Neural differences underlying face processing in veterans with TBI and co-occurring TBI and PTSD.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common in military personnel and associated with high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). TBI impacts widely-distributed neural patterns, some of which influence affective processing. Better understanding how TBI and PTSD/TBI alters affective neural activity may improve our understanding of comorbidity mechanisms, but to date the neural correlates of emotional processing in these groups has been relatively understudied. METHODS: Military controls, military personnel with a history of TBI, and military personnel with both TBI and PTSD (N = 53) completed an emotional face processing task during fMRI. Whole-brain activation and functional connectivity during task conditions were compared between groups. RESULTS: Few whole-brain group differences emerged in planned pairwise contrasts, though the TBI group showed some areas of hypoactivation relative to other groups during processing of faces versus shapes. The PTSD/TBI group compared to the control and TBI groups demonstrated greater connectivity between the amygdala and insula seed regions and a number of prefrontal and posterior cingulate regions. LIMITATIONS: Generalizability to other patient groups, including those with only PTSD, has not yet been established. CONCLUSION: TBI alone was associated with hypoactivation during a condition processing faces versus shapes, but PTSD with TBI was associated altered functional connectivity between amygdala and insula regions and cingulate and prefrontal areas. Altered connectivity patterns across groups suggests that individuals with PTSD/TBI may need to increase frontal connectivity with the insulae in order to achieve similar task-based activity.

Decreased frontal regulation during pain anticipation in unmedicated subjects with major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by impaired processing of negative information, possibly due to dysfunction in both, the bottom-up emotional network and top-down modulatory network. By acquiring functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on a pain-anticipation task, we tested the hypothesis that individuals with MDD would show increased negative biasing that may be associated with reduced frontal connectivity. Thirty-one (15 females) unmedicated young adults with current MDD and 22 (11 females) healthy subjects with no history of MDD were recruited. Groups did not differ significantly in age, race, level of education, marital status or gender distribution. fMRI data were collected during an event-related pain-anticipation paradigm, during which subjects were cued to anticipate painful heat stimuli of high or low intensity. All temperature stimuli were applied to each subject's left forearm. We found that relative to healthy comparison subjects, participants with MDD showed significantly stronger responses to high versus low pain anticipation within right ventral anterior insula (AI), but overlapping response within right dorsal AI, which correlated positively with the depression symptoms severity in the MDD group. Functional connectivity analyses showed increased functional connectivity between dorsal insula and posterior thalamus and decreased functional connectivity between dorsal insula and the right inferior frontal gyrus in the MDD compared with the non-MDD group. Our results demonstrate that unmedicated individuals with current MDD compared with healthy never-depressed subjects show both differential and overlapping response within AI during anticipation of pain. Furthermore, the overlapping insular response is less regulated by frontal brain systems and is more subservient to affective processing regions in the posterior thalamus in MDD. These results support and provide functional validation of the co-occurring enhanced 'bottom-up' and attenuated 'top-down' processing of salient, unpleasant emotional information in MDD.

Correction of phase and depolarization distortions in a multimode fiber at 1.064 microm with stimulated-Brillouin-scattering phase conjugation.

We have used phase conjugation to compensate phase distortions and depolarization introduced in multimode fibers having 2-m lengths and 400-microm core diameters. The experiment was performed at a wavelength of 1.064 microm, and we achieved phase conjugation using Brillouin-enhanced four-wave mixing in a 0.8-mm-core hollow quartz lightguide filled with TiCl(4). The far-field conjugation fidelity was 70%, and the residual depolarization was <1%. Comparable compensation was achieved by use of either a graded-index or a step-index fiber.

Tissue bonding: the bacteriological properties of a commercially-available cyanoacrylate adhesive.

The medical use of cyanoacrylate adhesives for tissue bonding is well established, and their use for tacking skin grafts into place is a regular procedure, for which purpose their case and speed of use seems highly advantageous. As medical grade cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives are fairly expensive, the bacteriological safety of using a commercially-available over-the-counter cyanoacrylate adhesive was investigated. The product was found to be sterile when purchased and remained so during use and between patients. There was also some evidence of bacteriostatic properties. These investigations suggest that the commercially-available product is bacteriologically acceptable, and at approximately 28% of the cost of the medical grade product would show considerable cost savings.

Search for enteric microbial pathogens in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Microbial pathogens were sought in faeces of patients with active ulcerative colitis and again after 3 months treatment. 64 patients were examined during their first episode of ulcerative colitis and 30 with relapse of chronic disease. At presentation, bacterial pathogens were not found; 1 patient had cryptosporidiosis. In 10 patients treatment appeared to result in some loss of colonisation resistance as evidenced by colonisation with beta-haemolytic streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus, candida and Clostridium difficile. Unidentified cytotoxic activity was present in the faeces of 4 patients at presentation and 2 patients during or after treatment. We conclude that enteric infection is an uncommon finding in patients with active ulcerative colitis.

An appraisal of methods used in the examination of retail samples of cows milk.

The use of the methylene blue test for the examination of cows milk was investigated in an inter-laboratory survey. A poor relationship was found between results of these tests and total viable counts. Coliforms were detected in a large number of pasteurized milks, indicating frequent post-pasteurization contamination. No relationship was found between the results of the methylene blue test and the presence of coliforms. Results from this survey highlight the need for reappraisal of the methylene blue test as a statutory method for the examination of milk. A total viable count and coliform test are suggested for providing information regarding dairy hygiene and the quality of the product at the point of retail sale.

The microbiology of cooked prawns and shrimps on retail sale.

In an inter-laboratory survey, 148 samples of cooked prawns and shrimps were obtained at the point of sale to the consumer. Salmonellae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus were not detected. Yersinia enterocolitica was isolated from three samples. Results for total viable count and presence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus complied well with available guidelines for imported cooked prawns, suggesting that the risk of food poisoning from retail samples of these foods in the South of England is minimal.

The microbiology of selected retail food products with an evaluation of viable counting methods.

In an inter-laboratory survey, the pour plate, surface spread, agar droplet and spiral plate methods were used in parallel with the surface drop method for enumeration of micro-organisms in foods. Good agreement was obtained between all surface methods of enumeration, but there was poor agreement between molten agar methods and the surface drop method. A total of 1143 samples of food that were ready for consumption at the point of retail sale were examined. Eight types of food products were chosen: meat pasties, sausage rolls, real-cream slices, synthetic-cream slices, mayonnaise-based coleslaws, faggots, patés and continental sausages. The results of this survey suggest that the upper limit for an acceptable viable count should vary according to the food product. Salmonellae were not isolated on any occasion. Potentially harmful organisms were not isolated at levels expected to constitute a public health hazard. Information concerning the nature of the product, the total viable count, the presence or absence of pathogenic, toxigenic or indicator organisms, the spectrum of the bacterial flora and the relative predominance of each organism must all be considered when assessing the microbiological acceptability of retail 'ready to eat' products.