The effects of thought suppression on autobiographical memory recall.

While it is well documented that autobiographical memory (ABM) recall is affected in Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), less is known about the cognitive mechanisms that underlie this pattern. This paper presents two research studies which investigated the role of thought suppression in the recall of ABMs. Study 1 assessed the role of thought suppression as a correlate of ABM retrieval in an undergraduate student sample (n=50). The results showed that higher levels of trait thought suppression were significantly correlated with faster recall of negative episodic memories as well as reduced recall of personal semantic memories. Thought suppression remained as a significant predictor of ABM recall, even when the participants' levels of depression and post-traumatic stress reactions were considered. Study 2 investigated the causal effects of thought suppression on ABM recall. 64 undergraduate students were shown a negative video clip and were asked either to suppress any thought of the video or simply to monitor their thoughts immediately thereafter. Results showed that suppression directly led to significantly enhanced negative episodic ABM recall, as well as a significantly reduced ability to recall personal semantic memories.

Early administration of oral oseltamivir increases the benefits of influenza treatment.

Our objective was to evaluate the benefit of early treatment of influenza illness using oral oseltamivir. This open-label, multicentre international study investigated the relationship between the interval from illness onset to first dose (time-to-treatment) and illness duration in the intent-to-treat infected population using accelerated failure time (AFT) modelling. A total of 1426 patients (12-70 years) presenting within 48 h of the onset of influenza symptoms were treated with oseltamivir 75 mg twice a day for 5 days during the 1999-2000 influenza season; 958 (67%) had laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection. Earlier intervention was associated with shorter illness duration (P < 0.0001). Initiation of therapy within the first 12 h after fever onset reduced the total median illness duration by 74.6 h (3.1 days; 41%) more than intervention at 48 h. Intermediate interventions reduced the illness proportionately compared with 48 h. In addition, the earlier administration of oseltamivir further reduced the duration of fever, severity of symptoms and the times to return to baseline activity and health scores. Oseltamivir was well tolerated. The most common adverse events were nausea and vomiting, which were transient and generally occurred only with first dosing. When oseltamivir was taken with food, the tolerability was enhanced. The overall discontinuation rate was low (1.8%). In conclusion, the IMPACT study demonstrated that earlier initiation of oral oseltamivir therapy increased its therapeutic effects, which were seen at every time point of intervention and were progressive. Thus, early presentation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with influenza maximized the benefits of oseltamivir therapy.

Gone but not forgotten: the transient nature of retrieval-induced forgetting.

Recent research has demonstrated that the act of remembering can prompt temporary forgetting or, more specifically, the inhibition of particular items in memory. Extending work of this kind, the present research investigated some possible boundary conditions of retrieval-induced forgetting. As expected, a critical determinant of temporary forgetting was the interval between guided retrieval practice and a final recall test. When these two phases were separated by 24 hr, retrieval-induced forgetting failed to emerge. When they occurred in the same testing session, however, retrieval practice prompted the inhibition of related items in memory (i.e., Experiment 1). A delay of 24 hr between the encoding of material and guided retrieval practice reduced but did not eliminate retrieval-induced forgetting (i.e., Experiment 2). These findings are considered in the wider context of adaptive forgetting.

Endoscopic carpal tunnel release.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of a new technique for carpal tunnel release. DESIGN: A single-group prospective cohort study. SETTING: A referral-based hand-surgery university practice. PATIENTS: Ninety-five consecutive adults; 1 patient was excluded (35 men, 59 women). They underwent 108 surgical procedures. No patients were lost to follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Endoscopic carpal tunnel release. Outpatient surgery with neuroleptic anesthesia. Two-portal Chow technique of release. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptom relief, return to work, medication use and complication rate. RESULTS: The average preoperative duration of symptoms was 3.9 years. Nerve conduction studies were positive in 101 of the 108 hands. Only two patients required open release. Only eight patients complained of intraoperative pain. Six patients failed to obtain relief of symptoms; two of them required secondary open release owing to persistent symptoms. Of the 61 patients who were employed, 52 returned to their previous jobs without restriction. The mean time for return to work was 36.4 days for patients who were Workers' Compensation Board cases and 19.5 days for patients who were not (p < 0.01). Men returned to work in 17.7 days and women in 24.7 days (p < 0.05). Complications occurred in four patients (3.8%). No nerve injury, vascular injury or reflex sympathetic dystrophy was noted. Patients who had undergone previous contralateral open release noted less pain and earlier return to work after endoscopic carpal tunnel release. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic carpal tunnel release was effective in relieving symptoms and had a low complication rate. The technique was associated with early return to work and minimal palmar pain.

Muscarinic regulation of somatostatin release from primary cultures of human antral epithelial cells.

A newly developed, primary culture of human antral epithelial cells has been utilized to examine the effect of parasympathomimetics on somatostatin release. The cholinergic agonists, carbachol and methacholine, stimulated somatostatin secretion in a concentration-dependent manner. Maximal release in response to carbachol was observed at 0.1 mmol/l. Methacholine was 10 times more potent with a significant release being observed at 1 mumol/l, maximal secretion was observed at 10 mumol/l. Somatostatin release, stimulated by the mixed nicotinic and muscarinic agonist, carbachol, was attenuated by the addition of atropine at 0.1 mumol/l but was unaffected by the same concentration of pirenzepine. Methacholine-stimulated release was attenuated by addition of 0.1 mumol/l atropine and unaffected by the same concentration of pirenzepine. The response to methacholine was reversed by the addition of 0.1 mumol/l 4-diphenylacetoxy-n-methylpiperidine methiodide (4-DAMP) and attenuated by 1 nmol/l 4-DAMP indicating that the effect was mediated by an M3 receptor. In conclusion, human antral D cells are stimulated by parasympathomimetics acting at an M3 receptor.

Thyroid function in patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Thyroid function was assessed in 94 patients with rheumatic heart disease presenting consecutively to a cardiology clinic. Despite previous reports of an association with autoimmune thyroid disease, abnormal thyroid function occurred no more commonly in this group than would be anticipated in a normal population.

Myocardial infarction related to valve replacement surgery.

Fifty consecutive patients, 25 undergoing aortic valve replacement and 25 mitral valve replacement, were studied by serial electrocardiography, preoperative and postoperative technetium-99m pyrophosphate radionuclide scanning, and serial measurement of enzymes (creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, urea stable lactic dehydrogenase) and the MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase to define the incidence of preoperative myocardial infarction and to identify the most appropriate diagnostic techniques. The use of myocardial scanning and measurement of peak enzyme activity proved to be accurate indicators of myocardial infarction, but the electrocardiogram was of limited value. The measurement of creatine kinase MB isoenzyme had no diagnostic advantage over that of the other enzymes. There were two deaths in the series, one due to acute pancreatitis after aortic valve replacement and the other due to myocardial injury after mitral valve replacement. There were four non-fatal myocardial infarctions after aortic valve replacement, giving an incidence of 16%, and none after mitral valve replacement, giving an incidence of 4%.

Persistent oesophageal candidiasis treated with ketoconazole.

Ketoconazole is a synthetic imidazole derivative indicated in the treatment of superficial and deep mycoses (1). This paper reports its successful use in the management of a patient with oesophageal candidiasis which had failed to respond to alternative therapies.