Effects of reward expectancy on sequential eye movements in monkeys.

Desirability of an action, often referred to as utility or value, is determined by various factors, such as the probability and timing of expected reward. We investigated how performance of monkeys in an oculomotor serial reaction time task is influenced by multiple motivational factors. The animals produced a series of visually-guided eye movements, while the sequence of target locations and the location of the rewarded target were systematically manipulated. The results show that error rates as well as saccade latencies were consistently influenced by the number of remaining movements necessary to obtain a reward. In addition, when the animal produced multiple saccades before fixating a given target, the first saccade tended to be directed towards the rewarded location, suggesting that saccades to rewarded location and visual target might be programmed concurrently. These results show that monkeys can utilize information about the required sequence of movements to update their subjective values.     

Huge gastric diospyrobezoars successfully treated by oral intake and endoscopic injection of Coca-Cola

A diospyrobezoar is a type of phytobezoar that is considered to be harder than any other types of phytobezoars. Here, we describe a new treatment modality, which effectively and easily disrupted huge gastric diospyrobezoars. A 41-year-old man with a history of diabetes mellitus was admitted with lower abdominal pain and vomiting. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed three huge, round diospyrobezoars in the stomach. He was made to drink two cans of Coca-Cola every 6 h. At endoscopy the next day, the bezoars were partially dissolved and turned to be softened. We performed direct endoscopic injection of Coca-Cola into each bezoar. At repeated endoscopy the next day, the bezoars were completely dissolved.     

异丙酚及氯胺酮靶控输注全静脉麻醉临床应用

目的　研究异丙酚复合不同镇痛剂量氯胺酮靶控输注全静脉麻醉临床应用的可行性及对血流动力学、麻醉恢复的影响。方法　择期手术患者 80例 ,分别采用异丙酚 (P组 ,n =16)及复合氯胺酮血药浓度 0 2 0mg/L(PK1组 ,n =16) ,0 40mg/L(PK2 组 ,n =16) ,0 60mg/L(PK3 组 ,n =16)和 0 80mg/L(PK4组 ,n =16)全静脉麻醉 ,采用微机控制Graseby 3 5 0 0输液泵靶控输注异丙酚或氯胺酮 ,连接Aspect-A10 0 0型脑电监护仪监测脑电变化 ,观察两组患者血流动力学改变及麻醉恢复情况。结果　单用异丙酚患者随着异丙酚血药浓度升高脑电双频指数 (BIS)值降低 ,呈明显负相关 (P <0 0 5 ) ,氯胺酮血药浓度从 0 2 0mg/L增至 0 80mg/L ,BIS值无明显变化 (P >0 0 5 )。与P组相比 ,PK1,PK2 ,PK3 ,PK4组异丙酚用量减少约 15 %～ 40 % ,PK4组停药至睁眼时间明显延长 ,其余各组无明显差异 (P >0 0 5 )。术中P ,PK1组收缩压、舒张压升高 ,PK2 ,PK3 ,PK4组无明显改变。术后无躁动、不良回忆等并发症。结论　异丙酚复合镇痛剂量的氯胺酮 (0 40～ 0 60mg/L)靶控输注全静脉麻醉具有血流动力学稳定、减少异丙酚用量、无明显术后并发症等优点。     

现代医学200词——147、社区康复

所谓社区康复的“社区”一词尚没有明确的定义。其范围是小的群体、大城市、县，也有以国为单位的。另方面，关于康复历史上虽提出了很多概念，但现在暂时一致采用1982年“联合国残疾人世界行动计划”的定义，即康复是尽可能使躯体和心理达到社会的最适机能水平，旨在提供改变个体人生的手段，且限定在一定时间的过程。但与康复的4个方面，即依据医学、社会、职业、教育的专门领域的概念相异，统一还相当困难。     

Transdermal permeation-enhancing activities of some inorganic anions

Effects of sodium salts of various monovalent inorganic anions on transdermal permeation of salicylic acid were investigated. In in-vitro experiment using a Franz-type diffusion cell and excised mouse skin, the permeation-enhancing activities of the sodium salts of inorganic anions were roughly proportional to lyotropic Hofmeister swelling abilities of the anions; F^?<SO₄ ^2?<Cl^? <ClO₄ ^?<NO₃ <SCN^? <Br <I^?, i.e. l, Br and SCN increased the flux of drugs through the mouse skin, while F^?, SO₄ ^2?, Cl^?, ClO₄ ^? and NO₃ ^? decreased or did not affect the flux. In invivo experiment using the rabbit as the test animal, the plasma concentration of salicylic acid of the rabbit to which 10%-salicylic acid ointment containing 5%-Nal or NaBr was applied was significantly higher than that of the rabbit to which the ointment without the electrolytes was applied. The amounts of sterol leached out of stratum corneum sheet when the sheet was immersed in aqueous solutions of Nal, NaBr, or NaSCN were much more than that of stratum corneum immersed in aqueous solutions of the other inorganic anions. The FTIR/ATR spectroscopy showed that the peaks at 2853 cm^?1 and 2924 cm^?1 in the IR absorption spectrum of the stratum corneum sheet of the mouse were shifted to higher frequencies by the anions which enhanced the transdermal drug permeation, while not shifted by the anions which did not have any permeation-enhancing activities or have permeation-reducing activities. These results suggest that sodium salts of some anions such as iodide, bromide and thiocyanate enhance transdermal permeation of salicylic acid through swelling and perturbation of the skin structure by these anions.     

Immunology: High fecundity rates following in- vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in antiphospholipid antibody seropositive women treated with heparin and aspirin

This study was undertaken to explore whether intervention withheparin and aspirin (H/A) in selected patients undergoing in-vitrofertilization (TVF) and embryo transfer could improve fecundityrates. Specifically, it explored the possibility that womendiagnosed with organic pelvic disease who demonstrated antiphospholipidantibodies (APA) could benefit from H/A administration in asimilar manner to that used in patients with recurrent pregnancyloss. We used an enzyme–linked immunosorbent assay forsix different phospholipids to identify patients who expressedAPA before they underwent IVF/embryo transfer. This study wasconfined to the first IVF/embryo transfer cycle that followedassessment of APA status and accordingly, the number of IVF/embryotransfer cycles corresponds with the number of patients treated.APA seropositive patients were treated with aspirin, 81 mg orallyq.d., and heparin 5000 IU s.c. b.i.d., beginning on day 1 ofcontrolled ovarian stimulation. The endpoint for success wasa live birth or an ultrasound confirming fetal cardiac activity(a viable pregnancy). The prevalence of APA in patients diagnosedwith organic pelvic disease (53%) was much higher than in thosewithout female pathology (14%). The administration of H/A toAPA seropositive patients significantly (P < 0.05) improvedthe viable pregnancy rate (49%) compared to the untreated APAseropositive group (16%). The viable pregnancy rate for APAseropositive women treated with H/A was also significantly (P< 0.001) higher than for untreated APA seronegative patients(27%). We conclude that all women undergoing IVF/embryo transfershould be tested for APA prior to initiating ovarian stimulation,and those with APA seropositivity should be treated with H/A.     

Papilledema in obstructive hydrocephalus caused by giant cell astrocytoma of tuberous sclerosis.

A 5-year-old girl with progressive hemiparesis and headache was found by brain imaging to have a large tumor centered at the foramen of Monro, blocking cerebrospinal outflow and producing massive lateral ventriculomegaly. Total excision of the mass led to a pathologic diagnosis of giant cell astrocytoma. Dermatologic abnormalities had been detected shortly after birth but were unexplained. Abdominal imaging disclosed renal cysts, and ophthalmologic examination disclosed papilledema and retinal plaques. On this basis, a diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis (TS) was finally made. Two months after surgery, papilledema had resolved, and visual function appeared to be normal. Although the patient apparently escaped visual loss, other reports affirm that giant cell astrocytoma, a common tumor in TS, may go undetected for long enough to produce irreversible optic neuropathy from chronic papilledema. Because patients with TS may not report visual loss, they should undergo periodic ophthalmologic screening.     

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DETECTION OF MINIMAL RESIDUAL DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD B-ALL BY FLOW CYTOMETRY

R啨ｓｕｍ啨　　 Objectif　D啨ｔｅｃｔｅｒｐａｒｃｙｔｏｍ啨ｔｒｉｅｄｅｆｌｕｘｌｅｒ啨ｓｉｄｕｍｏｒｂｉｄｅｍｉｎｉｍａｌ(RMM)chezlesenfantsatteintsdeB LLAet啨ｖａｌｕｅｒｓａｓｉｇｎｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎｃｌｉｎｉｑｕｅ .　M啨ｔｈｏｄｅｓ　 5 8enfantsatte     

Decrement of the skin conductance response to repeated volitional inspiration.

OBJECTIVE: To examine response decrement of the recently reported inspiratory skin conductance response (SCR) [Lim CL, Seto-Poon M, Clouston PD, Morris JG. Sudomotor nerve conduction velocity and central processing time of the skin conductance response. Clin Neurophysiol 2003;114:2172-80]. METHODS: Twelve healthy adult volunteers performed 3 tasks (A) a control task of maintaining tidal breathing and then two randomized tasks, (B) a deep inspiration to a target oral pressure and (C) tapping with a finger. Each task was performed 30 times on cue every 20s in 3 runs with 5 min of rest between runs. The SCR, oral pressure, airflow, inspired volume and cue signal were recorded continuously and analysed offline. SCR amplitude was logarithmically transformed and then statistically analysed, using a linear mixed effects model, as a function of run number, trial number and absolute error between target and actual oral pressures. RESULTS: Inspiratory efforts elicited exponentially decreasing SCR amplitude with increasing trial number during each run (P < 0.0001). After adjusting for trial number, the mean SCR amplitude of the second and the third run were, respectively, 24.2 (95% CI (0.175, 0.336), P < 0.001) and 14.4% (95% CI (0.104, 0.200), P < 0.001) of the first run amplitude. CONCLUSIONS: Volitional deep inspiration reliably activates an SCR that exhibits response decrement with repetition, which may be habituation. SIGNIFICANCE: The volitional inspiratory SCR may assist in the assessment of sympathetic autonomic status in patients with peripheral afferent neuropathy.     

Long-term results of the Cox-Maze III procedure for persistent atrial fibrillation associated with rheumatic mitral valve disease: 10-year experience.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the long-term results of the Cox-Maze III procedure (CM-III) for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) associated with rheumatic mitral valve (MV) disease. METHODS: We analyzed 127 patients who underwent the CM-III combined with a rheumatic MV procedure between 1994 and 2004. In-hospital mortalities were excluded from the study. RESULTS: There were 10 late deaths and the mean follow-up duration was 7.1+/-2.8 years (range, 13 months to 11.5 years). Normal sinus rhythm was restored in 88.2% (112/127) after the CM-III. Right atrial contractility was demonstrable in 100% (112/112) and left atrial contractility in 68.8% (77/112) of the patients restored to sinus rhythm. Fifteen patients never regained sinus rhythm after the CM-III (AF treatment failure). Permanent pacemakers were implanted in 4.7% (6/127) of the patients during the follow-up. Late recurrence of AF developed in 34 of 112 patients at 44+/-27 months postoperatively, and sinus rhythm was restored in 29 of 34 patients by administration of an antiarrhythmic medication. Independent risk factors for late AF recurrence were longer duration of AF (>60 months) (odds ratio (OR)=2.758, p=0.025), increased left atrial size (OR=1.113, p=0.004). Freedom from AF recurrence was 93% at 1-year, 82% at 3 years, 71% at 5 years, and 63% at 7 years. Risk factors for AF treatment failure were longer duration of AF (>60 months) (p<0.001) and increased patient age (p=0.030). A higher prevalence of significant late tricuspid regurgitation was observed in patients with AF treatment failure and those with late AF recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The CM-III for persistent AF associated with rheumatic MV disease demonstrated a progressively decreased cure rate during the follow-up period. Early surgical therapy, aggressive left atrial reduction, and correction of tricuspid regurgitation at the time of surgery may increase the long-term success rate.