Natural history of interaction between Meteorus sp. Haliday, 1835 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and its hyperparasitoid Toxeumella albipes Girault, 1913 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).

Some parasitoids build a cocoon mass that hangs in the host body until the adults emergence, which is an advantage against attack by predators who troll the vegetation in search of prey. However, such behaviour is not effective against the hyperparasitoid attacks. This study reports the interaction between the caterpillar Manduca sexta Linnaeus, 1763 (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) parasitised by Meteorus sp. (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) larvae and its hyperparasitoid Toxeumella albipes (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae). This is the first description of the attack and oviposition of T. albipes.

Testagem inicial e capacidade discriminatória da escala "UFMG Sydenham's Chorea Rating Scale (USCRS)" / The initial testing and the discrimination property of the UFMG Sydenham's Chorea Rating Scale (USCRS)

Recently we developed and validated the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) Sydenham's chorea Rating Scale (USCRS) to systematically assess SC patients. In this study, we assessed 97 children and adults with SC (mean age +/- SD, 15.5 +/- 5.9; male/female, 31/66) seen at the Movement Disorders Clinic at UFMG employing the USCRS. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to their clinical status: acute (n=19), recurrent (n=17), persistent (n=19) and remission (n=42). The mean +/- SEM USCRS scores for each group were: 47.7 +/- 4.7 for acute group, 29.5 +/- 2.6 for recurrent group, 17.6 +/- 3.1 for persistent group and 1.1 +/- 0.2 for remission group. All pair comparisons were statistically significant (p<0.05). Our results indicate that the USRSC can reasonably discriminate groups of SC patients in different clinical stages of the disease.

Recentemente desenvolvemos e validamos a escala "Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) Sydenhams Chorea Rating Scale" (USCRS) para avaliar sistematicamente os pacientes com coréia de Sydenham (CS). Neste estudo, examinamos 97 crianças e adultos com CS (média de idade ± desvio padrão, 15,5 ± 5,9; masculino/feminino, 31/66) acompanhados na Clínica de Distúrbios do Movimento da UFMG, empregando a escala USCRS. Os pacientes foram divididos em 4 grupos conforme a forma clínica apresentada: aguda (n=19), recorrente (n=17), persistente (n=19) e remissão (n=42). O escore médio ± erro padrão na escala USCRS para cada um dos grupos foi, respectivamente, 47,7 ± 4,7 para aguda, 29,5 ± 2,6 para recorrente, 17,6 ± 3,1 para persistente e 1,1 ± 0,2 para remissão. Todas as comparações entre cada um dos grupos foram estatisticamente significativas (p<0,05). Nossos resultados sugerem que a escala USCRS pode discriminar razoavelmente os grupos de pacientes com em diferentes formas clínicas de CS.

Migraine headache in patients with Sydenham's chorea.

We compared the frequency of migraine among Sydenham's chorea (SC) patients, rheumatic fever (RF) patients without neurological symptoms and matched controls. Migraine was more frequent in SC patients (12/55, 21.8%) than in controls (9/110, 8.1%) and as common as in the RF group (10/55, 18.2%). Our data are in agreement with previous studies reporting higher frequency of migraine in other basal ganglia disorders, such as essential tremor and Tourette's syndrome.

Complex phonic tic and disinhibition in Tourette syndrome: case report.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a combination of multiple motor tics and at least one phonic tic. TS patients often have associated behavioral abnormalities such as obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder. Coprolalia, defined as emission of obscenities or swearing, is one type of complex vocal tic, present in 8% to 26% of patients. The pathophysiology of coprolalia and other complex phonic tics remains ill-defined. We report a patient whose complex phonic tic was characterized by repetitively saying "breast cancer" on seeing the son of aunt who suffered from this condition. The patient was unable to suppress the tic and did not meet criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder. The phenomenology herein described supports the theory that complex phonic tics result from disinhibition of the loop connecting the basal ganglia with the limbic cortex.