Role of induced negative and positive emotions in sensitivity to itch and pain in women.

BACKGROUND: Itch and pain are common symptoms in skin disease. It has been suggested that negative emotions may play a role in itch and pain. To date, however, the role of emotions has only been studied for pain in experimental studies, not yet for itch. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of negative and positive emotions on the sensitivity to itch and pain. METHODS: Film fragments were used to induce a negative or positive emotional state in healthy women. Itch and pain were induced using the following somatosensory stimuli: electrical stimulation, histamine iontophoresis and the cold pressor test. RESULTS: Results showed that the scores for itch and pain evoked by histamine and the cold pressor test, respectively, were significantly higher in the negative than in the positive emotion condition, whereas tolerance thresholds to electrical stimulation and the cold pressor test, and stimulus unpleasantness scores did not differ between the two conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings for the first time indicate in an experimental design that emotions play a role in sensitivity to somatosensory sensations of both itch and pain.

Association of diet with clinical outcomes in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure.

INTRODUCTION: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs has been associated with feeding of grain-free (GF), legume-rich diets. Some dogs with presumed diet-associated DCM have shown improved myocardial function and clinical outcomes following a change in diet and standard medical therapy. HYPOTHESIS: Prior GF (pGF) diet influences reverse cardiac remodeling and clinical outcomes in dogs with DCM and congestive heart failure (CHF). ANIMALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed with 67 dogs with DCM and CHF for which diet history was known. Dogs were grouped by diet into pGF and grain-inclusive (GI) groups. Dogs in the pGF group were included if diet change was a component of therapy. Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and the Cox proportional-hazards model. RESULTS: The median survival time was 344 days for pGF dogs vs. 253 days for GI dogs (P = 0.074). Statistically significant differences in median survival were identified when the analysis was limited to dogs surviving longer than one week (P = 0.033). Prior GF dogs had a significantly worse outcome the longer a GF diet was fed prior to diagnosis (P = 0.004) or if they were diagnosed at a younger age (P = 0.017). Prior GF dogs showed significantly greater improvement in normalized left ventricular internal diastolic diameter (P = 0.038) and E-point septal separation (P = 0.031) measurements and significant decreases in their furosemide (P = 0.009) and pimobendan (P < 0.005) dosages over time compared to GI dogs. CONCLUSIONS: Prior GF dogs that survived at least one week after diagnosis of DCM, treatment of CHF, and diet change had better clinical outcomes and showed reverse ventricular remodeling compared to GI dogs.

A case report on fixation instability in Parkinson's disease with bilateral deep brain stimulation implants.

We report on fixation instabilities in a patient diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD). This patient underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery bilaterally in the vicinity of the subthalamic nuclei (STN). Examination of the eye movements of this patient revealed marked fixation instability compared with a healthy age matched control. The eye movements occurring during fixation differed from other reports of fixation instabilities in that they interrupted fixation for only brief durations. These interruptive saccades (IS) had saccade-like amplitude velocity relationships. The frequency of these IS was higher in the patient with PD than in the healthy age matched control. Furthermore, the frequency of the IS in the patient reduced toward control with application of bilateral DBS in the vicinity of the STN. From our observations we conclude that fixation ability may be altered in PD and improved with DBS.

Signal transduction by B and T cells early after bone marrow transplantation: B cell calcium flux responses are intact whereas lack of CD4 cells accounts for impaired T cell responses.

We previously found that intracellular ionized calcium ([Ca2+]i) flux responses after anti-CD3 crosslinking of CD3/TCR on T cells from allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients were impaired, Yamagami et al. J Clin Invest 1990; 86: 1347-1351. In contrast to the earlier study, this study focuses on identifying the T cell subset(s) responsible for the defects and determining if B cell responses are defective in BMT recipients early after BMT. In 37 recipients after anti-CD3 stimulation of PBL, a mean of 25.9% responding T cells was observed. This was significantly lower than the mean of 43.6% responding T cells in PBL from 21 normals (P < 0.001). The proportion of responding T cells in PBL (T PBL) increased in the recipients with time after BMT. By 6 months after BMT, the mean percent of responding T PBL approached the normal range. On the other hand, a mean of 8.1% responding B cells in anti-IgM crosslinked PBL from 24 recipients was not different from the mean of 7.4% responding B cells in anti-IgM crosslinked PBL from 16 normals (P = 0.6). Four color flow cytometry was used to identify subpopulations of lymphocytes. Enriched B cells were tested by gating out CD3+ and CD56+ cells to confirm the results of unfractionated PBL. In 8 recipients, the mean percent responding B cells was 36.6% and was not different from 6 normals (mean = 41.0%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The anatomy of the inferior petrosal sinus, glossopharyngeal nerve, vagus nerve, and accessory nerve in the jugular foramen.

PURPOSE: To define the variations of the courses of the cranial nerves and the inferior petrosal sinuses as they enter and traverse the jugular foramen. METHODS: Thirty-nine cadaveric specimens containing the jugular foramen were scanned with 1-mm contiguous axial and coronal CT sections. Each specimen was dissected to evaluate the position of the cranial nerves and inferior petrosal sinus as they entered the jugular foramen. RESULTS: The glossopharyngeal nerve entered the most superior, anterior, and medial aspect of the jugular foramen and descended in the anterior portion of the jugular foramen, often within a groove. The vagus and accessory nerves could not be separated by CT. They entered the jugular foramen most often anterior or anterior and inferior to the jugular spine of the temporal bone and descended in a position ranging from medial to anterior to the jugular vein. The inferior petrosal sinus most often coursed inferior to the horizontal portion of the glossopharyngeal nerve and entered the jugular system in the jugular foramen, at the exocranial opening or below the skull base. A pars nervosa and pars venosa could be identified only at the endocranial opening, where the jugular spine separated the pars nervosa containing the inferior petrosal sinus and three cranial nerves from the pars venosa containing the jugular vein. CONCLUSION: Our evaluation demonstrated anatomic variation in the area of the jugular foramen.

Bacteria associated with pyothorax of dogs and cats: 98 cases (1989-1998).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the organisms most commonly isolated from pleural fluid from dogs and cats with pyothorax. DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 51 dogs and 47 cats. PROCEDURE: Results of bacteriologic culture of pleural fluid samples obtained by means of thoracentesis were obtained from medical records. To obtain information on in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of organisms commonly isolated from dogs and cats, records of all dogs and cats examined during 1998 were reviewed, and information was obtained on identity and in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of aerobic organisms isolated from samples other than urine or urinary tract samples. RESULTS: Median ages of dogs and cats were 4 years. Bacteria were isolated from pleural fluid samples from 47 of 51 (92%) dogs and 45 of 47 (96%) cats. Obligate anaerobic bacteria were isolated from 28 dogs and 40 cats. A mixture of obligate anaerobic and facultative bacteria was isolated from 17 dogs and 20 cats. Samples from cats most often yielded a member of the nonenteric group (most commonly members of the genus Pasteurella), whereas those from dogs more often yielded a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae (most commonly E coli). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that antimicrobial agents chosen for the initial treatment of dogs and cats with pyothorax should be active against a mixture of obligate anaerobic and facultative bacteria.

Vision readiness at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Ensuring that our forces are vision ready, i.e., they have the appropriate visual acuity, optical devices, and eye health to perform their mission, is essential on today's battlefield. A study was conducted at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to determine the prevalence of vision readiness in a deploying fighter squadron. Of the 204 personnel screened, 59 wore glasses or contact lenses. Of these 59, 15 individuals (25%) were optically ready and 44 individuals (75%) were not optically ready to deploy. Optical readiness is defined as having the correct type and number of optical devices. Of the 15 individuals (25%) who were optically ready, 13 (87%) had had a professional eye examination within 12 months. Of the 44 individuals (75%) who were not optically ready, 36 (82%) had been examined within 1 year. Pearson's chi 2 test (chi 2 = 1.59, degrees of freedom = 3, significance = 0.66) indicated that there was no significant association between readiness and the date of the last examination. This study reveals that although personnel are having regular periodic professional eye examinations, optometry personnel, commanders, and deploying airmen must take a more active role in ensuring that our forces are vision ready.

Whole-genome sequencing of bladder cancers reveals somatic CDKN1A mutations and clinicopathological associations with mutation burden.

Bladder cancers are a leading cause of death from malignancy. Molecular markers might predict disease progression and behaviour more accurately than the available prognostic factors. Here we use whole-genome sequencing to identify somatic mutations and chromosomal changes in 14 bladder cancers of different grades and stages. As well as detecting the known bladder cancer driver mutations, we report the identification of recurrent protein-inactivating mutations in CDKN1A and FAT1. The former are not mutually exclusive with TP53 mutations or MDM2 amplification, showing that CDKN1A dysfunction is not simply an alternative mechanism for p53 pathway inactivation. We find strong positive associations between higher tumour stage/grade and greater clonal diversity, the number of somatic mutations and the burden of copy number changes. In principle, the identification of sub-clones with greater diversity and/or mutation burden within early-stage or low-grade tumours could identify lesions with a high risk of invasive progression.

Patterns, incidence and predictive factors for pain after interventional radiology.

AIM: To evaluate prospectively the pattern, severity and predictive factors of pain after interventional radiological procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients undergoing non-arterial radiological interventional procedures were assessed using a visual-analogue scale (VAS) for pain before and at regular intervals for 24 h after their procedure. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty patients (87 men, mean age 62 years, range 18-92 years) were entered into the study. Significant increases in VAS score occurred 8 h after percutaneous biliary procedures (+47.7 mm, SD 14.9 mm; p=0.001), 6 h after central venous access and gastrostomy insertion (+23.7 mm, SD 19.5 mm; p=0.001 and +28.4 mm, SD 9.7 mm; p=0.007, respectively) and 4h after oesophageal stenting (+27.8 mm, SD 20.2 mm, p=0.001). Non-significant increases in VAS pain score were observed after duodenal and colonic stenting (duodenal: +5.13 mm, SD 7.47 mm; p=0.055, colonic: +23.3 mm, SD 13.10 mm, p=0.250) at a mean of 5h (range 4-6h). Patients reported a significant reduction in pain score for nephrostomy insertion (-28.4mm, SD 7.11 mm, p=0.001). Post-procedural analgesia was required in 99 patients (69.2%), 40 (28.0%) requiring opiates. Maximum post-procedural VAS pain score was significantly higher in patients who had no pre-procedural analgesia (p=0.003). CONCLUSION: Post-procedural pain is common and the pattern and severity of pain between procedures is variable. Pain control after interventional procedures is often inadequate, and improvements in pain management are required.

The short-term effects of a fire safety education program for the elderly.

The high risk of fire death and injury among elderly people is well documented. To be effective, fire safety education must reach older adults in the settings in which they reside: nursing homes and other long-term care institutions, board and care homes, and independent living facilities including the person's own home. Training must also be targeted at the people who are responsible for fire safety. In the case of the nursing home or board and care home, the responsible people are the staff and owners. In the case of the majority of older adults who live independently in their homes, it is either the individual or family members. These programs must also be comprehensive. A fire safety education curriculum was developed by a group of experts in a variety of related fields including fire safety, gerontology, health care industry, developmental disabilities, research, and instructional design. Older adults were included in each planning session. Based on that curriculum, workshops and workshop materials were developed for each of the three target populations: staff of health care facilities, staff and owners of board and care homes, and elderly people living independently in their homes. Materials included both print and audiovisuals. A pilot test of each workshop was conducted to test the short-term effects of the programs. Results indicated significant gains in knowledge for all groups and a significant improvement in positive attitudes toward fire safety for most participants. Measures of effects of the programs on intentions to change fire safety practices indicated a potential for change. Results also showed that the measured traits, knowledge of fire safety and attitudes toward fire safety, were relatively stable.

6,6'-Bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine manganese(III) complexes: a novel series of superoxide dismutase and catalase mimetics.

A series of novel manganese(III) complexes is described based on a 6,6'-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine template. These complexes show superoxide dismutase and catalase activity. The effect of the aromatic substitution pattern on the SAR is described.