Acetylcholine from the nucleus basalis magnocellularis facilitates the retrieval of well-established memory.

Retrieval deficit of long-term memory is a cardinal symptom of dementia and has been proposed to associate with abnormalities in the central cholinergic system. Difficulty in the retrieval of memory is experienced by healthy individuals and not limited to patients with neurological disorders that result in forgetfulness. The difficulty of retrieving memories is associated with various factors, such as how often the event was experienced or remembered, but it is unclear how the cholinergic system plays a role in the retrieval of memory formed by a daily routine (accumulated experience). To investigate this point, we trained rats moderately (for a week) or extensively (for a month) to detect a visual cue in a two-alternative forced-choice task. First, we confirmed the well-established memory in the extensively trained group was more resistant to the retrieval problem than recently acquired memory in the moderately trained group. Next, we tested the effect of a cholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil, on the retrieval of memory after a long no-task period in extensively trained rats. Pre-administration of donepezil improved performance and reduced the latency of task initiation compared to the saline-treated group. Finally, we lesioned cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), which project to the entire neocortex, by injecting the cholinergic toxin 192 IgG-saporin. NBM-lesioned rats showed severely impaired task initiation and performance. These abilities recovered as the trials progressed, though they never reached the level observed in rats with intact NBM. These results suggest that acetylcholine released from the NBM contributes to the retrieval of well-established memory developed by a daily routine.

Schizencephaly Associated With Bipolar Affective Disorder.

Schizencephaly is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by the formation of abnormal clefts in the brain. Despite the association of psychotic symptoms with various brain abnormalities or insults, their occurrence in individuals with schizencephaly is relatively infrequent. The association of bipolar disorder, with or without psychosis, with schizencephaly is rarer. A systematic search on PubMed using "Schizencephaly AND Bipolar Disorder" yielded only four case studies specifically addressing the connection between these two conditions. Here, we present a case of a 22-year-old male patient with a history of childhood seizures who developed first episode psychosis along with manic symptoms and was found to have closed-lip schizencephaly.

Comparison of Intermittent and Continuous Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Prostate Cancer Patients: An Up-to-Date Meta-analysis for Urologists and Medical Providers.

INTRODUCTION: Androgen deprivation therapy first became the treatment of choice for advanced prostate cancer in the 1940s with Charles Huggins' discoveries. Eight decades later, androgen deprivation therapy has significantly evolved, and yet is still utilized in various ways to treat certain forms of prostate cancer. For local recurrence after failed primary treatment and for locally advanced and metastatic disease, continuous androgen deprivation therapy has been standard of treatment. However, intermittent androgen deprivation therapy has emerged as a therapeutic alternative to continuous androgen deprivation therapy. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to provide an update on mortality, specifically prostate cancer-specific and nonprostate cancer causes, in order to offer some guidance when selecting the appropriate form of systemic androgen deprivation therapy. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched for prospective randomized clinical trials. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined. Using statistical software, we analyzed random-effects models with the assumption that the data were randomly sampled, estimated the pooled log risk ratio, assessed heterogeneity, and created funnel plots to evaluate publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 12 randomized clinical trials met all inclusion criteria for final analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in prostate cancer-specific mortality between intermittent androgen deprivation therapy and continuous androgen deprivation therapy (RR=1.10 [0.85-1.42]). The analysis of nonprostate cancer mortality favored intermittent androgen deprivation therapy over continuous androgen deprivation therapy, but the difference was statistically insignificant (RR=0.94 [0.76-1.17]). CONCLUSIONS: These 2 treatment modalities can be considered as equivalent in long-term treatment outcomes. As intermittent androgen deprivation therapy is more cost-efficient and less likely to yield adverse side effects, future treatment guidelines should consider these advantages over continuous androgen deprivation therapy.

Co-curricular Immersion as a Public-Private Capacity Building Activity.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already increasing challenge of establishing immersive, co-curricular activities for engineering students, particularly for biomedical-related activities. In the current work, we outline a strategy for co-curricular learning that leverages a private-public partnership in which methods for capacity-building have enabled mutually beneficial outcomes for both organizations. A contemporary issue for many non-profits is identifying effective ways to build capacity for consistent service delivery while at the same time embracing the volunteer activities of students; a challenge is that the lifecycle of a university student is often not aligned (much shorter) with the needs of the non-profit. The public-private partnership simultaneously meets the service motivation of students with the needs of the host. This paper includes two case studies that illustrate the implementation of the methods for capacity-building and related outcomes.

Association Between Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis and Quality of Life: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction Bronchiectasis is a chronic respiratory disease that can affect patients of all ages and significantly impact the quality of life (QOL) in patients who suffer from it. In spite of its widespread prevalence, and the significant impact on QOL, data on the quantitative impact of bronchiectasis on QOL is lacking. The Quality of Life-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B) is a self-administered patient-reported outcome measure, that was recently developed as a response to the emergent need for such measurement tools to study the impact of bronchiectasis on QOL. Methods We conducted a single-center cross-sectional study to study the correlation between QOL and various other outcome parameters such as exercise capacity, lung functions, co-morbidities, inflammatory markers, and body mass index (BMI). The secondary outcome was to find out various determinants of quality of life in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB). Results Forty-four patients who determined the pre-determined criteria for NCFB were enrolled in this study. This study demonstrated a significant impact on the QOL of NCFB patients based on the QOL-B scoring system. Almost all domains of QOL-B were found to be adversely impacted as measured by one or more of the outcome parameters but the FEV1, age, colonization, extension, dyspnea (FACED) score, bronchiectasis severity index (BSI) score, six-minute walk test (6MWD), and FEV1 showed associations across most scales while the other outcome parameters showed varying associations. Conclusions The QOL is significantly reduced in NCFB and it may be quantified using the QOL-B questionnaire. The impact on QOL in NCFB may be assessed using validated tools such as the FACED and BSI scoring systems, as well as other well-established outcome parameters like 6MWD and FEV1 predicted.

The Clinical, Radiological, and Laboratory Profile of Patients With Interstitial Pneumonitis With Autoimmune Features From India: An Observational, Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) refers to interstitial lung disease (ILD) with co-existing features of other clinical, serologic, or pulmonary features that suggest the presence of an underlying systemic autoimmune condition that does not fulfill the current rheumatologic criteria for connective tissue disorder (CTD). It is a relatively newly described clinical syndrome with only a handful of reports describing it. This study aimed at studying the clinical, radiological, and laboratory profiles of IPAF patients from a tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in South India over a period of one year. Patients diagnosed to have IPAF as per the European Respiratory Society (ERS)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria were included in the study, and their demographics, clinical features, radiological features, and laboratory markers were collected along with a descriptive analysis. Results A total of 14,433 patients were screened during the study period. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed to have IPAF during the study period with a prevalence of 0.17%. Out of these 24 patients, 11 (45.8%) patients were males. The mean (M) ± standard deviation (SD) age was 47.8±10.7 years. Twenty-one (87.5%) of the patients reported having a cough, 18 (75%) patients had breathlessness, and 10 (41.7%) patients had digital clubbing. On radiological imaging, five (20.8%) patients had features of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) and 14 (58.3%) had nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). On pulmonary function testing, the M±SD forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was 56.4±13.9%. The M±SD forced vital capacity (FVC) was 44.2±24.1%. The M±SD FEV1/FVC ratio was 0.8±0.04. On performing diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), the M±SD was 34.2±21.9%. Of the patients, 95.8% had a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) while 25% of patients had a positive anti-AMA-M2. Conclusions The prevalence of IPAF in the studied population was very low. IPAF had nonspecific clinical features, pulmonary function tests, and radiological findings. Further large-scale studies are required from different parts of the world in order to understand the epidemiology of IPAF. Research is also required into developing effective management options for IPAF.