Antecedent descriptions change brain reactivity to emotional stimuli: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of an extrinsic and incidental reappraisal strategy.

In the present study we investigated whether individuals would take advantage of an extrinsic and incidental reappraisal strategy by giving them precedent descriptions to attenuate the emotional impact of unpleasant pictures. In fact, precedent descriptions have successfully promoted down-regulation of electrocortical activity and physiological responses to unpleasant pictures. However, the neuronal substrate underlying this effect remains unclear. Particularly, we investigated whether amygdala and insula responses, brain regions consistently implicated in emotional processing, would be modulated by this strategy. To achieve this, highly unpleasant pictures were shown in two contexts in which a prior description presented them as taken from movie scenes (fictitious) or real scenes. Results showed that the fictitious condition was characterized by down-regulation of amygdala and insula responses. Thus, the present study provides new evidence on reappraisal strategies to down-regulate emotional reactions and suggest that amygdala and insula responses to emotional stimuli are adaptive and highly flexible.

Euterpe Olerácea (Açaí) as an alternative oral contrast agent in MRI of the gastrointestinal system: preliminary results.

Using contrast agents is a common practice in medical imaging protocols. Paramagnetic properties of certain compounds present in contrast agents can affect magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals. For abdominal applications, they are usually injected, but may also be administered orally. However, their use as a routine technique is limited, mainly due to the lack of appropriate oral contrast agents. We herein present the preliminary characterization and results for implementation of Euterpe Olerácea (popularly named Açaí) as a possible clinical oral contrast agent for MRI of the gastrointestinal tract. The pulp of Açaí, a fruit from the Amazon area, presented an increase in T(1)-weighted MRI signal, equivalent to that of gadolinium-diethyltriamine pentaacetic acid, and a decrease in T(2)-weighted images. We looked for intrinsic properties that could be responsible for the T(1) signal enhancement and T(2) opacification. Atomic absorption spectra revealed the presence of Fe, Mn and Cu ions in Açai. The presence of such ions contribute to the susceptometric value found of chi = -4.83 x 10(-6). This finding assents with the hypothesis that image contrast changes were due to the presence of paramagnetic material. The first measurements in vivo demonstrate a clear increase of contrast, in T(1)-weighted images, due to the presence of Açaí. Consistently, the opacification in a T(2)-weighted acquisition was evident, revealing a good contrast on bowel walls of gastric tissues.

Follow-up of a case of retroperitoneal fibroses treated sequencially via right side autotransplant and left uterolysis with wrapper of posterior preperitoneal fat.

We present a case of retroperitoneal fibrosis treated with a renal autotransplantation in a patient inicially treated with endourologic measures and corticotherapy without success. The extense ureteral affectation was the indication to carry out an autotransplant. The follow-up is of nine years, with the function of the renal unity still preserved. We checked the literature for the therapeutic possibilities, medical as much as surgical, of the retroperitoneal fibrosis with special attention to the usage of the refractory IRF to other treatments.

Zinc finger and carboxyl regions of adenovirus E1A 13S CR3 are important for transactivation of the cytomegalovirus major immediate early promoter by adenovirus.

Reactivation of latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important cause of disease in susceptible patients. We previously demonstrated that an adenovirus early gene product can transactivate the CMV major immediate early (IE) promoter in inflammatory cells. This effect was due to the conserved region 3 (CR3) of the adenovirus E1A 13S gene product. There are two domains in the CR3 region, a zinc finger (aa 147-177) and a carboxyl (aa 180-188) domain. Both are crucial for transactivation of downstream promoter elements of adenovirus in E1A 13S. We sought to determine if either or both of these specific domains is also necessary for transactivation of the CMV IE promoter by the adenovirus E1A 13S gene product. We cotransfected T-lymphocyte Jurkat cells and monocyte/macrophage-like THP-1 cells with plasmids expressing wild-type (WT) or CR3 mutant E1A 13S and a CMV IE chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter construct. With extracts of cells coinfected with E1A WT set to 100%, mutation in the zinc finger domain, the carboxyl domain, or both domains decreased CMV IE CAT activity by >/= 96%. In contrast, a mutation in the region between the zinc finger and carboxyl domains reduced CMV IE CAT activity by only 24 to 26%. Mixing studies in Jurkat cells confirmed the importance of these domains. We also evaluated the active site of the CMV IE promoter involved in transactivation in THP-1 cells using CMV IE promoter deletions and single promoter element constructs. These studies showed that progressive deletion of the 19-bp CMV IE repeats containing cyclic AMP response element binding protein/activating transcription factor (CREB/ATF) sites resulted in progressive loss of activity. The importance of this element was confirmed using single promoter elements containing CMV IE 16-, 18-, 19-, and 21-bp repeats. Finally, using a 19-bp single promoter element construct and the CR3 mutants we demonstrated that mutations in the zinc finger (C171S) carboxyl region (S185N) or both regions (C171S/ S185N) resulted in significant (83, 94, and 85%) loss of activity. We conclude that the zinc finger and carboxyl domains of the CR3 region of E1A 13S are necessary for transactivation of the CMV promoter and that this occurs mainly through activation of the 19-bp CREB/ATF site of the promoter.