Cholelithiasis prevalence and risk factors in individuals with severe or profound intellectual and motor disabilities.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and risk factors of cholelithiasis in individuals with severe or profound intellectual and motor disabilities (SPIMD) are poorly characterised. Thus, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk determinants of cholelithiasis in a cohort with SPIMD under medical care in a residential facility. METHODS: We categorised 84 patients in a residential hospital for persons with SPIMD into groups: those with (Group CL) and without (Group N) cholelithiasis. Gallstones were detected via computed tomography, ultrasonography or both. We evaluated gastrostomy status, nutritional and respiratory support, constipation, and bladder and kidney stones. Data were significantly analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of cholelithiasis in our SPIMD cohort was 27%. There were no significant differences in sex, age, weight, height, or Gross Motor Function Classification System between the two groups. However, more patients received enteral nutrition (39.13% vs. 6.56%; P = 0.000751) and were on ventilator support (56.52% vs. 19.67%; P = 0.00249) in Group CL than in Group N. Enteral nutrition [odds ratio (OR) 10.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.98-54.7] and ventilator support (OR 20.0, 95% CI 1.99-201.0) were identified as independent risk factors for the prevalence of cholelithiasis in patients with SPIMD. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SPIMD demonstrated an increased prevalence of cholelithiasis, with a notable association between nutritional tonic use and respiratory support. Therefore, to emphasise the need for proactive screening, it is crucial to devise diagnostic and therapeutic strategies specific to patients with SPIMD. Further investigation is essential to validate our findings and explore causative factors.

Heterogeneity of functional outcomes in patients with bipolar disorder: a cluster-analytic approach.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine the heterogeneity of psychosocial outcomes in euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) patients and analyse the potential influence of distinct variables on functioning. METHOD: Using a hierarchical cluster exploratory analysis, 143 euthymic patients with diagnosis of BD were grouped according to their functional performance based on domains scores of the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST). The resulting groups were compared on sociodemographic, clinical and neurocognitive variables to find factors associated with each functional cluster. RESULTS: Patients were grouped in three functional profiles: patients with good functioning in all the FAST areas, patients with an intermediate profile showing great difficulties in the occupational domain and milder difficulties in most of the rest domains, and a third group with serious difficulties in almost all functional areas. Both functionally impaired groups were characterized by higher subthreshold symptoms (depressive and manic) and higher unemployment rates. The most functionally impaired group also showed lower scores on some measures of processing speed. CONCLUSION: Two of three functional profiles showed some kind of impairment which was associated with subsyndromal symptoms and cognitive performance. These patterns should be taken into consideration to develop more individualized interventions to restore, or improve, psychosocial outcomes.

Enhancement of Photoinduced Charge-Order Melting via Anisotropy Control by Double-Pulse Excitation in Perovskite Manganites: Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_{3}.

To control the efficiency of photoinduced charge-order melting in perovskite manganites, we performed femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy using double-pulse excitation on Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_{3}. The results revealed that the transfer of the spectral weight from the near-infrared to infrared region by the second pump pulse is considerably enhanced by the first pump pulse and that the suppression of crystal anisotropy, that is, the decrease of long-range lattice deformations due to the charge order by the first pump pulse is a key factor to enhance the charge-order melting. This double-pulse excitation method can be applied to various photoinduced transitions in complex materials with electronic and structural instabilities.

Unprecedented anisotropic metallic state in undoped iron arsenide BaFe2As2 revealed by optical spectroscopy.

An ordered phase showing remarkable electronic anisotropy in proximity to the superconducting phase is now a hot issue in the field of high-transition-temperature superconductivity. As in the case of copper oxides, superconductivity in iron arsenides competes or coexists with such an ordered phase. Undoped and underdoped iron arsenides have a magnetostructural ordered phase exhibiting stripe-like antiferromagnetic spin order accompanied by an orthorhombic lattice distortion; both the spin order and lattice distortion break the tetragonal symmetry of crystals of these compounds. In this ordered state, anisotropy of in-plane electrical resistivity is anomalous and difficult to attribute simply to the spin order and/or the lattice distortion. Here, we present the anisotropic optical spectra measured on detwinned BaFe(2)As(2) crystals with light polarization parallel to the Fe planes. Pronounced anisotropy is observed in the spectra, persisting up to an unexpectedly high photon energy of about 2 eV. Such anisotropy arises from an anisotropic energy gap opening below and slightly above the onset of the order. Detailed analysis of the optical spectra reveals an unprecedented electronic state in the ordered phase.

Anisotropy of the in-plane resistivity of underdoped Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 superconductors induced by impurity scattering in the antiferromagnetic orthorhombic phase.

We investigated the in-plane resistivity anisotropy for underdoped Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) single crystals with improved quality. We demonstrate that the anisotropy in resistivity in the magnetostructural ordered phase arises from the anisotropy in the residual component which increases in proportion to the Co concentration x. This gives evidence that the anisotropy originates from the impurity scattering by Co atoms substituted for the Fe sites, rather than the so far proposed mechanisms such as the anisotropy of Fermi velocities of reconstructed Fermi surface pockets. As doping proceeds to the paramagnetic-tetragonal phase, a Co impurity transforms to a weak and isotropic scattering center.

Dependence of carrier doping on the impurity potential in transition-metal-substituted FeAs-based superconductors.

In order to examine to what extent the rigid-band-like electron doping scenario is applicable to the transition metal-substituted Fe-based superconductors, we have performed angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies of Ba(Fe(1-x)Ni(x))(2)As(2) (Ni-122) and Ba(Fe(1-x)Cu(x))(2)As(2) (Cu-122), and compared the results with Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) (Co-122). We find that Ni 3d-derived features are formed below the Fe 3d band and that Cu 3d-derived ones further below it. The electron and hole Fermi surface (FS) volumes are found to increase and decrease with substitution, respectively, qualitatively consistent with the rigid-band model. However, the total extra electron number estimated from the FS volumes (the total electron FS volume minus the total hole FS volume) is found to decrease in going from Co-, Ni-, to Cu-122 for a fixed nominal extra electron number, that is, the number of electrons that participate in the formation of FS decreases with increasing impurity potential. We find that the Néel temperature T(N) and the critical temperature T(c) maximum are determined by the FS volumes rather than the nominal extra electron concentration or the substituted atom concentration.

Effect of Co doping on the in-plane anisotropy in the optical spectrum of underdoped Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2.

We investigate the anisotropy in the in-plane optical spectra of detwinned Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2). The optical conductivity spectrum of BaFe(2)As(2) shows appreciable anisotropy in the magnetostructural ordered phase, whereas the dc (ω = 0) resistivity is nearly isotropic at low temperatures. Upon Co doping, the resistivity becomes highly anisotropic, while the finite-energy intrinsic anisotropy is suppressed. It is found that anisotropy in resistivity arises from anisotropic impurity scattering due to the presence of doped Co atoms, and it is extrinsic in origin. The intensity of a specific optical phonon mode is also found to show striking anisotropy in the ordered phase. The anisotropy induced by the Co impurity and that observed in the optical phonon mode are hallmarks of the highly polarizable electronic state in the ordered phase.

magnetic dispersion and anisotropy in multiferroic BiFeO3.

We have determined the full magnetic dispersion relations of multiferroic BiFeO3. In particular, two excitation gaps originating from magnetic anisotropies have been clearly observed. The direct observation of the gaps enables us to accurately determine the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction and the single ion anisotropy. The DM interaction supports a sizable magnetoelectric coupling in this compound.

Ferromagnetic enhancement of CE-type spin ordering in (Pr,Ca)MnO3.

We present resonant soft x-ray scattering results from small bandwidth manganites (Pr,Ca)MnO(3), which show that the CE-type spin ordering (SO) at the phase boundary is stabilized only below the canted antiferromagnetic transition temperature and enhanced by ferromagnetism in the macroscopically insulating state (FM-I). Our results reveal the fragility of the CE-type ordering that underpins the colossal magnetoresistance effect in this system, as well as an unexpected cooperative interplay between FM-I and CE-type SO which is in contrast to the competitive interplay between the ferromagnetic metallic state and CE-type ordering.

Characterizing decision-making and reward processing in bipolar disorder: A cluster analysis.

The presence of abnormalities in emotional decision-making and reward processing among bipolar patients (BP) has been well rehearsed. These disturbances are not limited to acute phases and are common even during remission. In recent years, the existence of discrete cognitive profiles in this psychiatric population has been replicated. However, emotional decision making and reward processing domains have barely been studied. Therefore, our aim was to explore the existence of different profiles on the aforementioned cognitive dimensions in BP. The sample consisted of 126 euthymic BP. Main sociodemographic, clinical, functioning, and neurocognitive variables were gathered. A hierarchical-clustering technique was used to identify discrete neurocognitive profiles based on the performance in the Iowa Gambling Task. Afterward, the resulting clusters were compared using ANOVA or Chi-squared Test, as appropriate. Evidence for the existence of three different profiles was provided. Cluster 1 was mainly characterized by poor decision ability. Cluster 2 presented the lowest sensitivity to punishment. Finally, cluster 3 presented the best decision-making ability and the highest levels of punishment sensitivity. Comparison between the three clusters indicated that cluster 2 was the most functionally impaired group. The poorest outcomes in attention, executive function domains, and social cognition were also observed within the same group. In conclusion, similarly to that observed in "cold cognitive" domains, our results suggest the existence of three discrete cognitive profiles concerning emotional decision making and reward processing. Amongst all the indexes explored, low punishment sensitivity emerge as a potential correlate of poorer cognitive and functional outcomes in bipolar disorder.

Treatment of neurocognitive symptoms in unipolar depression: A systematic review and future perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive symptoms in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are persistent and commonly entail neurocognitive impairment and a decline in quality of life. This systematic review gathers the current scientific evidence on therapeutic strategies for neuropsychological impairment in MDD. METHOD: A systematic search on PubMed, PsycINFO and Clinicaltrials.gov was carried out on December 2016 according to PRISMA using Boolean terms to identify interventions for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in MDD. Only English-written articles providing original data and focusing in adults with MDD were included with no time restrictions. RESULTS: A total of 95 studies reporting data on 40 pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions were included. Interventions were grouped into the following categories: 1) Pharmacological Therapies (antidepressants, stimulants, compounds acting on NMDA receptors, compounds acting on the cholinergic system, compounds showing anti-inflammatory or antioxidant properties, other mechanisms of action), 2) Physical Therapies and 3) Psychological Therapies, 4) Exercise. There are some promising compounds showing a positive impact on cognitive symptoms including vortioxetine, lisdexamfetamine or erythropoietin. LIMITATIONS: The studies included showed significant methodological differences in heterogeneous samples. The lack of a standardized neuropsychological battery makes comparisons between studies difficult. CONCLUSION: Current evidence is not sufficient to widely recommend the use of procognitive treatments in MDD although promising results are coming to light.

Increase of a type of oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxyguanine, and its repair activity in human leukocytes by cigarette smoking.

To investigate the oxidative stress induced by cigarette smoking, the levels of a form of oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OH-Gua), and its repair activity in the leukocytes of current smokers, ex-smokers, and complete nonsmokers were measured. The mean level of 8-OH-Gua was 1.88-fold higher in smokers as compared to complete nonsmokers (the difference was statistically significant, P = 0.013). The mean 8-OH-Gua repair activity was 1.6-fold higher in smokers than complete nonsmokers (the difference was statistically significant, P = 0.0053). A positive association was observed for the 8-OH-Gua levels and its repair activity. Considerable interindividual variations in the 8-OH-Gua levels (current smokers, 3.5-fold; nonsmokers, 7.2-fold) and in its repair activity (current smokers, 7.5-fold; nonsmokers. 5.5-fold) were observed. These results demonstrate that not only smoking status but also life-style, environment, and genetic differences might have effects on the level of 8-OH-Gua and its repair activity in human leukocytes.

Anti-tumor immunity elicited by direct intratumoral administration of a recombinant adenovirus expressing either IL-28A/IFN-λ2 or IL-29/IFN-λ1.

Interleukin (IL)-28A/interferon (IFN)-λ2 and IL-29/IFN-λ1 have been demonstrated to elicit direct and indirect anti-tumor actions. In this study, we constructed an adenovirus vector expressing either IL-28A/IFN-λ2 (AdIL-28A) or IL-29/IFN-λ1 (AdIL-29) to evaluate the therapeutic properties of intratumoral injection of recombinant adenovirus to apply for the clinical implementation of cancer gene therapy. Despite the lack of an anti-proliferative effect on MCA205 and B16-F10 cells, a retarded growth of established subcutaneous tumors was observed following multiple injections of either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29 when compared with AdNull. In vivo cell depletion experiments displayed that both NK cells and CD8(+) T cells have a major role in AdIL-28A-mediated tumor growth suppression. A significant increase in the number of infiltrating CD8(+) T cells into the tumors treated with either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29 was observed. Moreover, specific anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocyte reactivity was detected in spleen cells from animals treated with either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29. In IFN-γ-deficient mice, anti-tumor activities of AdIL-28A were completely impaired, indicating that IFN-γ is critically involved in the tumor growth inhibition triggered by AdIL-28A. IL-12 provided a synergistic anti-tumor effect when combined with AdIL-28A. These results indicate that AdIL-28A and AdIL-29 could be successfully utilized as an alternative cancer immunogene therapy.

cDNA cloning of mitochondrial delta 3, delta 2-enoyl-CoA isomerase of rat liver.

A 1.08 kbp cDNA encoding rat liver mitochondrial delta 3, delta 2-enoyl-CoA isomerase (ECI) of 298 amino acid residues (Mr 32,895) was isolated from rat liver lambda gt11, lambda gt10 cDNA libraries by the combination of an immunochemical method with a rabbit-antibody against rat liver ECI and a plaque hybridization method. The deduced amino acid sequence from the cDNA indicates that ECI is synthesized with an amino-terminal extrasequence of 35 amino acid residues and processed to the mature enzyme (Mr 29,256).

cDNA cloning and expression of swine IL-7 from neonatal intestinal epithelium.

Swine IL-7 (sIL-7) cDNA has been isolated from neonatal intestinal epithelium by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with designated primers based on the conserved sequences of the other mammalian IL-7. Recombinant sIL-7 was able to induce the bone marrow cell proliferation like human IL-7. The complete open reading frame contains 531 bp coding deduced 176 amino acid residues, with a calculated molecular mass of 20.1 kDa. The observed similarity between swine and human IL-7 sequences (66% identical and 89% conserved) suggests that a study on the immune responses correlated with IL-7 in the gut of swine will be valuable to understand their mechanisms in human. By RT-PCR using the constructed specific primers to sIL-7, sIL-7 mRNA was confirmed to be expressed in swine intestine, thymus, kidney and skin but not in the heart.

Cancer-associated myofibroblasts possess various factors to promote endometrial tumor progression.

Myofibroblastic invasion associated with malignant epithelial cells of endometrial cancer as well as other cancers is often found in the interstitium. To assess the myofibroblastic-epithelial interaction, frozen sections from a total of 10 endometrial cancers with or without invasive myofibroblasts were immunohistochemically examined. Interestingly, the invasive myofibroblasts adjacent to malignant epithelial cells showed frequently intensive positive staining of several growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), insulin-like growth factor I, and epidermal growth factor, the cognate receptors such as Fetal liver kinase-1/Kinase Insert Domain-containing receptor/VEGF receptor-2, fms-like tyrosine kinase-1/VEGF receptor-1, and epidermal growth factor receptor, several cell cycle regulators such as cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases, and estrogen receptor alpha. Moreover, we indicated that the majority of the myofibroblasts as well as cancer epithelial cells are proliferating because of their positive staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and Ki-67. Furthermore, the myofibroblasts were also positive of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha, which is a marker protein of hypoxia, probably followed by activation of VEGF-Flk-1 and VEGF-fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 signals, which could initiate angiogenesis. These findings suggest directly that the myofibroblasts might participate in the progression of tumor cells in terms of cancer cell growth stimulation and also activated initiation of angiogenesis.

Cultured murine dermal cells can function like thymic nurse cells.

We have established a dermal fibroblast-like stromal cell line, DFB-1, and a clone, 12E2, from epidermal sheets prepared from the skin of BALB/c mouse ears by trypsin digestion. They were suggested to be fibroblasts or myofibroblasts, as 1) they were polygonal or spindle-shaped under the phase-contrast microscope, 2) they did not possess any tonofilaments or desmosomes, and 3) they did not express any marker for bone marrow-derived cells or macrophages. Interestingly, these cells showed a unique phenomenon of "pseudo-emperiporesis," which was first recognized in the interaction between thymic nurse cells and thymocytes. Namely, two T-cell clones and one T-cell hybridoma migrated beneath the cytoplasmic projections of the fibroblast-like cutaneous stromal cells in culture. Furthermore, secretion of interleukin 7 by these cells was confirmed by bioassay using an IL-7-dependent cell line and by inhibition with anti-interleukin 7 antibody, and the expression of interleukin 7 mRNA was also demonstrated in these cells by a combination of reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis. These data strongly suggest the presence of unique stromal cells even in the skin, probably at the upper dermis, which can function like the nurse cells in the thymus. These stromal cells may play a crucial role in cutaneous immunophysiology.

Synthesis of endothelin-1 in rat uterus during pregnancy.

Endothelin is a potent vasoconstrictive peptide first isolated from the supernatant of cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of endothelin-1 (ET-1) production in rat uterus during pregnancy and to clarify its role in normal pregnancy. ET-1, as recognized by immunohistochemistry, was weakly expressed only in endometrial glandular cells in nonpregnant rats but was intensely expressed in both glandular and myometrial cells in the early postpartum period. In situ hybridization confirmed the localization of prepro-ET-1 mRNA in the cytoplasm of endometrial glandular and myometrial cells but not in stromal cells or in smooth muscle cells of blood vessels. Northern blot analysis detected prepro-ET-1 mRNA in myometrial tissue from pregnant but not nonpregnant rats. In particular, the expression of prepro-ET-1 mRNA was strongest in the early postpartum period compared with the various stages of pregnancy. These results indicate that, in addition to endothelial cells and endometrial glandular cells, myometrial cells also produce ET-1 and its production significantly increases in the early postpartum period. Therefore, ET-1 may play a pivotal role in controlling bleeding from the placental bed through myometrial contraction.

Ultrafast spin dynamics and critical behavior in half-metallic ferromagnet: Sr2FeMoO6

Ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic half-metallic compound Sr2FeMoO6 is investigated by pump-probe measurements of the magneto-optical Kerr effect. The half-metallic nature of this material gives rise to anomalous thermal insulation between spins and electrons and allows us to pursue the spin dynamics from a few to several hundred picoseconds after the optical excitation. The optically detected magnetization dynamics clearly shows the crossover from microscopic photoinduced demagnetization to macroscopic critical behavior with universal power law divergence of relaxation time for a wide dynamical critical region.

Short-range polaron correlations in the ferromagnetic La1-xCaxMnO3

We use neutron scattering to demonstrate the presence of lattice polarons and their short-range correlations for several samples of La1-xCaxMnO3 in the Ca doping range 0.15