Metabolic Stability of Hippocampal Slice Preparations During Prolonged Incubation

Abstract: Hippocampal slices were prepared under three conditions: (1) in medium containing glucose and oxygen at 4°C; (2) as in (1), but at 37°C; (3) in medium devoid of glucose and oxygen at 37°C. The rates of recovery to roughly steady-state levels and through 8 h of incubation were monitored for energy metabolite levels and related parameters. In vitro stable values are compared with in situ hippocampal levels. Regardless of the conditions under which slices were prepared, metabolite levels required up to 3 h to stabilize, and these levels were maintained or improved through 8 h of incubation. Further, the maximal concentrations of metabolites were independent of the conditions of slice preparation. Total adenylates and total creatine levels reached 55% of those in vivo. Lactate decreased from the decapitation-induced high levels, but stabilized at concentrations about twice those in rapidly frozen brain. Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP exhibited peak levels at 30 min of incubation, and cyclic GMP remained elevated for 3 h. Although all three methods of slice preparation resulted in similar metabolite profiles on incubation, the initial decreases in high energy phosphates were delayed by chilling. Most striking, the slices prepared in the absence of glucose and oxygen exhibited much smaller orthodromic evoked potentials in the dentate gyrus. The presence of glucose and oxygen during preparation of the slices appears to be critical to the electrophysiological response of the tissue.     

The Influence of water salinity on the free amino acid concentration in muscle and hepatopancreas of adult shrimps, Penaeus japonicus

Variations of the total free amino acid (FAA) pool and the content of specific amino acids have been measured in the muscle and hepatopancreas of adult shrimps, Penaeus japonicus, acclimatized at five water salinities: 38, 32, 26, 20 and 14%‰ The FAA content is always higher in muscle than in hepatopancreas at all tested salinites. On the other hand, the hepatopancreas exhibits the highest concentrations of essential amino acids. Two steps in the evolution of FAA content can be observed, the first one regarding decrease in salinity from 38 to 20%‰ and the second one, when salinity goes below 20%_°. The first step can be characterized by a 16% decrease of total FAA content in the muscle and a 36% increase in the hepatopancreas. In muscle, the variations are mainly due to changes in non-essential FAA content, whereas in the hepatopancreas, they are linked to variations in essential FAA content. The other step is characterized by a drastic increase in moisture and decrease in FAA content in both studied organs when water salinity is 14%‰ The total FAA content is about 40% lower in shrimps at 14%_° compared to 38%‰ seawater salinity. During adaptation, the FAA pool (mainly NEFAAs) of muscle seems to be directly related to osmoregulation, whereas in the hepatopancreas, its evolution seems to be linked with energy expenditure and protein synthesis. The results are evaluated in order to elucidate the role of FAA in intracellular osmoregulation and in relation to animal ecology.     

Aetiology of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Hospitalised Children in Cyprus

In order to improve clinical management and prevention of viral infections in hospitalised children improved etiological insight is needed. The aim of the present study was to assess the spectrum of respiratory viral pathogens in children admitted to hospital with acute respiratory tract infections in Cyprus. For this purpose nasopharyngeal swab samples from 424 children less than 12 years of age with acute respiratory tract infections were collected over three epidemic seasons and were analysed for the presence of the most common 15 respiratory viruses. A viral pathogen was identified in 86% of the samples, with multiple infections being observed in almost 20% of the samples. The most frequently detected viruses were RSV (30.4%) and Rhinovirus (27.4%). RSV exhibited a clear seasonality with marked peaks in January/February, while rhinovirus infections did not exhibit a pronounced seasonality being detected almost throughout the year. While RSV and PIV3 incidence decreased significantly with age, the opposite was observed for influenza A and B as well as adenovirus infections. The data presented expand our understanding of the epidemiology of viral respiratory tract infections in Cypriot children and will be helpful to the clinicians and researchers interested in the treatment and control of viral respiratory tract infections.     

Intrafamilial spread of Helicobacter pylori: a genetic analysis

Background. A high incidence of Helicobacter pylori among family members of children with H. pylori gastritis has previously been documented on biopsy material. The main objective of this study was the genetic clarification of H. pylori strains involved in intrafamilial dispersion. Materials and Methods. Formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded material of antral mucosa from 32 members of 11 families was studied for the presence of genetic homogeneity. To achieve this goal, the entire genome of H. pylori was studied by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting method. Furthermore, the Urease A gene was analyzed using a multiplex PCR‐assay and an alternative mutation detection method based on the Hydrolink? analysis. Results. RAPD fingerprinting confirmed that closely related H. pylori strains were involved in the intrafamilial dispersion. Mutations and small deletions in Urease A gene were found in 22 out of 32 individuals. Conclusions. The homology of the H. pylori genome in members of the same family strongly supports the hypothesis of transmission of H. pylori from person‐to‐person or from a common source.     

Extent and determinants of error in physicians' prognoses in terminally ill patients: prospective cohort study

Objectives To describe physicians' prognostic accuracy in terminally ill patients and to evaluate the determinants of that accuracy. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Five outpatient hospice programs in Chicago. Participants A total of 343 physicians provided survival estimates for 468 terminally ill patients at the time of hospice referral. Main outcome measures Patients' estimated and actual survival. Results Median survival was 24 days. Of 468 predictions, only 92 (20%) were accurate (within 33% of actual survival); 295 (63%) were overoptimistic, and 81 (17%) were overpessimistic. Overall, physicians overestimated survival by a factor of 5.3. Few patient or physician characteristics were associated with prognostic accuracy. Male patients were 58% less likely to have overpessimistic predictions. Medical specialists excluding oncologists were 326% more likely than general internists to make overpessimistic predictions. Physicians in the upper quartile of practice experience were the most accurate. As the duration of the doctor-patient relationship increased and time since last contact decreased, prognostic accuracy decreased. Conclusions Physicians are inaccurate in their prognoses for terminally ill patients, and the error is systematically optimistic. The inaccuracy is, in general, not restricted to certain kinds of physicians or patients. These phenomena may be adversely affecting the quality of care given to patients near the end of life.     

Infectious disease modeling of social contagion in networks

Many behavioral phenomena have been found to spread interpersonally through social networks, in a manner similar to infectious diseases. An important difference between social contagion and traditional infectious diseases, however, is that behavioral phenomena can be acquired by non-social mechanisms as well as through social transmission. We introduce a novel theoretical framework for studying these phenomena (the SISa model) by adapting a classic disease model to include the possibility for 'automatic' (or 'spontaneous') non-social infection. We provide an example of the use of this framework by examining the spread of obesity in the Framingham Heart Study Network. The interaction assumptions of the model are validated using longitudinal network transmission data. We find that the current rate of becoming obese is 2 per year and increases by 0.5 percentage points for each obese social contact. The rate of recovering from obesity is 4 per year, and does not depend on the number of non-obese contacts. The model predicts a long-term obesity prevalence of approximately 42, and can be used to evaluate the effect of different interventions on steady-state obesity. Model predictions quantitatively reproduce the actual historical time course for the prevalence of obesity. We find that since the 1970s, the rate of recovery from obesity has remained relatively constant, while the rates of both spontaneous infection and transmission have steadily increased over time. This suggests that the obesity epidemic may be driven by increasing rates of becoming obese, both spontaneously and transmissively, rather than by decreasing rates of losing weight. A key feature of the SISa model is its ability to characterize the relative importance of social transmission by quantitatively comparing rates of spontaneous versus contagious infection. It provides a theoretical framework for studying the interpersonal spread of any state that may also arise spontaneously, such as emotions, behaviors, health states, ideas or diseases with reservoirs.     

Age-dependent changes in body size of Greek boys from 1982 to 2002

Objective: The prevalence of childhood obesity has been rising during the past decades in many parts of the world, including Greece. The dispersion of these trends across age, however, is less clear. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between age and 20‐year changes in anthropometric characteristics of Greek boys. Research Methods and Procedures: A total of 204 and 106 boys 9 years old, 163 and 274 boys 12 years old, and 161 and 240 boys 15 years old were randomly recruited in 1982 and 2002, respectively, throughout the county of Iraklio, Crete, Greece. Height, weight, and BMI were measured. Results: Contemporary 9 and 12 year olds were taller than their peers in 1982 (+2.9% and +1.2%, respectively; p < 0.005), but this was not the case for 15 year olds (?0.8%; p = 0.083). Body weight and BMI were higher now than in the 1980s, and this held true for all age groups (p < 0.001). Increases in weight also showed a decline with advancing age (+17.4%, +13.9%, and +4.0% for 9, 12, and 15 year olds, respectively), whereas BMI changes were similar for those 9 and 12 years of age (～10.5%), but were almost 2‐fold higher than in 15 year olds (+5.5%). Discussion: Contemporary boys are taller, heavier, and have higher BMI values than their peers in 1982, but the magnitude of these increases gradually declines with advancing age. Rates of increase in BMI, however, seem to have greatly accelerated compared with previous decades.     

Emotions as infectious diseases in a large social network: the SISa model

Human populations are arranged in social networks that determine interactions and influence the spread of diseases, behaviours and ideas. We evaluate the spread of long-term emotional states across a social network. We introduce a novel form of the classical susceptible–infected–susceptible disease model which includes the possibility for ‘spontaneous’ (or ‘automatic’) infection, in addition to disease transmission (the SISa model). Using this framework and data from the Framingham Heart Study, we provide formal evidence that positive and negative emotional states behave like infectious diseases spreading across social networks over long periods of time. The probability of becoming content is increased by 0.02 per year for each content contact, and the probability of becoming discontent is increased by 0.04 per year per discontent contact. Our mathematical formalism allows us to derive various quantities from the data, such as the average lifetime of a contentment ‘infection’ (10 years) or discontentment ‘infection’ (5 years). Our results give insight into the transmissive nature of positive and negative emotional states. Determining to what extent particular emotions or behaviours are infectious is a promising direction for further research with important implications for social science, epidemiology and health policy. Our model provides a theoretical framework for studying the interpersonal spread of any state that may also arise spontaneously, such as emotions, behaviours, health states, ideas or diseases with reservoirs.