Influence of environmental growth temperature on tocopherol and sterol oil concentrations in olive fruit.

BACKGROUND: Tocopherols and sterols are minor components of virgin olive oils that contribute to oil quality. Based on observations at different geographical locations, it has been suggested that environmental temperature during fruit growth affects tocopherol and sterol oil concentrations in olive fruit. However, controlled experiments have not been conducted to directly assess their responses to temperature. In this study, a manipulative experiment using open-top chambers (OTCs) was performed in the field to evaluate the responses of these oil components to a moderate air temperature increase during oil accumulation in young trees of two olive cultivars (Arbequina, Coratina). The two temperature levels in the OTCs were a control about 1 °C above ambient temperature (T0) and a heated treatment (T+) with a target temperature of 4 °C above T0. RESULTS: Total tocopherol and sterol oil concentrations in olive fruit were generally higher in the T+ temperature treatment than in the control at the end of the oil accumulation period. The increase in total tocopherols in T+ appeared to be related to a decrease in fruit oil concentration with heating. Individual sterols showed both significant increases and decreases due to T+, and some differences in response occurred between the two cultivars. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence that growth temperature affects tocopherol and sterol oil concentrations in olive fruit at the end of the oil accumulation period. Cultivars should be carefully chosen for new olive-growing regions, and the results could be relevant for global warming scenarios in existing growing regions. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Plantar stimulation can affect subjective straight-ahead in neglect patients.

The rightward orientation bias of neglect patients has been shown to be decreased by postural changes, suggesting that afferences coding the posture relative to gravity might influence the body-centred spatial reference frame. In order to test this hypothesis, we evaluated the effects of plantar stimulations on the subjective straight-ahead (SSA) of two neglect patients presenting with a strong rightward shift, as well as two non-neglect patients and three normal subjects. Vibratory or electrical stimulations were applied to the left or right plantar sole. Data showed that these manipulations influenced the SSA position in neglect patients only. The observed improvement could be explained by a direction-specific effect of vibration, in addition to a non-specific activation induced by both stimulations.

[Residual deficit of verbal recall after a left internal cerebral vein infarct]. / Déficit résiduel du rappel verbal après un infarctus de la veine cérébrale interne gauche.

A case of unilateral infarct in the territory of the left internal cerebral vein, severely disturbing cognitive processes, and more especially recall in verbal memory, is reported. This 22-year-old patient survived a left thalamic and striato-capsular infarct related to a straight sinus and left internal cerebral vein thrombosis. Motor and functional recovery was fair, despite late dystonia. At the secondary phase post-stroke, cognitive disorders were severe, including increased short-term forgetting and episodic (anterograde and retrograde) and semantic amnesia. One year later, a residual deficit of verbal recall was observed, which participated in the anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Recognition was well preserved. This case showed that: (1) internal cerebral vein thrombosis can have severe consequences on cognition and memory, and that late prognosis is not as fair as has been previously reported in selected patients, and (2) left diencephalic structures are specifically associated with recollection of verbal information from long-term memory.

Disorders of smell, taste, and food intake in a patient with a dorsomedial thalamic infarct.

BACKGROUND: We report that a lasting deficit in the hedonic character of olfactory and gustatory perception can be observed in bilateral dorsomedial and intralaminar thalamic lesions. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 68-year-old patient abruptly presented with vigilance disorders associated with a reduction of olfactory and gustatory perceptions. A severe drop in appetite for foods and a weight loss of 10 kg were observed, which were partially reversed with time. Two years later, the main persisting disorder was a change in the quality of perceptions: odors and taste were perceived either in a neutral way, their pleasant character having disappeared, or as unpleasant. However, identification was preserved. MRI showed that lesions principally involved the dorsomedial thalamic nuclei and the adjacent part of the intralaminar nuclei. CONCLUSIONS: This case suggests that the dorsomedial thalamus may play a role in the hedonic perception of food, thus affecting short-term regulation of food intake, and may possibly have a role in the long-term control of body weight.

Carboxyl terminus structural requirements for glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor addition to cell surface proteins.

Glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins contain in their COOH-terminal region a peptide segment that is thought to direct glycolipid addition. This signal has been shown to require a pair of small amino acids positioned 10-12 residues upstream of an hydrophobic C-terminal domain. We analysed the contribution of the region separating the anchor acceptor site and the C-terminal hydrophobic segment by introducing amino acid deletions and substitutions in the spacer element of the GPI-anchored Thy-1 glycoprotein. Deletions of 7 amino acids in this region, as well as the introduction of 2 charged residues, prevented the glycolipid addition to Thy-1, suggesting that the length and the primary sequence of the spacer domain are important determinants in the signal directing GPI anchor transfer onto a newly synthesized polypeptide. Furthermore, we tested these rules by creating a truncated form of the normally transmembranous Herpes simplex virus I glycoprotein D (gDI) and demonstrating that when its C-terminal region displays all the features of a GPI-anchored protein, it is able to direct glycolipid addition onto another cell surface molecule.

Unilateral pseudobulbar syndrome with limited capsulothalamic infarction.

A unilateral pseudobulbar syndrome consequent to unilateral capsulothalamic infarction is described. Motor deficit of the face was associated with marked velar and pharyngeal unilateral palsy; paresis of limbs was mild. ACT scan revealed a circumscribed infarction of the genu of the internal capsule. This raised the problem of unilateral supranuclear pharyngeal palsies and of the precise anatomy of the genicular tract in the genu of the internal capsule.

[Evaluation of the amnesia caused by restricted thalamic infarcts--6 cases]. / Bilan de l'amnesie des infarctus thalamiques restreints--6 cas.

The amnesic syndrome is analysed in 6 infarctions restricted to the thalamic area. Bilateral lesions were linked to more definite deficits; the anterograde forgetting was unequivocal at the initial stage and affected both verbal and visual memory. In unilateral lesions, deficits were far more discrete and there was no evidence enough for assuming a strict hemispheric specialisation, left for verbal memory, and right for visual memory. These cases and others from the literature suggested that amnesia is more important and pure in infarctions of the anterior part of the thalamus.

[Amnesia in thalamic infarction]. / L'amnésie des infarctus thalamiques.

Restricted thalamic infarctions are in man a useful model for investigating the consequences of limited diencephalic lesions on memory and verbal or visual learning. Two new cases of amnesia with thalamo-sub-thalamic infarctions are presented, with a general review of the problem. The gathering of the different cases according to the vascular thalamic territories and, as a consequence, to nuclear or associative structures concerned, allows a better approach of the relations between amnesia and infarctions. Uni or bilateral anterior lesions are the cause of more important and pure memory deficits, posterior infarctions are more often associated to language involvement or spatial cognitive problems which interfere with memorizing.

[Ocular and head movements in infarctions of the thalamic region]. / La motricité oculaire et céphalique dans les infarctus de la région thalamique.

Oculomotor disorders in 22 infarctions in the thalamic region are recorded. Clinical examination and electro-oculography (17 cases) showed that paramedian thalamo-subthalamic lesions were responsible for clear deficits: upgaze paralysis and in some cases downgaze paralysis, partial paresis of the oculomotor nerve, deficits of lateral eye movements, myosis, paralysis of head flexion combined with downgaze paralysis. Postero-median choroid artery infarction was associated with upgaze paresis, slight deficit of lateral eye movements and myosis. Postero-lateral choroid artery infarction resulted in a partial visual field defect and in some cases, a contralateral hypometria; myosis was slight and inconstant. Infarctions of the internal capsule (anterior choroid artery, deep branches of the middle cerebral artery) were associated with a deficit of contralateral saccades. Ocular pursuit, when possible, was often saccadic, whatever the site of the infarction. This prevailed with gaze towards the lesion side.

[Palpebral and cephalic oculomotor deficits in deep cerebral hematomas]. / Déficits des motricités oculaire palpébrale et céphalique dans les hématomes cérébraux profonds.

Oculomotor functions are analysed by clinical examination and oculography in 21 cases of deep cerebral hematoma. Significant paralysis of verticality and of movements contralateral to the lesions was observed in all cases where the hemorrhage affected the paramedian thalamo-subthalamic region. A slight deficit of elevation and controlateral movements was observed in the external thalamic and capsular hematomas. In the capsulolenticular hematomas the electro-oculographic record revealed discrete disturbances. It is concluded that the oculomotor examination provides important information about the topography of these cerebral hemorrhage and the functional role of the structures concerned. The examination shows the gravity of median lesions which frequently entail serious oculomotor sequelae.

[Oculocephalomotor disorders and bilateral thalamo-subthalamic infarction (author's transl)]. / Troubles oculo-céphalomoteurs et infarctus thalamo-sous-thalamique bilatéral.

A 33-year-old woman on oral contraceptives suddenly developed neurological disorders characterised by decreased alertness, absence of motor and verbal spontaneity, anterograde amnesia with difficulties in verbal and visual learning. She also presented paralysis of upwards and downwards ocular movements affecting mainly saccadic movements while convergence was normal. An initial almost total absence of spontaneous head movements and later an impossibility to carry out downwards movements of the head. This apparently represents a syndrome still not reported in human pathology. The clinical course was favourable. CT scan suggested the presence of a paramedian infarct of the region supplied by the thalamosubthalamic artery of the type II b of Percheron. An analogy is suggested between these disorders of oculocephalomotor behaviour and those observed by Denny-Brown in experimental bilateral retrorubric lesions. The possibility of a lesion in the internal thalamic nucleis and the adjacent subthalamic region is considered.