推拿联合简易六字诀功法治疗抽动障碍患者的疗效及安全性分析

摘要 目的：探究推拿联合简易六字诀功法治疗抽动障碍患者的疗效及安全性分析。方法：选择2021年3月至2022年1月于上海中医药大学附属岳阳中西医结合医院就诊于推拿科,并通过病史询问、量表评估被确诊为抽动障碍的患者。本研究随机分为对照组（n=27）及联合组（n=31）2组,对照组进行单纯推拿治疗,联合组进行推拿联合六字诀功法治疗。根据耶鲁综合抽动严重程度量表对患儿治疗前后的运动性抽动、发声性抽动以及社会行为影响作出评估,根据尼莫地平法计算患儿治疗前后疗效指数,统计患儿治疗的不良事件。结果：（1）两组患儿一般临床资料对比无差异（P>0.05）。（2）联合组总有效率高于对照组（P<0.05）。（3）治疗前联合组与对照组发声性抽动评分、缺损评分无差异,治疗后联合组发声性抽动评分、缺损评分明显高于对照组,两组治疗后均明显低于治疗前（P<0.05）。（4）治疗前后联合组与对照组YGTSS总分、运动性抽动评分无差异,两组治疗后YGTSS总分与运动性抽动评分均明显低于治疗前,且联合组低于对照组（P<0.05）。结论：推拿和简易六字诀功法对抽动障碍患儿都有显著的治疗效果,且效果无差异,与单纯推拿相比,推拿联合简易六字诀功法更能降低患儿的缺损评分,减少抽动对患儿自尊、家庭生活、社交和学习的负面影响,值得临床借鉴。     

抽动障碍患儿实验室检查及其诊断意义的分析

目的:统计抽动障碍住院患儿相关实验室检查,分析其对于抽动障碍诊断与鉴别诊断的意义。方法:抽取2013年1月至2014年9月在上海交通大学医学院附属新华医院中医科住院治疗的98例抽动障碍患儿各项主要实验室检查结果进行统计分析。结果:抗"O"异常率为17.35%,与对照组比较P0.05,铜蓝蛋白均值为0.2719±0.0477,与对照组比较P0.05,血沉异常率为4.08%,与对照组比较,P0.05。炎症因子均存在一定异常,异常率最高为IL-2r达14.29%,免疫球蛋白只有Ig M存在1例(1.02%),T细胞亚群各项均存在异常,其中CD4/CD8异常率达25.51%,CD3异常率为12.24%。肝肾功能、血尿常规各项异常率统计基本正常,仅仅少数存在少量异常;结论:抗"O"、血沉和铜蓝蛋白等对TD的诊断和鉴别诊断具有重要意义,同时也应该关注患儿的免疫情况。肝肾功能、血尿常规等项目的监测对选择用药具有指导意义。     

某医院儿童抽动障碍发病因素调查分析

目的:调查儿童抽动障碍发病情况,对其进行研究,了解抽动障碍发病特点及其相关危险因素,为制定预防措施提供来源依据。方法:选取2013年1月至2013年12月上海新华医院中医科就诊的抽动障碍儿童122例,发放问卷调查患儿的一般资料、家族史、既往史、母孕史、发病情况包括发病年龄、就诊年龄、病程进行分析。结果:122例患儿中发病年龄大多集中在10岁以前,为总发病儿童的93.4%,4~6岁的占45.9%,7~9岁的占39.3%。就诊年龄中6岁的占27.9%,6~8岁占39.3%,9~11岁占24.6%。病程6月的占13.1%,6~12月的占27.9%,1~2年的占19.7%,≥2年的占39.3%。其中36.1%有反复呼吸道感染史(OR1,P0.05);29.5%在生产中有轻度窒息(OR1,P0.05);11.5%有流产史(OR1,P0.05);13.1%有家族抽动障碍史(OR1,P(0.05);其中反复呼吸道感染、生产中轻度窒息、家族抽动障碍史是抽动障碍发病的危险因素。结论:儿童抽动障碍发病年龄较早,其起病可能是由多因素相互作用的结果,其中反复呼吸道感染、生产中轻度窒息、家族抽动障碍史是抽动障碍发病的危险因素。     

Protein Array Profiling of Tic Patient Sera Reveals a Broad Range and Enhanced Immune Response against Group A Streptococcus Antigens

The human pathogen Group A Streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes, GAS) is widely recognized as a major cause of common pharyngitis as well as of severe invasive diseases and non-suppurative sequelae associated with the existence of GAS antigens eliciting host autoantibodies. It has been proposed that a subset of paediatric disorders characterized by tics and obsessive-compulsive symptoms would exacerbate in association with relapses of GAS-associated pharyngitis. This hypothesis is however still controversial. In the attempt to shed light on the contribution of GAS infections to the onset of neuropsychiatric or behavioral disorders affecting as many as 3% of children and adolescents, we tested the antibody response of tic patient sera to a representative panel of GAS antigens. In particular, 102 recombinant proteins were spotted on nitrocellulose-coated glass slides and probed against 61 sera collected from young patients with typical tic neuropsychiatric symptoms but with no overt GAS infection. Sera from 35 children with neither tic disorder nor overt GAS infection were also analyzed. The protein recognition patterns of these two sera groups were compared with those obtained using 239 sera from children with GAS-associated pharyngitis. This comparative analysis identified 25 antigens recognized by sera of the three patient groups and 21 antigens recognized by tic and pharyngitis sera, but poorly or not recognized by sera from children without tic. Interestingly, these antigens appeared to be, in quantitative terms, more immunogenic in tic than in pharyngitis patients. Additionally, a third group of antigens appeared to be preferentially and specifically recognized by tic sera. These findings provide the first evidence that tic patient sera exhibit immunological profiles typical of individuals who elicited a broad, specific and strong immune response against GAS. This may be relevant in the context of one of the hypothesis proposing that GAS antigen-dependent induction of autoantibodies in susceptible individuals may be involved the occurrence of tic disorders.     

Reliability and Stability of Contingent Negative Variation

Reliability parameters of a test indicate the stability (and quality) of the test itself. Reliability coefficients greater than 0.70 suggest an attribute as being sufficiently stable over time to be characterized as a trait. Reliability parameters of contingent negative variation (CNV) amplitudes in 27 healthy individuals were determined using a test-retest design. CNV was recorded at Cz, with an interstimulus interval of 3 s, on 2 separate occasions: initial session and 10 days later. Correlation coefficients between the 2 recording sessions were 0.675 for the total-CNV (tCNV), 0.855 for the early component (iCNV), 0.631 for the late component (lCNV), and 0.420 for the post-imperative negative variation (PINV). Statistical retest parameters for Spearman Brown were 0.806 for tCNV, 0.922 for iCNV, 0.774 for lCNV, and 0.655 for PINV. The iCNV, more than the other parameters, remained stable over the period of 10 days. It is suggested that the described standardized CNV recording procedure ensures reproducible and stable results in healthy subjects.     

Cortical Habituation Deficit in Tinnitus Sufferers: Contingent Negative Variation as an Indicator of Duration of the Disease

Cortical attention and habituation parameters are altered in patients suffering from tinnitus. The aim of the study was to quantify cortical attention and habituation parameters in tinnitus patients by recording the contingent negative variation (CNV) response and to correlate amplitudes of different CNV parameters with duration of disease. Twenty patients suffering from tinnitus (median: 44?years) and twenty age- and sex-matched healthy controls (median: 41?years) were tested by a CNV paradigm. We recorded overall CNV, initial CNV, and terminal CNV and calculated habituation slopes. All CNV parameters were Spearman-correlated with individual duration of disease. Highly significant between groups differences emerged in total (tinnitus: -8.4?uV vs. controls: -3.8?uV), initial (-11.2 vs. -6.0?uV), and terminal CNV (-11.9 vs. -6.5?uV) demonstrating higher negative amplitudes in tinnitus patients. Habituation differed in total and terminal CNV, indicating missing habituation in tinnitus patients. Overall CNV (??=?-.365) and initial CNV (??=?-.529) showed a medium Spearman correlation with duration of disease. We conclude that the correlation between duration of tinnitus and the initial CNV amplitudes indicates an altered state of cortical excitability that can also be observed in more negative CNV-amplitudes in tinnitus patients. We assume that this state indicates a chronicity process in tinnitus disease.     

P300 component changes of the auditory event-related potential in the patients with typical and atypical panic attacks

84 patients with panic disorders and 36 healthy control subjects with use of clinico-neurologic technique, psychometric, neuropsychological and the neurophysiological method of auditory event-related potentials P300 were examined. Patients with panic disorders were characterized by the raised level of anxiety, depression and cognitive function disturbances in the form of decrease of short-term memory and attention insufficiency in comparison with the healthy control subjects. Patients with atypical panic disorders differed from the patients with typical panic disorders by lower level of anxiety, a greater degree of depression and more expressed cognitive function disturbances. In comparison with the healthy control subjects with atypical panic disorders the decrease of P300 peak amplitude was observed, with typical--its augmentation. It is supposed, that P300 peak change is bound to dysfunction of temporal-limbic-reticular brain structures.     

Assessment of wavelet analysis of gait in children with typical development and cerebral palsy

The objective of this study was to examine the use of the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) on surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals acquired from the lower extremity muscles during gait in children with typical development (TD) and cerebral palsy (CP). This was done to explore the possibility of developing a quantitative assessment scale of motor function based on time-frequency information. An initial study was conducted on retrospective gait data from three children, matched in gender and in anthropometric variables but with differing levels of walking ability. EMG data were extracted from five lower extremity muscles to assess the degrees of differentiation. The data were processed using the CWT to derive an average scalogram, from which the instantaneous mean frequency (IMNF) was calculated. Principal component analysis was used to assess the differences between the curves. Preliminary results indicated that for select lower extremity muscles, there was a significant deviation in the IMNF curves in the child with CP as compared to the child with TD. Furthermore, as motor impairment increased, total percent explained variance to the TD curves decreased. This suggests that it might be possible to derive a physiologically based quantitative index for assessing motor function and for assessing clinical treatments in CP using the wavelet analysis.     

The pediatric upper limb motion index and a temporal-spatial logistic regression: quantitative analysis of upper limb movement disorders during the Reach & Grasp Cycle

This study describes a novel pediatric upper limb motion index (PULMI) for children with cerebral palsy (CP). The PULMI is based on three-dimensional kinematics and provides quantitative information about upper limb motion during the Reach & Grasp Cycle. We also report key temporal-spatial parameters for children with spastic, dyskinetic, and ataxic CP. Participants included 30 typically-developing (TD) children (age=10.9±4.1 years) and 25 children with CP and upper limb involvement (age=12.3±3.7 years), Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels I-IV. The PULMI is calculated from the root-mean-square difference for eight kinematic variables between each child with CP and the average TD values, and scaled such that the TD PULMI is 100±10. The PULMI was significantly lower among children with CP compared to TD children (Wilcoxon Z=-5.06, p<.0001). PULMI scores were significantly lower among children with dyskinetic CP compared to spastic CP (Z=-2.47, p<.0135). There was a strong negative correlation between PULMI and MACS among children with CP (Spearman's rho=-.78, p<.0001). Temporal-spatial values were significantly different between CP and TD children: movement time (Z=4.06, p<.0001), index of curvature during reach (Z=3.68, p=.0002), number of movement units (Z=3.72, p=.0002), angular velocity of elbow extension during reach (Z=-3.96, p<.0001), and transport(1):reach peak velocities (Z=-2.48, p=.0129). A logistic regression of four temporal-spatial parameters, the Pediatric Upper Limb Temporal-Spatial Equation (PULTSE), correctly predicted 19/22 movement disorder subtypes (spastic versus dyskinetic CP). The PULMI, PULTSE, and key temporal-spatial parameters of the Reach & Grasp Cycle offer a quantitative approach to analyzing upper limb function in children with CP.     

Component-Specific Self-Regulation of Slow Cortical Potentials and its Effect on Behavior: An Exploratory Study

In the present study, the possibility of component-specific self-regulation of the contingent negative variation (CNV) and the functional significance of the iCNV (initial or early CNV component) and tCNV (terminal or late CNV component) were investigated in twenty-four healthy volunteers. The subjects were able to achieve control over a particular CNV component within four sessions. Regulation of the tCNV was more successful than for the iCNV. Specific control over iCNV was associated with strategies mainly related to the pre-stimulus interval or the warning stimulus (S1), while regulation of the tCNV was assigned to activities during the whole interstimulus interval or around the imperative stimulus (S2). It can be concluded that component-specific regulation of the CNV can be used in studies of the psychophysiological meaning of this potential, representing different stages of information processing. The role of cortical pre-activation in the generation of the iCNV and the phasic performance-directed activation of the tCNV can be hypothesized.     

Auditory cortex responses to clicks and sensory modulation difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Auditory sensory modulation difficulties are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and may stem from a faulty arousal system that compromises the ability to regulate an optimal response. To study neurophysiological correlates of the sensory modulation difficulties, we recorded magnetic field responses to clicks in 14 ASD and 15 typically developing (TD) children. We further analyzed the P100m, which is the most prominent component of the auditory magnetic field response in children and may reflect preattentive arousal processes. The P100m was rightward lateralized in the TD, but not in the ASD children, who showed a tendency toward P100m reduction in the right hemisphere (RH). The atypical P100m lateralization in the ASD subjects was associated with greater severity of sensory abnormalities assessed by Short Sensory Profile, as well as with auditory hypersensitivity during the first two years of life. The absence of right-hemispheric predominance of the P100m and a tendency for its right-hemispheric reduction in the ASD children suggests disturbance of the RH ascending reticular brainstem pathways and/or their thalamic and cortical projections, which in turn may contribute to abnormal arousal and attention. The correlation of sensory abnormalities with atypical, more leftward, P100m lateralization suggests that reduced preattentive processing in the right hemisphere and/or its shift to the left hemisphere may contribute to abnormal sensory behavior in ASD.     

Earlier hatching time predisposes Cobb broiler chickens to tibial dyschondroplasia

Fertile eggs from Cobb 500 broiler breeder hens were incubated to provide low starting egg shell temperatures (EST; 36.9°C to 37.3°C) which were gradually increased to 37.8°C during the first 7 to 15 days of incubation compared with eggs incubated with a constant EST of 37.8°C (standard conditions) over the first 18 days of incubation. Time of individual chick hatching (measured at 6 h intervals from 468 h of incubation), chick weight, chick length and yolk weight were measured at take-off and BW was measured at 7, 14, 28, 34 and 42 days of age. Male birds at 34 and 42 days of age were assessed for their ability to remain standing in a latency-to-lie test. At 34 and 42 days, male birds were examined for leg symmetry, foot pad dermatitis, hock bruising and scored (scale 0 to 4, where 0=no lesion and 4=lesions extending completely across the tibial growth plate) for tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) lesions. The lower EST profiles caused chicks to hatch later than those incubated under the standard EST profile. Chicks which hatched at ⩽498 h incubation grew faster over the first 7 days than those that hatched later. There were significantly more birds (only males were studied) that hatched from the lower EST profiles with TD scores of 0 and 1 and fewer with score 4 at 34 days than those hatched under the standard profile. Male birds at 34 days with TD lesions ⩾3 stood for significantly shorter times than males with TD scores ⩽2. Moreover, male birds at 34 and 42 days with TD lesion scores of ⩾3 hatched significantly earlier and grew significantly faster over the first 2 weeks of age than did male birds with TD scores ⩽2. It appears possible to decrease the severity and prevalence of TD in the Cobb 500 broiler by ensuring that the birds do not hatch before 498 h of incubation.     

Multilevel Upper Body Movement Control during Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Upper body movements during walking provide information about balance control and gait stability. Typically developing (TD) children normally present a progressive decrease of accelerations from the pelvis to the head, whereas children with cerebral palsy (CP) exhibit a general increase of upper body accelerations. However, the literature describing how they are transmitted from the pelvis to the head is lacking. This study proposes a multilevel motion sensor approach to characterize upper body accelerations and how they propagate from pelvis to head in children with CP, comparing with their TD peers. Two age- and gender-matched groups of 20 children performed a 10m walking test at self-selected speed while wearing three magneto-inertial sensors located at pelvis, sternum, and head levels. The root mean square value of the accelerations at each level was computed in a local anatomical frame and its variation from lower to upper levels was described using attenuation coefficients. Between-group differences were assessed performing an ANCOVA, while the mutual dependence between acceleration components and the relationship between biomechanical parameters and typical clinical scores were investigated using Regression Analysis and Spearman’s Correlation, respectively (α = 0.05). New insights were obtained on how the CP group managed the transmission of accelerations through the upper body. Despite a significant reduction of the acceleration from pelvis to sternum, children with CP do not compensate for large accelerations, which are greater than in TD children. Furthermore, those with CP showed negative sternum-to-head attenuations, in agreement with the documented rigidity of the head-trunk system observed in this population. In addition, the estimated parameters proved to correlate with the scores used in daily clinical practice. The proposed multilevel approach was fruitful in highlighting CP-TD gait differences, supported the in-field quantitative gait assessment in children with CP and might prove beneficial to designing innovative intervention protocols based on pelvis stabilization.     

Alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle morphology in children with cerebral palsy

Lower limb (LL) muscle morphology and growth are altered in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Muscle alterations differ with age and with severity of motor impairment, classified according to the gross motor classification system (GMFCS). Muscle alterations differ also with orthopedic intervention, frequently performed at the level of the shank muscles since an early age, such as the gastrocnemius. The aim was to investigate the alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle lengths and volumes in children with GMFCS levels I and II, of varying ages.17 children with CP (GMFCS I: N = 9, II: N = 8, age: 11.7 ± 4 years), age-matched to 17 typically developing (TD) children, underwent MRI of the LL. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the muscles were performed bilaterally. Muscle volumes and lengths were calculated in 3D and compared between groups. Linear regression between muscle volumes and age were computed.Adductor-brevis and gracilis lengths, as well as rectus-femoris volume, were decreased in GMFCS I compared to TD (p < 0.05). Almost all the reconstructed muscle volumes and lengths were found to be altered in GMFCS II compared to TD and GMFCS I. All muscle volumes showed significant increase with age in TD and GMFCS I (R² range: 0.3–0.9, p < 0.05). Rectus-femoris, hamstrings and adductor-longus showed reduced increase in the muscle volume with age in GMFCS II when compared to TD and GMFCS I.Alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle volumes and lengths, as well as muscle growth, seem to increase with the severity of motor impairment in ambulant children with CP.     

Fine mapping of copy number variations on two cattle genome assemblies using high density SNP array

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Btau_4.0 and UMD3.1 are two distinct cattle reference genome assemblies. In our previous study using the low density BovineSNP50 array, we reported a copy number variation (CNV) analysis on Btau_4.0 with 521 animals of 21 cattle breeds, yielding 682 CNV regions with a total length of 139.8 megabases. RESULTS: In this study using the high density BovineHD SNP array, we performed high resolution CNV analyses on both Btau_4.0 and UMD3.1 with 674 animals of 27 cattle breeds. We first compared CNV results derived from these two different SNP array platforms on Btau_4.0. With two thirds of the animals shared between studies, on Btau_4.0 we identified 3,346 candidate CNV regions representing 142.7 megabases (~4.70%) of the genome. With a similar total length but 5 times more event counts, the average CNVR length of current Btau_4.0 dataset is significantly shorter than the previous one (42.7kb vs. 205 kb). Although subsets of these two results overlapped, 64% (91.6 megabases) of current dataset was not present in the previous study. We also performed similar analyses on UMD3.1 using these BovineHD SNP array results. Approximately 50% more and 20% longer CNVs were called on UMD3.1 as compared to those on Btau_4.0. However, a comparable result of CNVRs (3,438 regions with a total length 146.9 megabases) was obtained. We suspect that these results are due to that UMD3.1's efforts of placing unplaced contigs and removing unmerged alleles. Selected CNVs were further experimentally validated, achieving a 73% PCR validation rate, which is considerably higher than the previous validation rate. About 20-45% of CNV regions overlapped with cattle RefSeq genes and Ensembl genes. Panther and IPA analyses indicated that these genes provide a wide spectrum of biological processes involving immune system, lipid metabolism, cell, organism and system development. CONCLUSION: We present a comprehensive result of cattle CNVs at a higher resolution and sensitivity. We identified over 3,000 candidate CNV regions on both Btau_4.0 and UMD3.1, further compared current datasets with previous results, and examined the impacts of genome assemblies on CNV calling.     

Perches and elevated platforms in commercial broiler farms: use and effect on walking ability,incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia and bone mineral content

Modern fast-growing broilers spend excessive periods resting and their activity further decreases with age. Inactivity has been suggested to increase impaired gait and the incidence of leg disorders. Tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is a common leg pathology in broilers. A more complex environment might facilitate more activity and improve leg health. Perches or elevated platforms bring variety to broilers’ environment and could motivate more locomotion. This study examined the impact of perches and elevated platforms on walking ability, the occurrence of TD and level of bone ash and mineral contents. The investigation was performed on four commercial broiler farms throughout six consecutive batches with platforms and four to five with perches. On each farm at least two separate houses were included, enabling the comparison of furnished flocks to control flocks during each batch. Plastic slats with ramp access elevated by 30 cm or wooden perches of 10 and 30 cm height were offered in the furnished house. Farmers recorded the platform and perch usage twice a week with a five-point scale. Gait was scored before slaughter on a six-point scale according to the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for poultry. The severity of TD was determined using a four-point scale on farm from all birds gait scored as 3 and at slaughter from 200 birds/flock. Farmers estimated 50% to 100% of the platforms to be occupied in all flocks throughout the entire growing period. Only single birds were perching, thus perch structures were constantly evaluated to be empty. Due to the low use, the perch-equipped houses were excluded when analysing bone content, walking ability and TD. On average, 30% of the tested birds exhibited gait score ⩾3. Younger scoring age resulted in a lower mean gait score and a lower percentage of scores 3 and 4 to 5. Overall, 2.3% of the birds examined at slaughter and 3.5% of the birds with gait score 3 were affected by TD. Leg health was better in birds with access to platforms: mean gait score, the percentage of birds scoring 3, and TD percentage and severity were lower in birds in platform-equipped houses. Elevated structures such as platforms, offering additional possibilities for locomotion to broilers seem to improve their leg health.     

阿立哌唑结合心理行为疗法治疗儿童抽动障碍的疗效及对血流动力学的影响

摘要 目的：研究阿立哌唑结合心理行为疗法治疗儿童抽动障碍的疗效及对血流动力学的影响。方法：选取2018年1月～2020年1月我院收治的抽动障碍患儿80例,将所有患儿以随机数字表法分为对照组与研究组,每组各40例。对照组给予氟哌啶醇结合心理行为疗法治疗,研究组给予阿立哌唑结合心理行为疗法治疗,疗程均为10周。比较两组临床疗效,治疗前后患儿抽动障碍情况、血流动力学指标变化以及不良反应发生情况。结果：研究组总有效率为95.00%,高于对照组的77.50%（P＜0.05）。治疗后研究组发声性抽调、运动性抽动、行为以及运动不宁评分分别为（2.81±1.07）分、（1.94±0.45）分、（1.16±0.44）分、（0.82±0.50）分,均明显低于对照组的（4.71±0.73）分、（2.77±0.38）分、（1.57±0.39）分、（1.22±0.43）分（P＜0.05）。治疗前后两组心率（HR）、能量转换指数（MEC）、左心室机械效率（LME）以及心肌耗氧量（MVO）水平对比均无统计学差异（P＞0.05）。研究组不良反应发生率为7.50%,低于对照的25.00%（P＜0.05）。结论：阿立哌唑结合心理行为疗法治疗儿童抽动障碍疗效显著,可有效改善患儿临床症状,对血流动力学影响较小,具有较好的安全性。     

Abnormal Pre-Attentive Arousal in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Contributes to Their Atypical Auditory Behavior: An ERP Study

Auditory sensory modulation difficulties and problems with automatic re-orienting to sound are well documented in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Abnormal preattentive arousal processes may contribute to these deficits. In this study, we investigated components of the cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) reflecting preattentive arousal in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children aged 3-8 years. Pairs of clicks (‘S1’ and ‘S2’) separated by a 1 sec S1-S2 interstimulus interval (ISI) and much longer (8-10 sec) S1-S1 ISIs were presented monaurally to either the left or right ear. In TD children, the P50, P100 and N1c CAEP components were strongly influenced by temporal novelty of clicks and were much greater in response to the S1 than the S2 click. Irrespective of the stimulation side, the ‘tangential’ P100 component was rightward lateralized in TD children, whereas the ‘radial’ N1c component had higher amplitude contralaterally to the stimulated ear. Compared to the TD children, children with ASD demonstrated 1) reduced amplitude of the P100 component under the condition of temporal novelty (S1) and 2) an attenuated P100 repetition suppression effect. The abnormalities were lateralized and depended on the presentation side. They were evident in the case of the left but not the right ear stimulation. The P100 abnormalities in ASD correlated with the degree of developmental delay and with the severity of auditory sensory modulation difficulties observed in early life. The results suggest that some rightward-lateralized brain networks that are crucially important for arousal and attention re-orienting are compromised in children with ASD and that this deficit contributes to sensory modulation difficulties and possibly even other behavioral deficits in ASD.     

Molecular and genetic analyses of Tic20 homologues in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts

The Tic20 protein was identified in pea (Pisum sativum) as a component of the chloroplast protein import apparatus. In Arabidopsis, there are four Tic20 homologues, termed atTic20‐I, atTic20‐IV, atTic20‐II and atTic20‐V, all with predicted topological similarity to the pea protein (psTic20). Analysis of Tic20 sequences from many species indicated that they are phylogenetically unrelated to mitochondrial Tim17‐22‐23 proteins, and that they form two evolutionarily conserved subgroups [characterized by psTic20/atTic20‐I/IV (Group 1) and atTic20‐II/V (Group 2)]. Like psTic20, all four Arabidopsis proteins have a predicted transit peptide consistent with targeting to the inner envelope. Envelope localization of each one was confirmed by analysis of YFP fusions. RT‐PCR and microarray data revealed that the four genes are expressed throughout development. To assess the functional significance of the genes, T‐DNA mutants were identified. Homozygous tic20‐I plants had an albino phenotype that correlated with abnormal chloroplast development and reduced levels of chloroplast proteins. However, knockouts for the other three genes were indistinguishable from the wild type. To test for redundancy, double and triple mutants were studied; apart from those involving tic20‐I, none was distinguishable from the wild type. The tic20‐I tic20‐II and tic20‐I tic20‐V double mutants were albino, like the corresponding tic20‐I parent. In contrast, tic20‐I tic20‐IV double homozygotes could not be identified, due to gametophytic and embryonic lethality. Redundancy between atTic20‐I and atTic20‐IV was confirmed by complementation analysis. Thus, atTic20‐I and atTic20‐IV are the major functional Tic20 isoforms in Arabidopsis, with partially overlapping roles. While the Group 2 proteins have been conserved over approximately 1.2 billion (1.2 × 10⁹) years, they are not essential for normal development.