Introductory small cash incentives to promote child spacing in India

The Ammanpettai Family Welfare Program began in 1985 as a pilot program to determine whether offering small monthly cash incentives for a limited period would be a cost-effective way to increase the use of modern temporary methods of contraception among rural Indian women who do not want to become pregnant but are not ready to adopt sterilization. The program has demonstrated that a modest cash incentive for 3-5 months attracts very large numbers of women to a clinic where they learn about and are provided with the pill, condoms, or the IUD. In catchment areas where official government reports showed temporary-methods prevalence rates of 3-5 percent at best, the Ammanpettai incentive program has attracted up to 70 percent of eligible women to join the program and try the method of their choice. By requiring that participants bring their youngest child to the clinic, the program provides for mother and child health surveillance, including immunizations. The great majority of rural women who join the program work as field laborers, have little or no schooling, and have little knowledge of or experience with modern contraceptive methods. Continuation rates are 25-50 percent at one year if follow-up is maintained by village resident women distributors. The program has been extended to several rural primary health centers in Thanjavur District, to 14 government health posts in the city of Madras, and to a semiurban area and several rural areas in Bihar. The cost-effectiveness of this program compares favorably with that of the current government family welfare program.

Abnormal reinnervation as a basis for schizophrenia: a hypothesis

Neuropathologic and neuroimaging studies reveal atrophy or dystrophy of the hippocampal region and enlarged ventricles indicative of tissue loss in many patients with schizophrenia. It is now widely recognized that brain damage can provoke regenerative collateral sprouting of axons, synaptic proliferation, and reorganization, even in the adult mammalian brain. The functional consequences of these plastic regenerative changes are largely unknown; they could be adaptive or cause further impairment. There is evidence of lesion-provoked aberrant synaptic regeneration in epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Data suggest that anomalous reinnervation could also have a significant role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Histologic methods to test this hypothesis are in progress.

Numerical taxonomy of Trypanozoon based on polymorphisms in a reduced range of enzymes

Numerical analyses of Trypanozoon taxonomy are presented, based on the isoenzyme data of Stevens et al. (1992). The previous study used a reduced range of enzymes compared with earlier work; the analyses indicate the value of this rationalized system. Both recently isolated trypanosome stocks and previously studied populations were included, allowing detailed comparison with earlier studies. Relationships between zymodemes were calculated with an improved similarity coefficient program, using Jaccard's coefficient (1908), and by Nei's method (1972). Dendrograms were constructed from the matrices produced with the group-average method. The groupings produced by both numerical methods were in close agreement, and the clusters of related principal zymodemes largely matched the species, subspecies and strain groups proposed by previous workers. Trypanozoon biochemical taxonomy is reviewed and the groupings reinforced by this study are: the mainly East African strain groups, busoga, zambezi, kakumbi, kiboko and sindo; T.b. gambiense and the bouaflé strain group from West Africa, and T. evansi; an intermediate bouaflé/busoga group was also recognized.

A simplified method for identifying subspecies and strain groups in Trypanozoon by isoenzymes

To characterize trypanosomes from the subgenus Trypanozoon, 272 stocks in 111 zymodemes were analysed by the polymorphisms seen in a rationalized range of nine enzymes, resolved by electrophoresis, mostly on cellulose acetate. Several highly polymorphic or invariant enzymes used previously were omitted, while two new enzymes, NHD and SOD were included; the isoenzymes seen for SOD were interpreted as two separate enzymes, SODA and SODB. Isoenzyme band patterns were analysed by two complementary numerical methods to elucide taxonomic relationships within the subgenus; groups of zymodemes corresponding to subspecies and strain groups were defined, which agreed closely with previous studies. Except for one zymodeme, Trypanosoma evansi could not be clearly distinguished from the bouaflé strain group. This strain group had enzymic features that overlapped to some extent those of the busoga group. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and the zambezi, kakumbi, kiboko and sindo groups were clearly defined. Eight zymodemes could not be classified. A rapid identification system using a limited number of enzymes is presented.

Comparison of immunocytochemical and Holzer's methods for detection of acute and chronic gliosis in human postmortem material

Immunocytochemical staining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) allows more specific identification of astrocytes and their processes than classical histochemical techniques and has therefore recently been used by some investigators to quantify gliosis. However, although the immunocytochemical method is superior for delineation of reactive astrocytes, the examples presented here and previous work by others demonstrate that chronic fibrillary gliosis may be best detected by Holzer's method and not by GFAP immunocytochemistry. The authors' studies indicate that if, as in a recent study of gliosis in schizophrenia, computer-assisted densitometry is to be used to measure gliosis, the immunoperoxidase method may not be a sensitive technique to demonstrate glial changes in human postmortem material.

Astrocytosis in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus: a study in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia

Recently, several authors have claimed prominent abnormalities in the entorhinal cortex of both patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia. The entorhinal cortex is the origin of the perforant pathway, a major input to granule cells of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The present study explored the possibility of a lesion in the entorhinal cortex of both AD and schizophrenic patients by quantitating astrocytic markers within the terminal fields of the perforant pathway. An increase in fibrillary astrocytes was found in half (3/6) of the AD patients while none of the schizophrenic (n = 6) or control (n = 7) brains exhibited gliosis. Since the redistribution and hyperplasia of astrocytes within the molecular layer of the partially deafferented dentate gyrus depend on the chronicity of the entorhinal lesion, the abnormalities observed in AD patients are consistent with the progressive course of the illness. Furthermore, the presence of gliosis in the subiculum of three out of six AD patients suggested pathology secondary to projections from the entorhinal region, amygdala, or prepyriform cortex. The absence of similar changes in schizophrenic patients does not disprove previous claims of entorhinal pathology but suggests that the lesion, if it exists, is either static in nature or occurred long before death.

Psychiatric consequences of temporal lobectomy for intractable seizures: a 20-30-year follow-up of 14 cases

Between 1958 and 1968, 14 patients from the epilepsy clinic at the University of Oregon Hospitals and Clinics with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) had a temporal lobectomy for medically intractable seizures. Nine of the 14 patients operated on remained seizure-free over the 20-30-year period of follow-up. Between 6 months and one year following temporal lobectomy, two women, previously healthy from a psychiatric standpoint, developed psychoses, and the previous psychiatric problems of four other patients worsened. Two patients, one with incapacitating paranoid personality disorder and the other with explosive rage attacks preoperatively, had marked improvement in their psychiatric status following temporal lobectomy. The remaining six patients, all psychiatrically healthy prior to surgery, have had no change in psychiatric status following surgery. Development of psychosis or deterioration in psychiatric status after surgery was more common in patients with later age of onset, unreality or déjà vu rather than epigastric aura, pre-operative evidence of bilateral brain damage, and persistence of EEG or clinical seizure activity. Development of a chronic psychosis in psychiatrically healthy individuals many months after temporal lobectomy, even when seizures are arrested or ameliorated, suggests that anomalous synaptic regeneration may follow the surgery in these cases. Careful analysis of histories and outcomes may contribute to better understanding of the pathophysiology and anatomical substrates of psychoses.

Oligoclonal bands in acute schizophrenia: a negative search

Numerous immunologic abnormalities have been reported in patients with schizophrenia, suggesting that this disorder may in some cases represent a viral or immunologic disorder of the brain. To further examine this question, evidence for intrathecal production of immunoglobulin (IgG) and immunoglobulin oligoclonal bands (OCB) was sought in patients with acute or early schizophrenia. Using high resolution zone electrophoresis and immunofixation, there was no evidence for intrathecal IgG generation in 5 of 5 patients tested. One of 9 patients had OCBs in CSF. This man, although he had a typical history of schizophrenia, tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus antibody in serum.

Electrochromic Li(x)WO(3)/poymer laminate/Li(y)V(2)O(5) device: toward an all-solid-state smart window

We introduce a laminate two-layer approach to electrochromic smart windows. It incorporates two glass panes, each having a two-layer coating, laminated by a transparent adhesive solid polymer electrolyte. Each coating has a transparent conducting base layer (In(2)O(3):S(n)) and a top layer of an ion-insertion compound (based on WO(3) or V(2)O(5)). The layers were made by evaporation or sputtering. Cyclic voltammetry in liquid electrolytes and spectrophotometry were used to characterize the layers. A novel electrolyte was developed: it comprised a methyl methacrylate network incorporating poly(propylene glycol) complexed with lithium perchlorate. Initial optical data are reported for laminated devices having an active electrochromic Li(x)WO(3) layer and a passive Li(y)V(2)O(5) counter electrode.

Isoenzyme characterization of Trypanosoma evansi isolated from capybaras and dogs in Brazil

Trypanosoma evansi was seen in blood samples taken randomly from both wild and semi-captive capybaras caught in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil and in sick dogs brought into local veterinary clinics. Trypanosome stocks from capybaras and dogs were significantly different in their patterns of growth in mice, while the trypanosomes from dogs were mostly dyskinetoplastic. By isoenzyme electrophoresis all the trypanosomes were of the most common type of T. evansi found elsewhere.

The expression of phosphorylated neurofilament epitopes in human brains

The expression of phosphorylated neurofilaments (PNF) epitopes in hippocampal neurons was examined in 5 cases of Alzheimer's disease and 12 brains of schizophrenic patients. A control group (n = 17) consisted of 5 brains of patients with other acute or chronic neurologic disorders and 12 brains of persons who were free of any known neurologic disease. Immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibodies to PNF was done on formalin-fixed, paraffin sections of hippocampus. Adjacent sections were impregnated with silver. Immunoreactivity to PNF was observed in tangles and plaques of the Alzheimer's brains and also in hippocampal pyramidal cells in 6 of the 12 schizophrenic brains and in 9 of the 17 control brains (2 with neurological disorders and 7 with non-neurological diseases). The positive PNF-stained cell bodies, in silver impregnated sections, generally did not show evident neurofibrillary abnormalities. Enzymatic dephosphorylation prior to immunostaining abolished PNF reactivity. These results suggest the widespread occurrence and relative non-specificity of perikaryonal PNF immunoreactivity in human post mortem brain tissue. We could not exclude the possibility that the hippocampal and brainstem neurons are predilection sites for normal perikaryonal phosphorylation in human brain.

Cerebral transplants for seizures: preliminary results

Several critical brain regions have been identified in which application of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) potentiating agents in small quantities can suppress or prevent generalized and kindled amygdala seizures, i.e., substantia nigra and deep prepiriform cortex. Severity of audiogenic seizures in the genetically epilepsy prone rat (GEPR) is reduced by injection of norepinephrine (NE) into the lateral ventricles and by GABA in inferior colliculus. The present investigation examines the potential for raising epileptic thresholds by increasing local GABAergic or NE inhibitory activity by means of brain transplants of tissue rich in GABA or NE neurons. Two models of epilepsy were used: amygdala-kindled seizures and sound-induced seizures in GEPRs. Transplantation of embryonic cerebellar or cortical tissue to the deep prepiriform area of amygdala kindled rats transiently raised seizure thresholds in three of the nine animals. Transplantation of embryonic cerebellar or cortical tissue to the inferior colliculus or adrenal medulla tissue to lateral ventricles of GEPRs did not appreciably reduce the intensity of audiogenic seizures in these animals.

gamma-Vinyl GABA in endopiriform area suppresses kindled amygdala seizures

Suppression of kindled amygdala seizures in rats followed bilateral infusion of the GABA transaminase inhibitor gamma-vinyl-GABA (GVG) into the endopiriform area of the forebrain. The deep prepiriform cortex of the rat is an important site for both initiation and arrest of generalized seizures induced by systemic convulsants. To determine whether this area also regulates the spread of amygdala seizures, the irreversible GABA-transaminase blocking agent, GVG (vigabatrin) was infused bilaterally in the deep prepiriform area in amygdala-kindled rats. Twenty-four hours after the infusion, kindled seizure threshold was elevated in 12 of 13 rats tested. If homologous areas exist in the primate brain, treatment strategies that take advantage of critical areas for seizure spread by local infusion of inhibitory agents or transplantation of GABA-containing cells may be developed for suppressing intractable seizures in humans.

Intracerebral inoculation of experimental animals with brain tissue from patients with schizophrenia. Failure to observe consistent or specific behavioral and neuropathological effects

To test the possibility that some cases of schizophrenia result from infection with a transmissible slow viral agent, 57 experimental animals (six chimpanzees, 12 Old World monkeys, 17 New World monkeys, and 22 guinea pigs) were inoculated intracerebrally with brain tissue from ten patients and followed up for six years. Behavioral comparisons with control animals revealed no consistent behavioral differences. Histological, immunohistochemical, and morphometric examination of brains of animals that died revealed no specific neuropathological abnormalities. These findings do not support a role for a virus-induced slow infection in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia but must be weighed against methodological limitations in animal susceptibility, disease communicability, and assay sensitivity.

Psychiatric aspects of epilepsy

The frequency of severe psychiatric disorders in patients with epilepsy depends first and foremost on what populations of patients are studied. In random surveys seeking prevalence of epilepsy in the community, the prevalence of associated psychiatric disorder is low. In specialty referral clinics for epilepsy, particularly those serving indigent populations, the prevalence is 25% to 50%. Among epileptics in mental hospitals or psychiatric clinics, the prevalence is, naturally, 100%. This discussion is focused on the evidence for a causal or physiological relationship between epilepsy and psychosis, depression, aggression, and sexual disturbances, and treatment of these disorders. Particular attention is given to possible relationships between temporal lobe (limbic) epilepsy and schizophrenic disorders.

Light transducer for the biological clock: a function for rapid eye movements

To test the hypothesis that the rapid eye movements (REMs) of paradoxical sleep (PS) transmit information about environmental light: dark cycles, spontaneous locomotor patterns were studied in rats following surgical disconnection of the extraocular muscles and thus deprived only of the eye movement component of REM sleep. Entrainment of the circadian spontaneous activity cycle to the light: dark cycle was abolished after sectioning the extra-ocular muscles of rats, but not in sham-operated controls. Endogenous (free running) circadian patterns of spontaneous activity were preserved in the operated animals. The results are consistent with our electrophysiologic studies showing that REMs induce light modulated electrical potentials in brain regions that influence circadian rhythms of activity.