INTRODUCTION:Amblyopia requires a timely diagnosis and treatment to attain maximum vision recovery. Specialty literature is lacking on how early amblyopia is referred. We aimed to understand if there are mean age differences at first referral for ophthalmologic tertiary center consultation among non-amblyopic and different types of amblyopia, in a context of lack of population screening.MATERIAL AND METHODS:In this retrospective model, the sample corresponded to all children born in Braga Hospital during 1997 - 2012 (3 - 18 years-old), with an ophthalmologic consultation in 2014. Data was collected from the clinical records and children were divided in a non-amblyopic versus amblyopic group. The amblyopic group was subdivided in strabismic versus refractive (anisometropic/bilateral).RESULTS:The sample had a total of 1665 participants, 1369 (82.2%) without amblyopia and 296 (17.8%) with amblyopia. Among amblyopia: 67.9% (n = 201) refractive, 32.1% (n = 95) strabismic. Within refractive amblyopia: 63.7% (n = 128) anisometropic and 36.3% (n = 73) bilateral. The mean age at first consultation was 6.24 ± 3.90 years-old: 6.39 ± 3.98 for non-amblyopic and 5.76 ± 3.58 for amblyopic. Among amblyopia subgroups, there were significant differences in mean age at first consultation (F3,1250 = 8.45; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.020). Strabismic and bilateral refractive amblyopia were referred earlier, when compared to non-amblyopia or anisometropic amblyopia (p < 0.05). Anisometropic amblyopia had the highest first consultation mean age: 6.92 ± 3.57 years-old.DISCUSSION:Without specific pre-school screening, children with amblyopia were referred to their first ophthalmologic evaluation significantly later than desired, especially anisometropic amblyopia, with a postschool mean age for first consultation.CONCLUSION:Recognizing high-risk children is essential for earlier referral and helps minimize future visual handicap.
Anxiety and anxiety related disorders often considered as under-recognized and under-treated clinical problems because of their high prevalence rates and unknown etiology. According to worldwide statistic almost 75% of people with mental disorders remain without treatment in developed countries with apporoximately 1 million people lose their lives each year. In addition,World Health Organization (WHO) alerts that, 1 in 13 people in the world suffers from anxiety disorders. The WHO also reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders as a world-wide disease with specific phobia,major depressive disorder and socialphobia being the most common anxiety disorders. The role of neuroimaging methods in anxiety disorders, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, specific phobias,and social anxiety disorder has became very attractive by researchers in recent years.Neuroimaging studies on anxiety disorders has become consistently important, particularly in the previous decade, because of the opportunity to prove neurobiological assumptions for anxiety disorders. The improvement of neuroimaging techniques in the previous decades has contributed greatly to predict, to diagnose and to treat anxiety disorders, as well as helped researchers to put a map on the neurobiological side of anxiety. Since the 1980, the early period and onset of usage of neuroimaging techniques,variety of neuroimaging studies which conducted in order to study anxiety disorders have increased constantly. (Damsa C et al).These include high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), or single photon emission tomography (SPECT) which contributed greatly to the biology and the structural and functional neuroanatomy of anxiety disorders.
A cerebral stroke is the second most common cause of death among adults worldwide: more than 13 million people suffer from this type of disease each year. Time is a fundamental factor: the treatment window for thrombolysis is estimated on 4.5 hours from symptom onset. One of the most used technique to deal with patients affected by cerebral stroke is Computed Tomography Perfusion (CTP) imaging: a fast method that allows to accurately predict the prognosis of patients in the early stage of the treatment.
Bradykinin (BK) (Arg-Pro-Pro-Gly-Phe-Ser-Pro-Phe-Arg) performs many functions in normal and pathological physiology through G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) that have been pharmacologically classified as a kinin receptor subtype 1 (B1R) and kinin receptor subtype 2 (B2R). Numerous reports indicate that BK is involved in a number of processes related to cancer progression, and bradykinin antagonists have been tested for anti-tumor activity. However, the role of kinin receptors as potential targets in cancer therapy is still being studied, and the search for a new generation of selective BK receptor ligands is in progress. A number of new ligands for the above-mentioned receptors have been synthesized and tested in the present study. To assess the functional activity (EC50 and IC50 assessment) of these ligands at BK1 and BK2 receptors, two cell lines overexpressing the human BK1 or BK2 receptor in HEK 293 cell lines were prepared. The activity of these compounds was tested in a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence assay for IP1 (IP-One HTRF; Cis-bio). Five of the tested compounds showed antagonistic properties at the BK1 receptor, and these compounds were selected for further evaluation in in vitro experiments, including the cell proliferation test by using an MTT assay and caspase-3 activation test on human cancer cell lines (glioblastoma astrocytoma U-87 MG, neuroglioma HTB-148, and small-cell lung carcinoma SHP-77). The compounds for which the most encouraging results were obtained in in vitro tests; i.e.,showing a promising bioactive potential against cancer cells, were adsorbed atthe solid/aqueous solution interface and spectra were measured by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Different metallic surfaces (metal and metal oxide surfaces of different sizes and shapes of surface porosity) that significantly enhance the Raman signal for molecules on or near theirsurface, played the role of a solid. Thisis because SERS is a potential tool for modeling ligand-receptor interaction.
Epilepsy is considered a popular neurological disorder, characterized by disorder in electrical activity which is located in the brain area and wellknown as epileptic seizures, This study aimed to establish the pharmacological effect of the minoxidil which consider as a potassium channel opener on the atropine thatinduced convulsion in fasting animal for 24 hours after allow to accessthe food. In currentstudies, Atropine wassuggested that produce convulsion in fasting animalsthrough decreased cholinergic action caused by blockade of muscarinic postsynaptic receptors because of their anticonvulsive activity. Minoxidil is considered as a strong arteriolar vasodilator (powerful vasodilator) because of its acting as a potassium channel opener which is present on the cells of the smooth muscle of the peripheral. Materials and Methods: After 24 hoursfasting mice were divided into 3 groups each one contains animals which were first treated normal saline solution, 25 or 50 mg/ kg of minoxidil, 10minuteslater 2.4 mg/kg atropine wasinjected, another group were injected just 2.4 of atropine, and the last group wasthe control group. For twenty minutes after atropine injection, putting the food in the cages was done and allowed the animals to start eating. All animals were observed for 30 minutes and the duration and frequency of convulsion onset were evaluated, Open field and Rota rod apparatus were used after atropine administration to evaluate motor coordination, exploration behavior, and muscle relaxation. Result: injection of minoxidil before atropine wasn’t effecting in prevent the convulsions developed, in fasted animals after food access and atropine injection. seizure onset time was significantly higher in the minoxidil+ atropine group (p 0.05). beside open field and Rota rot results were shown insignificantly influence. Conclusion: It was concluded from this study that the use of the above drugs in the prevention of convulsion resulting from the use of atropine in mice was not effective except for minoxidil which has an effect as a delay at the time of the seizure
Emotional facial expressions are crucial to human interactions, and perception of these subtle yet important cues are a reflection of underlying complex cognitive processing. The study aimed at understanding event related potential components elicited during recognition of emotional facial expression when two different emotions are presented simultaneously. The study consists of two experiments, Experiment 1, where the upright faces of six emotions (fear, surprise, anger, disgust, happy & sad) and one neutral facial expression of human male and female were presented bilaterally on the screen. In Experiment 2, the same stimuli and combinations were repeated with the faces inverted. Based on the emotion that is perceived first, the subjects had to respond with the corresponding left or right key on the response pad. 32 channel EEG data acquisition and behavioural data of Response Time (RT) was recorded for each trial. The ERP components of interest were, Contingent Negative Variability (CNV), N100, N170 and P300. The preliminary results show that the stimulusfear being the negative emotion takeslonger time to be processed explained by local processing which resultsin higher amplitude ERP component involved in facial processing, while the emotion ‘happy’ is perceived fastest due to positive valence and low spatial frequency content that enables global processing. Keywords: Face processing, Emotional Valence, Event Related Potential, N170.
Neuroinflammation and autoimmune mechanisms have been recognized to have a key part in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Therefore, we evaluated the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) as a link between inflammation and autoimmunity in PD. We performed an in vivo model of PD, by 1-metil 4-fenil 1,2,3,6-tetraidro-piridina (MPTP) administration for 7 days, in single KO mice for TLR7, TLR 8 and TLR9; and in double KO mice for TLR 7/8-/-. All animals were compared with WT animals used as a control group. The result obtained demonstrated that the genetic absence of TLR 7 and 8 modified PD pathway increasing the immunoreactivity for TH and DAT compared to PD groups and decreasing microglia and astrocytes activation. Moreover, the deletion of TLR7 and TLR8 significantly reduced T-cell production in the substantia nigra and lymph nodes, suggesting a reduction of T cell activation. Therefore, our result highlights a possibility that an immunotherapy approach by using a dual antagonist of TLR 7 and 8, could be considered as a possible target to develop new therapies for Parkinson diseases.
Central nervous system Inflammatory Demyelinating Disease (CIDD) encompasses a broad spectrum of disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and Neuromyelitis optica (NMO). In both cases, histopathological examination played pivotal roles in the anatomical diagnosis. Case 1 is a 51 year old female who presented with headache, progressive aphasia and hemiparesis without preceding infection or vaccination. Based on MRI and negative oligoclonal bands in the CSF, a clinical diagnosis of ADEM was made. However, brain surgery of the affected cerebral white matter revealed both pathological features of ADEM and early stage of active MS including perivenular demyelination, confluent plaque-like demyelination, and subpial demyelination. Case 2 is an autopsied 73 year old feminine who had been diagnosed as NMO at age 63 based on typical clinical/radiological features and positive serum AQP4 antibody. One year before death, she was treated for an acute myocardial infarction, and one month before death she suffered a massive basal ganglia stroke diagnosed with CT. On autopsy, the corresponding basal ganglia revealed large necrotic lesions associated with several pathological signatures of NMO including inflammatory cell infiltration, perivascular complement deposition, and the presence of numerous corpora amylacea phagocytosed by infiltrating macrophages. These cases clarify the importance of neuropathological examination which might be of interest in considering the pathogenesis of CIDDs.
At present drug addiction among adolescent has been attracted globally among psychologist, school authorities, and parents need for adolescent’s mental health, security, and safety. However, little research has incorporated adolescents’ drug and substance using with interparental-conflict, acceptance/ rejection and school climate in Bangladeshi culture. As for considering the burgeoning area of research, the purpose of the current study was to investigate whether drug addiction in adolescence varies regarding inter-parental conflict, acceptance/rejection, and school climate. Quantitative research approach and cross-sectional research design were employed for this study. The data were collected from 400 adolescent in them half of participants were drug addicted and rests of the participant were normal using a random sampling technique. Mean, standard deviation, point biserial correlation, and logistic regressions were performed. The findings indicate that negative peer interaction and affiliation, self-blame, parental rejection, the opportunity for student autonomy, and inadequate teacher support were the significant predictors of drug addiction. Among variables, negative peer interaction and affiliation was the strongest predictor, which alone explained 69.5% variance of drug addiction. The study could bring more insights into the parents, school management, caregivers, psychologists, and family counselor to prevent and relieve the drug and substance using from adolescent and society in large scale. Implications of future research for theory, practice and interventions are discussed.
MyNeurological experience is up to 1999, During 2 yearsstudied asGeust Arzt of KopfklinikHeidelberg University, after about 20years experience Neurological Physician in Japan. Working area was mainly Vascular Disease and Degenerative BrainDisease.
Although thought to be trivial, microaggressions have severe mental and physical impact on the individuals of the targeted groups or populations. The fact that this form of discrimination is mostly hidden, common and hard to identify makes it extremely difficult for the victims to protect themselves or respond appropriately to its occurrences. Microaggressions are covert discriminatory verbal, visual, or societal/individual attitudes embedded in everyday life communications whether intentional or unintentional against a person or a group based on religious, ethnic or gender affiliations. Microaggressions degrade, marginalize, and alienate the target group or person causing significant mental and physical harm to the victim. Microaggressions have three types: micro assault, microinsult, and micro-invalidation. The continuous exposure to these aggressive acts increases the risk for serious mental disorders with increased need for psychiatric care. At many societies, Muslim are a main target for microaggressions that is specifically intensified with the propagation of Islamophobia. Mental health professionals have to ensure culture sensitive care by first and far most face their own biases and the societal influences on their practices, believes and ethics. Literature review of online data and research was conducted. Three books directly related to the subject were reviewed. The main objectives were to understand the forms of racial/religion discrimination impeded in society targeting Muslim, the psychological impact of microaggressions, biases in psychiatric care, and ways to help this particular group. Healthcare systems and mental health providers are not immune from engaging in microaggressions. They are required to understand these patterns of insults as it will cause farther confusion to their patients and increase resentment and mistrust to the care they provide to this group.
Statement of the Problem: Too often organizations supporting those with addiction problems report outputs or activities rather than using measures that provide an in-depth understanding of the journey beneficiaries make. When outcome measures are used, they typically capture practitioner or beneficiary viewpoints but do not combine these perspectives or benefit the therapeutic relationship. The Drug and Alcohol Star, a version of the Outcomes Star, was developed to address these needs. Completing the Outcomes Star is integral to service delivery and fits well with Motivational interviewing (MI). Both the Star and MI approaches are client centred, strengths based, focus on solutions not problems and engage the individual to uncover where there are in the change process. The Drug and Alcohol Star involves beneficiaries and practitioners collaborating to agree needs, action plans and progress. Following calls for a version of the Outcomes Star for gambling addiction, this study identified the outcome areas and ‘Journey of Change’ for a Gambling Star suitable for therapeutic communities and other settings. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Drawing on Participatory Action Research principles, two focus groups were conducted with practitioners and beneficiaries in Australian addiction services. The outcome areas and Journey of Change were identified using an iterative process of drafting and refinement. Findings: The eight outcomes areas identified as being impacted on by gambling, and the five Journey of Change stages were as follows: Detailed descriptors for the 10-points of the Journey of Change stages within each outcome area are currently being piloted. Acceptability and validity will be assessed using pilot data. Conclusion & Significance: The Outcomes Star offers a way to enhance delivery and assessment of addiction services. Therapeutic communities can benefit from using the Drug and Alcohol Star and Gambling Star, empowering beneficiaries, building insight and measuring outcomes in areas impacted by addiction.
Individuals with dementia experience a variety of different symptoms, as all structures and functions of the brain are influenced, have increasing and multidimensional needs, tend to have low life quality, and to ‘lose themselves’ as the disorder progresses. Formal care and treatment of dementia aims at improving the life of the sufferers, yet often sets compartmentalized goals, and becomes impersonal and generic- thus less effective, despite the efforts. With these in mind, a holistic approach towards dementia arises. The goal is to enhance the self and improve life quality, while delaying the progression of the disorder. The self is seen as composed of a somatosensory, a cognitive, an emotional, a behavioral and a social aspect, along with psychological properties of the self (such as self- knowledge, or self- resilience). All these aspects are influenced by the disorder, thus are targeted through the intervention. The intervention follows the person-centered rational and uses all arts as a stimulus. It is composed of sessions with activities- each of which has a somatosensory, a cognitive, an emotional and a behavioral/social element, all of which are linked to the self and its properties. Previousresearch indicated the effectiveness of each element. The intervention was applied in ten case studies, with a qualitative and quantitative assessment (about the self, cognitive skills and life quality) occurring before and after. Results indicate that the intervention was efficient in enhancing the sense of self, delaying the progression of the disorder and improving life quality, and can be explained both through a neuroscientific and a psychotherapeutic perspective. Results imply that the self is a promising ‘target’ for a holistic approach (although more research is necessary), and can be applied both as a structured intervention, and as a rational of care and interaction, characterized by individualized approach and respect to the person’s uniqueness- their self.
Sodium propionate (SP) is one of the main short chain fatty acids (SCFA) that can be produced naturally through host metabolic pathways. SP have been documented and include the reduction of pro-inflammatory mediators in an in vivo model of colitis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of SP in reducing inflammatory process associated to neurological disorders. We performed both in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease, induced by oligomeric Aβ1-42 stimulation, and in in vivo model of spinal cord injury (SCI) in which neuroinflammation plays a crucial role. For in vitro model, the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line was first differentiated with retinoic acid (100 μM) for 24 h and then stimulated by oligomeric Aβ1-42 (1 μg/ml) and treated with SP at 0.1- 1-10 μM concentrations for another 24 h. Instead, the in vivo model of SCI was induced by extradural compression of the spinal cord at T6-T8 levels, and animals were treated with SP (10-30-100 mg/kg o.s) 1 and 6 h after SCI. Our results demonstrated that both in in vitro neuroinflammatory model and in vivo model of SCI the treatment with SP significantly reduced NF-κB nuclear translocation and IκBα degradation, as well as decreases COX-2 and iNOS expressions evaluated by Western blot analysis. Moreover, we showed that SP treatment significantly ameliorated histopathology changes and improved motor recovery in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that SP possesses neuroprotective effects, suggesting it could represent a target for therapeutic intervention in neuroinflammatory disorders.
Trisomy 21 (DS) is a genetic disorder that results from the triplication of entire or part of chromosome 21 (Chr21) and its occurence is 1 every 1000/1500 live births without family inheritance known. It is so far considered as the major genetic cause of intellectual disability. The brain development defictis induce intellectual disabilities which affect language, learning, memory but also motor,sensory and sleep deficits. Moreover, although their life expectancy has dramatically increased since fifty years, itis reported that individuals with DS exhibit accelerating aging in many systems including also behavioural abnormalities and early neurodegeneration. Thus early pharmacological intervention is necessary to improve daylife for children and young adults in order to live normally in the general population, but also to prevent early aging. Several early studies support the link between the DS phenotype and an increased risk of Alzheimer (AD) development with an incidence of dementia which increases dramatically by the age of 60 years. Although the AD neuroanatomopathology is present in virtually all adults, all adults over 60 years will not develop dementia. As all the chromosome 21 genes are known and they are good trisomic mouse and rat models to study DS. Thus many new pharmacological pathways are on development using these models either for early intervention to increase intellectual abilities or to prevent the hallmarks of early AD. These approaches for various pharmacological interventions will be discussed.
Buzz will define and address the function of the cortical and subcortical structures of the brain. Within the Subcortical region of the brain, he will explain the difference between the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System. Within the Sympathetic Nervous system, Dr. Buzz will explain in detail how humans suffer from “Inescapable Stress to the Brain” which results in unstable behavioral reactions activated by unstable limbic systems caused by Psychological and Emotional Trauma. Examples of Trauma patient’s conditions will be described, behavioral manifestations of Trauma victims will be displayed, and effective treatment solutions will be taught to the audience aswell.
It’s a common knowledge that Africa has the least neurological services, and African neurologists and neurosurgeons cannot match the rapid progress in the developed world. And this I write with extreme sadness. As the founder of The Brain and Spine Foundation Africa, it is no gain saying the fact I am coming from a background of diametric ramifications of health emergencies- ours is a harrowing experience and indeed, a sordid reality that no one can be proud of. Prominent among the challenges in the Nigerian health sector for example, is the escalation of various degrees of neurological emergencies.
Background: In childhood, the metabolic activity of the basal ganglia is greater, and they are particularly prone to injury. Damage to the basal ganglia cells may cause problems controlling speech, movement, consciousness, muscle tone, posture and cognition. Aim of the study: to determine the etiology of basal ganglionic disorders in a sample of Egyptian children. Methods: A cross sectional observational study was utilized on 34 patients attended at the Pediatric Neuro Outpatient Unit of Neurology department at f Al-Azhar University Hospitals during a period of one year from the beginning of November 2014 to the end of November 2015. A specialized pediatric neurologicalsheet, Cognitive assessment in children using Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and Laboratory investigations were performed. The included patients were classified according to MRI into two groups; ganglionic group that included patients with isolated basal ganglionic lesions (n=23) and para-ganglionic group that included patients with combined ganglionic as well as para-ganglionic lesions (n=11). Results: The frequency of male patients was slightly higher than the female patients in both groups without significant difference (13 (56.5%) versus 6 (43.5%) and 10 (54.5%) versus 5 ( 45.5%), in ganglionic and para-ganglionic groups, respectively). acute ischemic stroke wasthe most frequent cause, which wasfound in 12 (35.3%) cases, followed by 10 (29.4%) had metabolic and infectious causes, and lastly 2 (5.9%) had toxic causes. The incidence of toxic causes (CO poisoning) was significantly higher among ganglionic group compared to para-ganglionic group (2(8.7%) versus 0(0.0%),respectively). According to brain MRI imaging, bilateral basal ganglion affection wasthe most frequent lesions among ganglionic group 16 (69.7%).while temporal affection (temporal were2 (18.2%) , tempro-parietal were2 (18.2%) and tempro-occipital was 1 (9.1%) ) was the most frequent lesions among para-ganglionic group5(45.5%). Conclusion: acute ischemic stroke was the most frequent cause of basal ganglionic lesion in a sample of Egyptian children.
Migraine classification is the remit of the International Headache Society (IHS) and their most recent recommendations are contained in the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3)1. These recommendations have been incorporated into the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-111) which was published in summer 2018. In addition to the main classification of migraine, the ICHD-3 includes an appendix which contains a number of additional migraine subtypes and associated variants. The appendix is used to present research criteria for a number of novel entities that have not been sufficiently validated by research conducted so far. It is anticipated that some disorders now in the appendix will move into the main body of classification at the next revision.
