SABRE demonstrated significant time savings and no significant difference in reproducibility over manual methods, justifying the use of SABRE in serotonin 1a receptor radioligand PET imaging analysis. This implies that semi-automated ROI delineation is a valid methodology for future PET imaging analysis

Cluster M Mycobacteriophages Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey with Unusually Large Repertoires of tRNA Isotopes

Genomic analysis of a large set of phages infecting the common hostMycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 shows that they span considerable genetic diversity. There are more than 20 distinct types that lack nucleotide similarity with each other, and there is considerable diversity within most of the groups. Three newly isolated temperate mycobacteriophages, Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey, constitute a new group (cluster M), with the closely related phages Bongo and PegLeg forming subcluster M1 and the more distantly related Rey forming subcluster M2. The cluster M mycobacteriophages have siphoviral morphologies with unusually long tails, are homoimmune, and have larger than average genomes (80.2 to 83.7 kbp). They exhibit a variety of features not previously described in other mycobacteriophages, including noncanonical genome architectures and several unusual sets of conserved repeated sequences suggesting novel regulatory systems for both transcription and translation. In addition to containing transfer-messenger RNA and RtcB-like RNA ligase genes, their genomes encode 21 to 24 tRNA genes encompassing complete or nearly complete sets of isotypes. We predict that these tRNAs are used in late lytic growth, likely compensating for the degradation or inadequacy of host tRNAs. They may represent a complete set of tRNAs necessary for late lytic growth, especially when taken together with the apparent lack of codons in the same late genes that correspond to tRNAs that the genomes of the phages do not obviously encode

Preferences for HIV prevention strategies among newly arrived Asian-born men who have sex with men living in Australia: A discrete choice experiment.

The HIV epidemic in Australia is changing with higher risk for HIV among newly-arrived Asian-born men who have sex with men (MSM) compared to Australian-born MSM. We evaluated the preferences for HIV prevention strategies among 286 Asian-born MSM living in Australia for <5 years. A latent class analysis uncovered three classes of respondents who were defined by their preferences: "PrEP" (52%), "Consistent condoms" (31%), and "No strategy" (17%). Compared to the "No strategy" class, men in the "PrEP" class were less likely to be a student or ask their partner for their HIV status. Men in the "Consistent condoms" class were more likely to get information about HIV from online, and less likely to ask their partner for their HIV status. Overall, PrEP was the preferred HIV prevention strategy for newly arrived migrants. Removing structural barriers to access PrEP can accelerate progress toward ending HIV transmission

Test-retest variability of high resolution positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of cortical serotonin (5HT2A) receptors in older, healthy adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Position emission tomography (PET) imaging using [¹⁸F]-setoperone to quantify cortical 5-HT_2Areceptors has the potential to inform pharmacological treatments for geriatric depression and dementia. Prior reports indicate a significant normal aging effect on serotonin 5HT_2Areceptor (5HT_2AR) binding potential. The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest variability of [¹⁸F]-setoperone PET with a high resolution scanner (HRRT) for measuring 5HT_2AR availability in subjects greater than 60 years old. Methods: Six healthy subjects (age range = 65–78 years) completed two [¹⁸F]-setoperone PET scans on two separate occasions 5–16 weeks apart.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The average difference in the binding potential (BP_ND) as measured on the two occasions in the frontal and temporal cortical regions ranged between 2 and 12%, with the lowest intraclass correlation coefficient in anterior cingulate regions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that the test-retest variability of [¹⁸F]-setoperone PET in elderly subjects is comparable to that of [¹⁸F]-setoperone and other 5HT_2AR radiotracers in younger subject samples.</p

Improving delirium care in the intensive care unit: The design of a pragmatic study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Delirium prevalence in the intensive care unit (ICU) is high. Numerous psychotropic agents are used to manage delirium in the ICU with limited data regarding their efficacy or harms.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This is a randomized controlled trial of 428 patients aged 18 and older suffering from delirium and admitted to the ICU of Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis. Subjects assigned to the intervention group will receive a multicomponent pharmacological management protocol for delirium (PMD) and those assigned to the control group will receive no change in their usual ICU care. The primary outcomes of the trial are (1) delirium severity as measured by the Delirium Rating Scale revised-98 (DRS-R-98) and (2) delirium duration as determined by the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU). The PMD protocol targets the three neurotransmitter systems thought to be compromised in delirious patients: dopamine, acetylcholine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid. The PMD protocol will target the reduction of anticholinergic medications and benzodiazepines, and introduce a low-dose of haloperidol at 0.5-1 mg for 7 days. The protocol will be delivered by a combination of computer (artificial intelligence) and pharmacist (human intelligence) decision support system to increase adherence to the PMD protocol.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The proposed study will evaluate the content and the delivery process of a multicomponent pharmacological management program for delirium in the ICU.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00842608">NCT00842608</a></p

Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape

Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human–wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.Peer reviewe