Social stress in early puberty has long-term impacts on impulsive action.

In hamsters, individuals attacked by adults during puberty become aggressive adults. Perhaps, enhanced aggression observed as repeated attacks toward opponents is associated with a lack of impulse control. We examined impulsive action in male golden hamsters exposed daily to aggressive adults from postnatal Day 28 to 42. These animals were trained in conditioning chambers and tested during adulthood in a go-no-go task addressing action inhibition. Overall, previously stressed hamsters were less likely to inhibit a conditioned lever pressing response during no-go trials. Because this effect could be the result of an extinction impairment, additional animals were tested to evaluate their response to omission of reward associated with conditioned lever pressing. In this experiment, all animals were equally capable of inhibiting their conditioned response. The capacity to inhibit a conditioned response was further addressed by testing responses to a 60-s reward delay after lever pressing. In this case, previously stressed animals were faster to inhibit lever pressing and stopped showing a preference for the proximity of the lever. These studies show selective condition-dependent effects on lever pressing activity and support the possibility that stress in early puberty enhances impulsive action in adulthood. These experiments may be relevant to the study of mental disorders associated with early trauma in humans. (PsycINFO Database Record

Ultrasound comparison of external and internal neck anatomy with the LMA Unique.

INTRODUCTION: Internal neck anatomy landmarks and their relation after placement of an extraglottic airway devices have not been studied extensively by the use of ultrasound. Based on our group experience with external landmarks as well as internal landmarks evaluation with other techniques, we aimed use ultrasound to analyze the internal neck anatomy landmarks and the related changes due to the placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. METHODS: Observational pilot investigation. Non-obese adult patients with no evidence of airway anomalies, were recruited. External neck landmarks were measured based on a validated and standardized method by tape. Eight internal anatomical landmarks, reciprocal by the investigational hypothesis to the external landmarks, were also measured by ultrasound guidance. The internal landmarks were re-measured after optimal placement and inflation of the extraglottic airway devices cuff Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. RESULTS: Six subjects were recruited. Ultrasound measurements of hyoid-mental distance, thyroid-cricoid distance, thyroid height, and thyroid width were found to be significantly (p < 0.05) overestimated using a tape measure. Sagittal neck landmark distances such as thyroid height, sternal-mental distance, and thyroid-cricoid distance significantly decreased after placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. CONCLUSION: The laryngeal mask airway Unique resulted in significant changes in internal neck anatomy. The induced changes and respective specific internal neck anatomy landmarks could help to design devices that would modify their shape accordingly to areas of greatest displacement. Also, while external neck landmark measurements overestimate their respective internal neck landmarks, as we previously reported, the concordance of each measurement and their respective conversion factor could continue to be of help in sizing extraglottic airway devices. Due to the pilot nature of the study, more investigations are warranted.

Vascular effects of ultrafine particles in persons with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes confers an increased risk for cardiovascular effects of airborne particles. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that inhalation of elemental carbon ultrafine particles (UFP) would activate blood platelets and vascular endothelium in people with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: In a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial, 19 subjects with type 2 diabetes inhaled filtered air or 50 µg/m³ elemental carbon UFP (count median diameter, 32 nm) by mouthpiece for 2 hr at rest. We repeatedly measured markers of vascular activation, coagulation, and systemic inflammation before and after exposure. RESULTS: Compared with air, particle exposure increased platelet expression of CD40 ligand (CD40L) and the number of platelet-leukocyte conjugates 3.5 hr after exposure. Soluble CD40L decreased with UFP exposure. Plasma von Willebrand factor increased immediately after exposure. There were no effects of particles on plasma tissue factor, coagulation factors VII or IX, or D-dimer. CONCLUSIONS: Inhalation of elemental carbon UFP for 2-hr transiently activated platelets, and possibly the vascular endothelium, in people with type 2 diabetes.