The Light-Dosimeter: A new device to help advance research on the non-visual responses to light

This article describes the development of a device to investigate the non-visual responses to light: The Light-Dosimeter (lido). Its multidisciplinary team followed a user-centred approach throughout the project, that is, their design decisions focused on researchers' and participants' needs. Together with custom-made mountings and the software Lido Studio, the lidos provide researchers with a holistic solution to record participants' light exposure in the near-corneal plane in laboratory settings and under real-world conditions. Validation measurements with commercial equipment were deemed satisfying, as was the combining with data from other devices. The handling of the lidos and mountings and the use of the software Lido Studio during the trial period by various researchers and participants were successful. Despite some limitations, the lidos can help advance research on the non-visual responses to light over the coming years.

Plantar Psoriasis: A Review of the Literature

Plantar psoriasis negatively affects the quality of life for patients due to its weight-bearing location. Most therapeutic studies for psoriasis focus on total body surface changes and rarely report specific effects of the plantar and palmar areas. This review focuses on therapeutic options for plantar psoriasis ranging from topical therapy to phototherapy to biological therapy. Treatment should be approached as a stepwise gradient beginning with topicals and progressing to systemics. As always, review of the patient's severity of condition, health status, and impact on quality of life is needed to individualize therapy for the best patient care.

Extending sequence-class membership with matching to sample

Three normal adults were first trained to point sequentially to each member of several pairs of visual stimuli. This baseline training established one class of stimuli to which subjects responded first, and another class of stimuli to which they responded second. Then, in a matching-to-sample procedure, baseline-sequence stimuli served as samples and new visual stimuli served as comparisons. Subjects were trained to choose one group of new comparisons when the sample was a "first" stimulus from the sequence baseline, and to choose the other new comparison stimuli when the sample was a "second" from the sequence baseline. When the new stimuli were then presented as pairs in the posttest, two subjects pointed to them in sequences predictable on the basis of the stimulus-class membership established during matching to sample. The failure of one subject to demonstrate sequential transfer was shown to be a consequence of the failure of the matching-to-sample procedure to establish stimulus classes. The production of sequences that were not directly trained suggested an empirical approach to the analysis of simple grammatical behavior.

Prognostic factors in retroperitoneal fibrosis

The aim of this study is to evaluate effective prognostic factors in the evolution of patients with retroperitoneal fibrosis and to establish the validity of fractal analysis in determining the disease severity in these patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study included 19 patients (M/F: 5/14) treated for idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis and bilateral obstructive renal failure between Jan 2004-Dec 2008. Patients were identified retrospectively, searching for patients diagnosed with IRF, after retroperitoneal biopsy or, in most cases the diagnosis rested on radiological findings, especially CT, with identification of a retroperitoneal mass, the absence of other demonstrable renal or ureteric disease or any other pathology that could explain the findings. CT was very useful in describing the retroperitoneal mass around the aorta and inferior vena cava, the extent of the lesion and for monitoring the response to surgical treatment during the follow-up. The data were evaluated about medical history, physical examination findings, laboratory tests (serum urea and creatinine, blood sugar, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate levels, serum pH, uric acid, haematocrit, white blood cell count), imaging methods (renal ultrasound, abdominal CT-scan, MRI). At admission all patients had active disease with obstructive renal failure and underwent bilateral ureteric stenting in order to normalize the BUN levels. After normalizing of BUN levels, ureterolysis and omental wrapping was performed. Postoperatively, ureteric stents were removed after 1 month and remission of renal disfunction was obtained in approximately 5 months (range 2-10 months). All patients were followed for at least 1 year. Patients were regularly checked every 3 months.

RESULTS

Of the 19 patients, there were 5 men and 14 women. The median age at diagnosis of RF was 50 years (range 42-64 years). The most frequent presenting symptoms were back or abdominal pain, weakness, weight loss, oligoanuria, arterial hypertension and mild fever. The duration of symptoms before diagnosis ranged from 6 to 18 months. At presentation all patients had active disease, presenting renal dysfunction with a median serum creatinine of 5.18 mg/dl (range 1-15.4 mg/dl). Most of the patients had moderate bilateral hydronephrosis (2nd degree hydronephrosis). In our study, all patients had excellent prognosis, with full recovery of renal function in 78% of cases (15 patients). The fractal dimension of the fibrosis mass contour correlates with level of renal function impairment. Even more, the fractal dimension seems to slightly variate between CT evaluations (1.30 +/- 0.1), suggesting a non aggressive pattern of extension of the fibrotic mass characteristic for benign lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

The imaging parameters did not predict the disease severity, except the increase in fractal dimension of fibrosis surface area. Efficacy of bilateral ureteric stenting in improving renal function is limited in most of the cases. Dispite the level of renal function impairment at admission, full recovery can be achieved after bilateral ureteric stenting/nephrostomy and ureterolisis.

Spectral integration in primary auditory cortex: Laminar processing of afferent input, in vivo and in vitro

Auditory cortex neurons integrate information over a broad range of sound frequencies, yet it is not known how such integration is accomplished at the cellular or systems levels. Whereas information about frequencies near a neuron's characteristic frequency is likely to be relayed to the neuron by lemniscal thalamocortical inputs from the ventral division of the medial geniculate nucleus, we recently proposed that information about frequencies spectrally distant from characteristic frequency is mainly relayed to the neuron via "horizontal" intracortical projections from neurons with spectrally-distant characteristic frequencies [J Neurophysiol 91 (2004) 2551]. Here we test this hypothesis by using current source density analysis to determine if characteristic frequency and spectrally-distant non-characteristic frequency stimuli preferentially activate thalamocortical and horizontal pathways, respectively, in rat auditory cortex. Characteristic frequency stimuli produced current source density profiles with prominent initial current sinks in layers 3 and 4--the termination zone of lemniscal inputs from medial geniculate nucleus. In contrast, stimuli three octaves below characteristic frequency produced initial current sinks mainly in the infragranular layers. Differences between current source density profiles were only apparent for initial current sinks; profiles for longer-latency current sinks evoked by characteristic frequency and non-characteristic frequency stimuli overlapped to a greater degree, likely due to shared mechanisms of intracortical processing or to longer-latency thalamocortical contributions (lemniscal and nonlemniscal). To identify current source density profiles produced by activation of lemniscal thalamocortical inputs alone, we utilized the mouse auditory thalamocortical slice preparation. Electrical stimulation of the medial geniculate nucleus in vitro produced major current sinks in cortical layers 3/4, and excitation spread horizontally from this point throughout primary auditory cortex to produce current sinks in multiple cortical layers. These data support the hypothesis that relay of thalamocortical information throughout auditory cortex via horizontal intracortical projections may be the basis of broad spectral integration in vivo.

Up for grabs--authors are a dime a dozen: the problem of multiple authors

AIM

To outline some of the major ethical problems related to multiple authorship.

METHODS

A survey of the literature, data collected over the years, regarding multiple authors, e.g., definition, contribution, ethical behavior and guidelines, and personal experience were the primary inputs.

RESULTS

Despite the efforts of a number of editors' organizations, there still is a major problem in the attribution of authors' credits to those who had nothing to do with the writing.

CONCLUSIONS

The solution to this problem may be found in one of two ways: strict enforcement of standards of authorship by journal editors, i.e., rejection of articles, no matter how good they may appear to be, because they violate these standards, and/or adoption of authorship standards as understood by commercial publishers.

Quantitative biomonitoring of PAHs using the Barnes mussel (Elliptio complanata)

The elimination rate constants (k(2)) of nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were examined for the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanata. The concentrations of fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[ a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[ b]fluoranthene, and indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene revealed a significant inverse relationship with time and their k(2) values ranged from 0.10 to 0.22 day(-1). The k(2) values of these significantly cleared PAHs were similar to k(2) values observed for nonmetabolized organochlorines in mussels previously reported in the literature. The inverse relationship between k(2) and K(ow) provides evidence that the nine PAHs were being passively eliminated from the mussels and that they can be used to calibrate the mussel as a quantitative biomonitor. A general expression relating elimination rate constants and chemical K(ow) is derived for hydrophobic contaminants in E. complanata. The k(2) versus log K(ow) regression equation for mussels developed herein was similar to other studies documenting the elimination of PCBs and PAHs in a number of bivalve species.

Subject in first person--subject in third person: subject, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity

In this article, the author traces the history of the concepts of subject, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity in different psychoanalytic theories in the last decades. She argues that the uniqueness of these concepts and their different implications were not emphasized enough. The author discusses the various implications and contexts of the concept of subject in psychoanalytic theory proper and to relate as to: (1). The need to distinguish between the concepts of subject and subjectivity; (2). The mutual interdependence of the subject and his subjectivity and the intersubjective domain (both in the development of the individual and in theoretical thought pertaining to it). Her point of departure is from the position of the subject as a free creature, the centrality of the experiencing individual, from his/her perspective--the subject in the first person. She tries to explain the paradox implicit in the experiential dimension, the place of the other as participant, as both negating and recognizing--the subject in the third person. She suggests the interdependency of the first-person experience of subjectivity on the intersubjective dimension.

Presentness: an intersubjective dimension of the therapeutic act

In this article, the author discusses a mode of the therapist's presence as an important dimension within the intersubjective framework. She seeks to introduce the term presentness to denote dimensions of the therapist's explicit usage of her implicit knowledge and the role of her unformulated experiences within the therapeutic situation. The emphasis is on the power of these shared states of mutual reverie and moments of spontaneous responsiveness on the part of the therapist. The author wants to emphasize again that this term describes an important, though not exclusive, dimension of the therapeutic interaction. It does not replace such psychic functions as observation, distancing, empathy, or such modes of object-relating as transference, countertransference or projective identification. The term presentness illuminates the symmetrical dimension of the therapeutic interaction, and its contribution to the construction of "meaningfulness" for both patient and therapist.

Large-scale manufacturing of safe and efficient retrovirus packaging lines for use in immunotherapy protocols

BACKGROUND

The use of gene modified T lymphocytes for immunotherapy in a cancer or AIDS clinical trial requires an efficient, safe ex vivo method for modification of these cells at manufacturing scale. Since retroviruses have been shown to be a moderately effective means of stably integrating therapeutic genes into T lymphocytes, we wanted to create packaging and producer cell lines that would produce replication competent retrovirus (RCR)-free supernatants, at large scale (> 200 l), and transduce with high efficiency.

METHODS

cDNA expression plasmids containing only coding sequences for gagpol or env were built and sequentially transfected into human 293 cells. Packaging and producer clones were characterized for stability, titer and RCR. A producer clone delivering chimeric immune receptors was scaled-up and supernatants used to transduce patient T lymphocytes for clinical studies. PCR and RT-PCR assays were utilized to evaluate the transmission of HERV-H sequences. Relative infectivity of producer clones pseudotyped with different envelopes was determined by transduction and RT assays.

RESULTS

RCR-free, human 293 split-genome packaging lines, pseudotyped with amphotropic, xenotropic, or 10A1 envelopes, were created. A CC49 zeta producer clone was scaled-up to 5 x 54 l lots and supernatants used to safely and efficiently transduce patient T lymphocytes with minimal ex vivo manipulation. While 293 cells express HERV-H mRNA, the transmission frequency in our packaging clones was less than 1 HERV-H sequence per 5 x 10(5) proviral integrations. Additionally, 10A1 and xenotropic packaging lines had higher infectivities than the amphotropic clone.

CONCLUSION

These packaging lines represent the safest configuration for the large-scale production of retroviral vectors, and are capable of producing high titer, RCR-free retroviral vector for large scale clinical use. While all three clones efficiently transduce human T lymphocytes, the 10A1 clone has the highest infectivity. These packaging cell lines will be valuable for use in human gene therapy protocols.

Repetition, repetition compulsion, motivation, interpretation

This paper presents three different conceptualizations (interpretations) of the phenomenon of "repetition compulsion" in the various psychoanalytic schools that refers explicitly to this conception--as return to, return of (reproduction) or recreation (transcendental transformation), or as a linear, circular or spiral-like psychic movement accordingly. The paper analyzes the metapsychological assumptions of each mode of interpretation and tries to relate the psychic models underlying these conceptions to the questions of psychotherapeutic attitude and technique in the clinical situation.

Dynamic perspectives of paradoxical intervention

This paper describes the use of paradoxical intervention with a patient who, despite his persistent appeals for help, remained uncooperative. It endeavors to show an understanding of the patient's destructiveness as an expression of his neediness and envy, which he expresses via his repeated use of projective identification and suggests this intervention as a way out. From a dynamic perspective the paradoxical intervention encompasses two contrasting aspects: On the one hand, it rechannels the patient's destructiveness and envy in a beneficial direction. In that sense the intervention fulfills the patient's wish for an omnipotent therapist and for painless therapy, while appearing to prevent personality change. On the other hand, the intervention interferes with the continued use of projective identification, it facilitates the expression of non-destructive aggression, creates an ambiguity surrounding the question of who is in fact in control of the therapy and, finally, it possibly facilitates the creation of a potential space. In that sense the paradoxical intervention assists in achieving both the experience of separateness and the ability to use symbolization. Parallel processes are described in the therapist's countertransference.

Effects of bolus volume, viscosity, and repeated swallows in nonstroke subjects and stroke patients

This study examined the effects of bolus volume and viscosity and the variability of repeated swallows in ten stroke patients and ten age-matched nonstroke subjects. The ten stroke patients demonstrated single unilateral cortical (three subjects), subcortical (six subjects), or brainstem (one subject) infarcts on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans at three weeks post-ictus. All subjects underwent videofluoroscopic swallow studies in which seven temporal pharyngeal swallow measures were examined. Despite the dissimilarity in lesion locations, the swallow physiology in the stroke patients was relatively homogeneous, ie, no swallowing disorders severe enough to prevent oral intake. As bolus volume increased, pharyngeal delay time diminished in stroke patients, but not in nonstroke subjects. Increasing bolus volume affected three other pharyngeal swallow measures similarly in nonstroke and stroke subjects: laryngeal closure durations and cricopharyngeal (CP) opening durations increased and duration of tongue base contact to posterior pharyngeal wall decreased. On viscosity comparisons (liquid vs paste), both subject groups displayed longer duration of base of tongue contact to posterior pharyngeal wall. On paste swallows, nonstroke subjects had longer CP opening and lower swallow efficiency, whereas stroke patients did not. This study found no statistically significant learning/repetition effect for repeated swallows in either subject group, or both groups combined.

The cracked container, the containing crack: chronic illness--its effect on the therapist and the therapeutic process

In this paper, we have tried to examine the complex dynamics of the therapist's physical chronic illness. Little attention has been paid to physical non-functioning, especially during chronic illness, and its psychotherapeutic corollaries. A crucial theme is the extent of damage to the capacity to contain. It is our claim that, when sufficiently worked through, the 'cracked therapeutic container' may serve as a facilitator of better understanding and enhance empathy. The impact of chronic illness on the therapeutic setting, contract, process and language is discussed as well as some salient features of chronicity.

Oropharyngeal swallowing after stroke in the left basal ganglion/internal capsule

One of the foci of Martin Donner's work was the neural control of swallowing. This present investigation continues that work by examining oropharyngeal swallowing in 8 patients identified with a single, small, left-basal ganglion/internal capsule infarction and 8 age-matched normal subjects. Stroke patients were assessed with a bedside clinical and radiographic swallowing assessment, and normal subjects received only the radiographic study. Results revealed disagreement between the bedside and radiographic assessments in one of the 8 stroke patients. Stroke and normal subjects differed significantly on some swallow measures on various bolus viscosities, but behaved the same as normal subjects on a number of measures. Differences in swallowing in the stroke subjects were not enough to prevent them from eating orally. The significant differences seen in the basal ganglia/internal capsule stroke subjects may result from damage to the sensorimotor pathways between the cortex and brainstem. These differences emphasize the importance of cortical input to the brainstem swallowing center in maintaining the systematic modulations characteristic of normal swallowing physiology.

Distinct syndromes of hemineglect

Hemineglect was assessed in 34 patients with right-hemisphere stroke using a letter-cancellation task and a line bisection task. No significant correlation (r = .39) was found between scores on the two tests. Ten patients who showed neglect on the cancellation task but performed normally on line bisection had frontal or deep lesions. Eleven patients with posterior lesions deviated rightward on line bisection; several of these had minimal or no cancellation deficit. A nonmotor task involving judgment of a bisected line was also performed abnormally by six patients with line bisection shift, suggesting that such shift does not result from a motor response asymmetry. We propose that separable components of the neglect syndrome may be associated with damage to discrete areas of the nondominant hemisphere.

Hydrophobic carriers of vanadyl ions augment the insulinomimetic actions of vanadyl ions in rat adipocytes

A novel family of vanadyl ion (VO2+, oxidation state +4) carriers is introduced. These carriers possess C2 symmetry, utilize two hydroxamate groups as ion binding sites, and optionally possess asymmetric carbons. Binding efficiencies and hydrophobicities are regulated by the use of a modular assembly. When applied to rat adipocytes, these carriers augment the potency of vanadyl ions to stimulate glucose metabolism. The complexes shift the dose-response curve to the left. Also, the maximal effect of vanadyl ions which is in the order of 20-30% of that of insulin is shifted toward maximal (100-115%) stimulation. Among several chelators studied, the order of synergistic potency was RL-252 greater than or equal to RL-262 greater than 1367. RL-239, RL-280, and RL-261 had smaller effects, whereas RL-282 had a negligible effect. The synergistic action of RL-252 (and other chelators as well) on VO2+ was already observed at a molar ratio of 1:0.01 of VO2+ to RL-252, respectively, and maximal augmentation occurred at a molar ratio of 1:0.1. The superiority of the hydrophobic chelators relative to the hydrophilic ones, together with the low molar ratio of chelator to VO2+ to achieve maximal effect, strongly suggests that these chelators act as vanadyl ionophores. This notion was confirmed by carrier-facilitated extraction of VO2+ from water into CHCl3 with the following order of decreasing efficacy: RL-262 greater than RL-252 greater than 1367 greater than RL-261. The chelators' potentiating effect may therefore be related to facilitated transport of VO2+ ions into the cells' interiors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Demography and ecological impacts of the invading mollusc Dreissena polymorpha

The bivalve mollusc Dreissena polymorpha colonized Lake St. Clair in 1986 as a result of ballast water discharge. The present study shows that since initiating reproduction in 1988, its population density at all of the sites originally colonized has increased more than a 1000-fold. The species has, as well, expanded its range in Lake St. Clair dramatically. The density and range increase is not yet complete, as populations at most sites remain dominated by juveniles. Densities in excess of 5000 individuals/m2 seem likely to be achieved at most sites in Lake St. Clair within 5 years. It appears likely that D. polymorpha will have a significant impact on composition of the benthos. Shells of individual unionids carry in excess of 10 000 D. polymorpha, and lipid reserves of such unionids are only half those of unaffected individuals. Aside from direct interactions with benthic organisms, the filtering activity of D. polymorpha populations may be sufficient to result in a significant impact on the turbidity of water exiting Lake St. Clair.

Dibutyryl cAMP, aminophylline, and beta-adrenergic agonists protect against pulmonary edema caused by phosgene

Phosgene is a toxic oxidant gas that causes the adult respiratory distress syndrome in exposed workers. Phosgene exposure markedly increased lung weight gain in buffer-perfused isolated rabbit lungs (31 +/- 5 g over 60 min after phosgene vs. 7.7 +/- 1.2 in control lungs, P less than 0.01) and markedly increased the lung leak index for 125I-albumin (0.28 +/- 0.03 after phosgene vs. 0.02 +/- 0.01 in control lungs, P less than 0.01). Pretreatment with dibutyryl adenosine 3',5' -cyclic monophosphate (DBcAMP), aminophylline, or terbutaline plus isoproterenol prevented the increase in lung weight caused by phosgene (31 +/- 5 g phosgene, 11.7 +/- 2.8 DBcAMP, 7.5 +/- 2.5 aminophylline, 6.1 +/- 1 terbutaline and isoproterenol, 6.1 +/- 1.2 control + aminophylline, and 7.7 +/- 1.2 control; all treatments were P less than 0.01 vs. the untreated phosgene group and not significantly different from control lungs). Pretreatment with aminophylline prevented the increase in lung leak index for 125I-albumin (0.28 +/- 0.03 after phosgene vs. 0.06 +/- 0.02 in aminophylline-treated lungs, P less than 0.01). Posttreatment with aminophylline and terbutaline also prevented the increase in lung weight caused by phosgene. These results indicate that phosgene dramatically increases the movement of fluid and protein across the pulmonary vasculature and that treatment with DBcAMP, aminophylline, terbutaline, or isoproterenol markedly reduces the pulmonary edema caused by phosgene.

Synthetic ferrichrome analogues with growth promotion activity for Arthrobacter flavescens

Two families of trihydroxamic acid analogues of ferrichrome were chemically synthesized and tested for biological activity with Arthrobacter flavescens. Compounds using a tertiary amine as anchor showed little activity. Several compounds using tetrahedral carbon as anchor showed activity approaching or equalling that of the natural siderophore, ferrichrome. The biological activity is discussed in relation to physical and chemical properties of the analogues.

[Cancer mortality in smaller regions with different structures and conditions of air quality]

The study attempts a comparative evaluation of 5 Styrian regions as to their mortality rate of cancer in general as well as cancer of the respiratory system in particular. Regions were not established according to political or administrative districts; instead, communities from areas with homogeneous characteristics as to topography, climate, and air-quality were combined in regions. Among these 5 regions, 2 are industrial centers (region Voitsberg-Köflach with 31.000 inh. and Aichfeld-Murboden with 45.000 inh.), 2 have low to average air pollution (Ausseerland with 13.000 inh. and Deutschlandsberg with 13.000 inh.), 1 is a city with appr. 247.000 inh. (Graz). The disadvantage of the small number of samples was compensated for by observing each region over a period of 11 years. The results clearly demonstrate that the region Voitsberg-Köflach has a statistically significant high mortality rate both of cancer in general as well as of cancer of respiratory system in particular. The collected data provide ample ground for the assumption that environmental conditions are to a large degree responsible for the high mortality rate; this study will provide the basis for systematic investigations of its causes.

A search for symmetry in the conditional discriminations of rhesus monkeys, baboons, and children

Procedures for generating arbitrary matching-to-sample performances may generate only conditional discriminations. Rational grounds for this distinction are proposed, based on the properties that any equivalence relation must possess. Empirical tests are described for determining whether subjects trained on conditional discriminations are also engaged in true matching to sample. A series of studies than leads to the conclusion that proof of true matching to sample by monkeys, pigeons, or baboons is yet to be provided. Whether the absence of such proof reflects experiential factors or species-defined limitations is not presently clear.

Response of cloned progeny of clinical isolates of herpes simplex virus to human leukocyte interferon

First- and third-generation cloned progeny viruses were derived from clinical isolates of herpes simplex virus and examined for their sensitivities to human interferon by inhibition of plaque formation in Vero cells. The dose-response curves obtained with the first- and third-generation clones were similar to those obtained with the parental isolates, and both the parent and the clones showed similar sensitivities to interferon. These results suggest that clinical isolates of herpes simplex virus consist of a homogeneous population of virus particles with respect to interferon sensitivity. The dose-response curves obtained with herpes simplex virus demonstrated a shallower slope than those obtained with vesicular stomatitis virus. Vesicular stomatitis virus plaque formation as completely inhibited at high concentrations of interferon, whereas complete inhibition of plaque formation by herpes simplex virus did not occur at the highest concentration of interferon used. Cloned progeny were derived from plaques appearing in the presence of high concentrations of interferon. The dose-response curves and interferon sensitivities of these clones were similar to those of the parent and third-generation clone from which they were derived. There was no evidence for genetic heterogeneity with respect to interferon sensitivity.