Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in cane toads (Bufo marinus) from Grenada, West Indies, and their antimicrobial susceptibility.

Cloacal swabs and caecal contents sampled from 58 cane toads (Bufo marinus) in St George's parish, Grenada, during a 7-month period in 2011 were examined by an enrichment and selective culture method for presence of Salmonella spp. Twenty-four (41%) toads were positive for Salmonella spp. of which eight were Salmonella enterica serovar Javiana, and eight were S. enterica serovar Rubislaw. The other serovars were as follows: Montevideo, 6; Arechavaleta, 1; and serovar: IV:43:-:-, 1. The high frequency of isolation of serovar Javiana, an emerging human pathogen associated with several outbreaks in the recent years in the eastern United States, suggests a possible role for cane toads in transmission of this serovar. Although S. Rubislaw has been isolated from lizards, bats and cases of some human infections, there is no report of its carriage by cane toads, and in such high frequency. The rate of carriage of S. Montevideo, a cause for human foodborne outbreaks around the world was also over 10% in the 58 toads sampled in this study. The antimicrobial drug susceptibility tests against amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, imipenem, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, tetracycline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole showed that drug resistance is minimal and is of little concern. Antimicrobial resistance was limited to ampicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid in one isolate of S. Javiana and one isolate of S. Rubislaw. This is the first report of isolation and antimicrobial susceptibilities of various Salmonella serovars not identified previously in cane toads in Grenada, West Indies.

Behavioral flexibility impairment with negative feedback in refractory temporal lobe epileptic patients with unilateral amygdala and hippocampal resection.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with amygdala dysfunction generally have behavioral impairment. Temporal lobe surgery might be a model of study of unilateral amygdala resection. The objective of this study was to evaluate behavioral flexibility in epileptic patients who undergo amygdala resection for epilepsy surgery and evaluate its relationship with their neuropsychiatric symptoms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten epileptic patients who underwent amygdala and hippocampal resection (6 left and 4 right) matched by age and educational level with 10 healthy controls were tested with an extensive neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric battery. Psychiatric symptomatology was measured with the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and the Beck depression inventory. To assess behavioral flexibility the emotion-related visual reversal-learning task (O'Doherty et al., 2001) and the gambling task (Bechara et al., 1994) were used. RESULTS: Patient's mean scores were: Beck: 8 +/- 1.5; PANSS positive: 10 +/- 1.3, and negative: 14.4 +/- 2.2; intellectual quotient (IQ): 101.4 +/- 6.3; category number in Wisconsin card sorting test: 4.6 +/- 2.4. The emotion-related visual reversal-learning task showed significance differences in the number of reversion: healthy controls: 9.3; epileptic patients: 4.23 (p < 0.001); in the number of trials to the first reversion: healthy controls: 5; epileptic patients: 23.42 (p < 0.05). There was no correlation between reversion and depression, PANSS and IQ. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with epilepsy who undergo unilateral hippocampal and amygdala resection appear to have alterations in the reversion capacity with an emotional component that would explain the lack of behavior flexibility that they sometimes have and that are not related with either the isolated presence of executive alterations or low intellectual quotient.

Mexican chihuahua cheese: sensory profiles of young cheese.

Sensory profiles of fresh semihard Chihuahua cheese produced in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua were developed to characterize the flavors and textures of this traditionally made Hispanic-style cheese. Multiple allotments of Chihuahua cheese, 9 brands made with raw milk (RM) and 5 brands made with pasteurized milk (PM), were obtained within 3 d of manufacture from 12 different cheese plants throughout Chihuahua, México. Cheeses were shipped overnight to Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, and flavor analyses were conducted within 14 to 18 d after manufacture. Four brands (2 RM and 2 PM cheeses) were then selected and multiple allotments were shipped at 3 distinct seasons over a 1-yr period for evaluation of flavor and texture. Microbial analysis was conducted prior to testing to ensure product safety. Descriptive analyses of cheese flavors and textures were conducted with panelists trained to use a universal or product-specific Spectrum intensity scale, respectively. Sensory profiles of cheeses varied among the different manufacturers. The most prominent flavor attributes were salty, sour, diacetyl, cooked, whey, bitter, and milk-fat. The RM cheeses had more intense sour, bitter, and prickle scores than the PM cheeses. Many cheese texture attributes were similar, but RM cheeses were perceived as softer than PM cheeses. As the demand for Hispanic-style cheeses increases, defining and understanding the sensory attributes of traditionally made Mexican cheeses provides guidance to cheese manufacturers as new ways are explored to improve the production and shelf life of the cheeses.

[Language abnormalities in patients with multiple sclerosis]. / Alteraciones del lenguaje en pacientes con esclerosis múltiple.

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) have a high frequency of cognitive deficits. Research has demonstrated impairments in memory, attention, information-processing speed, and executive functions. Although it has been traditionally held that language function is commonly preserved in MS, some studies have demonstrated language impairment in these patients, particularly in tasks of naming and word-generation. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to examine language functioning in MS, with particular interest in naming ability and verbal fluency. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty patients with MS, and 30 neurologically intact normal controls, matched for age and educational level were evaluated. As part of a wider neuropsychological evaluation, all subjects were administered the Boston Naming Tests. To compare performances, a comprehensive classification of error types was devised. RESULTS: MS patients showed significantly lower performance on both linguistic measures than the control subjects. On the Boston Naming Test, MS patients obtained significant lower scores than controls, with a high rate of semantic errors. Additionally, they tended to show an also high number of visuoperceptual errors. Low scores on naming task correlated with low performance on verbal fluency. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that language function can be impaired in MS, and that naming difficulties are a frequent finding. This naming deficit seems to have a double origin, stemming from disruption at the levels of the perceptual and/or the semantic systems.

[A shortened form of the Spanish Boston naming test: a useful tool for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease]. / Versión abreviada en español del test de denominación de Boston: su utilidad en el diagnóstico diferencial de la enfermedad de Alzheimer.

INTRODUCTION: The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is the most frequently used test of confrontation naming. Due to its length, several abbreviated forms have been proposed. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to develop a short form for the Spanish version of the BNT that could detect early semantic changes in Alzheimer s disease (AD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and three patients with diagnosis of probable AD (NINCDS ADRDA criteria), with GDS< 5 and 143 normal subjects, matched for age and education, were studied. Subjects with <4 years of education were excluded. No subject had any history of neurological of psychiatric disorders or alcohol abuse. All participants underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment which included the 60 item Spanish version of the BNT. The sensibility and specificity of each item and demographic effect s variability were calculated (ANOVA). Those 12 figures with the highest sensibility and specificity which showed no significant educational or age variation were administered to all participants. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used. RESULTS: Mean score for the control group was 11 (standard deviation: 1.16). No significant effects for age (r= 0.14574) or education (r= 0.101293) were found. The sensibility and specificity for correctly diagnosing AD was 85% and 94% respectively, similar to the longest version. CONCLUSION: This 12 item version of the BNT can be a useful instrument for a rapid screening of AD, as it is as sensible and specific as the 60 item version, and it is not influenced by age or education.

[Spanish verbal fluency. Normative data in Argentina]. / Fluencia verbal en español. Datos normativos en Argentina.

Letter and category fluency tasks are used to assess semantic knowledge, retrieval ability, and executive functioning. The original normative data have been obtained mainly from English speaking populations; there are few papers on norms in other languages. The purpose of this study was to collect normative scores in Argentina and to evaluate the effects of sex, age, education and cognitive status on the letter and category fluency tasks, in 266 healthy Spanish-speaking participants (16 to 86 years). Mean education span was 12.8 +/- 4 years. In each subject a neuropsychological battery (Minimental State Exam, Signoret Memory Battery, Boston Naming Test and Trail Making Test) was carried out as well as category fluency (naming animals in one minute) and letter fluency (words beginning with letter "p" in one minute). The sample was arranged into a group of subjects with less than 45 years and further groups up to 10 more years, until 75 years (or more) with three different levels of education. Significant effects were found for age, education, and Minimental State Exam on performance of both fluencies. Mean performance scores are presented for each group to be used in Argentina.

[Executive cognitive alteration of prefrontal type in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy]. / Alteración cognitiva ejecutiva de tipo prefrontal en pacientes con epilepsia del lóbulo temporal mesial.

This study examines the performance on executive function--classically considered as purported by the frontal lobes--in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Two groups of patients were evaluated: one consisted of 16 TLE patients and the other comprised 12 patients with primary generalised epilepsy (PGE). The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was used as a measure of executive function. Results demonstrated that performance on the WCST was remarkably defective in the TLE group, showing a pattern suggestive of frontal like executive dysfunction in a 75% of the patients, against the 17% of the PGE group (p < 0.001). Impairment was evident when number of categories achieved (p < 0.05), perseverative errors (p < 0.001) and perseverative responses (p < 0.001) were considered. Clinical and theoretical significance of these findings may reflex the executive dysfunction of the mesial temporal lobe region as part of the temporo-frontal circuit.

Alteración cognitiva ejecutiva de tipo prefrontal en pacientes con epilepsia del lóbulo temporal mesial. / [Executive cognitive alteration of prefrontal type in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy]

This study examines the performance on executive function--classically considered as purported by the frontal lobes--in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Two groups of patients were evaluated: one consisted of 16 TLE patients and the other comprised 12 patients with primary generalised epilepsy (PGE). The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was used as a measure of executive function. Results demonstrated that performance on the WCST was remarkably defective in the TLE group, showing a pattern suggestive of frontal like executive dysfunction in a 75

of the patients, against the 17

of the PGE group (p < 0.001). Impairment was evident when number of categories achieved (p < 0.05), perseverative errors (p < 0.001) and perseverative responses (p < 0.001) were considered. Clinical and theoretical significance of these findings may reflex the executive dysfunction of the mesial temporal lobe region as part of the temporo-frontal circuit.

Fluencia verbal en español. Datos normativos en Argentina. / [Spanish verbal fluency. Normative data in Argentina]

Letter and category fluency tasks are used to assess semantic knowledge, retrieval ability, and executive functioning. The original normative data have been obtained mainly from English speaking populations; there are few papers on norms in other languages. The purpose of this study was to collect normative scores in Argentina and to evaluate the effects of sex, age, education and cognitive status on the letter and category fluency tasks, in 266 healthy Spanish-speaking participants (16 to 86 years). Mean education span was 12.8 +/- 4 years. In each subject a neuropsychological battery (Minimental State Exam, Signoret Memory Battery, Boston Naming Test and Trail Making Test) was carried out as well as category fluency (naming animals in one minute) and letter fluency (words beginning with letter [quot ]p[quot ] in one minute). The sample was arranged into a group of subjects with less than 45 years and further groups up to 10 more years, until 75 years (or more) with three different levels of education. Significant effects were found for age, education, and Minimental State Exam on performance of both fluencies. Mean performance scores are presented for each group to be used in Argentina.

[Neuropsychological findings in patients with middle temporal lobe epilepsy]. / Heterogeneidad neuropsicológica en los pacientes con epilepsia del lóbulo temporal mesial.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive dysfunction in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is still a controversial subject. Since refractory MTLE is considered a surgically remediable syndrome, the neuropsychological assessment to establish the presence of cognitive impairment in the surgical candidate became an important issue, given its possible relevance in predicting outcome after surgery. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to study the cognitive profile of MTLE patients and to correlate the cognitive status with the presence or absence of hippocampal sclerosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with MTLE and 20 control subjects were matched by age and educational level. All subjects were studied with EEG, MRI scan, SPECT, and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery that included measures of language (naming and verbal fluency), visuospatial function (Block Design Test), memory (Signoret Battery), attention (Digit Span and Trail Making Test A) and executive abilities (Trail Making Test B and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). RESULTS: MTLE patients, particularly those with hippocampal sclerosis, were found to have a considerable lower performance in learning (p < 0.01), naming (p < 0.05), attention (p < 0.05) and executive functions (p < 0.001). Among the MTLE patients a considerable number of subjects showed results within the normal range (n = 27) while others evidenced laterality specific cognitive impairments (n = 13). Material specific memory effects were seen in some patients but not all. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed the neuropsychological heterogeneity of temporal lobe epilepsy, thus ruling out the existence of a single specific cognitive pattern of impairment in all MTLE patients, and suggesting the need of a thorough pre-surgical neuropsychological evaluation to be used with post-surgical prognosis purposes.