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Selected AbstractsMigrating Partial Seizures in Infancy: Expanding the Phenotype of a Rare Seizure SyndromeEPILEPSIA, Issue 4 2005Eric Marsh Summary:,Purpose: The constellation of early-onset, unprovoked, alternating electroclinical seizures and neurodevelopmental devastation was first described by Coppola et al. We report six new patients and the prospect of a more optimistic developmental outcome. Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were performed on six infants evaluated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (five patients) and at Hershey Medical Center (one patient) who had electroclinically alternating seizures before age 6 months of age. Electroclinical characteristics and long-term follow-up were recorded. Results: All had unprovoked, early-onset (range, 1 day to 3 months; mean, 25 days) intractable electroclinical seizures that alternated between the two hemispheres. Each patient underwent comprehensive brain imaging and neurometabolic workups, which were unrevealing. In all patients, subsequently intractable partial seizures developed and often a progressive decline of head circumference percentile occurred with age. Three demonstrated severe developmental delay and hypotonia. All survived, and 7-year follow-up on one patient was quite favorable. Conclusions: Our patients satisfied the seven major diagnostic criteria first described by Coppola et al. The prognosis of this rare neonatal-onset epilepsy syndrome from the original description and subsequent case reports was very poor, with 28% mortality, and the majority of survivors were profoundly retarded and nonambulatory. Our patient data validate the diagnostic criteria of this syndrome and further quantify a previously described observation of progressive decline of head circumference percentiles with age. Our data also suggest that the prognosis of this syndrome, although poor, is not as uniformly grim as the cases reported previously in the literature. [source] John Heron's six-category intervention analysis: towards understanding interpersonal relations and progressing the delivery of clinical supervision for mental health nursing in the United KingdomJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2001Graham Sloan BSc DipN RMN RGN DipCogPsychotherapy John Heron's six-category intervention analysis: towards understanding interpersonal relations and progressing the delivery of clinical supervision for mental health nursing in the United Kingdom Aims.,This paper provides a critique of how Heron's six-category intervention analysis framework has been adopted by nursing in the United Kingdom (UK) as a theoretical framework in nursing research and model for clinical supervision. From this, its merits as an analytic framework and model for clinical supervision in nursing are discussed. Background.,Heron's six-category intervention analysis has been acknowledged as a means by which nursing could develop its therapeutic integrity. It has also been used as a theoretical framework in nursing research focusing on nurses' perceptions of their interpersonal style. More recently descriptions of this framework have been proposed as a structure for clinical supervision. However, its use as a theoretical framework to underpin research investigating the interpersonal skills of nurses and as a model of clinical supervision must firstly be scrutinized. Findings.,Returning to Heron's original description and comparing this with its current adoption in the UK, misconceptions of this framework can be identified. Its value as an analytic tool investigating interpersonal relations in nursing has still to be evaluated. Furthermore, nursing's emphasis on certain intervention categories has undermined the potential potency of this framework and its contribution as a model for clinical supervision in nursing. Conclusion.,We argue that Heron's six-category intervention analysis as a framework to investigate the interpersonal competence of nurses, particularly mental health nurses, requires investigation. This, in turn, would provide an opportunity to challenge the framework's theoretical standpoint. In addition to its value as an analytic tool, all six categories of Heron's framework have equal relevance to its contribution in nursing as a supervision model. [source] X-ray diffraction analysis of stacking and twin faults in f.c.c. metals: a revision and allowance for texture and non-uniform fault probabilitiesJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2000L. Velterop A revision is presented of the original description by Warren [X-ray Diffraction, (1969), pp. 275,298. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley] of the intensity distribution of powder-pattern reflections from f.c.c. metal samples containing stacking and twin faults. The assumptions (in many cases unrealistic) that fault probabilities need to be very small and equal for all fault planes and that the crystallites in the sample have to be randomly oriented have been removed. To elucidate the theory, a number of examples are given, showing how stacking and twin faults change the shape and position of diffraction peaks. It is seen that significant errors may arise from Warren's assumptions, especially in the peak maximum shift. Furthermore, it is explained how to describe powder-pattern reflections from textured specimens and specimens with non-uniform fault probabilities. Finally, it is discussed how stacking- and twin-fault probabilities (and crystallite sizes) can be determined from diffraction line-profile measurements. [source] EMDR: A putative neurobiological mechanism of actionJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Robert Stickgold Numerous studies have provided evidence for the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including recent studies showing it to be more efficient than therapist-directed flooding. But few theoretical explanations of how EMDR might work have been offered. Shapiro, in her original description of EMDR, proposed that its directed eye movements mimic the saccades of rapid eye movement sleep (REM), but provided no clear explanation of how such mimicry might lead to clinical improvement. We now revisit her original proposal and present a complete model for how EMDR could lead to specific improvement in PTSD and related conditions. We propose that the repetitive redirecting of attention in EMDR induces a neurobiological state, similar to that of REM sleep, which is optimally configured to support the cortical integration of traumatic memories into general semantic networks. We suggest that this integration can then lead to a reduction in the strength of hippocampally mediated episodic memories of the traumatic event as well as the memories' associated, amygdala-dependent, negative affect. Experimental data in support of this model are reviewed and possible tests of the model are suggested. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 61,75, 2002. [source] Psychometric reevaluation of the Women in Science Scale (WiSS)JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 10 2007Steven V. Owen The Women in Science Scale (WiSS) was first developed in 1984, and is still being used in contemporary studies, yet its psychometric properties have not been evaluated with current statistical methods. In this study, the WiSS was administered in its original 27-item form to 1,439 middle and high school students. Confirmatory factor analysis based upon the original description of the WiSS was modestly supportive of the proposed three-factor structure, but the claimed dimensions showed substantial redundancy. Therefore, we split our sample and performed exploratory factor analyses on one half. The most satisfactory solution, a two-factor model, was then applied to the crossvalidation sample with a confirmatory factor analysis. This two-factor structure was supported with a total of 14 items. Factor 1, Equality, contains eight items, and factor 2, Sexism, six items. Although our data are limited to adolescents, the WiSS, with improved psychometric properties, may be used descriptively to assess attitudes toward women in science and with additional stability and repeatability testing, may be used in evaluation research. The shortened WiSS should result in shorter administration time, fewer missing data, and increased acceptance among survey administrators in classroom settings. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1461,1478, 2007 [source] Kaposi's sarcoma , still an enigmaJOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 4 2003P Babál ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an unusual neoplasm that has proved to be an enigma in many ways since its original description in 1872. KS, a vascular tumour that is otherwise rare, is at present the most common neoplasm in patients with AIDS. The lesions contain spindle cells that share features with endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells and are in all likelihood primitive mesenchymal cells that can form vascular channels. These cells are monoclonal in origin indicating therefore that KS is a neoplasm. The presence of a novel type of human herpes virus, KS herpesvirus (KSHV) also called human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV8) in KS lesions support a viral ethiology. KS may be mistaken in the skin for an inflammatory or other lesion, thus skin biopsy is important for correct diagnosis, with the use of immunohistochemistry or molecular biology if needed. Radiation or interferon alpha dominate in the therapeutic approaches. [source] Pallidopyramidal disease: A misnomer?,MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 9 2010Martin W.I.M. Horstink MD Abstract The combination of recessive early-onset parkinsonism and pyramidal tract signs caused by pallidopyramidal degeneration is known as pallidopyramidal disease or syndrome (PPD/S). We investigated whether patients diagnosed as Davison's PPD/S showed any definite proof of pyramidal and pallidal involvement, without findings suggestive of other nosological entities. Since Davison's original description, 15 other PPD/S cases have been reported, yet all lack proof of pyramidal or pallidal degeneration. Because of the dopa-responsiveness in all patients subsequent to Davison's report, we argue that these patients probably suffered from early-onset nigral parkinsonism or dopa-responsive dsystonia, rather than pallidal parkinsonism; in such cases, the presumed pyramidal Babinski could be a pseudobabinski ("striatal toe"). Secondary pallidopyramidal syndromes do occur, for example, in multiple system atrophy or Wilson's disease, but in these patients additional findings indicate diseases other than Davison's PPD/S. We conclude that the existence of PPD/S as a distinct clinico-pathological nosological entity, as proposed by Davison, is doubtful. In cases reported as Davison's PPD/S, the description "pallidopyramidal" seems to be a misnomer. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society [source] Elsewhere and Otherwise: Lévinasian Eros and Ethics in Le Clézio's La quarantaineORBIS LITERARUM, Issue 4 2001Karen D. Levy Beginning in the 1930s, Emmanuel Lévinas called into question the totalizing priorities of the Western metaphysical tradition and developed a dramatically original description of how subjectivity is constructed in the context of what he terms a face to face encounter with an absolute Other. This destabilizing experience is presented in terms of a summons that demands an ethical response in the form of unqualified moral responsibility for the well being of the Other, without any expectation of reciprocity. In a series of profoundly challenging works, Lévinas analyzes the different stages in the development of this relationship, expressed in masculine oriented terms, and he contrasts the nobility and generosity of ethics with the intimacy of eros and the welcome of the feminine in a protected domestic site. Lévinas insists on the impossibility of fusion and possession in both the ethical and the erotic relationships and seeks to disengage his discourse from essentialist, gender based interpretations. Nevertheless, he privileges terms associated with masculine subjects and likewise seems to endorse stereotypical interpretations of the feminine as fragile and frail, inviting either pity or tenderness. The fact that eros is based on an equivocation between need and the desire for something absolutely Other, which does not depend on any lack, prevents it from attaining the same stature as ethics. And by leaving the feminine out of his discussion of ethics, Lévinas at least downplays the possibility for feminine subjects to respond to the summons of the face to face encounter and accept the risk of living other than in the metaphysical dwelling of Being. The questions raised in Lévinas' works concerning eros, ethics, and the feminine assume different configurations and lead elsewhere when explored in proximity to J.M.G. Le Clézio's emblematic saga La quarantaine. Similar in many ways to Lévinas' philosophical trajectory, Le Clézio's literary undertaking details the disjointed stages of a journey from the self-contained solitude of Being to an exposed elsewhere in what Lévinas calls the "au-delà de l'être." The multi-layered text of La quarantaine fictionalizes the crisis that caused Le Clézio's great-uncle to be erased from family history and depicts the transgenerational effects of that disappearance. The originality of Le Clézio's work stems from the double inscription of the alterity of both eros and ethics in an Other who is gendered female. His text explores the process of rupture and exposure that Lévinas valorizes, but it does so in a way that reveals how a female subject, who both welcomes discreetly and imposes herself indiscreetly, challenges what Lévinas calls the "égoïté tragique" of the other protagonists. Le Clézio's arrestingly beautiful prose serves as a kind of textual face that expresses concretely the complexity of Lévinas' preoccupations and summons us as readers to exceed our capacities and live otherwise. [source] Cranial osteology of the sauropterygian Plesiosaurus brachypterygius from the Lower Toarcian of GermanyPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Michael W. Maisch An osteological re-study of the holotype skull of Plesiosaurus brachypterygius leads to a correction of several inaccuracies and misidentifications of the original description by von Huene and reveals additional facts on the cranial anatomy of this plesiosaur. Comparison with the type species, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, from the Lower Lias of England shows considerable differences in many parts of the cranial skeleton, even though the two species are generally so similar that their inclusion in the same genus proposed by von Huene, and agreed with by all subsequent authors, can be supported. Plesiosaurus brachypterygius is provisionally considered as a valid species distinguishable from the contemporaneous Plesiosaurus guilelmiimperatoris by its much shorter limbs, a difference that cannot be explained by ontogenetic variation as proposed by Storrs. Plesiosaurus brachypterygius was probably an ichthyophagous form that occurred rarely in the Posidonienschiefer fauna. [source] Observations on Fragilaria longifusiformis comb. nov. et nom. nov. (Bacillariophyceae), a widespread planktic diatom documented from North America and EuropePHYCOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006Peter A. Siver SUMMARY Synedra planktonica was originally described by Hains and Sebring from a freshwater locality in the south-eastern USA using light and transmission electron microscopy. The authors placed S. planktonica into the genus Synedra Ehrenberg because of its solitary habit and lack of marginal linking spines. Since the original description of S. planktonica, the concepts of Synedra and the related genus Fragilaria Lyngbye have undergone significant change and debate. Today, details of the areolae, apical pore fields, cingulum and rimoportulae, all lacking in the original description of S. planktonica, are now commonly used to distinguish between taxa in Fragilaria, Synedra and related genera. We provide details of these ultrastructural characters for S. planktonica based on specimens collected from the type locality, along with observations of cells from other sites in North America and Europe. Based on these findings, an emended description is presented for S. planktonica and the taxon is transferred to Fragilaria, as F. longifusiformis comb. nov. et nom. nov. According to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the epithet planktonica could not be applied because it was previously used to describe a marine species of Fragilaria. We discuss the relationship of S. planktonica with morphologically similar taxa, including the genus Reimerothrix Prasad. [source] Morphology and Phylogenetic Position of Eucomonympha imla (Parabasalia: Hypermastigida)THE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2007KEVIN J. CARPENTER ABSTRACT. Eucomonympha imla is a hypermastigote parabasalian found in the gut of the wood-feeding cockroach Cryptocercus punctulatus. It has received little attention since its original description in 1934 as the type species of the genus Eucomonympha and the family Eucomonymphidae. We used light and scanning electron microscopy to characterize surface morphology and organelles, with particular attention to the form of the rostrum, operculum, nucleus, and parabasals. Two previously unrecognized groups of bacterial ectobionts were observed,spirochetes that associate with the flagella and one or more types of rod-shaped bacteria that adhere to the cell surface. The small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) sequence was determined from manually isolated cells, and phylogenetic analyses place E. imla in a strongly supported clade with the genera Teranympha and Pseudotrichonympha and three sequences from formally undescribed termite symbionts provisionally assigned to Eucomonympha. Unexpectedly, the Eucomonympha isolates from termites are more closely related to Teranympha than to the type species, suggesting these should not be classified as species of Eucomonympha, despite their morphological similarity to E. imla. Eucomonymphidae fall within a strongly supported Trichonymphida (also including Hoplonymphidae, Trichonymphidae, and Staurojoeninidae), but this clade branches separately from other hypermastigote groups (lophomonads and spirotrichonymphids), suggesting that hypermastigotes are polyphyletic. [source] Morphology, Ultrastructure, Molecular Phylogeny, and Autecology of Euplotes elegans Kahl, 1932 (Hypotrichida; Euplotidae) Isolated from the Anoxic Mariager Fjord, DenmarkTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007M. V. JULIAN SCHWARZ ABSTRACT. The morphology, autecology, and molecular phylogeny of an euryhaline Euplotes isolate collected from the anoxic water column of the Mariager Fjord in Denmark were investigated. The isolate matches the original description of Euplotes elegans Kahl, 1932 very well. However, its dorsal silverline system is clearly distinct from the redescription of this species by Tuffrau. Thus, a neotypification is proposed for E. elegans Kahl, 1932. The oval-shaped cell has a mean size of 107 × 51 ,m and is characterized by 9.4 dorsolateral kineties, seven prominent dorsal ridges, large elongated ampullae, which encircle the dorsal kinetids, 18 kinetids in the middorsal row, nine frontoventral cirri, five transversal cirri, and three caudal cirri (two right caudal cirri and one left marginal cirrus). The dorsal silverline system is of the double type with the narrow polygons located on the right side of the dorsal kinetids. The ecological tolerances of this species to pH, salinity, temperature, and oxygen match the ambient environmental conditions of the sampling site. Molecular phylogeny was studied using small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences. The molecular data cluster E. elegans with Euplotes raikovi, a member of the Euplotopsis group. The data suggest that the E. elegans,E. raikovi clade represents an isolated and deep branch at the base of the Euplotes tree. [source] My favorite animal, Trichoplax adhaerensBIOESSAYS, Issue 12 2005Bernd Schierwater Trichoplax adhaerens is more simply organized than any other living metazoan. This tiny marine animal looks like a irregular "hairy plate" ("tricho plax") with a simple upper and lower epithelium and some loose cells in between. After its original description by F.E. Schulze 1883, it attracted particular attention as a potential candidate representing the basic and ancestral state of metazoan organization. The lack of any kind of symmetry, organs, nerve cells, muscle cells, basal lamina and extracellular matrix originally left little doubt about the basal position of T. adhaerens. Nevertheless, the interest of zoologists and evolutionary biologists suddenly vanished for more than half a century when Trichoplax was claimed to be an aberrant hydrozoan planula larva. Recently, Trichoplax has been rediscovered as a key species for unraveling early metazoan evolution. For example, research on regulatory genes and whole genome sequencing promise insights into the genetics underlying the origin and development of basal metazoan phyla. Trichoplax offers unique potential for understanding the minimal requirements of metazoan animal organization. BioEssays 27:1294,1302, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Catatonia: the rise and fall of an intriguing psychopathological dimensionACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 3 2002F. M. M. A. Van Der Heijden Background: For at least 125 years the discussion about the clinical relevance of catatonic symptoms in psychiatry continues. It started from the original description by Kahlbaum and was revived by modern factor analytical studies, that identified the catatonic dimension in about 10% of newly admitted patients. Objective: Over a period of 2 years, four patients with an acute episodic psychosis and prominent catatonic symptoms were examined. Methods: A clinical description is given of the psychopathology and classification is performed according to the various diagnostic instruments. Results: All patients showed a circular fluctuation of their psychoses, with motor symptoms ranging from the excited to the inhibited pole within one episode. Their clinical pictures also comprised mood swings and anxieties as well as hallucinatory and delusional experiences, whereas the course of disease was characterized by complete recovery without residual symptoms. Conclusions: The significance of catatonic symptoms is not recognized in the current taxonomies despite the fact that this has major pharmacological treatment implications. [source] Wilhelm Erb and Erb's pointCLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 5 2007R. Shane Tubbs Abstract Wilhelm Erb is well known for his early contributions to the field of neurology and was an eminent physician of his time. One area described by him and that still bears his name is Erb's point. This point located just superior to the clavicle was used by Erb to transcutaneously elicit contractions of various proximal arm muscles with electrical stimulation. Many have mistakenly interchanged the terms "Erb's point" and "nerve point" when describing the point of emergence of the cutaneous branches of the cervical plexus near the posterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. We present a brief history of Erb's adult life and review his original description of his supraclavicular point and contrast this to the so called nerve point of the posterior cervical triangle. Clinicians and anatomists should be aware of the discrepancy often found in the literature between these two terms. Clin. Anat. 20:486,488, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Karyotypic similarity identified by multiplex-FISH relates four prostate adenocarcinoma cell lines: PC-3, PPC-1, ALVA-31, and ALVA-41GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 4 2001Marileila Varella-Garcia Recently developed molecular cytogenetic techniques for karyotyping are providing new and important insights regarding the chromosomal changes that occur in solid tumors. We used multiplex-FISH to analyze four adenocarcinoma cell lines, PC-3, PPC-1, ALVA-31, and ALVA-41, in which the characterization of a large number of rearranged chromosomes was partially or substantially inconclusive by G-banding. Although the original descriptions of these lines depict them as distinct entities established from different patients, this study demonstrates that these four lines share numerous, highly rearranged chromosomes, strongly supporting the conclusion that they are derived from the same patient material. Our analysis indicates that PPC-1, ALVA-31, and ALVA-41 were derived from PC-3 through mechanisms involving clonal progression represented by sequential changes and clonal diversion represented by differing patterns of changes. Extensive cellular heterogeneity was detected in all four lines, and most rearrangements included segments derived from multiple chromosomes. Each line also showed a set of unique derivative chromosomes. However, a limited number of metaphase cells (approximately 10) was analyzed for each line, and numerous single-cell abnormalities were detected in all of them. Therefore, it is plausible that the number of clonal, shared, and/or unique rearrangements has been underestimated. These cell lines have been utilized as models for understanding the biology of prostate cancer and reportedly differ in their cell physiology. Rather than detracting from their value, a complete understanding of the interrelationships of these lines to one another may provide the opportunity to define the molecular changes that have led to their individual malignant phenotypes. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] SYSTEMATICS OF THE HILDENBRANDIALES (RHODOPHYTA): GENE SEQUENCE AND MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSES OF GLOBAL COLLECTIONS,JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2 2003Alison R. Sherwood Fifty-seven collections of marine and freshwater Hildenbrandia from North America, South America, Europe, and Africa were compared with 21 type and historically important specimens using multivariate morphometrics. Additionally, phylogenetic analyses of 48 specimens of Hildenbrandia and two specimens of Apophlaea were carried out based on sequences of the rbcL chloroplast gene and the nuclear 18S rRNA gene. Morphometric analyses based on vegetative cell and filament dimensions distinguished two groups of freshwater Hildenbrandia specimens, the first corresponding to those collections from North America and the Philippines and the second to those from Europe and the Canary Islands. The first group had smaller mean cell and filament dimensions (cells 4.0 × 4.4 ,m, filaments 46.5 ,m) and corresponded to H. angolensis, whereas the second group had larger mean dimensions (cells 5.8 × 6.6 ,m, filaments 55.3 ,m) and represented H. rivularis. Marine specimens were morphometrically distinguishable into two groups based on tetrasporangial division pattern as well as other thallus characters. However, measurements and character determinations of some type specimens differed greatly from the original descriptions, and thus further work to determine the stability of these characters is required. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on the 18S rRNA gene and rbcL gene sequence data generally demonstrated separation of the marine and freshwater forms of Hildenbrandia, with some marine taxa forming monophyletic groups (e.g. H. lecannellieri and H. occidentalis) and others forming paraphyletic groups (e.g. H. rubra). The two specimens of Apophlaea formed a monophyletic group within the paraphyletic genus Hildenbrandia. [source] A contribution to knowledge of the owlflies of Thailand (Neuroptera, Ascalaphidae)MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE IN BERLIN-DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, Issue 2 2005Bruno Michel Abstract Five species of Ascalaphidae were collected in the region of Pak-Chong in Central Thailand. Four of them are identified to specific level and are new for this country: Acheron trux, Ascalaphus prothoracicus, Ascalohybris oberthuri and Nousera gibba. Complementary information to the original descriptions is provided, and the gonarcus-paramere complexes are illustrated for the first time. Information on ecology of the species is provided. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] |