Manual scoring of periodic limb movements in children: is it still necessary?

OBJECTIVE: Although manual scoring has been classically considered the gold standard to identify periodic leg movements (PLM), it is a very time consuming and expensive process, also subject to variability in interpretation. In the last decades, different authors have observed reasonably good agreement between automated PSG scoring algorithms and manual scoring in adults, according to established criteria. We aim to compare the automatic software analysis of our polysomnogram with the manual staging in children with sleep-disordered breathing. METHODS: We performed a semiautomatic method, in which an experienced technician watched the video recording and removed from the automatic analysis those movements that did not correspond to true candidate leg movement (LM). RESULTS: A total of 131 PSGs were studied; applying the established criteria, 65 children were diagnosed of obstructive sleep apnea, and 66 presented snoring but with no sleep apnea. The mean age was 6.7 years (±1.7) and twenty-five children (19.08 %) had a PLMI >5/h. Statistical differences were found not only for PLMI (manual: 2.20 (0.7, 4.1) vs automatic (6.4 (3.85,9.5); p < 0.001), but for almost of all indexes assessed between the automatic and the manual scoring analysis. The level of concordance was only moderate for PLM index (0.63 [0.51-0.72]); showing that, unlike the articles published in the adult population, automatic analysis is not accurate in children and, manually or semi-automatically analysis as ours need to be done. CONCLUSION: It seems that PLM detection algorithm might work accurately but, the real need would be a true LM detection algorithm.

A new genus and species of Agriotina Laporte, 1840(Coleoptera: Elateridae: Agriotini) from Colombia.

Here, we describe and illustrate a new genus of Elateridae from Cundinamarca, Colombia, Raphaellus Zurita-García, Morales-Perdomo & Martínez-Luque, n. gen., to accommodate the new species R. deusminutosi Zurita-García, Morales-Perdomo & Martínez-Luque n. sp. The genus Raphaellus belongs to the subtribe Agriotina (Agriotini). A key to distinguish the genera of the New World subtribe Agriotina and taxonomic notes on Agriotini are presented.

Life cycle and description of the immature stages of a terrestrial firefly endemic to Mexico: Photinusextensus Gorham (Coleoptera, Lampyridae).

The life cycle, morphology, and bionomy of Photinusextensus Gorham, 1881, an endemic species of Mexico, are described. Redescriptions of adults (male and female) are also presented. Larvae were reared to the adult stage from eggs laid by females collected at the El Pedregal de San Ángel Ecological Reserve, south of Mexico City. The activity period of adults of P.extensus begins at the end of July and finishes by the end of August. Females lay between 3 and 198 eggs. Larvae hatch from the eggs after a period of 11 to 71 days, undergo 6 larval instars and a pupal stage in an annual cycle. Morphological characters of the sixth larval instar of P.extensus are compared with those of several other genera assigned to the tribe Photinini. Knowledge of the natural history of firefly larvae is relevant since most species do not feed as adults and therefore depend on resources acquired during the larval stage.

A checklist of the Coleoptera (Insecta) from Morelos, Mexico.

Data from the literature and from specimens preserved at the Colección Nacional de Insectos (CNIN) Instituto de Biología, UNAM were used to compile a checklist of the fauna of Coleoptera of the state of Morelos, México. A sum of 70 families, 167 subfamilies, 361 tribes, 1,022 genera, and 2,606 species are recorded; from this 24 species are new records for Morelos. The State of Morelos ranks fourth in Coleoptera species richness for Mexico, following Veracruz (3,176 spp.), Oaxaca (2,148 spp.) and Chiapas (1,734 spp.). The checklist presented here provides a summary that can serve as a basis for future progress in the knowledge of Mexican Coleoptera.

Effects of acute handling stress on cerebral monoaminergic neurotransmitters in juvenile Senegalese sole Solea senegalensis.

Juvenile Senegalese sole Solea senegalensis were subjected for short periods to two different types of handling-related stress: air exposure stress and net handling stress. The S. senegalensis were sacrificed 2 and 24 h after the stress events and the levels of serotonin (5-HT), noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA) and their respective major metabolites, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), were measured in three brain regions (telencephalon, hypothalamus and optic tectum) and compared with those in control, non-stressed S. senegalensis. Neither type of stress caused any significant alteration of serotoninergic activity (5-HIAA:5-HT ratio) or NA levels. Dopaminergic activity (DOPAC:DA ratio) was lower in stressed fish in all of the brain regions studied. For both air exposure stress and net handling stress, DA levels were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in the control S. senegalensis. In addition, the higher DA levels after net handling stress were always significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those observed after acute air exposure stress, except in the telencephalon after 24 h. The significantly lower DOPAC:DA ratio (P < 0.05) in all of the brain regions studied was only observed in response to net handling stress.

Caffeine inhibition of glycogen phosphorylase from Mytilus galloprovincialis mantle tissue.

A different caffeine inhibition of both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of glycogen phosphorylase from Mytilus mantle has been demonstrated. Caffeine increases the allosteric constant of phosphorylase b 30-fold, acting as an allosteric inhibitor (nH = 2) of mixed type with respect to inorganic phosphate (Pi) and AMP, and of single competitive type with respect to glycogen. The Mytilus phosphorylated form is also caffeine inhibited through competitive inhibition in relation to Pi and glycogen. In this case, the inhibitor does not modify the allosteric constant (near 2), neither does it display allosteric effects (nH = 1). The results demonstrate the notable modification of the nucleotide site promoted by the phosphorylation process and the existence of a functional inhibitory nucleoside site in Mytilus phosphorylase.

Modification of kinetic parameters of glycogen phosphorylase from mantle tissue of Mytilus galloprovincialis by a phosphorylation mechanism.

Initial rate and affinity studies on mantle Mytilus phosphorylase a were carried out in order to find possible differences in its kinetic properties with respect to phosphorylase b. Phosphorylase a was not stimulated for any AMP concentrations. Michaelis constants (Km) are 0.05 mg/ml glycogen, 1.15 mM inorganic phosphate and 1.50 mM glucose-1-phosphate. The Kms for the substrates, in the direction of glycogen breakdown, are enhanced by non-saturating concentrations of cosubstrate, without reducing the apparent maximum velocity. First order and hyperbolic kinetics and values of the allosteric constant smaller than 2 were observed. These results suggest a catalytic mechanism different to that shown for mantle Mytilus phosphorylase b.

[Possible multienzymatic aggregate with glycolytic activity in the digestive gland of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lamarck]. / Posible agregado multienzimático con actividad glucolítica en glándula digestiva de mejillón, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lamarck.

The possible presence of a glycolytic multienzyme complex in the digestive gland from the mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lamarck, has been investigated. The digestive gland homogenate was concentrated an applied to a Sepharose-2B column. The elution profile demonstrates that two species of glycolytic enzymes were eluted from the column. Most of the enzyme activity appeared in the low-molecular-weight region, the enzymes being eluted as individual entities in order of their molecular weights. However, a proportion of each enzyme activity was found in the high-molecular-weight region of eluate, with those activities showing a high degree of co-chromatography. By using a column calibrated with a series of marker proteins of known molecular weight, the activity peak for the high-molecular-weight species corresponded to a molecular weight of 3 X 10(6) +/- 10(5) d. Finally, it has been found that a sample of the high-molecular-weight species was able to catalyse the production of piruvate when it was incubated with different glycolytic substrates and the appropriate cofactors.