Conditioning and the classification of the chronic schizophrenic patient

An attempt to construct a psychophysiological (conditioning) classification of chronic schizophrenia has been reported and the relationship of this new classification with the prevailing clinical (psychopathological) classification has been examined. Our findings suggest that our chronic schizophrenic population may be described in terms of a hypothetical continuum, based on the combination of the 11 experimental variables tested. This is supported by the result that our experimental population was distributed over 97 of the possible 117 categories. Furthermore, in a Pavlovian frame of reference our population disperses into three groups: a high performance group, in which both, excitatory and inhibitory processes are relatively maintained, a moderate performance group with some impairment of the inhibitory process, and a low performance group in which both the excitatory and the inhibitory processes are relatively impaired. Heuristically even more important is the finding that these schizophrenic categories are characterized by dissociation, either within the individual functional system or between this functional systems. In most of the categories of the experimental population a characteristic dissociation of functioning appears. It is characterized by a relatively well maintained functional ability of the autonomic functional system in contrast to an impaired skeletomuscular system. This dissociation resembles the phenomenon of schizokinesis. Since the morphological substrates of our experimental variables are those which are also affected by a variety of psychoactive drugs with well defined neurophysiological action, the categories delineated in this study would be verified by differential psychopharmacological responsiveness.     

Evaluation of different culture techniques of osteoblasts on 3D scaffolds

Bones adjust their structure to withstand the mechanical demands they experience. It is suggested that flow-derived shear stress may be the most significant and primary mediator of mechanical stimulation. In this study, we designed and fabricated a fluid flow cell culture system that can load shear stress onto cells cultured on 3D scaffolds. We evaluated the effect of different culture techniques, namely, (1) continuous perfusion fluid flow, (2) intermittent perfusion fluid flow, and (3) static condition, on the proliferation of osteoblasts seeded on partially deproteinized bones. The flow rate was set at 1 ml/min for all the cells cultured using flow perfusion and the experiment was conducted for 12 days. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated an increase in cell proliferation for scaffolds subjected to fluid shear stress. In addition, the long axes of these cells lengthened along the flowing fluid direction. Continuous perfusion significantly enhanced cell proliferation compared to either intermittent perfusion or static condition. All the results demonstrated that fluid shear stress is able to enhance the proliferation of cells and change the form of cells.     

Nicotinic Acid as Adjuvant Therapy in Newly Admitted Schizophrenic Patients

A placebo-controlled, comparative clinical study was conducted to test the hypothesis that nicotinic acid as an adjuvant medication has a beneficial therapeutic effect over and above the effect which can be achieved by the administration of phenothiazine drugs alone, over a six-month period, in newly (recently) admitted schizophrenic patients.The most important single finding was that no statistically significant therapeutic difference was seen between the active treatment and the placebo groups; i.e., the addition of nicotinic acid or nicotinamide to the regular phenothiazine treatment regimen did not have any measurable therapeutic effect in this sample of patients. It was shown that patients in the placebo group received a lower total daily amount of phenothiazine drugs than those on either of the active substances. Furthermore, it was noted that the addition of the active substances did not reduce the number of days of hospitalization.     

Phenotypic and molecular analysis of dominant occurring antibiotic active-producing Streptomyces soil flora in Northern Jordan

This investigation aimed to determine the relatedness of dominant occurring soil Streptomyces spp. in Northern Jordan based on their RAPD-PCR fingerprints, and to compare RAPD technique with the conventional phenotypic characterization of Streptomyces isolates. Fifty-eight white and gray color-bearing aerial mycelia antibiotic active-producing Streptomyces soil isolates along with three reference strains were genetically analyzed by RAPD-PCR. Polymorphisms between the isolates showed 1 to 10 bands per isolate and ranged from 200 to 3200 bp in size. Results revealed one common band of ~600 bp shared by ~85% of the isolates, and the observation of bands specific to some reference strains and some soil isolates. When RAPD patterns were analyzed with the UPGMA, results revealed clustering the tested isolates into two equal main super clusters (50% each). Super cluster I appeared to be homogenous and include the three reference strains. However, super cluster II was heterogeneous and but not including any of the reference strains. The association of the antibiotic activity of the dominant white and gray aerial mycelium-bearing Streptomyces isolates to RAPD clustering is reported for the first time, and the RAPD-PCR fingerprints generated here deserve to be cloned, characterized and sequenced in future as Streptomyces species-specific DNA markers. The more random primers used in the analysis may add to RAPD technique a cost-effective, fast, precise result, and less labor work solution for analyzing the similarities and differences among the Streptomyces isolates.     

Decreased Serum Wnt Antagonist Levels in Patients With Active Acromegaly

ObjectiveThe Wnt signaling pathway is an important modulator of bone metabolism. This study aims to clarify the changes in Wnt antagonists in active and biochemically controlled acromegalic patients.MethodsWe recruited 77 patients recently diagnosed with acromegaly. Of those, 41 patients with complete follow-up data were included. Thirty healthy patients matched for age, sex, and body mass index served as controls. At baseline and posttreatment, Wnt antagonists (sclerostin [SOST], dickkopf-related protein 1 [DKK-1], and Wnt inhibitory factor 1 [WIF-1]), bone turnover markers (osteocalcin, procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide [P1NP], and C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen [CTX]) and the bone remodeling index were investigated.ResultsAcromegalic patients had higher serum osteocalcin, P1NP, and CTX and a higher bone remodeling index than controls (P < .01). Serum SOST, DKK-1, and WIF-1 levels were significantly decreased in patients compared to controls (all P < .01). Serum SOST and WIF-1 levels were negatively correlated with growth hormone levels; SOST levels were positively correlated with WIF-1. After treatment, serum bone turnover markers and the bone remodeling index decreased, while SOST and WIF-1 significantly increased (P < .05). DKK-1 levels did not change compared to baseline (P > .05). In biochemically controlled patients, SOST and WIF-1 levels and bone turnover markers were restored and did not differ from those of the control participants (all P > .05).ConclusionPatients with active acromegaly exhibited significantly decreased Wnt antagonist levels. The reduction in Wnt antagonists is a compensatory mechanism to counteract increased bone fragility in active acromegaly.     

Depression and Anxiety Correlate Differently with Salivary Free Cortisol in the Morning in Patients with Functional Somatic Syndrome

Patients presenting with functional somatic syndrome (FSS) are common, and the symptoms are persistent and difficult to treat for doctors and costly for society. The aim of this study was to clarify the common pathophysiology of FSS, especially the relationship between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function and psychological characteristics of patients with FSS. The subjects were 45 patients with FSS and 29 healthy controls. Salivary free cortisol was measured in the morning, and psychological tests examining depression, anxiety and quality of life (QOL) were performed on the same day. In patients with FSS, depressive scores showed a significant negative correlation with salivary free cortisol in the morning, although in healthy controls, cortisol showed a significant positive correlation with depressive scores. In addition, the correlation between other psychological test scores and cortisol secretion in patients with FSS contrasted with that of controls. The relationship between cortisol and depression, anxiety or QOL, suggests that the HPA axis of patients with FSS is dysfunctional and does not function properly when patients with FSS are under stress. This dysfunction may explain the pathology of medically unexplained persistent symptoms of patients with FSS.