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At least 847 records · Page 47Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Cognitive functions in juvenile and adult patients with gelastic epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartoma.

PURPOSE: To describe extend and severity of cognitive deficits in juvenile and adult patients with gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) and to analyze the impact of epilepsy-related variables on cognitive performance. METHODS: Thirteen juvenile and adult patients (mean age, 25 years; seven men) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing assessing intellectual performance, attention and executive functions, verbal and visual memory, and visuospatial abilities. RESULTS: Intellectual abilities ranged from moderate mental retardation to good average performance; 54% of the patients displayed below-average global intellectual abilities. Attentional and executive functions were impaired in 23% to 46% of the patients. Below-average visuospatial capabilities were observed in 39% of the cases. Memory functions were impaired regarding both visual (77%) and verbal learning (62%). Nonparametric correlation analysis revealed a significant relation between monthly partial seizure frequency and reduced cognitive flexibility and reduced performance in mental rotation. In addition, HH volume was significantly negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility, whereas age at onset and duration of epilepsy did not show significant correlation to cognitive performance. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the adult patients with gelastic seizures and HH displayed deficits in a broad range of cognitive functions, expressed mostly in visual and verbal learning and memory. Some of the deficits could be shown to correlate with disease-related characteristics representing the severity of the epilepsy or the size of the underlying lesion. These findings prompt for a longitudinal investigation of the development of these cognitive deficits to analyze further the relevant factors contributing to this wide spectrum of cognitive impairments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Randomized-controlled trial: effect of a reservoir biteguard on quality of life in xerostomia.

BACKGROUND: To assess the effect of a reservoir biteguard for artificial saliva on the oral health-related quality of life of patients with xerostomia. METHODS: Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial among 86 adults with xerostomia. Study group received the trial biteguard. Control group received a conventional biteguard. Outcomes were number of impacts and total scores as recorded by oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP). RESULTS: At 1-month follow up 84 people remained in the trial. The median number of impacts in the study and control groups was 3 and 4 respectively. The median total score was 6 and 12 respectively. In ANCOVA receipt of the reservoir biteguard reduced the number of impacts recorded by OIDP but there was no difference in the total score. CONCLUSIONS: Reservoir biteguards improved the quality of life of people with xerostomia by reducing the number of impacts on daily life.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Invest in yourself: have a laugh! Have a healthy laugh!

As we rush around attending to the essentials of our lives (family, friends, clients, employers), what is left? Nursing Forum invites readers to engage in thoughts and activities that may awaken an untouched place. We hope these writings will kindle your personal involvement in something that was previously avoided--because of bias, fear, or uneasiness--in order to stretch your mind and spirit.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1983

Radial keratotomy and corneal permeability in Owl Monkey.

Radial keratotomy was performed on Owl Monkey corneas using 8 incisions with sparing of a 3.5mm central pupillary area. Cornea endothelial membrane permeabilities were determined at 2 days, and 4 weeks, following the procedure using simultaneous flux determinations of 3H-labeled inulin and 14C-labelled dextran. Inulin permeability was increased 27% two days following the procedure, and had returned to levels comparable to the unoperated eye 4 weeks following the procedure. Dextran permeability was unaltered at both 2 days, and 4 weeks, following the procedure. This study has shown that radial keratotomy causes a transient reduction in endothelial barrier function with the production of physiologically significant 'holes' in the membrane in the immediate post-operative period. The relationship of this physiological alteration to ultimate endothelial cell function is, at the present time, unknown.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

A variable resolution x-ray detector for computed tomography: II. Imaging theory and performance.

A computed tomography (CT) imaging technique called variable resolution x-ray (VRX) detection provides variable image resolution ranging from that of clinical body scanning (1 cy/mm) to that of microscopy (100 cy/mm). In this paper, an experimental VRX CT scanner based on a rotating subject table and an angulated storage phosphor screen detector is described and tested. The measured projection resolution of the scanner is > or = 20 lp/mm. Using this scanner, 4.8-s CT scans are made of specimens of human extremities and of in vivo hamsters. In addition, the system's projected spatial resolution is calculated to exceed 100 cy/mm for a future on-line CT scanner incorporating smaller focal spots (0.1 mm) than those currently used and a 1008-channel VRX detector with 0.6-mm cell spacing.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Overlapping transcriptional programs regulated by the nuclear receptors peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, retinoid X receptor, and liver X receptor in mouse liver.

Lipid homeostasis is controlled in part by the nuclear receptors peroxisome proliferator (PP)-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) and liver X receptor (LXR) through regulation of genes involved in fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism. Exposure to agonists of retinoid X receptor (RXR), the obligate heterodimer partner of PPARalpha, and LXR results in responses that partially overlap with those of PP. To better understand the gene networks regulated by these nuclear receptors, transcript profiles were generated from the livers of wild-type and PPARalpha-null mice exposed to the RXR pan-agonist 3,7-dimethyl-6S,7S-methano, 7-[1,1,4,4-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphth-7-yl]-2E,4E-heptadienoic acid (AGN194,204) or the PPAR pan-agonist WY-14,643 (WY; pirinixic acid) and compared with the profiles from the livers of wild-type and LXRalpha/LXRbeta-null mice after exposure to the LXR agonist N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-N-[4-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxy-1-trifluoromethylethyl)phenyl] sulfonamide (T0901317). All 218 WY-regulated genes altered in wild-type mice required PPARalpha. Remarkably, approximately 80% of genes regulated by AGN194,204 required PPARalpha including cell-cycle genes, consistent with AGN-induced hepatocyte proliferation having both PPARalpha-dependent and -independent components. Overlaps of approximately 31 to 62% in the transcript profiles of WY, AGN194,204, and T0901317 required PPARalpha and LXRalpha/LXRbeta for statistical significance. Ofthe 50 overlapping genes regulated by T0901317 and WY, all but one were regulated in a similar direction. These results 1) identify new transcriptional targets of PPARalpha and RXR important in regulating lipid metabolism and liver homeostasis, 2) illustrate the importance of PPARalpha in regulation of gene expression by a prototypical PP and by an RXR agonist, and 3) provide support for an axis of PPARalpha-RXR-LXR in which agonists for each nuclear receptor regulate an overlapping set of genes in the mouse liver.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Constitutive expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha-regulated genes in dwarf mice.

Defects in growth hormone secretion or signaling in mice are associated with decreased body weights (dwarfism), increased longevity, increased resistance to stress, and decreases in factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease and cancer. Peroxisome proliferators (PP) alter a subset of these changes in wild-type mice through activation of the nuclear receptor family member PP-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha). We tested the hypothesis that an overlap in the transcriptional programs between untreated dwarf mice and PP-treated wild-type mice underlies these similarities. Using transcript profiling, we observed a statistically significant overlap in the expression of genes differentially regulated in control Snell dwarf mice (Pit-1dw) compared with phenotypically normal heterozygote (+/dw) control mice and those altered by the PP 4-chloro-6-(2,3-xylidino)-2-pyrimidinyl)thioacetic acid (WY-14,643) in +/dw mice. The genes included those involved in beta- and omega-oxidation of fatty acids (Acox1, Cyp4a10, Cyp4a14) and those involved in stress responses (the chaperonin, T-complex protein1epsilon) and cardiovascular disease (fibrinogen). The levels of some of these gene products were also altered in other dwarf mouse models, including Ames, Little, and growth hormone receptor-null mice. The constitutive increases in PPARalpha-regulated genes may be partly caused by increased expression of PPARalpha mRNA and protein as observed in the livers of control Snell dwarf mice. These results indicate that some of the beneficial effects associated with the dwarf phenotype may be caused by constitutive activation of PPARalpha and regulated genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1968

Tritiated digoxin binding to (Na+ + K+)-activated adenosine triphosphatase: possible allosteric site.

Tritiated H(3)-digoxin specifically binds to a cardiac (Na(+) + K(+))-activated adenosine triphosphatase. In the presence of adenosine triphosphate and other nucleoside di- and triphosphates, binding is stimulated by sodium ion, the apparent rate constant being similar to that reported for phosphorus-32 incorporation from adenosine triphosphate and for the adenosine triphosphatase activity. In the presence of magnesium, manganese, inorganic phosphate, or other ions, sodium ion inhibits binding. The data support an allosteric type of sodium-potassium ion pump.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1985

Emotion and facial efference: a theory reclaimed.

A theory of emotional expression, ignored since 1906, holds that facial muscles act as ligatures on facial blood vessels and thereby regulate cerebral blood flow, which, in turn, influences subjective feeling. The theory, developed by Israel Waynbaum, a French physician, hypothesizes the subjective experience of emotions as following facial expression rather than preceding it. It answers Darwin's question of why different muscles contract or relax in different emotions better than Darwin's own theory. When restated in terms of contemporary neurophysiological knowledge, it explains and organizes several ill-understood emotional processes and phenomena.

Blushing↗
PubMed1995

Laughing seizures due to a midline intraventricular neoplasm in tuberous sclerosis.

Laughing seizures have been described in association with hypothalamic hamartomas and precocious puberty. Laughing seizures due to a neoplasm arising from the floor of the left lateral ventricle extending down towards the hypothalamus in a child with tuberous sclerosis is reported. This combination has not been reported before and emphasises the importance of imaging to diagnose such midline lesions in children with paroxysmal laughing.

Humans↗