In utero and peripartum antiretroviral exposure as predictor of cognition in 6- to 10-year-old HIV-exposed Ugandan children - a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify association between in utero/peripartum antiretroviral (IPA) exposure and cognition, i.e. executive function (EF) and socioemotional adjustment (SEA), in school-aged Ugandan children who were perinatally HIV-infected (CPHIV, n = 100) and children who were HIV-exposed but uninfected (CHEU, n = 101). METHODS: Children were enrolled at age 6-10 years and followed for 12 months from March 2017 to December 2018. Caregiver-reported child EF and SEA competencies were assessed using validated questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12 months. IPA type - combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), intrapartum single-dose nevirapine ± zidovudine (sdNVP ± ZDV), nevirapine + zidovudine + lamivudine (sdNVP + ZDV + 3TC) - or no IPA (reference) was verified via medical records. IPA-related standardized mean differences (SMDs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in cognitive competencies were estimated from regression models with adjustment for caregiver sociodemographic and contextual factors. Models were fitted separately for CPHIV and CHEU. RESULTS: Among CPHIV children, cART (SMD = -0.82, 95% CI: -1.37 to -0.28) and sdNVP ± ZDV (SMD = -0.41, 95% CI: -0.81 to -0.00) vs. no IPA predicted lower executive dysfunction over 12 months. Intrapartum sdNVP + ZDV + 3TC vs. no IPA predicted executive dysfunction (SMD = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.30-1.31), SEA problems (SMD = 0.63-0.76, 95% CI: 0.00-1.24) and lower adaptive skills (SMD = -0.36, 95% CI: -0.75-0.02) over 12 months among CHEU. Further adjustment for contextual factors attenuated associations, although most remained of moderate clinical importance (|SMD| > 0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Among CPHIV children, cART and sdNVP ± ZDV IPA exposure predicted, on average, lower executive dysfunction 6-10 years later. However, peripartum sdNVP + ZDV + 3TC predicted executive and SEA dysfunction among CHEU 6-10 years later. These data underscore the need for more research into long-term effects of in utero ART to inform development of appropriate interventions so as to mitigate cognitive sequelae.

The role of wing geometric morphometrics in the identification of sandflies within the subgenus Lutzomyia.

The Lutzomyia subgenus (Diptera: Psychodidae) includes sibling species with morphologically indistinguishable females. The aims of this study were to analyse variations in the size and shape of wings of species within the Lutzomyia subgenus and to assess whether these analyses might be useful in their identification. Wings (n = 733) of 18 species deposited in Brazilian collections were analysed by geometric morphometrics, using other genera and subgenera as outgroups. Shape variation was summarized in multivariate analyses and differences in wing size among species were tested by analysis of variance. The results showed significant variation in the sizes and shapes of wings of different Lutzomyia species. Two clusters within the Lutzomyia subgenus were distinguished in analyses of both males and females. In Cluster 1 (Lutzomyia ischnacantha, Lutzomyia cavernicola, Lutzomyia almerioi, Lutzomyia forattinii, Lutzomyia renei and Lutzomyia battistinii), scores for correct reclassification were high (females, kappa = 0.91; males, kappa = 0.90), whereas in Cluster 2 (Lutzomyia alencari, Lutzomyia ischyracantha, Lutzomyia cruzi, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Lutzomyia gaminarai and Lutzomyia lichyi), scores for correct reclassification were low (females, kappa = 0.42; males, kappa = 0.48). Wing geometry was useful in the identification of some species of the Lutzomyia subgenus, but did not allow the identification of sibling species such as L. longipalpis and L. cruzi.

Shifted inferior frontal laterality in women with major depressive disorder is related to emotion-processing deficits.

BACKGROUND: Facial emotion perception (FEP) is a critical human skill for successful social interaction, and a substantial body of literature suggests that explicit FEP is disrupted in major depressive disorder (MDD). Prior research suggests that weakness in FEP may be an important phenomenon underlying patterns of emotion-processing challenges in MDD and the disproportionate frequency of MDD in women. Method Women with (n = 24) and without (n = 22) MDD, equivalent in age and education, completed a FEP task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: The MDD group exhibited greater extents of frontal, parietal and subcortical activation compared with the control group during FEP. Activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) appeared shifted from a left >right pattern observed in healthy women to a bilateral pattern in MDD women. The ratio of left to right suprathreshold IFG voxels in healthy controls was nearly 3:1, whereas in the MDD group, there was a greater percentage of suprathreshold IFG voxels bilaterally, with no leftward bias. In MDD, relatively greater activation in right IFG compared with left IFG (ratio score) was present and predicted FEP accuracy (r = 0.56, p < 0.004), with an inverse relationship observed between FEP and subgenual cingulate activation (r = - 0.46, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This study links, for the first time, disrupted IFG activation laterality and increased subgenual cingulate activation with deficient FEP in women with MDD, providing an avenue for imaging-to-assessment translational applications in MDD.

Prevalence and Patterns of Cognitive Impairment in a Sample of Community Dwelling Older People in Nigeria.

Objective: Prevalence and patterns of cognitive impairment were studied in older people from Nigeria. Method: Four hundred and forty one participants (263 females; age: 60-87) were recruited from community dwelling adults in Anambra state Nigeria. Five domains of cognition were tested using the Uniform Data Set Version 3 (UDS-3). Result: Prevalence: 49.7% were classified as normal cognition, 34% as borderline, 12.9% as MCI (2.72% with amnesic MCI) and 3.4% as dementia. We showed in descending order in that 13% of the participants were impaired on visual-spatial index; 6.8% on memory index; 5.2% on attention/concentration index; 2.7% were impaired on executive function index and 34.80% (based on mean) of the participants were impaired on processing speed index. There were significant interaction effects for gender and education on visual spatial and attention domains respectively. Significant effects of education were seen on executive function and processing speed while interaction effect was found on executive function alone. 8% scored 1.5 SD below the mean on MoCA. There was a significant effect of education on MoCA with the pairwise comparison showing a significant difference between tertiary education and other two levels of education. The groups did differ significantly for hypertension on MoCA. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of cognitive impairment among older adult population from Nigeria. A significant proportion of the sample were impaired on the visual spatial domain and at least half of the participants were impaired on one cognitive domain. Hypertensive participants performed significantly poor on MoCA compared to non-hypertensive group.

The Effect of Surgical Weight Loss on Cognition in Individuals with Class II/III Obesity.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global epidemic and is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. It remains unknown whether weight loss interventions, such as bariatric surgery, can mitigate cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the effect of surgical weight loss on cognition in individuals with class II/III obesity. DESIGN: We performed a prospective cohort study of participants who underwent bariatric surgery. At baseline and two years following surgery, participants completed metabolic risk factor and neuropsychological assessments. SETTING: Participants were enrolled from an academic suburban bariatric surgery clinic. PARTICIPANTS: There were 113 participants who completed baseline assessments and 87 completed two-year follow-up assessments (66 in-person and 21 virtual) after bariatric surgery. The mean (SD) age was 46.8 (12.5) years and 64 (73.6%) were female. INTERVENTION: Bariatric surgery. There were 77 (88.5%) participants that underwent sleeve gastrectomy and 10 (11.5%) that underwent gastric bypass surgery. MEASUREMENTS: Cognition was assessed using the NIH toolbox cognitive battery (NIHTB-CB) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). The primary outcome was the change in NIHTB-CB fluid composite score before and after surgery. RESULTS: The primary outcome, NIHTB-CB composite score, was stable following bariatric surgery (-0.4 (13.9), p=0.81,n=66). Among secondary outcomes, the NIHTB-CB dimensional card sorting test (executive function assessment), improved (+6.5 (19.9),p=0.01,n=66) while the Rey AVLT delayed recall test (memory assessment) declined (-0.24 (0.83),p=0.01,n=87) following surgery. Improvements to metabolic risk factors and diabetes complications were not associated with improvements to NIHTB-CB composite score. The other 4 NIHTB-CB subtests and Rey AVLT assessments of auditory learning and recognition were stable at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Following bariatric surgery, the age-adjusted composite cognitive outcome did not change, but an executive subtest score improved. These results suggest that bariatric surgery may mitigate the natural history of cognitive decline in individuals with obesity, which is expected to be faster than normal aging, but confirmatory randomized controlled trials are needed. The decline in delayed recall also warrants further studies to determine potential differential effects on cognitive subtests.

An Association of Quality of Life and Ageing Perceptions among Community Dwelling Older Adults in Uganda.

Background: Uganda's population, though, largely characterized by young people, has seen the number of people aged 60 and over grow from 686,000 twenty years ago, to 1,433,596 in 2014. Effective caring for the well-being of this population requires strategic and deliberate planning that involves Quality Of Life (QoL) assessments. QoL assessments among the elderly are important in evaluating the efficacy of strategies, such as health interventions, welfare programs, health care and well-being of the elderly. However, elderly in Uganda face several challenges, ranging from loneliness, poor housing, lack of social and financial support and poor health. These may negatively affect older persons' quality of life and consequently their perceptions and attitudes towards aging. Methods: The study was carried out in 2019 in the communities of Nansana and Busukuma town councils in Wakiso district, Uganda. The participants were 380 people 60 years and older. To establish the association between perceptions of ageing and QoL, this study utilized a locally adapted version of the Older Person's Quality of Life Questionnaire (OPQOL) and the Brief Ageing Perceptions Questionnaire (B-APQ). The OPQOL assesses three domains of QoL: Health QoL (HQoL); Social economic QoL (SQoL); and Psychosocial QoL (PQoL). The B-APQ assesses perceptions about physical age, participation in social activities, and perceptions about ability to regulate emotions as one ages. Pearson's Chi-square tests were used to characterize the relationship between the perceptions and quality of life. Results: The majority of the respondents, 61% (95%CI 56.7-64.8), had negative perceptions towards ageing. Eighty six percent had poor HQoL, 90% poor SQoL and 83% poor PQoL. There was a significant association between good HQoL and positive perception about participation in social activities (X2 = 7.3670, P = 0.007) as well as with positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 18.1803, P<0.001). There was a significant association between good SQoL and positive perception about participation in social activities (X2 = 5.3472, P = 0.021), as well with positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 10.5128, P<0.001). A significant association between good PQoL and positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 9.2414, P= 0.002). Conclusion: Positive perceptions of ageing are associated with good QoL. Directly addressing perceptions of ageing could be a low cost and effective strategy to improve the QoL of older persons in SSA.

Using pictures to evoke spiritual feelings in breast cancer patients: development of a new paradigm for neuroimaging studies.

This study was designed to develop and validate a method for enhancing spiritual feelings, particularly in women who have received a diagnosis of breast cancer. The protocol specifically was developed to be used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Eighteen breast cancer survivors rated pictures for their ability to enhance feelings of spirituality, happiness, and sadness. Results indicate that presenting carefully selected pictures with spiritual content (e.g., nature scenes, people engaged in contemplative behaviors) can effectively enhance spiritual feelings among breast cancer survivors. Future fMRI studies will explore the use of the protocol developed in this study for investigating neural activity during spiritual feelings and states.

Mucoadhesive and mucopenetrating chitosan nanoparticles for glycopeptide antibiotic administration.

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) represents a useful strategy for peptide antibiotic delivery to mucosal membranes by either prolonging drug residence time at the target site (mucoadhesive NPs) or by enhancing diffusion across mucus layer to reach the underlying epithelium (mucopenetrating NPs). The purpose of this study was to design chitosan (CH) NPs and to evaluate their employment as mucoadhesive and/or mucopenetrating systems for vancomycin (VM) delivery. NPs were prepared by ionic gelation of CH with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (ALG), sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) or phytic acid (PA) and characterized in terms of size, zeta-potential, morphology, drug encapsulation efficiency, mucoadhesion and mucopenetrating ability. Moreover, in vitro tests were conducted to evaluate VM release and the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. NPs showed sizes ranged from 150 nm to 350 nm with good polydispersity index and positive zeta-potential. The selection of the suitable crosslinker allowed to modulate the mucoadhesive/mucopenetrating properties: CH/TPP NPs showed the best mucoadhesive ability, while CH/PA and CH/CMC NPs were characterized by an improved diffusion across the mucus layer. Further, NPs allowed a fast and complete release of VM, maintaining the antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria species.

Clinical and microbiological monitoring of Cystic Fibrosis patients, three years of follow-up via Tele-Medicine: an empirical research.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the effectiveness of home care through a telemonitoring system in reducing the incidence of new colonization by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa in a population of patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) followed by the CF clinic of the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome over a period of 36 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of patients were recruited, homogeneous for age, sex, BMI, FEV1, prevalence of CF-related Diabetes and CF-related Hepatopathy, access to new therapies with modulators: a) an IN group (N = 44 ) followed through a home telemonitoring system, b) an OUT control group (N = 110) followed according to the standards of care. The following parameters were detected for all patients: pulmonary colonization of the lungs, number and type of hospital admissions, respiratory function, BMI. RESULT: The OUT group had a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa infections during the observation period. Furthermore, a significant decrease in lung function assessed through FEV1 was also observed in the OUT group. CONCLUSION: Adolescent and adult patients belonging to the CF center who are not followed through the dedicated home telemonitoring service show, in the three-year period 2017-19, an increase in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa infections and a greater decrease in respiratory function. The use of telemedicine in CF is therefore an effective system not only in monitoring the disease but also as a treatment strategy, in the context of an evolving multidisciplinary model. As advantages, telemedicine can reduce the number of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa lung infections and the greater stability of respiratory function over time.

Reading disability: an information-processing analysis.

In a task designed to separate perceptual processes from memory, 12-year-old children with reading disabilities showed no perceptual deficits as compared to their peers. However, they exhibited major deficiencies in memory skills for both labelable and nonlabelable visual information. Reading-disabled children in this age group appear to suffer from a basic information-processing deficiency.

A case-control study on pregnancy in Italian Cystic Fibrosis women. Data from the Italian Registry.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy in CF women is no longer an exceptional event, but few information on its effect on clinical status in European CF patients are available. This study describes Italian CF pregnant population, to investigate its effect on CF woman. METHODS: Data were collected (2010-2015) by the Italian CF Registry. A case-control study was performed between pregnant and never pregnant women. RESULTS: A total of 81 pregnant women (aged 18-45ys) were identified with a mean age at pregnancy of 31ys. Median age at diagnosis resulted higher in cases (P = 0.010). A decline from 6 to 12 months before pregnancy to one year after delivery in BMI (P = 0.034), in FEV1 (P < 0.001) and FVC (P < 0.001) was registered among cases. Difference in change between cases and controls was found for the BMI (P = 0.006); weak evidence of difference in FEV1 (p = 0.080) and FVC (p = 0.056) were noted between the groups. CONCLUSION: Data from ICFR show that CF women can become mother with only slight adverse effect on their nutritional status. Further study should be carried out to investigate long term effect of pregnancy on lung function.

Survival After Lung Transplant for Cystic Fibrosis in Italy: A Single Center Experience With 20 Years of Follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: Lung transplantation is currently the only treatment for end-stage respiratory failure in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In this study we retrospectively analyzed our experience since the start of the transplantation program in 1996 with focus on survival analysis. METHODS: All patients with CF who underwent lung transplant at our center were included (1996-2016). Survival analysis after lung transplant was performed using the Kaplan-Meier estimate, comparing by sex and by 4 eras (1996-2000, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2016). RESULTS: In a 20-year period, 243 patients with CF were listed for lung transplant; 123 patients (61 male, 62 female) underwent transplant, and 85 died while waiting for donor organs. The mean (SD) and median age at transplant was 27.7 (8.7) years and 26.9 years (range, 9.1 - 52.1 years), respectively. Mean (SD) forced expiratory volume in the first second was 27.6 (9.7)% predicted; 115 patients (92.0%) were pancreatic insufficient, and 43 patients (34.0%) had CF-related diabetes. Removing patients with CF who died within the first 3 postoperative months, the mean (SD) and median survival after transplant were 8.2 (5.7) years and 7.5 years (range, 3 months-20 years), respectively. Overall post-lung transplant 1-year survival was 93.6%, 5-year survival was 71.4%, 10-year survival was 53.6%, 15-year survival was 36.7%, and 20-year survival was 31.6%. We found no difference in survival between sex (P = .22) and among the 4 eras (P = .56). CONCLUSIONS: Survival after lung transplant in our single center is similar to international data.

Interaction of vaginal Lactobacillus strains with HeLa cells plasma membrane.

Vaginal lactobacilli offer protection against recurrent urinary and vaginal infections. The precise mechanisms underlying the interaction between lactobacilli and the host epithelium remain poorly understood at the molecular level. Deciphering such events can provide valuable information on the mode of action of commensal and probiotic bacteria in the vaginal environment. We investigated the effects exerted by five Lactobacillus strains of vaginal origin (Lactobacillus crispatus BC1 and BC2, Lactobacillus gasseri BC9 and BC11 and Lactobacillus vaginalis BC15) on the physical properties of the plasma membrane in a cervical cell line (HeLa). The interaction of the vaginal lactobacilli with the cervical cells determined two kinds of effects on plasma membrane: (1) modification of the membrane polar lipid organisation and the physical properties (L. crispatus BC1 and L. gasseri BC9); (2) modification of α5ß1 integrin organisation (L. crispatus BC2, L. gasseri BC11 and L. vaginalis BC15). These two mechanisms can be at the basis of the protective role of lactobacilli against Candida albicans adhesion. Upon stimulation with all Lactobacillus strains, we observed a reduction of the basal oxidative stress in HeLa cells that could be related to modifications in physical properties and organisation of the plasma membrane. These results confirm the strictly strain-specific peculiarities of Lactobacillus and deepen the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the health-promoting role of this genus within the vaginal ecosystem.

Cognition and behavior in children with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS).

Characteristics of cognitive deficits in benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) remain unclear. The authors screened 200 BECTS children presenting for a clinical trial, finding relative weaknesses in fine motor control, visual learning, and attention in the presence of overall normal intellect, with simple partial seizures associated with more difficulty. Parental concerns for psychosomatic and learning problems were noted. Monitoring select cognitive and behavioral features in BECTS appears appropriate.

Chlorpyrifos exposure and biological monitoring among manufacturing workers.

AIM: To use biological monitoring data to evaluate the soundness of job based exposure classifications. METHODS: The authors studied 52 chlorpyrifos manufacturing workers and 60 referent workers to compare chlorpyrifos exposure estimations from job titles and work areas to urinary excretion of 3,5,6 trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), a metabolite of chlorpyrifos. Work history records and industrial hygiene monitoring data were used to establish cumulative interim exposure. Chlorpyrifos exposure during the study year was assessed biologically by urinary excretion of TCP. RESULTS: Exposure as measured by three urinary TCP samples was significantly higher among the chlorpyrifos workers (188 microg/l) than it was for the referent subjects (7 microg/l). Urinary TCP also correlated well with specific exposure categories of negligible (0.73-1.98 mg/m3 days), low (1.99-4.91 mg/m3 days), and moderate (4.92-15.36 mg/m3 days). The weighted Kappa coefficient was 0.80 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.87) for the mean TCP over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The estimates of chlorpyrifos exposure based on job classifications and industrial hygiene measurements were significantly related to urinary TCP excretion, indicating that the ambient estimates are useful for providing exposure estimates among chlorpyrifos manufacturing workers.

Fast kinetics analysis of the peroxidatic reaction catalysed by horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase.

The kinetics of the enzymatic step of the peroxidatic reaction between NAD and hydrogen peroxide, catalysed by horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (alcohol:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.1), has been investigated at pH 7 at high enzyme concentration. Under such conditions no burst phase has been observed, thus indicating that the rate-limiting step in the process, which converts NAD into Compound I, either precedes or coincides with the chemical step responsible for the observed spectroscopic change. Kinetic analysis of the data, performed according to a simplified reaction scheme suggests that the rate-limiting step is coincident with the spectroscopic (i.e., chemical) step itself. Furthermore, the absence of a proton burst phase indicates the proton release step does not precede the chemical step, in contrast with the case of ethanol oxidation. A kinetic effect of different premixing conditions on the reaction rate has been observed and attributed to the presence of NADH formed in the 'blank reaction' between NAD and residual ethanol tightly bound to alcohol dehydrogenase. A molecular mechanism for the enzymatic peroxidation step is finally proposed, exploiting the knowledge of the much better known reaction of ethanol oxidation. Inhibition of this reaction by NADH has been investigated with respect to H2O2 (noncompetitive, Ki about 10 microM) and to NAD (competitive, Ki about 0.7 microM). The effect of temperature on the steady-state reaction state (about 65 kJ/mol activation energy) has also been studied.

Designing and evaluating Brain Powered Games for cognitive training and rehabilitation in at-risk African children.

BACKGROUND: Valid, reliable, accessible, and cost-effective computer-training approaches can be important components in scaling up educational support across resource-poor settings, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of the current study was to develop a computer-based training platform, the Michigan State University Games for Entertainment and Learning laboratory's Brain Powered Games (BPG) package that would be suitable for use with at-risk children within a rural Ugandan context and then complete an initial field trial of that package. METHODS: After game development was completed with the use of local stimuli and sounds to match the context of the games as closely as possible to the rural Ugandan setting, an initial field study was completed with 33 children (mean age = 8.55 ± 2.29 years, range 6-12 years of age) with HIV in rural Uganda. The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), CogState computer battery, and the Non-Verbal Index from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd edition (KABC-II) were chosen as the outcome measures for pre- and post-intervention testing. The children received approximately 45 min of BPG training several days per week for 2 months (24 sessions). RESULTS: Although some improvements in test scores were evident prior to BPG training, following training, children demonstrated clinically significant changes (significant repeated-measures outcomes with moderate to large effect sizes) on specific TOVA and CogState measures reflecting processing speed, attention, visual-motor coordination, maze learning, and problem solving. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary support for the acceptability, feasibility, and neurocognitive benefit of BPG and its utility as a model platform for computerized cognitive training in cross-cultural low-resource settings.

Immunological correlates of behavioral problems in school-aged children living with HIV in Kayunga, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: HIV can affect the neuropsychological function of children, including their behavior. We aim to identify immunological correlates of behavioral problems among children living with HIV in Uganda. METHODS: Children participating in a parent randomized control trial in Kayunga, Uganda were assessed with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We constructed simple and multiple linear regression models to identify immunological correlates of behavioral problems. RESULTS: A total of 144 children living with HIV (50% male) with a mean age of 8.9 years [Standard Deviation (s.d.) = 1.9] were included in the analysis. Eighty-two children were on antiretroviral therapy. Mean CD4 cell count % was 35.1 cells/µl (s.d. = 15.0), mean CD4 cell activation 5.7% (s.d. = 5.1), mean CD8 cell activation was 17.5% (s.d. = 11.2) and 60 children (41.7%) had a viral load of <4000 copies/ml. In the adjusted models for the BRIEF, higher scores were associated with higher viral loads (aß = 16.7 × 10-6, 95% CI -5.00 × 10-6 to 28.4 × 10-6), specifically on the behavioral regulation index. Higher mean CD8 activation % was associated with higher scores on the Externalizing Problems  and Total Problems  scales of the CBCL (aß = 0.17, 95% CI 0.04-0.31 and aß = 0.15, 95% CI 0.00-0.28, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Poorer behavioral outcomes were associated with higher viral loads while higher CD8 activation was associated with poorer emotional and behavioral outcomes. Complete immunological assessments for children living with HIV could include commonly used viral and immunological parameters to identify those at higher risk of having negative behavior outcomes and who would benefit the most from behavioral interventions.

Smoking history, and not depression, is related to deficits in detection of happy and sad faces.

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has demonstrated that chronic cigarette smoking and major depressive disorder (MDD) are each associated with cognitive decrements. Further, these conditions co-occur commonly, though mechanisms in the comorbid condition are poorly understood. There may be distinct, additive, or overlapping factors underlying comorbid cigarette smoking and MDD. The present study investigated the impact of smoking and MDD on executive function and emotion processing. METHODS: Participants (N=198) were grouped by diagnostic category (MDD and healthy controls, HC) and smoking status (ever-smokers, ES and never-smokers, NS). Participants completed the Facial Emotion Perception Test (FEPT), a measure of emotional processing, and the parametric Go/No-go task (PGNG), a measure of executive function. RESULTS: FEPT performance was analyzed using ANCOVA with accuracy and reaction time as separate dependent variables. Repeated measures MANCOVA was conducted for PGNG with performance measure and task level as dependent variables. Analyses for each task included diagnostic and smoking group as independent variables, and gender was controlled for. Results for FEPT reveal that lower overall accuracy was found for ES relative to NS, though MDD did not differ from HC. Post-hoc analyses revealed that ES were poorer at identifying happy and sad, but not fearful or angry, faces. For PGNG, poorer performance was observed in MDD relative to HC in response time to Go targets, but there were no differences for ES and NS. Interaction of diagnosis and smoking group was not observed for performance on either task. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide preliminary evidence for distinctive cognitive decrements in smokers and individuals with depression.

Decrease in cortisol reverses human hippocampal atrophy following treatment of Cushing's disease.

BACKGROUND: Decreased hippocampal volume is observed in patients with Cushing's syndrome and other conditions associated with elevated cortisol levels, stress, or both. Reversibility of hippocampal neuronal atrophy resulting from stress occurs in animals. Our study investigated the potential for reversibility of human hippocampal atrophy. METHODS: The study included 22 patients with Cushing's disease. Magnetic resonance brain imaging was performed prior to transsphenoidal microadenomectomy and again after treatment. RESULTS: Following treatment, hippocampal formation volume (HFV) increased by up to 10%. The mean percent change (3.2 +/- 2.5) was significantly greater (p < .04) than that of the comparison structure, caudate head volume (1.5 +/- 3.4). Increase in HFV was significantly associated with magnitude of decrease in urinary free cortisol (r = -.61, p < .01). This relationship strengthened after adjustments for age, duration of disease, and months elapsed since surgery (r = -.70, p < .001). There was no significant correlation between caudate head volume change and magnitude of cortisol decrease. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in human HFV associated with sustained hypercortisolemia are reversible, at least in part, once cortisol levels decrease. While many brain regions are likely affected by hypercortisolemia, the human hippocampus exhibits increased sensitivity to cortisol, affecting both volume loss and recovery.