Long-term changes of Th17 and regulatory T cells in peripheral blood of dogs with spinal cord injury after intervertebral disc herniation.

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH) is one of the most common causes of spinal cord injury (SCI) in dogs. As a result of acute SCI, a complex inflammatory response occurs in the spinal cord. Th17 cells (Th17) produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, while regulatory T cells (Treg) have opposite effects producing anti-inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether Th17- and Treg cells are involved in the pathogenesis of SCI or whether cellular changes occur due to coexisting inflammatory diseases. We hypothesized that chronic alterations in the Th17/Treg ratio are associated with a worse outcome after SCI. METHODS: Twenty-six paretic or plegic dogs with IVDH with and without coexisting inflammatory disease were investigated in the acute stage of the disease and after recovery of SCI. In addition, a healthy control group was included (n = 14). Quantification of Th17 and Treg cells, from peripheral blood samples, was performed by multicolor flow cytometry and IL17 was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: After recovery significantly higher levels of Th17 (p = 0.0265) and Treg cells (p = 0.00025) were detected compared to acute IVDH but Th17/Treg ratio did not differ significantly. Recovered dogs and the control group did not differ significantly from each other. No association between an imbalance in the ratio and neurologic severity or underlying inflammatory diseases was found. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that altered Th17 and Treg levels in peripheral blood are altered in the acute stage of IVDH, preexisting inflammatory diseases seem not to influence these cell populations. Th17 and Treg cells could be considered when evaluating new treatment strategies for SCI.

Seasonal Variations of Mercury Levels in Selected Medicinal Plants Originating from Poland.

The presence of mercury in the living cells may be caused by environmental pollution with this element, which is referred to as a toxic xenobiotic. Many literature reports have provided evidence for toxic effects of low levels of mercury in the human body. Therefore, it seems essential to investigate mercury content in food and in natural environment, particularly its seasonal variations. The objective of this study was to determine trace amounts of mercury in 45 samples of 20 medicinal plant species collected in northern Poland, in various seasons of the year, i.e., in autumn 2012 and then spring 2013. The results obtained showed that the levels of mercury in the herbs were lower in spring (3.66-34.89 ng/g) than in autumn (4.55-81.54 ng/g). The statistically significant correlation (p < 0.05) between the levels of mercury in herbs collected in spring and autumn indicates hazardous accumulation of the element in plants in autumn. The highest levels of mercury were found in leaves and plants growing in the vicinity of busy streets. Perennials plants have a significantly higher mercury levels as compared to those of monocarpic plants. Furthermore, commonly used herbal plants have a significantly higher mercury levels as compared to those less common.

Essential Elements and Their Relations to Phenolic Compounds in Infusions of Medicinal Plants Acquired from Different European Regions.

The aim of this research was to compare chemical composition of herbs acquired from different European countries. The concentrations of P, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, phenolic compounds, and the antioxidant activity were determined in infusions of 27 medicinal herbs (7 species) from Lithuania, Serbia, Italy, and Portugal. Total and extractable P were expressed in milligrams per liter and metals in micrograms per liter and followed the sequence: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu, while antioxidant activity ranged from 29.4 to 217.8 mg of Trolox equivalent (TE) per liter. Total flavonoids were in the range of 20.5-95.1 mg L(-1). The rank order of phenolic compounds assayed by HPLC method (in mg L(-1) of infusion) was as follows: rutin > myricetin > quercetin > kaempferol, and chlorogenic > ferulic > p-coumaric > caffeic > gallic acids. Significant correlations were found between total P-inorganic phosphate P, Zn-Mn, Mn-Cu, total flavonoids-antioxidant activity, and quercetin with caffeic and ferulic acids. Generally, medicinal plant infusions differed in their chemical composition, strongly depending on plant species, regardless of the origin from distant geographical areas of Europe. Principal component analysis selected the concentrations of Cu, Mn, total and inorganic phosphate P, as factors which strongly influence differentiation of the samples. Moreover, infusions from Hyperici herba and Helichrysi inflorescentia contained significant amounts of water-extractable Mn and Fe forms as claimed by the Dietary Reference Intakes for humans.

Highly enhanced Raman scattering of graphene using plasmonic nano-structure.

Highly enhanced Raman scattering of graphene on a plasmonic nano-structure platform is demonstrated. The plasmonic platform consists of silver nano-structures in a periodic array on top of a gold mirror. The gold mirror is used to move the hot spot to the top surface of the silver nano-structures, where the graphene is located. Two different nano-structures, ring and crescent, are studied. The actual Raman intensity is enhanced by a factor of 890 for the G-peak of graphene on crescents as compared to graphene on a silicon dioxide surface. The highest enhancement is observed for the G-peak as compared to the 2D-peak. The results are quantitatively well-matched with a theoretical model using an overlap integral of incident electric field intensities with the corresponding intensities of Raman signals at the G- and 2D-peaks. The interaction of light with nano-structures is simulated using finite element method (FEM).

How much chicken is food? Questioning the definition of food by analyzing amino acid composition of modern convenience products.

BACKGROUND: Substantial differences exist between traditionally cooked and chemically designed ready-to-serve products and raise questions about the general principles and requirements of current food law. METHODS: Differences in amino acid patterns were analyzed in four examples of chicken preparations (boiled chicken meat, traditionally prepared broth from whole chicken, and two commercial chicken broths), and four examples of vegetable broth (traditionally prepared, two commercial products one of which was claimed a BIO-product, and the classic German bouillon cube). RESULTS: Chicken meat contained 284 mg of free amino acids in 100 ml of the boiled meat homogenate, with physiological peaks of glutamate (14.5 mg/100 ml), glutamine (8.5 mg/100 ml), anserine (88 mg/100 ml) and carnosine (55 mg/100 ml). The patterns significantly differ in industrially designed chicken soups with elevated peaks of glutamate, and missing anserine or carnosine. Similar results were obtained in vegetable broths. In the classic German bouillon cube, glutamate accounts for 96% of all free amino acids. CONCLUSIONS: The amino acid composition of modern ready-to-serve chicken soups and vegetable broths are far from being similar to any natural composition. We need to question current legal definitions of food, and consider its impact on eating habits, appetite regulation and obesity.

Classification of rapeseed and soybean oils by use of unsupervised pattern-recognition methods and neural networks.

Unsupervised pattern-recognition methods and Kohonen neural networks have been applied to the classification of rapeseed and soybean oil samples according to their type and quality by use of chemical and physical properties (density, refractive index, saponification value, and iodine and acid numbers) and thermal properties (thermal decomposition temperatures) as variables. A multilayer feed-forward (MLF) neural network (NN) has been used to select the most important variables for accurate classification of edible oils. To accomplish this task different neural networks architectures trained by back propagation of error method, using chemical, physical, and thermal properties as inputs, were employed. The network with the best performance and the smallest root mean squared (RMS) error was chosen. The results of MLF network sensitivity analysis enabled the identification of key properties, which were again used as variables in principal components analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and in Kohonen self-organizing feature maps (SOFM) to prove their reliability.

Is the social network analysis necessary in the rehabilitation of individuals with head injury?

A social network is a support system in which one can obtain assistance for simple daily needs and in emergency situations. A diminished social network can result in failure to integrate into normalized environments. The results of this investigation clearly showed that social networks among a group of 70 people who were traumatically brain injured had significantly fewer members than a control group of non-injured respondents. Additionally, the make-up of social networks was different. Specifically, respondents who were traumatically brain injured had social networks consisting mainly of family and staff members of the rehabilitation facility, while non-injured respondents had mostly friends or acquaintances, coworkers, and family members, in that order.

Improving orientation in head injured adults by repeated practice, multi-sensory input and peer participation.

The efficacy of using antecedent control procedures (practice, multi-sensory input and peer participation) in facilitating orientation to person, place and time with two survivors of traumatic brain injuries were tested in two studies. In the first investigation, a 23-year-old male was treated by presenting the orientation questions orally while being shown questions on written flashcards. Results suggest that correct responses to orientation questions only occurred when flashcards were coupled with oral questioning. The participant responded correctly to nearly 100% of all orientation questions within 2 weeks of initiating flashcards. In the second study, a 19-year-old male was asked to respond in writing to 20 orientation questions in a small group. The group had a leader and 4 TBI patients. Following this, group members who correctly answered the orientation questions, took turns reading orientation questions and providing the correct responses.

Laparoscopic applications for abdominal trauma injuries.

Laparoscopy has been shown to be an effective diagnostic and therapeutic modality for trauma patients. The benefits of laparoscopic intervention include the avoidance of negative laparotomy procedures, decreased patient morbidity rates, shorter hospital stays, and lower costs. Laparoscopic limitations are discussed in this article as well as the perioperative nursing considerations in all phases of trauma patients' care. Five case studies in which patients' care was enhanced by the use of laparoscopy are presented.

Assessing and treating non-compliance in brain-injured clients.

Assessment of non-compliance has been discussed. This included exploration of reinforcement contingencies, age appropriateness, cultural background and social background. Several perspectives on this have been addressed. Memory deficits are also critical when assessing non-compliance. Specifically, when the TBI person has severe memory deficits. Consequence management and antecedent control techniques have shown to be highly effective in promoting participation. Additionally, non-compliance should not necessarily be viewed as non-desirable, in fact, the client may be communicating preferred and non-preferred interests. It is important to recognize individual talents, interests and preferences. This is a significant point when you consider that TBI survivors had pre-injury lifestyles, i.e. full-time employment, a working social network, and preferred interests and activities.

Improving executive function disorders in brain-injured clients.

In 1983, Lezak described executive functioning as the ability to engage in independent, purposeful, self-directive and self-serving behaviour. Self initiation, problem-solving and self-monitoring or regulation of behaviour are important components of executive functioning. This paper presents the results of efforts to improve executive functioning in three areas: problem solving, self-initiation and self-regulation.

Memory notebook training with traumatically brain-injured clients.

Four brain-injured clients continually demonstrated short-term memory deficits including difficulty learning new material and forgetting appointments. Training in the use of memory notebooks improved performance of homework assignments and keeping appointments.

The rehabilitation of adolescents with traumatic brain injury: outcome and follow-up.

Outcome data from 17 brain-injured adolescents discharged from a rehabilitation centre during a 2-year period were analysed. The outcome measures were academic status and living environment. The descriptive variables were demographic, behavioural, psychological and neuropsychological data for each client. Before admission, 24% of the adolescents were living at home with their parents, 29% were in rehabilitation hospitals and 47% were in psychiatric settings. At discharge, 58% were living with their families, 23% were living in group homes, 12% were in supervised apartments and 5% were in an alternative rehabilitation centre. Academically, 53% were discharged into public schools, 23% were competitively employed and 23% attended special schools. Follow-up reports, dated 8-24 months post-discharge, found that 40% of the adolescents continued to live with their parents and 30% were in public schools. All of the adolescents were living and working or attending school in the community. Factors in the successful rehabilitation of brain-injured adolescents are discussed.

Managing hypersexual disorders in brain-injured clients.

Three case studies involving hypersexuality in brain-injured clients are illustrated. Two cases involved the inappropriate touching of the opposite sex, and the third case involved exhibitionism. In one case of touching, feedback was used to decrease inappropriate touching. In the other case of touching, scheduled massage was used to shift stimulus control to an appropriate setting. In the case of exhibitionism, a combination of self-monitoring, private self-stimulation and dating-skills training were used to suppress the behaviour.

A comparison of four memory strategies with traumatically brain-injured clients.

Six traumatically brain-injured clients were trained in four memory improvement strategies. These were written rehearsal, verbal rehearsal, acronym formation, and memory notebook logging. This study showed that only memory notebook logging was effective in increasing recall of classroom material.

Antecedent control in the treatment of brain-injured clients.

Three brain-injured clients failed to respond significantly to consequence management programmes designed to increase attendance, use of a cane, and to reduce unauthorized breaks. When antecedent stimulus control procedures were applied, attendance and use of a cane increased and unauthorized breaks decreased. The study shows that antecedent control may be the treatment of choice when treating brain-injured clients with memory loss.

Teaching socially appropriate behavior to eliminate hoarding in a brain injured adult.

A brain injured male hoarded large quantities of unuseable items at every opportunity. The treatment consisted of two phases. First, he was taught to collect baseball cards. Second, after each meal, the client was provided with an apron and a glove and asked to pick up trash in the area and deposit the trash in an appropriate receptacle. If he hoarded, he was told not to pick up trash without his apron and glove and escorted to a quiet area for about 10 seconds. The procedure was successful in suppressing the behavior within 8 days.

Comparing motivational systems with two non-compliant head-injured adolescents.

Behavioural contracting, point systems and point systems plus response costs were compared to determine their effectiveness in increasing the attendance of two head-injured adolescents at class and therapy sessions. All of the motivational systems increased attendance, although the point system plus response cost seemed slightly more effective for one client.