Cortical regions supporting reading comprehension skill for single words and discourse

A substantial amount of variation in reading comprehension skill is explained by listening comprehension skill, suggesting tight links between printed and spoken discourse processing. In addition, both word level (e.g., vocabulary) and discourse-level sub-skills (e.g., inference-making) support overall comprehension. However, while these contributions to variation in comprehension skill have been well-studied behaviorally, the underlying neurobiological basis of these relationships is less well understood. In order to examine the neural bases of individual differences in reading comprehension as a function of input modality and processing level, we examined functional neural activation to both spoken and printed single words and passages in adolescents with a range of comprehension skill. Data driven Partial Least Squares Correlation (PLSC) analyses revealed that comprehension skill was positively related to activation in a number of regions associated with discourse comprehension and negatively related to activation in regions associated with executive function and memory across processing levels and input modalities.

Assays to Monitor Lysophagy

Lysophagy belongs to one of the many pathways cells activate in response to lysosomal damage. Damaged lysosomes attract glycan-binding galectins, become ubiquitinated, and are later on targeted for engulfment and degradation through lysophagy. Many triggers that are known to cause lysosomal membrane permeabilization have all been shown to induce lysophagy and can therefore be used to construct platforms for further molecular-level characterization of this process. In this chapter, we describe experimental parameters for triggering lysophagy through combined use of lysosome-specific dyes and light illumination. Within single cells, this optogenetic scheme allows easy manipulation on the amount of lysosomes to be impaired, the degree of damage desired, as well as when and where this should happen. On the other hand it can also be used to target all lysosomes within the entire cell population of a culture, allowing screening or bulk biochemical analyses to be carried out. The methodology will find use not only in monitoring lysophagy but also in probing lysosome damage responses in general.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 gene expression and polymorphisms in systemic lupus erythematosus

With the aim of investigating the role of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus, 107 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, 101 healthy controls, and 151 patients with ankylosing spondylitis were enrolled in this study. SOCS1 mRNA level was measured by the method of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. SOCS1 polymorphisms were detected by the polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphisms method. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity was evaluated with the SLEDAI. This study showed that the SOCS1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus than in the healthy controls (p = 0.0014). Patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus had a higher expression of SOCS1 mRNA than the patients with inactive systemic lupus erythematosus (p = 0.035). There was no significant difference in the frequencies of the SOCS1-1478CA/del polymorphisms among the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, healthy controls, and patients with ankylosing spondylitis. The genotype frequency of the SOCS1-1478 polymorphisms in the dominant model (CA/del+del/del versus CA/CA) was significantly decreased in the patients with thrombocytopenia compared with those without thrombocytopenia (p(c) = 0.035). Moreover, the allele frequency of SOCS1-1478del was also significantly lower in the patients with thrombocytopenia than in those without thrombocytopenia (p( c) = 0.02). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the expression of SOCS1 mRNA was significantly increased in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Moreover, SOCS1 mRNA levels in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus were significantly higher than those in the inactive patients. We also found that the systemic lupus erythematosus patients with thrombocytopenia have a lower frequency of SOCS1-1478del compared with patients without thrombocytopenia.

Ovarian carcinomatosis presenting as bilateral inguinal hernia: a brief report

The differential diagnosis for what may seem an inguinal hernia may be complex, as lateral pain may be of many types of origin. We report the case of a 48-year-old female patient who presented with a history of painful, progressively protruding soft bulging masses over the bilateral inguinal area and a 20-year history of head cancer and hepatitis B virus. Pathological analysis, gynecological ultrasound and abdominal computed tomography scan were required to make final determination. Final diagnosis was Stage IV ovarian carcinomatosis, which responded to chemotherapy. Initial diagnosis of inguinal hernia should not rule out other potential diagnoses, particularly in complex cases with other risk factors.

Severe hyponatremia as the presenting feature of clinically non-functional pituitary adenoma with hypopituitarism

Hyponatremia can result from a wide range of causes. While hyponatremia is known to occur in patients with hypopituitarism, severe hyponatremia occurring as the presenting feature of hypopituitarism is very rare. We present two cases in which severe hyponatremia developed with weakness, light-headedness and seizure. The hyponatremia in these 2 cases mimicked the laboratory diagnostic criteria of a syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). However, the hormone studies displayed hypopituitarism. Hyponatremia was completely corrected after administering a supplement of prednisolone and L-thyroxine. Computerized tomography of the brain revealed an adenoma of the pituitary gland. These two cases illustrate that severe hyponatremia may be the presenting feature of clinically non-functional pituitary adenoma with hypopituitarism, which should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of hyponatremia mimicking SIADH.

Frog tectal efferent axons fail to regenerate within the CNS but grow within peripheral nerve implants

Tectal efferent axons, located adjacent to the optic tract, fail to regenerate past diencephalic lesions in Rana pipiens even though optic axons regenerate after the same injury (M. J. Lyon and D. J. Stelzner, J. Comp. Neurol. 255: 511-525). We tested the possibility that tectal efferent axons can regenerate within peripheral nerve implants. A 6- to 8-mm segment of autologous sciatic nerve was implanted into the anterolateral (N = 23) or centrolateral (N = 22) portion of the dorsal surface of the tectum. Frogs survived for 6 (N = 16) or 12 weeks (N = 29) before the free end of the nerve was recut and HRP applied. A control group had the nerve crushed prior to the HRP application. Neurons within the tectum, near and medial to the implant site, were retrogradely labeled from the nerve graft in most experimental operates but no neurons were labeled in controls. In addition, neurons were also labeled in nuclei which projected to the tectum in a number of cases. Three times as many neurons were labeled in 12-week operates (42 +/- 46) as in 6-week operates (15 +/- 12). The morphology and location of labeled neurons in the tectum was similar to tectal efferent neurons except that the somal area of neurons labeled from the graft was significantly larger (41%) than normal tectal efferent neurons. The basic finding is similar to experiments using the same paradigm in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). One difference is the minimal glial reaction at the graft insertion site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An electron microscopic observation on the developing sympathetic ganglia of hamsters

An electron microscopic observation has been made on the superior cervical ganglia of 2-day-old hamsters, in which most nerve cells were still immature and were named as primitive sympathetic nerve cells. They were small in size and 2 or 3 cells were grouped together to become many cell clusters. Only the periphery of each cell cluster was enclosed by the satellite cell cytoplasm. In these primitive nerve cells, only mitochondria, granular endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus were relatively prominent and the other cytoplasmic organelles were poorly developed. Axo-somatic synapses were found in the ganglia. Many unmyelinated nerve fibers were present in the ganglia. These nerve fibers were surrounded by the Schwann cell cytoplasm. Active mitotic divisions of the nerve cells were found in the superior cervical ganglia of 9-day-old hamsters and resulted in an increase in the number of nerve cells. The size of the nerve cells also increased and became young sympathetic nerve cells. In the 10-day-old hamsters, each young nerve cell was entirely enclosed by the satellite cell cytoplasm. The number of cytoplasmic organelles was increased considerably. Axo-somatic and axo-dendritic synapses were also observed in the ganglia of 10-day-old hamsters. The present study revealed that the developed cytoplasmic organelles in the young nerve cells of the 30-day-old young hamsters reached the level of the mature nerve cells in the ganglia of the adult hamsters. Multiple desmosomes were detected in the ganglia of both the young and adult hamsters.