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At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Affective communication in normal and brain-damaged adults: an overview.

In the past few decades an increasing number of investigators have examined how emotions are communicated through facial expression, speech prosody, and language in nonclinical and brain-damaged populations. Disorders of emotional communication (often referred to as affective processing disorders) are commonly associated with brain damage. These disorders include difficulty with expressing and perceiving emotional information, regulating emotions in communicative interactions, and demonstrating sensitivity to the emotional expressions of communicative partners. The purposes of this article are to: (1) describe "normal" affective communication; (2) review disorders in affective expression, perception, and regulation; (3) discuss the modality of facial expression and disorders of affective facial expression; and (4) present some informal tools for assessing affective processing.

Affect↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Gelastic epilepsy and precocious puberty in hamartoma of the hypothalamus].

Four cases of hypothalamic hamartoma leading to gelastic epilepsy, precocious puberty and behavioural disorders are reported. Cerebral neuroradiologic examinations revealed a tumor-like mass attached to the hypothalamus in the region of the mamillary bodies in all cases. Precocious puberty developed in the two girls at 4 and 13 months but in neither of the two boys, who both suffered behaviour disturbances in the form of aggressive outbursts. A total resection of the tumors of both boys led to histologic confirmation of hamartoma. One boy was free of seizures upon follow-up, whereas seizure frequency in the other boy was reduced, while his aggressivity increased. The cases are discussed in context of current therapeutic conceptions of gelastic epilepsy and central precocious puberty.

Aggression↗
PubMed1995

The Rett condition--broad clinical variability--a case report over three decades.

A forme fruste Rett variant female with partially preserved speech remnants is described. She was first seen by the author at an age of 4 years. She then presented with an unspecific syndrome of moderate mental retardation. At follow-up when aged 32 she had successively through the years developed a number of Rett characteristic abnormal behavioural patterns and neurologic deviations, together convincingly indicating a Rett syndrome. However, this has been discrete and atypical in original presentation and first apparent in the long term clinical profile. It is underlined that a whole battery of Rett peculiarities appearing with age should be present to allow diagnostic accuracy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Diagnosis of hamartoma of the tuber cinereum].

Hamartomas of the tuber cinereum are tumour-like collections of normal tissue in abnormal location. They are benign lesions with slow or absent growth and without any tendency to neoplastic evolution. Due to their neurosecreting properties they usually cause precocious puberty. Further neuroendocrine disturbances, seizures, or psychoneurological symptoms may be associated in some cases. Cisternography and CT are the most conclusive radiologic procedures in all cases. The typical feature is a well circumscribed round-shaped isodense soft tissue mass without contrast enhancement. Usually the tumour is small, rarely exceeding 2 cm. in diameter. If CT diagnosis is not conclusive, examination in the coronal plane or CT cisternography are recommended. Although CT does not permit a histological diagnosis the clinical and radiological features together are sufficient to make a highly suggestive diagnosis. The treatment of choice is medical therapy. Surgery should be restricted to those tumours which damage surrounding structures by their size and cause other symptoms than precocious puberty.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Treatment of pathologic laughing and weeping with amitriptyline.

Patients with bilateral forebrain disease may commonly manifest the syndrome of pathologic laughing and weeping. We investigated the efficacy of low-dose amitriptyline in 12 patients in whom this syndrome was a consequence of multiple sclerosis. In a double-blind crossover study comparing amitriptyline with placebo, eight patients experienced dramatic and significant improvement with amitriptyline (P = 0.02). The mean dose of amitriptyline was 57.8 mg per day and did not exceed 75 mg per day in any patient. Concurrent measurements of depression showed no change during the study. We conclude that amitriptyline is effective in the treatment of this disturbance of affective expression, and that this effect is distinct from the antidepressant effect of the medication.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Oregon schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: Although surveys from many parts of the world have shown that the prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in schoolchildren has increased greatly in the past 40 years, there is no current prevalence information from the United States. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to investigate the utility of a recently developed European questionnaire to estimate the prevalence of AD in urban and rural Oregon schoolchildren. METHODS: The self-administered Schultz-Larsen questionnaire (SLQ) of AD symptoms and history was completed by the parents of a broad socioeconomic and ethnic mix of 5- to 9-year-old schoolchildren from 6 urban and 2 rural elementary schools in Oregon. Validation assessments included comparisons of the questionnaire scores with clinical examination in a group of age-matched children and with specific history components known to correlate with AD. RESULTS: Data showed a prevalence of 17.2% using standard scoring criteria for the SLQ and with a lower limit of 6.8% according to highly stringent criteria derived from the validation study using dermatologic examination. A single question ("Has a doctor ever said that your child has eczema?") was highly concordant with the questionnaire determination, yielding very high predictive accuracy (91.2%). CONCLUSION: This study of childhood AD frequency indicates a high prevalence of AD in the United States, comparable to that recently observed from studies in Europe and Japan. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2000;43:649-55.).

Child↗
PubMed1976

Rheumatoid factor and tumor-host interaction.

In this survey for rheumatoid factor (RF) seropositivity on patients with neoplasms, an 85% rate of positive screening tests was recorded under certain circumstances. This high rate of RF seropositivity occurred after irradiation and/or chemotherapy of breast and lung cancers. Treated patients with breast cancers who had no evidence of residual tumor had an 89% rate of positive RF tests. Conversely, the incidence of RF seropositivity was low among untreated patients with similar tumors and treated patients with glioblastomas or multiple myeloma. The administration of cytotoxic drugs (e.g., azathiprene) was not itself associated with RF production even in renal allograft recipients. The data indicate that RF production occurs frequently after therapy of certain tumors and suggest that in these circumstances RF may be an expression of tumor-host interaction.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A putative gene family in 15q11-13 and 16p11.2: possible implications for Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes.

The genetic defects in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Angelman syndrome (AS) map to 15q11-13. Using microdissection, we have recently isolated several DNA probes for the critical region. Here we report that microclone MN7 detects multiple loci in 15q11-13 and 16p11.2. Eight yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones, two genomic phage clones, and two placenta cDNA clones were isolated to analyze these loci in detail. Two of the YAC clones map to 16p. Six YAC clones and two genomic phage clones contain a total of four or five different MN7 copies, which are spread over a large distance within 15q11-13. One cDNA clone is from chromosome 15 and one is from chromosome 16. The chromosome 15 cDNA detects transcripts of 14 and 8 kilobases in various human tissues. The presence of multiple copies of the MN7 gene family in proximal 15q may conceivably be related to the instability of this region and thus to the etiology of associated disorders.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1975

Social and play behaviors of institutionalized mongoloid and nonmongoloid retarded children.

A total of 24 institutionalized retarded children, 12 mongoloid (Down's syndrome) and 12 nonmongoloid, were observed in dyadic interaction with peers in a free-play situation, and a number of specific peer-social and non-social behaviors were recorded as they occurred. Differences between mongoloid and nonmongoloid Ss were most apparent on several social behavior categories which support the stereotypic conception of mongoloids as more sociable, gregarious, etc. Differences were most apparent for the mongoloid boys. The possible influence of tranquilizer drugs and cottage placements on the observed differences was discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Play therapy with the sexual workhorse: successful treatment with twelve cases of inhibited ejaculation.

This paper explores play as treatment for inhibited ejaculation (IE), based on success with 12 heterosexual and homosexual men. The focus is on men able to ejaculate with their own touch but not with partner touch or penile containment. A definition of IE includes: compulsive need to please partner, response anxiety, nonsexual automatic erections, and the penis's refusal to be commanded interpersonally. Treatment options with individuals and/or couples begin with reframing the symptom as compulsive giving and are not directed at forcing ejaculation. Playing, interfering with erroneous beliefs about sexual arousal, and avoiding helping the workhorse work harder are the trust of this paper.

Creativity↗
PubMed1999

Paroxetine versus citalopram treatment of pathological crying after brain injury.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the treatment of choice for pathological crying after brain injury, independent of accompanying depression. In a series of 26 consecutive patients with acquired brain damage and episodes of involuntary crying, the efficacy and tolerability of paroxetine and citalopram were compared. The severity of pathological crying or laughing was rated based on clinical interviews with symptom provocation. The first 13 patients were treated with paroxetine and another 13 patients received citalopram in single daily doses of 10 to 40 mg. Rapid onset (within 1-3 days) and highly significant (p < 0.001) improvements of emotionalism were observed after both paroxetine and citalopram. There were no efficacy differences, despite the longer symptom duration in the citalopram group. The only adverse effect after paroxetine was nausea, which was reversible, in two patients, and nausea with vomiting in another two patients, who were switched to citalopram. Citalopram was tolerated without adverse effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Gene expression profiling in spleens of deoxynivalenol-exposed mice: immediate early genes as primary targets.

Exposure to the trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) alters immune functions in vitro and in vivo. To gain further insight into DON's immunotoxic effects, microarrays were used to determine how acute exposure to this mycotoxin modulates gene expression profiles in murine spleen. B6C3F1 mice were treated orally with 25mg/kg body weight DON, and 2h later spleens were collected for macroarray analysis. Following normalization using a local linear regression model, expression of 116 out of 1176 genes was significantly altered compared to average expression levels in all treatment groups. When genes were arranged into an ontology tree to facilitate comparison of expression profiles between treatment groups, DON was found primarily to modulate genes associated with immunity, inflammation, and chemotaxis. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm modulation for selected genes. DON was found to induce the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and IL-11. In analogous fashion, DON upregulated expression of the chemokines macrophage inhibitory protein-2 (MIP-2), cytokine-induced chemoattractant protein-1 (CINC-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, MCP-3, and cytokine-responsive gene-2 (CRG-2). c-Fos, Fra-, c-Jun, and JunB, components of the activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factor complex, were induced by DON as well as another transcription factor, NR4A1. Four hydrolases were found to be upregulated by DON, including mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP1), catalytic subunit beta isoform (CnAbeta), protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type J (Ptprj), and protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 8 (Ptpn8), whereas three other hydrolases, microsomal epoxide hydrolase (Eph) 1, histidine triad nucleotide binding protein (Hint), and proteosome subunit beta type 8 (Psmb8) were significantly decreased by the toxin. Finally, cysteine-rich protein 61 (CRP61) and heat-shock protein 40 (Hsp40), genes associated with signaling, were increased, while Jun kinase 2 (JNK2) was decreased. Taken together, data suggest that DON upregulated the expression of multiple immediate early genes, many of which are likely to contribute to the complex immunological effects reported for this and other trichothecenes.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

A system oriented electrocardiographic amplifier.

A low noise, programmable gain amplifier has been developed for acquiring ECG data from a variety of recording environments. Features include: low noise (4muV peak-to-peak) differential inputs; digitally programmable gains (range 100 to 16000) and output DC offsets (range -3.5 to +4 V) controlled via a serial interface; externally selectable low frequency response (0.04 or 0.08 Hz); and an on-board output monitor multiplexer controlled via a second serial interface.

Amplifiers, Electronic↗