AIM:Faecal incontinence (FI) is a common disorder involving both the enteric (ENS) and central nervous systems (CNS). The aim of the study is to analyze neurophysiologically the central processing of emotions in children with FI, healthy controls and children with Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS:Fourteen children with FI and constipation, nine with non-retentive FI, 15 controls and 13 children with ADHD were examined. The methods included a physical exam, sonography, Child Behavior Checklist, a psychiatric interview and intelligence test. Acoustic evoked potentials were recorded according to standardized methodology. For the event-related potentials, 80 neutral, 40 positive and 40 negative pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), and 40 pictures depicting faeces were presented. RESULTS:Children with FI had significantly more intense responses for most stimuli over the frontal, central and parietal regions compared to controls. Stool pictures did not evoke stronger responses than other stimuli. Children with constipation elicited stronger responses. Children with ADHD did not differ from controls. Acoustic evoked potentials were comparable in all groups. CONCLUSIONS:Children with FI have increased responses in the processing of emotions. These can be interpreted as a neurobiological vulnerability, possibly due to the association of the ENS and CNS.

Introduction: Cognitive processes are differentially affected with gender such that there is generally a female superiority in verbal functions and a male superiority in visuo-spatial functions (Kolb and Whishaw, 1996). The aim of this study was to investigate electrophysiological differences between females and males in processing visual stimuli of same task relevance, but different complexity.

Introduction: Global functional but also specialised neuronal network disturbances such as abnormalities in processing faces are postulated to underlie the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate electrophysiological differences between patients with schizophrenia and non-patient controls in processing emotional faces.

Introduction: Stimulation with significant stimuli of any modality elicits event-related potentials (ERP). Different generators share the generation of these ERP. The aim of this study was to observe the accumulative activation of different generators of ERP according to the complexity of presented stimuli.

Introduction: Stimulation with affective stimuli elicits event-related potentials (ERP), the area under the curve (AUC) correlating with „arousal“-values of these stimuli. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) contains 716 pictures with different „arousal“-values (1 to 9), most of them identical (i.e. sports, food), some different (erotic pictures) for men and women. The aim of this study was to examine sex differences in the generation of ERP, elicited by pictures with large differences in the arousal-ratings in both sexes.

There has been considerable focus placed on how individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) visually perceive and attend to social information, such as facial expressions or social gaze. The role of eye movements is inextricable from visual perception, however this aspect is often overlooked. We performed a series of meta-analyses based on data from 28 studies of eye movements in ASD to determine whether there is evidence for ocular motor dysfunction in ASD. Tasks assessed included visually-guided saccade tasks, gap/overlap, anti-saccade, pursuit tasks and ocular fixation. These analyses revealed evidence for ocular motor dysfunction in ASD, specifically relating to saccade dysmetria, difficulty inhibiting saccades and impaired tracking of moving targets. However there was no evidence for deficits relating to initiating eye movements, or engaging and disengaging from simple visual targets. Characterizing ocular motor abnormalities in ASD may provide insight into the functional integrity of brain networks in ASD across development, and assist our understanding of visual and social attention in ASD.

The hemodynamic response to sequences of ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation includes an adrenergic component that is important for the maintenance of blood pressure after successful defibrillation. Because calcium channel blocking drugs have antiadrenergic effects, we hypothesized that they might blunt the adrenergic response to defibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation was induced in 35 closed-chest dogs. Each recaived 4 to 7 direct current transthoracic shocks at three energy levels to determine defibrillation energy requirements. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. Energy sequences were repeated after 45 minutes of no intervention (control, n = 5) or after 45-minute infusions of diltiazem (0.1 mg/kg/min, n = 10), verapamil (0.1 mg/kg bolus plus 0.01 mg/kg/min, n = 10), or nifedipine (40 μg/min for 3 minutes plus 2 to 20 μg/min adjusted to maintain a 10 mm Hg drop in mean arterial pressure, n = 10). Our results show that the normal post-shock rise in mean arterial pressure was blunted by the calcium channel blockers diltiazem (systolic arterial pressure at 15 and 60 seconds post-shock, pre-drug versus post-drug: 102 ± 9 versus 64 ± 9 mm Hg and 113 ± 10 versus 87 ± 6 mm Hg; p < 0.05) and verapamil (108 ± 9 versus 78 ± 12 mm Hg and 113 ± 7 versus 90 ± 10 mm Hg, p < 0.05). There were no differences in blood pressure responses after nifedipine treatment or no drug. Heart rate responses were not altered by diltiazem or verapamil; after nifedipine administration, post-shock heart rates were slower. After treatment with diltiazem and verapamil there was a modest reduction in percent shock success across all energy levels (diltiazem: 28% ± 7% versus 17% ± 6%, 71% ± 9% versus 52% ± 14%, and 87% ± 13% versus 82% ± 11% at 25 J, 50 J, and 100 J, respectively [ p < 0.05 ]; verapamil: 50% ± 14% versus 15% ± 2%, 64% ± 11% versus 44% ± 14%, and 82% ± 9% versus 72% ± 13%, respectively [ p < 0.05 ]). Nifedipine did not alter shock success rates. This study suggests that calcium channel blocking drugs blunt the adrenergic response to defibrillation.

In this work, a simple, automated multiresidue method consisting of on-line solid phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the determination of three macrolide antibiotic residues – erythromycin, clarithromycin and azithromycin – included in the current Watch List (Decision 2018/840) of Water Framework Directive of the European Union in surface water. Due to the possible losses of target analytes, the effect of filtration on their concentrations was evaluated in terms of the filter material and pore size. Thus, glass fiber-nylon (0.45 μm and 0.22 μm pore sizes), 0.2 μm pore size nylon and 0.2 μm pore size polyvinylidene difluoride filters were used. As the Directive (2008/105/EC) prescribes the whole water monitoring, both the filtrate and solid fraction were analyzed. To estimate the analyte losses arisen from the adsorption on the solid phase, elution of the loaded filter with different aliquots of acetonitrile was also studied. The most suitable filter was the nylon of 0.2 μm pore size one, ensuring recoveries >80% for all three target analytes. By washing the filter with 2 mL acetonitrile, about 100% recovery rate was achieved for each macrolide in ultrapure water as well as river water spiked to 200 μg L−1 for each target analyte. The proposed sample pre-treatment protocol was successfully applied for the analysis of Danube River samples by using the internal standard calibration method. In one sample taken nearby a wastewater treatment plant, a relatively high concentration of clarithromycin (68 ± 0.4 ng L−1) was found.

Objective: The continuous performance test (CPT) is successfully applied to evaluate attentional performance in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes of the topographic P300-features in relation to methylphenidate-medication and to different attentional processes in primer- and distractor-conditions.Methods: Twenty-one-channel-ERPs of 17 ADHD-boys were analyzed with reference-independent methods. Four quasi stable microstates within the time frames of conventional P100, P200, P3a and P3b components were identified by means of a data-driven segmentation procedure.Results: In segment 3 topographical assessment yielded a significant occipital and right-shift of the positive centroid, longer centroid distance and higher amplitudes in primer- than in distractor conditions. MPH increased the amplitude and distance in primer and distractor-condition, without changing the topography. In segment 4 the electric fieldstrength of distractor-conditions collapsed, whereas the primer condition showed a strong fronto-parietallly oriented potential-field. There was a tendency to higher amplitudes due to MPH-medication.Conclusions: These results indicate a robust neurophysiologic differentiation of cognitive processes. MPH activates an early (P3a) covert attention process indicated by increased amplitudes and centroid. No effects were seen in later processes. Based on these effects, we propose to use the amplitude- and distance-increase in microstate 3 as an indicator of MPH efficacy in ADHD-boys.