Human monstrosities: their origin and treatment

1. Human monstrosities are of great interest to the physician, surgeon, and obstretician. || 2. Until the 19th century, malformations were attributed to the influences of wrathful gods, devils, witches, sex perversions, the moon, eclipses, comets, and "maternal impressions". || 3. Scientific teratology only commenced in the 17th century. || 4. Connections between animals of different species have been proved conclusively to be sterile. || 5. Germinal life of embryo lasts about one week. || 6. Embryonic life lasts about five weeks. || 7. Foetal life lasts for the remainder of the ante-natal period. || 8. Normal development is a form of twinning - "symmetrical division". || 9. Uniovular twins originate from one ovum, and is not a normal physiological process. || 10. Double monsters also originate from one ovum, and are due to partial fission of embryonic axis. || 11. Binovular twinning is not true twinning. || 12. The armadillo has supplied valuable data regarding early mammalian development. || 13. The corpus luteum is a guide as to the number of ova involved in a pregnancy. || 14. There is a period of quiescence of about three weeks in early development of the armadillo. This may explain its polyembryony, and may also explain uniovular twinning in man. || 15. Twinning is due to a period of quiescence as a result of an upset in the growth regulating mechanism of the ovum. || 16. In epignathus we have complete fission with partial inclusion || 17. In foetus in foetu we have complete fission with total inclusion. || 18. Malformations can be produced experimentally in some animals by: (1) violent agitation, (2) variations in physiochemical conditions, (3) variations in temperature, and (4) disturbance of normal respiratory interchange. || 19. The principal causes of human malformations are: (1 )amniotic bands or adhesions, (2) faulty implantation of ovum due to endometritis, (3) developmental arrest at critical stases of gastrulation, and (4) heredity. || 20. There is a growth regulating mechanism in the ovum. || 21. This mechanism is controlled by two ovular secretions: "inhibitin" which inhibits growth, and "stimulin" which stimulates growth. || 22. Normal tissues contain a similar mechanism with similar secretions. || 23. In ante-natal life, inco-ordination between these two factors leads to mal- developments and. monsters, || 24. In post -natal life such into -ordination results in simple or malignant growths. || 25. "Inhibitin" may prove a powerful "de- cancerising" agent || 26. "Stimulin" may prove equally useful in most clinical conditions of a non -malignant nature requiring the speeding-up of tissue repair. || 27. Surgery has a distinct field of usefulness in certain cases of double monsters namely, omphalopagus parasiticus, xiphopagus, thoracopagus and craniopagus. || 28. Heredity is a potent factor in physical and mental peculiarities in the offspring. || 29. There is a constant tendency towards recovery and return to a healthy stock. || 30. Eugenics is " the study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations, either physically or mentally". || 31. Mendel's laws of heredity have been found also applicable in man as regards mental and physical characters. || 32. Several methods for checking the supply of human defectives have been proposed e.g. segregation, sterilisation, restrictive marriage, laws, etc. || 33. Eugenics is one of the world's most pressing problems

Lateral gradients significantly enhance static magnetic field-induced inhibition of pain responses in mice-a double blind experimental study

Recent research demonstrated that exposure of mice to both inhomogeneous (3–477 mT) and homogeneous (145 mT) static magnetic fields (SMF) generated an analgesic effect toward visceral pain elicited by the intraperitoneal injection of 0.6% acetic acid. In the present work, we investigated behavioral responses such as writhing, entry avoidance, and site preference with the help of a specially designed cage that partially protruded into either the homogeneous (ho) or inhomogeneous (inh) SMF. Aversive effects, cognitive recognition of analgesia, and social behavior governed mice in their free locomotion between SMF and sham sides. The inhibition of pain response (I) for the 0–5, 6–20, and 21–30 min periods following the challenge was calculated by the formula I ¼ 100 (1 x/y) in %, where x and y represent the number of writhings in the SMF and sham sides, respectively. In accordance with previous measurements, an analgesic effect was induced in exposed mice (Iho ¼ 64%, P < 0.0002 and Iinh ¼ 62%, P < 0.002). No significant difference was found in the site preference (SMFho, inh vs. sham) indicating that SMF is neither aversive nor favorable. Comparison of writhings observed in the sham versus SMF side of the cage revealed that SMF exposure resulted in significantly fewer writhings than sham (Iho ¼ 64%, P < 0.004 and Iinh ¼ 81%, P < 0.03). Deeper statistical analysis clarified that the lateral SMF gradient between SMF and sham sides could be responsible for most of the analgesic effect (Iho ¼ 91%, P < 0.02 and Iinh ¼ 54%, P < 0.02)

The Impact of Critical Thinking Disposition on Learning Using Business Simulations

This research seeks to determine the relationship between students’ critical thinking disposition and their learning while engaging in a business simulation at a UK higher education institution (HEI). The research informs educators making decisions about the use of simulations as to the value of considering critical thinking dispositions. Previous research has found that simulations are an effective way for students to engage actively in learning, bridging the gap between theory and practice. It has also been found that such simulations can develop students’ critical thinking skills. However, hitherto no research has been undertaken into the role that existing critical thinking disposition has on the learning of students, as measured by the degree to which students perceived that they met the module’s intended learning outcomes. This research offers insights into the role and importance of critical thinking disposition and its component dimensions and how this impacts student learning. The results indicate that the level of critical thinking disposition is positively related to the students’ learning. The implications of the research suggest educators should target business simulations at specific cohorts of students. The relative importance of the critical thinking disposition constructs and the practical educational implications of these findings are discussed

Bengali translation and characterisation of four cognitive and trait measures for autism spectrum conditions in India

Background Autism is characterised by atypical social-communicative behaviour and restricted range of interests and repetitive behaviours. These features exist in a continuum in the general population. Behavioural measures validated across cultures and languages are required to quantify the dimensional traits of autism in these social and non-social domains. Bengali is the seventh most spoken language in the world. However, there is a serious dearth of data on standard measures of autism-related social and visual cognition in Bengali. Methods Bengali translations of two measures related to social-communicative functioning (the Children’s Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and a facial emotion recognition test with stimuli taken from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces database), one measure of visual perceptual disembedding (the Embedded Figures Test), and a questionnaire measure (the Children’s Empathy Quotient) were tested in 25 children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and 26 control children (mean age = 10.7 years) in Kolkata, India. Group differences were analysed by t test and multiple regression (after accounting for potential effects of gender, IQ, and age). Results Behavioural and trait measures were associated with group differences in the expected directions: ASC children scored lower on the Children’s Empathy Quotient and the RMET, as well as on facial emotion recognition, but were faster and more accurate on the Embedded Figures Test. Distributional properties of these measures within groups are similar to those reported in Western countries. Conclusions These results provide an empirical demonstration of cross-cultural generalisability and applicability of these standard behavioural and trait measures related to autism, in a major world language

Contribution of limbic norepinephrine to cannabinoid-induced aversion

RATIONALE: The cannabinoid system has risen to the forefront in the development of novel treatments for a number of pathophysiological processes. However, significant side effects have been observed in clinical trials raising concerns regarding the potential clinical utility of cannabinoid-based agents. Understanding the neural circuits and neurochemical substrates impacted by cannabinoids will provide a better means of gaging their actions within the central nervous system that may contribute to the expression of unwanted side effects. OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we investigated whether norepinephrine (NE) in the limbic forebrain is a critical determinant of cannabinoid receptor agonist-induced aversion and anxiety in rats. METHODS: An immunotoxin lesion approach was combined with behavioral analysis using a place conditioning paradigm and the elevated zero maze. RESULTS: Our results show that the non-selective CB1/CB2 receptor agonist, WIN 55,212-2, produced a significant place aversion in rats. Further, NE in the nucleus accumbens was critical for WIN 55,212-2-induced aversion but did not affect anxiety-like behaviors. Depletion of NE from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis was ineffective in altering WIN 55,212-2-induced aversion and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that limbic, specifically accumbal, NE is required for cannabinoid-induced aversion but is not essential to cannabinoid-induced anxiety.This works was supported by PHS grant DA 020129. Ana Franky Carvalho was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/33236/2007)

Drug Design for CNS Diseases: Polypharmacological Profiling of Compounds Using Cheminformatic, 3D-QSAR and Virtual Screening Methodologies.

HIGHLIGHTS Many CNS targets are being explored for multi-target drug designNew databases and cheminformatic methods enable prediction of primary pharmaceutical target and off-targets of compoundsQSAR, virtual screening and docking methods increase the potential of rational drug design The diverse cerebral mechanisms implicated in Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases together with the heterogeneous and overlapping nature of phenotypes indicated that multitarget strategies may be appropriate for the improved treatment of complex brain diseases. Understanding how the neurotransmitter systems interact is also important in optimizing therapeutic strategies. Pharmacological intervention on one target will often influence another one, such as the well-established serotonin-dopamine interaction or the dopamine-glutamate interaction. It is now accepted that drug action can involve plural targets and that polypharmacological interaction with multiple targets, to address disease in more subtle and effective ways, is a key concept for development of novel drug candidates against complex CNS diseases. A multi-target therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease resulted in the development of very effective Multi-Target Designed Ligands (MTDL) that act on both the cholinergic and monoaminergic systems, and also retard the progression of neurodegeneration by inhibiting amyloid aggregation. Many compounds already in databases have been investigated as ligands for multiple targets in drug-discovery programs. A probabilistic method, the Parzen-Rosenblatt Window approach, was used to build a "predictor" model using data collected from the ChEMBL database. The model can be used to predict both the primary pharmaceutical target and off-targets of a compound based on its structure. Several multi-target ligands were selected for further study, as compounds with possible additional beneficial pharmacological activities. Based on all these findings, it is concluded that multipotent ligands targeting AChE/MAO-A/MAO-B and also D1-R/D2-R/5-HT2A -R/H3-R are promising novel drug candidates with improved efficacy and beneficial neuroleptic and procognitive activities in treatment of Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases. Structural information for drug targets permits docking and virtual screening and exploration of the molecular determinants of binding, hence facilitating the design of multi-targeted drugs. The crystal structures and models of enzymes of the monoaminergic and cholinergic systems have been used to investigate the structural origins of target selectivity and to identify molecular determinants, in order to design MTDLs

A Genetic Animal Model of Alcoholism for Screening Medications to Treat Addiction

The purpose of this review is to present up-to-date pharmacological, genetic, and behavioral findings from the alcohol-preferring P rat and summarize similar past work. Behaviorally, the focus will be on how the P rat meets criteria put forth for a valid animal model of alcoholism with a highlight on its use as an animal model of polysubstance abuse, including alcohol, nicotine, and psychostimulants. Pharmacologically and genetically, the focus will be on the neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems that have received the most attention: cholinergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic, glutamatergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, corticotrophin releasing hormone, opioid, and neuropeptide Y. Herein, we sought to place the P rat's behavioral and neurochemical phenotypes, and to some extent its genotype, in the context of the clinical literature. After reviewing the findings thus far, this chapter discusses future directions for expanding the use of this genetic animal model of alcoholism to identify molecular targets for treating drug addiction in general

Arachnodactyly in a Bantu child

No Abstract

Management of Obesity

No Abstrac