A cross-sectional study on smartphone uses among pregnant women attending childbirth classes in the Metropolitan Area of Palermo, Italy: The Stop-Phone study.

Background: Prevalence of mobile device addiction has increased over the years; both women and men have assimilated the mobile phone as a central component of their personal existence: integrating it into their lifestyle or becoming so dependent on it that life without it has become unimaginable. Smartphones generate radio-frequency electromagnetic fields. While short-term exposure in adults was considered quite safe, effects of long-term exposure or exposure during pregnancy on fetuses or during breastfeeding on newborns are not well studied yet. The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and usage characteristics of smartphones among a sample of pregnant women, and promote the correct and conscious use of the smartphone. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, with a questionnaire administered during childbirth classes and - after the questionnaire administration - an educational intervention focused on promoting the correct and conscious use of smartphones was carried out by psychologists and psychotherapists. Results: The findings of our study suggest that a significant number of the participants suffered addiction to mobile phone usage, but were not aware of it. More than two third of the sample (67.2%) have not changed their smartphone use habits since the beginning of their pregnancy and even more significant data shows that almost all future moms (98.3%) never speak with their doctor about smartphone use during pregnancy. Conclusions: Data collected suggest a lack of attention to the proposed topic, especially in relation to pregnancy. It seems necessary to sensitize future mothers on this topic. The promotion of a more conscious and controlled use of electronic devices can help reduce the radiation to which the unborn child may be exposed, but has a fundamental role even after birth, to ensure an adequate psychomotor and relational development of the child and do not affect, due to uncontrolled use of smartphones, the mother-child relationship.

Models to Tailor Brain Stimulation Therapies in Stroke.

A great challenge facing stroke rehabilitation is the lack of information on how to derive targeted therapies. As such, techniques once considered promising, such as brain stimulation, have demonstrated mixed efficacy across heterogeneous samples in clinical studies. Here, we explain reasons, citing its one-type-suits-all approach as the primary cause of variable efficacy. We present evidence supporting the role of alternate substrates, which can be targeted instead in patients with greater damage and deficit. Building on this groundwork, this review will also discuss different frameworks on how to tailor brain stimulation therapies. To the best of our knowledge, our report is the first instance that enumerates and compares across theoretical models from upper limb recovery and conditions like aphasia and depression. Here, we explain how different models capture heterogeneity across patients and how they can be used to predict which patients would best respond to what treatments to develop targeted, individualized brain stimulation therapies. Our intent is to weigh pros and cons of testing each type of model so brain stimulation is successfully tailored to maximize upper limb recovery in stroke.

Barriers to patient recruitment in a poststroke neurorehabilitation multicenter trial in Brazil.

There is a high demand for stroke rehabilitation in the Brazilian public health system, but most studies that have addressed rehabilitation for unilateral spatial neglect (USN) after stroke have been performed in high-income countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze USN patient recruitment in a multicenter noninvasive brain stimulation clinical trial performed in Brazil and to provide study design recommendations for future studies. We evaluated the reasons for exclusion of patients from a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial of rehabilitation of USN patients after stroke. Clinical and demographic variables were compared between the included and excluded patients. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Only 173 of the 1953 potential neglect patients (8.8%) passed the initial screening. After screening evaluation, 87/173 patients (50.3%) were excluded for clinical reasons. Cognitive impairment led to the exclusion of 21/87 patients (24.1%). Low socioeconomic status led to the exclusion of 37/173 patients (21.4%). Difficulty obtaining transportation to access treatment was the most common reason for their exclusion (16/37 patients, 43.3%). The analyzed Brazilian institutions have potential for conducting studies of USN. The recruitment of stroke survivors with USN was restricted by the study design and limited financial support. A history of cognitive impairment, intracranial stenting or craniectomy, and lack of transportation were the most common barriers to participating in a multicenter noninvasive brain stimulation trial among patients with USN after stroke.

Migraine and motion sickness independently contribute to visual discomfort.

The objective of this study was to evaluate, in patients with migraine and healthy volunteers, with and without a history of motion sickness, the degree of discomfort elicited by drifting striped patterns. Eighteen healthy volunteers (HV) and 30 migraine patients participated in the study. Discomfort was greater in migraine patients than in HV, and in individuals with a history of motion sickness than in those without, but the effect of history of migraine was independent of history of motion sickness. Generalized Estimating Equations models for binary correlated data revealed that these differences did not depend on levels of duty cycle, spatial and temporal frequencies. Visual discomfort in migraine patients was associated with worse performance. There was a significant correlation between median degree of discomfort across conditions and number of migraine attacks in the past month. Discomfort to drifting striped patterns may be related to central sensitization in migraine patients.

Mapping of direction and muscle representation in the human primary motor cortex controlling thumb movements.

Larger body parts are somatotopically represented in the primary motor cortex (M1), while smaller body parts, such as the fingers, have partially overlapping representations. The principles that govern the overlapping organization of M1 remain unclear. We used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine the cortical encoding of thumb movements in M1 of healthy humans. We performed M1 mapping of the probability of inducing a thumb movement in a particular direction and used low intensity TMS to disturb a voluntary thumb movement in the same direction during a reaction time task. With both techniques we found spatially segregated representations of the direction of TMS-induced thumb movements, thumb flexion and extension being best separated. Furthermore, the cortical regions corresponding to activation of a thumb muscle differ, depending on whether the muscle functions as agonist or as antagonist for flexion or extension. In addition, we found in the reaction time experiment that the direction of a movement is processed in M1 before the muscles participating in it are activated. It thus appears that one of the organizing principles for the human corticospinal motor system is based on a spatially segregated representation of movement directions and that the representation of individual somatic structures, such as the hand muscles, overlap.

Barriers to patient recruitment in a poststroke neurorehabilitation multicenter trial in Brazil

There is a high demand for stroke rehabilitation in the Brazilian public health system, but most studies that have addressed rehabilitation for unilateral spatial neglect (USN) after stroke have been performed in high-income countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze USN patient recruitment in a multicenter noninvasive brain stimulation clinical trial performed in Brazil and to provide study design recommendations for future studies. We evaluated the reasons for exclusion of patients from a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial of rehabilitation of USN patients after stroke. Clinical and demographic variables were compared between the included and excluded patients. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Only 173 of the 1953 potential neglect patients (8.8%) passed the initial screening. After screening evaluation, 87/173 patients (50.3%) were excluded for clinical reasons. Cognitive impairment led to the exclusion of 21/87 patients (24.1%). Low socioeconomic status led to the exclusion of 37/173 patients (21.4%). Difficulty obtaining transportation to access treatment was the most common reason for their exclusion (16/37 patients, 43.3%). The analyzed Brazilian institutions have potential for conducting studies of USN. The recruitment of stroke survivors with USN was restricted by the study design and limited financial support. A history of cognitive impairment, intracranial stenting or craniectomy, and lack of transportation were the most common barriers to participating in a multicenter noninvasive brain stimulation trial among patients with USN after stroke.

Vascular smooth muscle and nitric oxide.

Experiments were performed to investigate the production of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF or nitric oxide; NO) by vascular smooth muscle cells. The lumen of bovine pulmonary arteries were filled with Krebs-Henseleit solution (incubates). Both endothelium-intact and endothelium-deprived vessels were used. Incubate solutions from the lumen of generator vessels contained a significant amount of nitric oxide (NO). Although the NO concentration was higher in incubates from endothelium-intact vessels, endothelium-deprived vessels also produced NO. The length of incubation did not influence the amount of nitric oxide released. Endothelium-deprived pulmonary arteries also generated NO as detected by chemiluminescence. The amount produced however was not sufficient to relax endothelium-deprived detector vessels in superfusion bioassay experiments. Samples from Krebs-Henseleit (K-H) solution surrounding the preparation (bathing solution) contained NO values which were also significantly higher than the control. Nitric oxide found in the bathing solution also appeared to originate from endothelium and vascular smooth muscle. Oxyhemoglobin attenuated NO signals. The results demonstrate that nitric oxide is released by vascular smooth muscle cells as well as by endothelium. However, the amount of NO released by muscle is insufficient to relax endothelium-deprived vascular preparations.

The production of nitric oxide in endothelial cells by amphiphiles.

Lysophosphatidylcholine, an endogenous detergent is an endothelium-dependent smooth muscle relaxant, which acts through the release of nitric oxide. It is known to activate a number of membrane-bound enzymes. Because of the relationship between detergent action, relaxation of endothelium-intact rabbit aortic strips and the release of nitric oxide, we considered the possibility that other amphiphiles also produce nitric oxide from endothelial cells. We therefore investigated the effect of digitonin on relaxation of precontracted rabbit aortic strips and the release of nitric oxide from freshly harvested bovine endothelial cells as determined by chemiluminescence. We found that both digitonin and LPC release nitric oxide and that this process is inhibited by the NO synthase inhibitor N omega-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NNAME).

The production of coronary vasoconstrictor substances by freshly harvested endothelial cells.

The effects of cell free superfusates from freshly harvested bovine endothelial cells attached to microcarrier beads on the isolated rabbit and rat heart and on superfused rabbit jugular veins were observed. Cell free conditioned filtrates from freshly harvested cells caused marked diminution in coronary flow and cardiac output in the isolated rabbit heart; in the perfused rat heart an increase in coronary perfusion pressure and a decline in left ventricular systolic tension and maximal left ventricular contractility (dP/dt) were recorded. Marked differences were found between changes induced by conditioned filtrate as compared to synthetic endothelin. Endothelin as present in conditioned filtrate could not account for the pronounced effect on coronary perfusion pressure, dp/dt and cardiac output induced by conditioned filtrate; more than one hundred times that of synthetic endothelin was needed to achieve comparable cardiodynamic effects. This suggested that additional non-prostanoid vasoconstrictor substance or substances are produced by freshly harvested endothelial cells. This conclusion was supported by the observation that BQ-123, a specific inhibitor of endothelin A (ETA) receptor significantly prevented contractions by endothelin, while failing to inhibit those induced by freshly harvested endothelial cells. These constrictor substances may be leukotrienes.

Membrane function and vascular reactivity.

This communication examines the possibility that nitric oxide (NO) production by endothelial cells results from changes in cell membrane fluidity. Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) alters fluidity of the endothelial cell membranes causing vascular relaxation. Through membrane alterations LPC influences function of a number of membrane receptors and modulates enzyme activity. As a result of detergent action, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) causes activation of guanylate cyclase, stimulates sialyltransferase and regulates protein kinase C activity. It has already been demonstrated that ionic detergents, such as Triton X-100 also cause vascular relaxation, possibly induced by NO production from endothelial cells. It is postulated that production of nitric oxide results from changes in membrane viscosity; this may represent a mechanism for its regulation in biological systems.

On the biological effects of cosmic rays: epidemiological studies.

Determining the biological effects of cosmic rays and other natural ionizing radiations, could possibly help us in shedding light on the more general problem of low-dose ionizing-radiation effects. In this work we provide a survey of the most recent studies available on epidemiological methods: we discuss the main difficulties in using these methods, as well as the discrepancies in their results.

Lysophosphatidylcholine-induced vascular relaxation and production of cGMP are mediated by endothelium-derived relaxing factor.

Endothelial cells produce powerful vasorelaxant substances, among them an endothelium-derived relaxing factor that is believed to be nitric oxide. It relaxes vascular smooth muscle via activation of guanylate cyclase and a subsequent rise in cyclic GMP level. Lysophosphatidylcholine is a potent endothelium-dependent vascular smooth muscle relaxant. Its action, similar to that of endothelium-derived relaxing factor, mediates an increase of cGMP in smooth muscle cells. The experiments reported here demonstrate that inhibitors of nitric oxide formation, such as N-omega-nitro-L-arginine and its methyl ester, inhibit relaxation and cyclic GMP formation by lysophosphatidylcholine in bovine pulmonary artery strips with intact endothelium in a dose-dependent manner. N-omega-Nitro-D-arginine methyl ester does not inhibit relaxation; L-arginine, but not D-arginine, reverses the effect of N-omega-nitro-L-arginine and its methyl ester. It is concluded that lysophosphatidylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation is endothelium-derived relaxing factor-mediated.

Effect of amphiphiles on nitric oxide synthase in endothelial cells.

Amphiphiles are known to modulate the activity of ATPase, phospholipase A2, adenylate and guanylate cyclase amongst others and relax vascular smooth muscle. The effect of two amphiphiles, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and digitonin on the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), as measured by conversion of radiolabeled L-arginine to L-citrulline, has been studied. Neither digitonin (0.01 mmol/l) nor LPC (0.01 mmol/l) influenced NOS activity in endothelial cell homogenates. Digitonin but not LPC stimulated NOS in intact endothelial cells. NOS activity was markedly inhibited by L- but not by D-omega-nitroarginine (D-NNA, 0.1 mmol/l). L-NNA or D-NNA data demonstrate no effect of amphiphiles on isolated NOS. NOS activation may occur as a result of detergent action on the membrane.

Synthesis of leukotrienes by freshly harvested endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells produce endothelin, a powerful vasoconstrictor. We report the release of additional vasoconstrictor material in conditional filtrate from freshly harvested cells, which we identified as leukotrienes by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The material was collected in cell free filtrates by superfusion of freshly harvested bovine endothelial cells attached to cytodex-3 microcarrier beads. Cells and beads form a dense network on filter paper permitting collection of cell free filtrate. The amount of leukotrienes in conditioned filtrate was 158 +/- 21 picograms/million cells. The calcium ionophore A23187 stimulated the release of leukotrienes (392.0 +/- 47.6). The peak of leukotriene production occurred within an hour after incubation of cells slowly declining thereafter. Conditioned filtrate to which indomethacin had been added caused coronary vasoconstriction in the perfused rat heart preparation, as did synthetic leukotrienes C4, D4 and E4. It was found by RIA and HPLC that some of the constrictor effect of conditioned filtrate derived from leukotrienes.

Inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by cytochrome P-450 reductase inhibitors.

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) shows similarities to cytochrome P-450 reductase. The two enzymes catalyze the oxidation of N-omega-hydroxy-L-arginine by NADPH and oxygen to nitric oxide (NO) and citrulline. Nitric oxide synthase activity is inhibited by L-arginine analogs like N-omega-nitro-L-arginine, which does not affect cytochrome P-450 reductase. Dihydroergotamine, miconazole, and troleandomycin are classical inhibitors of cytochrome. The present study shows the concentration-dependent inhibitory effect of these compounds and of L- but not D-N-omega-nitro-arginine on the activity of constitutive nitric oxide synthase from bovine aortic endothelial cells. Activity of nitric oxide synthase was estimated by measurement of conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline. The tested cytochrome P-450 inhibitors are likely to interfere with heme of nitric oxide synthase. The data confirms a similarity as well as functional differences between the enzymes.

Sequence-selective DNA binding drugs mithramycin A and chromomycin A3 are potent inhibitors of neuronal apoptosis induced by oxidative stress and DNA damage in cortical neurons.

Global inhibitors of RNA or protein synthesis such as actinomycin D or cycloheximide abrogate neuronal apoptosis induced by numerous pathological stimuli in vitro and in vivo. The clinical application of actinomycin D or cycloheximide to human neurological disease has been limited by the toxicities of these agents. To overcome these toxicities, strategies must be developed to inhibit selectively the expression of deleterious proapoptotic proteins, while leaving the expression of antiapoptotic, proregeneration, and other critical homeostatic proteins unperturbed. Mithramycin A (trade name Plicamycin) is an aureolic acid antibiotic that has been used in humans to treat hypercalcemia and several types of cancers. This class of agents is believed to act, in part, by selectively inhibiting gene expression by displacing transcriptional activators that bind to G-C-rich regions of promoters. Here we demonstrate that mithramycin A and its structural analog chromomycin A3 are potent inhibitors of neuronal apoptosis induced by glutathione depletion-induced oxidative stress or the DNA-damaging agent camptothecin. We correlate the protective effects of mithramycin A with its ability to inhibit enhanced DNA binding of the transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 to their cognate "G-C" box induced by oxidative stress or DNA damage. The protective effects of mithramycin A cannot be attributed to global inhibition of protein synthesis. Together, these results suggest that mithramycin A and its structural analogs may be effective agents for the treatment of neurological diseases associated with aberrant activation of apoptosis and highlight the potential use of sequence-selective DNA-binding drugs as neurological therapeutics.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase activity in myocardium after myocardial infarction in rabbit.

The activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in infarcted and noninfarcted rabbit myocardium was determined. NOS activity, as measured by conversion of [14C]arginine to [14C]citrulline, was significantly higher in the infarcted area of myocardium (22.7 +/- 3.7 fmol/mg as compared to 7.67 +/- 1.0 in noninfarcted area). NOS activity within the area of risk remained on control level. Increased inducible NOS activity was observed on the first postoperative day and persisted for at least 14 days; it declined 3 weeks after infarction. Citrulline formation was inhibited by N-omega-nitro-L-arginine and N-omega-monomethyl-L-arginine The localization of NOS by monoclonal anti-NOS antibody indicates mononuclear cells/macrophages as the likely source of the enzyme. The concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 beta were not increased in peripheral blood or myocardium.