Evidence of the American Myxobolus dechtiari was introduced along with its host Lepomis gibbosus in Europe: Molecular and histological data

The American pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, was introduced to Europe more than one hundred years ago. Currently it is a common fish in European freshwaters but relatively few specific parasites infect this fish in this new habitat. In Europe only a single species, Myxobolus dechtiari seems to represent the American myxosporean fauna of centrarchid fishes. M. dechtiari was found in both Portugal and Hungary. This species forms plasmodia with elongated shape inside the cartilaginous rays of gill filaments. In the advanced stage of infection, after disruption of plasmodia, small groups of myxospores remain enclosed in the cartilaginous gill rays causing distortions in the filaments. Myxospores were ellipsoidal in frontal view and lemon-shape in sutural, length 12.5 ± 0.46 (12–13.4) μm, width 10 ± 0.37 (9.6–10.4) μm, and thickness 7.4 ± 0.37 (7–8) μm; the polar capsules were pyriform, equal in size, length 5.6 ± 0.21 (5.3–6) μm, width 3.2 ± 0.16 (3–3.6) μm; Seven to eight polar tube coils were arranged perpendicularly to the capsule length. There was a small, round, 0.4 ± 0.1 (0.3–05) (N = 50) intercapsular appendix in the spores. The small subunit ribosomal DNA (ssrDNA) of M. dechtiari differed from other myxozoans sequenced to date. Phylogenetic analysis of the ssrDNA gene sequence placed this species in a clade including actinospores and Myxobolus species: Raabeia type1, Triactinomyxon sp., and Myxobolus osburni infecting the same host fish.

The focus of our study was to prove that the pumpkinseed, a fish originated from North-America introduced one of its myxosporean parasite to Europe. Emphasis was put on to demonstrate the unique feature of this parasite causing infection in the cartilaginous gill rays.

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American pumpkinseed fish were introduced to Europe as an ornamental fish.

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Relatively few specific parasites are reported from the pumpkinseed in Europe.

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The myxosporean Myxobolus dechtiari described originally in Canada infects the introduced host both in Hungary and Portugal.

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SsrDNA sequences of M. dechtiari from pumpkinseed fish is provided.

Molecular and ultrastructure characterization of two nematodes (Thelandros scleratus and Physalopteroides dactyluris) based on ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences

The phylogenetic relationships of the nematode species Thelandros scleratus (Oxyurida: Pharyn-godonidae) and Physalopteroides dactyluris (Spirurida: Physalopteridae) were analyzed using the ribosomal 18S rRNAand the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit genes. The nematodes were recovered from Brook's house gecko, Hemidactylus brooki (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Hast-inapur, Meerut (U.P.), India. The results demonstrated that T. scleratus shows 100% similarity with another sequence available from the same species and a close relationship (98-99%) with species of Parapharyngodon in both 18S rRNAand cox 1 regions. Regarding the nematode Physalopteroides. analysis showed a close phylogenetic relationship between P. dactyluris and several species of Phy-saloptera. This is the first sequence of 18S available for any species of the genus Physalopteroides

The neurocognitive performance of drug-free and medicated euthymic bipolar patients do not differ

OBJECTIVE

Although it is established that euthymic bipolar patients have neurocognitive deficits, the influence of medication on their cognitive performance is uncertain and requires investigation.

METHOD

Neuropsychological tests of executive function, memory and attention were performed on 44 prospectively verified, euthymic bipolar I patients, 22 of whom were drug-free. Residual mood symptom effects were controlled statistically using ancova.

RESULTS

Drug-free and medicated patients differed only in delayed verbal recall (Rey AVLT list A7, drug-free > medicated), and perseverations during the five-point test (drug-free > medicated). When residual mood symptoms were controlled statistically, differences between drug-free and medicated subjects became insignificant. Medication effect sizes were modest. Significant correlations were found between residual depression scores and measures of verbal learning.

CONCLUSION

Medications did not have any significant influence on neurocognitive performance, suggesting that neurocognitive deficits are an integral part of bipolar disorder.

Selective inhibition of choline kinase simultaneously attenuates MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling

Choline is an essential anabolic substrate for the synthesis of phospholipids. Choline kinase phosphorylates choline to phosphocholine that serves as a precursor for the production of phosphatidylcholine, the major phospholipid constituent of membranes and substrate for the synthesis of lipid signaling molecules. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomic studies of human tumors have identified a marked increase in the intracellular concentration of phosphocholine relative to normal tissues. We postulated that the observed intracellular pooling of phosphocholine may be required to sustain the production of the pleiotropic lipid second messenger, phosphatidic acid. Phosphatidic acid is generated from the cleavage of phosphatidylcholine by phospholipase D2 and is a key activator of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT survival signaling pathways. In this study we show that the steady-state concentration of phosphocholine is increased by the ectopic expression of oncogenic H-Ras(V12) in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells. We then find that small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing of choline kinase expression in transformed HeLa cells completely abrogates the high concentration of phosphocholine, which in turn decreases phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidic acid and signaling through the MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways. This simultaneous reduction in survival signaling markedly decreases the anchorage-independent survival of HeLa cells in soft agar and in athymic mice. Last, we confirm the relative importance of phosphatidic acid for this pro-survival effect as phosphatidic acid supplementation fully restores MAPK signaling and partially rescues HeLa cells from choline kinase inhibition. Taken together, these data indicate that the pooling of phosphocholine in cancer cells may be required to provide a ready supply of phosphatidic acid necessary for the feed-forward amplification of cancer survival signaling pathways.

Inhibition of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase suppresses breast tumor growth in vivo

Abstract #3064

Phosphofructo-1-kinase, a rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis, is activated in neoplastic cells by fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-BP), a product of four 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase isozymes (PFKFB1-4). The inducible PFKFB3 isozyme is constitutively expressed by neoplastic cells and required for the high glycolytic rate and anchorage-independent growth of ras-transformed cells. We report that siRNA silencing or small molecule inhibition (3PO) of PFKFB3 causes a decrease in cell proliferation and metabolic flux in several breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, BT-549, BT-474, SK-BR-3, ZR-75-1, MCF-7, and MCF-10A). Furthermore, 0.075mg/g 3PO administered via intraperitoneal injection suppresses tumor growth in two transgenic mouse models of breast cancer (MMTV-H-ras: 30% inhibition; MMTV-Erbb2(Her2/neu): 60% inhibition). Interestingly, the Her2 positive cell lines (SK-BR-3, BT-549) and the Her2 mouse transgenic model were more susceptible to PFKFB3 inhibition suggesting that the Her2 phenotype may be more sensitive to disruption of glycolytic flux. Taken together, these data support the clinical development of 3PO and other PFKFB3 inhibitors as chemotherapeutic agents against breast cancer.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 3064.

Soft neurological signs do not increase with age in euthymic bipolar subjects

BACKGROUND

Soft neurological signs (SNS) are found to be in excess in bipolar disorder (BD). This paper explores changes in SNS with ageing to ascertain whether BD is associated with a progressive neurological decline or a relatively fixed, persistent deficit.

METHODS

53 euthymic BD subjects and controls, aged 15-55 years, were for examined for the presence of SNS which were rated using a modified Kolakowska battery.

RESULTS

In controls, SNS scores increased slowly and significantly with age whereas in BD subjects high scores occurred throughout the age range and were not age dependent. This confirms and extends an earlier, smaller, study which is reanalysed.

LIMITATIONS

The study design was cross-sectional whereas a longitudinal study would better reveal changes in soft signs with ageing.

CONCLUSIONS

The studies suggest strongly that BD is accompanied by a significant neurobiological deficit which may progress only minimally with increasing age.

Case control study of psychosocial morbidity in beta thalassemia major

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence and the spectrum of psychosocial morbidity and its correlation with various social and disease-related factors in children with beta thalassemia major.

STUDY DESIGN

Sixty children with transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia major were included in the study group who fulfilled these inclusion criteria: 1) age 5 to 15 years; 2) both parents alive and living together; 3) negative for human immunodeficiency virus; and 4) no family history of any chronic illness or psychological illness. The control group consisted of 60 children of matched age group and social background. A semi-structured interview and 2 preformed questionnaires (Pediatric Symptom Checklist [PSC] and Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule [CPMS]) were used to assess psychosocial morbidity.

RESULTS

The mean score of the PSC was 11.63 +/- 3.79 (range, 7-24) in children with thalassemia, compared with 5.78 +/- 2.572 (range, 2-13) in the control group (P < .001). The mean score of the CPMS was 11.63 +/- 3.6 (range, 6-25) compared with 6.08 +/- 2.8 (range, 1-14) in the study and the control group, respectively (P < .001). Among the children with thalassemia, 54% had a mean CPMS score > or = 10 (which is considered significant for psychopathological disorders), compared with 8.3% in the control group (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

Children with thalassemia have significantly higher psychosocial morbidity. Psychosocial aspects need to be addressed in the overall treatment of children with thalassemia to prevent the development of clinically manifest psychological disease.

Neuro-cognitive functions in patients of major depression

Earlier studies have shown conflicting results regarding impairment of executive functions in patients of major depression. In the present study, subjects were divided into following groups-Group 1 (19 Males & 11 females, age 18-45 years) consisting of patients of major depression diagnosed on the basis of DSM IV criteria and Group 2 (20 Males & 10 females, age 18-45 years) consisting of healthy subjects who had been screened for any sub-psychiatric illness by standardized hindi version of Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (G.H.Q.). All the Group 1 & Group 2 subjects were rated on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and then administered Neuro-cognitive test battery consisting of Letter Cancellation test, Trail Making test 'A' & 'B', Ruff Figural Fluency test, Forward & Reverse Digit Span test for assessing following cognitive domains: Attention span, visuo-motor scanning, short term memory and executive functions like working memory, information manipulation, set-shifting strategy analysis etc. Results showed significant impairment on all the studied neuro-cognitive parameters in Group 1 subjects as compared to Group 2 subjects, which demonstrate significant impairment of attention, visuomotor speed, immediate verbal memory, short-term retentive capacity and executive functions (strategic planning, attentional set shifting and working memory) in patients of major depression. It may probably be due to the disruption of dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlpfc) and orbito-frontal networks in patients of major depression.

Effect of Sahaj Yoga on neuro-cognitive functions in patients suffering from major depression

Cognitive functions are impaired in Major Depression. Studies on the effects of Yoga on cognitive functions have shown improvement in memory, vigilance and anxiety levels. 30 patients suffering from Major depression (age 18 to 45 years) were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1: (10 males and 5 Females) Patients who practised Sahaj Yoga meditation and also received conventional anti-depressant medication. Group 2: (9 males and 6 Females) Patients who only received conventional antidepressant medication. Group 1 patients were administered Sahaj Yoga practice for 8 weeks. Neuro-cognitive test battery consisting of Letter cancellation test (LCT), Trail making test 'A' (TTA), Trail making test 'B' (TTB), Ruff figural fluency test (RFFT), Forward digit span (FDS) & Reverse digit span test (RDS) was used to assess following cognitive domains: Attention span, visuo-motor speed, short-term memory, working memory and executive functions. After 8 weeks, both Group 1 and Group 2 subjects showed significant improvement in LCT, TTA & TTB but improvement in LCT was more marked in Group 1 subjects. Also, there was significant improvement in RDS scores in only Group 1 subjects (P < 0.05). The results thereby, demonstrate that Sahaj Yoga practice in addition to the improvement in various other cognitive domains seen with conventional anti-depressants, can lead to additional improvement in executive functions like manipulation of information in the verbal working memory and added improvement in attention span and visuo-motor speed of the depressives.

A meta-analysis of cognitive deficits in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

A number of studies have reported evidence of cognitive deficits in euthymic bipolar patients. Qualitative reviews of the literature have indicated impairments in executive functions and declarative memory are most consistently reported. However, not all primary studies conducted to date have had sufficient power to detect statistically significant differences and there have been few attempts to quantify the magnitude of impairments. This review aims to combine data from available studies to identify the profile of neuropsychological deficits in euthymic bipolar patients and quantify their magnitude.

METHOD

Systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Large effect sizes (d>or=0.8) were noted for aspects of executive function (category fluency, mental manipulation) and verbal learning. Medium effect sizes (0.5<or=d<0.8) were found for aspects of immediate and delayed verbal memory, abstraction and set-shifting, sustained attention, response inhibition, and psychomotor speed. Small effect sizes (0.2<or=d<0.5) were reported for verbal fluency by letter, immediate memory, and sustained attention.

LIMITATIONS

Sufficient data were not available to investigate all domains. For example analyses did not include measures of visuospatial function.

CONCLUSION

Euthymic bipolar patients demonstrate relatively marked impairment in aspects of executive function and verbal memory. It is not yet clear whether these are two discrete areas of impairment or are related to one another. Future investigations should clarify the functional significance of deficits and indicate whether patients will benefit from ameliorative interventions.

Neuropsychological dysfunction, soft neurological signs and social disability in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Neurocognitive deficits exist in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder, but relationships between symptoms, psychosocial and neurological factors remain uncertain.

AIMS

To measure neurocognitive function in bipolar disorder and explore links to sub-syndromal mood symptoms, soft neurological signs and psychosocial impairment.

METHOD

Attention, memory and executive function were tested in 37 euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and 37 controls. Psychosocial functioning, soft neurological signs and residual mood symptoms were assessed.

RESULTS

Performances on tests reflecting executive function and verbal memory (but not attention) were significantly poorer in the bipolar disorder group. Sub-syndromal mood symptoms produced small cognitive effects, predominantly on verbal memory. Soft neurological signs, especially frontal signs, were marked; some patients showed marked social disability which correlated strongly with soft neurological signs but weakly with executive dysfunction, which was linked to illness episodes.

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive dysfunction, social dysfunction and soft signs occur in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and may represent trait deficits.

REM sleep latency and neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Cognitive deficits-the hallmark of schizophrenic deterioration-still remain elusive as far as their pathophysiology is concerned. Various neurotransmitter systems have been implicated to explain these deficits. Abnormalities in cholinergic neurotransmission in the brain are one of the postulations; acetylcholine has also been postulated to regulate rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, especially REM latency. Thus, REM latency in patients with schizophrenia might provide a non-invasive window to look into the cholinergic functions of the brain.

AIM

To study REM sleep measures and neurocognitive function in schizophrenia, and the changes occurring in these parameters following pharmacological treatment.

METHODS

Thirty subjects (15 with schizophrenia and 15 normal non-relative controls) were evaluated in this study. Most patients with schizophrenia had prominent negative symptoms and deficits in the performance in neurocognitive tests battery. They were treated with antipsychotics for a variable period of time and post-treatment evaluation was done using the same battery of neurocognitive tests and polysomnography. Patients were either drug-naïve or kept drug-free for at least two weeks both at baseline as well as at the post-treatment stage.

RESULTS

A positive correlation between the severity of negative symptoms and neurocognitive deficits (especially on the Wisconsin Card Sorting), and a negative correlation between these two parameters and REM latency was observed.

CONCLUSION

It can be hypothesized that the acetylcholine deficit model of dementia cannot be applied to schizophrenic dementia, rather a hypercholinergic state results. This state warrants anticholinergic medication as a treatment option for negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

A Study of the Temporal Course of Phenomenology of Alcohol Dependence

The natural history of alcoholism was first charted out in 1946 by Jellinek, whose original results have been replicated by multiple research groups. They have verified a general progression of alcohol dependence through a series of identifiable phases. The study investigated the sequence of events in the course of alcohol dependence and its deviations from randomness. The study consisted of 36 patients with alcohol dependence, subjected to a structured questionnaire containing 34 items describing the phenomenology of alcohol dependence, based on the lines of SCID. The items experienced by each patient were identified and then plotted on a timeline graph according to an important life event, the items being represented on cards given to the patients randomly. The subjects were re-interviewed after one week and asked to rank their symptoms again to analyze test-retest reliability. The analysis of the item ordering was determined by null hypothesis of randomness. The ordering showed three phases. The early phase was characterized by features of increased tolerance loss of flexibility, and salience. The middle phase consisted mainly of the need for alcohol, and the late phase was predominated by features of physiological withdrawal, tremors, nausea, panics, and hallucinations. There is a characteristic ordering of new events and symptoms, which suggests a developmental process of alcoholism, but this is apparent only if attention is confined to a limited part of the broad spectrum. This process is obscured by consideration of the social concomitants of alcohol dependence. The study of the natural history of alcohol dependence is essential in recognizing and treating the problem and determining whether an intervention appears to be working.

Craving by imagery cue reactivity in opiate dependence following detoxification

BACKGROUND

Frequent relapses in opioid addiction may be a result of abstinentemergent craving. Exposure to various stimuli associated with drug use (drug cues) may trigger craving as a conditioned response to 'drug cues'.

AIMS

The present study explored the effects of imagery cue exposure on psychophysiological mechanisms of craving, viz. autonomic arousal, in detoxified opiate addicts.

METHODOLOGY

Opiate dependent subjects (N=38) following detoxification underwent imagery cue reactivity trials.The subjects were asked to describe verbally and then imagine their craving experiences.

RESULTS

Craving was measured subjectively by using Visual Analogue Scale and autonomic parameters of galvanic skin resistance (GSR), pulse rate (PR), and skin temperature (ST) was taken during cue imagery. Spearman's r and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were employed in analysis. Multivariate repeated measurement analysis (wilk's Lambda) was employed wherever appropriate. Subjective measures of craving, GSR and PR increased significantly whereas ST decreased significantly during drug related cue imagery as compared to neutral cues.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support that cue imagery is a powerful tool in eliciting craving. Hence, it can be used as a screening manoeuvre for detecting individuals with high cue reactivity, as well as for extinction of craving.

The nature and extent of the use of physical restraint and seclusion in psychiatric practice: Report of a survey

Restraint and seclusion has been used to manage patients despite all controversies. Our study analyzed the opinions of different psychiatrists on the use of this method in their clinical practice. Most of them (80%) practice restraints as a treatment modality and believe that they are integral to the management of psychiatric patients. None is using seclusion.

ECT and Clozapine combination producing delirium : A Case Report

Although successfully used, caution has been advised with the combined use of clozapine and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).The combination has been associated with delirium, in this report, which successfully resolves on discontinuation of ECT.

Efficacy of Electroconvulsive Therapy in Treatment Resistant Schizophreinia : A double-blind study

BACKGROUND

ECT, though not favoured in the West for treating schizophrenia, is regularly practiced in India for this indication, particularly in poorly responding/treatment resistant cases.Therefore, its role in treatment-resistant schizophrenia is a subject of systematic investigation.

AIM

To compare the effectiveness and safety of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a group of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients with a control group.

METHOD

Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to the ECT or Sham ECT groups. Both received antipsychotic drugs.Twenty-five patients completed the study (ECT, n= IS; Sham ECT, n= 10).The study was conducted in a double-blind manner. Clinical change was assessed weekly with BPRS, CGI and adverse event measures.ANOVA for repeated measures and other post-hoc comparisons were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

ECT treated patients improved significantly over successive weeks (p< 0.002) after 6 ECTs, whereas the group receiving sham-ECT did not In both the groups, however, CGI scores did not change significantly, suggesting a dissociated response pattern. ECT was associated with greater relief among carers and lower rehospitalization.

CONCLUSION

ECT augmentation may well have a significant impact on the clinical course of patients with treatment resistance schizophrenia. It is unclear, but possible, that these changes may be reinforced and maintained by maintenance ECTs. Replication of the present investigation and further studies on maintenance ECT would be rewarding.

Pharmacokinetics of valproic acid in patients with bipolar disorder

The pharmacokinetics of valproic acid (VPA) were studied in nine patients with bipolar disorder who were receiving VPA as prophylactic therapy, following the full daily dose (400-1500 mg), on which the patients had been maintained for at least the past 3 months. The data from our study showed that the pharmacokinetics of valproate followed a two compartment open model. A time lag of 1-2 h was observed in each patient, followed by rapid absorption, with the peak concentrations being recorded approximately 4 h after drug administration. The average 12 h trough concentration was found to be 54.73+/-11.96 microg/ml. The plasma level decline was biphasic with a terminal half-life of 14.2+/-6.39 h. Total plasma clearance was 0.095+/-0.035 ml/min/kg. The steady-state apparent volume of distribution was found to be 0.11+/-0.05 l/kg. A positive correlation (r = 0.69) was found between the dose (mg/kg) and steady-state serum concentration (Css) of VPA and all patients, except one, had their Css above 50 microg/ml. Most of the pharmacokinetic parameters in this study involving euthymic bipolar patients on long-term VPA monotherapy were found to be in agreement with those reported in literature on seizure disorder patients on similar regime; however, the plasma elimination half-life appears to be prolonged in bipolar patients.

Cognitive development: no stages please--we're British

British cognitive developmental psychology is characterized by its interest in philosophical questions, its preference for linking basic research to applied issues in education and cognitive disorders, and its willingness to learn both methodologically and theoretically from work in animal psychology and in physiology more generally. It has also been influenced profoundly by Jean Piaget's cognitive stage theory although in general British work has focused on demonstrating early strengths, rather than early deficits, in infant and child cognition. Following an overview of British work that encompasses past and present interests, issues and challenges for the future are highlighted. While the perspectives of the founding members of the British Psychological Society (BPS), as outlined by Edgell (1947), are still apparent in British research in cognitive developmental psychology today, it is argued that future cognitive work must become even more interdisciplinary and that the symbiotic relationship between research in adult cognition and in cognitive development needs greater recognition.

Cerebral white matter lesions in bipolar affective disorder: relationship to outcome

BACKGROUND

Twenty per cent of patients with bipolar affective disorder suffer an illness that responds inadequately to treatment and has a poor outcome. Many patients, but not all, with bipolar disorder show white matter abnormalities on T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

AIMS

To explore the hypothesis that white matter abnormalities on MRI are seen more frequently in subjects whose illness has a poor outcome compared with those with a good outcome or controls.

METHOD

Two groups of age- and gender-matched patients with bipolar disorder (14 with a good outcome and 15 with a poor outcome) and 15 controls, aged 20-65 years, were studied. Axial T(2)-weighted MRI scans were examined for the presence and severity of white matter abnormalities.

RESULTS

Significantly more poor outcome group members had deep subcortical punctate, but not periventricular, white matter hyperintensities than the good outcome group (P:=0.035) or controls (P:=0.003) and these abnormalities were of greater severity (P:=0.030 and P:<0.014, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Subcortical white matter lesions are associated with poor outcome bipolar disorder.

Phonological awareness of syllables, rhymes, and phonemes in deaf children

Phonological awareness is important for reading development in hearing children, in whom it develops at the three consecutive levels of the syllable, rhyme, and phoneme. Deaf children typically have literacy difficulties, and previous research has been equivocal about whether deaf children can develop phonological awareness. Three experiments are presented that investigate the phonological skills of deaf children (mean age 11 years) at the three linguistic levels of syllable, rhyme, and phoneme. The first experiment showed that deaf children's syllable awareness can be equivalent to that of chronological age-matched hearing controls. In the second experiment, deaf children's ability to make rhyme judgements was above chance, but poorer than that of younger reading-matched hearing controls. The third experiment showed that deaf children could phonologically recode nonsense words at a level above chance, suggesting that they could draw on phonemic skills in certain conditions. We conclude that deaf children can develop phonological awareness, but that their phonological skills lag those of hearing children and may develop in different ways. Differences between our tasks and those used in other studies are discussed.

Carbamazepine and valproate monotherapy: feasibility, relative safety and efficacy, and therapeutic drug monitoring in manic disorder

RATIONALE

Search for alternatives to lithium therapy for mood disorders commenced with anticonvulsants, carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproic acid (VPA), in the late 1970s. The comparative safety and efficacy data of CBZ and VPA monotherapy in patients with bipolar disorder remain to be established.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the study were to assess the relative antimanic efficacy and safety of CBZ and VPA; to study the feasibility of using either, as a first line anti-manic agent; to investigate and generate clinically relevant parameters involving therapeutic drug monitoring of the two drugs.

METHODS

After a 2-day screening period, suitable patients (n = 30) were randomly assigned to treatment with CBZ or VPA. Both the drugs were started with an average dose of approximately 20 mg/kg body weight per day. Further increment in dose was carried out at weekly intervals, guided by clinical improvement, serum levels and treatment emergent adverse events. The primary efficacy measure in the protocol was defined as a change from baseline to endpoint in total score on the Young Mania Rating Scale. A favourable clinical response was defined a priori as a decrease of more than 50% from baseline in Young Mania Rating Scale total score.

RESULTS

Both CBZ and VPA were found to be efficacious as single first-line anti-manic agents, however VPA proved to be better. Using the intent-to-treat analysis, the VPA group showed a significant fall in YMRS total scores after week 1 while the CBZ group showed a significant fall after week 2. In the primary efficacy analysis, valproate group experienced significantly greater mean improvement in Young Mania Rating Scale total score than the CBZ group. Of the VPA treated patients, 73% showed a favourable clinical response while 53% of the patients on CBZ responded favourably. In the CBZ group, significantly more patients received rescue medication during the week 2 and the requirement was quantitatively more as compared to the VPA group. The steady state serum concentration (Css) of CBZ ranged from 3 to 9 micrograms/ml; however, it did not appear to correlate with the dose or clinical response. The Css of VPA ranged from 50 to 100 micrograms/ml; a linear correlation was found between the dose and serum levels of VPA as well as between weekly rise in serum levels and clinical response. Weekly dose escalations of VPA also correlated positively with corresponding rise in serum levels. Significantly more patients in the CBZ group reported adverse events, including nausea, vomiting and dizziness, than VPA.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings from this study suggest that both CBZ and VPA monotherapy is feasible for treatment of acute mania; however, VPA is more efficacious in terms of its early onset of action, lesser requirement for rescue medication and better tolerability. Further work needs to be undertaken to characterise the manic patients in terms of their differential psychopharmacologic response profile.

Phonological representations, reading development and dyslexia: towards a cross-linguistic theoretical framework

This paper attempts to integrate recent research findings in phonological development, reading development and dyslexia into a coherent theoretical framework that can provide a developmental account of reading and reading difficulties across languages. It is proposed that the factors governing phonological development across languages are similar, but that important differences in the speed and level of phonological development are found following the acquisition of alphabetic literacy. The causal framework offered is at the level of a cognitive model, which may prove useful in organizing future cross-linguistic developmental work.

Orthographic analogies and phonological priming: a comment on Bowey, Vaughan, and Hansen (1998)

J. A. Bowey, L. Vaughan, and J. Hansen (1998, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 68, 108-133) carried out two experiments on 6- and 7-year-old children's use of orthographic analogies in word reading. They reported that, following apparently stringent controls for phonological priming effects, beginning analogies (beak-bean) were more frequent in this age group than rime (beak-peak) analogies. From this, they concluded that beginning readers do not reliably use orthographic rimes in reading, even in the clue word task (p. 129). However, the clue word task was not used in this study. This comment highlights two problems with Bowey et al.'s paper. The first is a theoretical one, and the second is methodological. Firstly, Bowey et al. base their investigation on a misunderstanding of U. Goswami and P. E. Bryant's (1990, Phonological skills and learning to read, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum) claims about the role of rhyme and analogy in beginning reading. Secondly, methodological weaknesses, in particular unintended intralist priming effects, seriously limit the conclusions that can be drawn from Bowey et al.'s booklet analogy task.

Phonological awareness deficits in developmental dyslexia and the phonological representations hypothesis

The claim that the well-documented difficulties shown by dyslexic children in phonological awareness tasks may arise from deficits in the accuracy and the segmental organization of the phonological representations of words in their mental lexicons is receiving increasing interest from researchers. In this experiment, two versions of the phonological representations hypothesis were investigated by using a picture naming task and a battery of phonological measures at three linguistic levels (syllable, onset-rime, phoneme). The picture naming task was used to identify words for which dyslexic and control children had accurate vs inaccurate phonological representations, and performance in the phonological awareness tasks was then compared for the words which had precise vs imprecise representations. Findings indicated that frequency effects in the phonological awareness tasks at all levels disappeared for dyslexic and control children once representational quality was taken into account, and that the availability of sublexical units for analysis appeared to differ according to (1) the accuracy and retrieval of the phonological representation and (2) the linguistic level tapped by the phonological awareness task.

Picture naming deficits in developmental dyslexia: the phonological representations hypothesis

The picture and word naming performance of developmental dyslexics was compared to the picture and word naming performance of non-dyslexic ("garden variety") poor readers, reading age, and chronological age-matched controls. The stimulus list used for both tasks was systematically manipulated for word length and word frequency. In order to examine picture naming errors in more depth, an object name recognition test assessed each subject's vocabulary knowledge of those names which they were unable to spontaneously label in the picture naming task. Findings indicated that the dyslexic and the garden variety poor readers exhibited a picture naming deficit relative to both chronological and reading age-matched controls. Findings also indicated that both groups of impaired readers obtained superior scores in the word naming task than in the picture naming task, while both groups of controls showed no difference in performance across tasks. The dyslexics' picture naming errors, but not those of the garden variety poor readers, were particularly marked on polysyllabic and/or low frequency words, indicating a possible phonological basis to the picture naming deficit of the dyslexic children. These children also recognized significantly more unnamed target words than all comparison groups, suggesting a particular difficulty in retrieving the phonological codes of known picture names rather than a vocabulary deficit. Results are discussed in terms of dyslexics' difficulty in encoding full segmental phonological representations of names in long-term memory and/or in processing these representations in order to generate required names on demand.

A NOR-associated repetitive element present in the genome of two Salmo species (Salmo salar and Salmo trutta)

A repetitive element was isolated from the genome of Atlantic salmon. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the existence of variant monomers that range in length from approximately 200 to 230 bp. Repeat monomers contain regions of cryptic simplicity, internal repetition, and long direct repeats with deletions and insertions between individual units. The repetitive element was shown to have a tandem unit arrangement and was estimated to occupy between two and three percent of the Atlantic salmon genome. Southern blot analysis revealed the repetitive element to be unique to Atlantic salmon and brown trout species. In situ hybridization analysis showed this element to be localized at the main nucleolar organizer region bearing chromosomes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), AS cell line (derived from S. salar), and brown trout (Salmo trutta).

Cloning, characterization and chromosomal location of a satellite DNA from the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

We report the cloning and characterization of a high-copy-number, tandem-repeat satellite DNA sequence from the genome of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Cg). The monomeric unit was found to be 166 (+/- 2) bp in length with 79-94% homology between monomers of the array. The sequence is A+T-rich (60%) and lacks internal repetition and substructural features. The repeat was estimated to account for 1-4% of the Cg genome. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies mapped the repeat to two distinct heterochromatic regions of two pairs of homologous chromosomes on Cg embryonic metaphases. Also, the number of metaphase chromosomes containing this repeat varied with the ploidy of the cell.

Hysterical neurosis--a follow-up study

Hysterical neurosis, though infrequently diagnosed in the West, is still one of the commonest mental disorders in India. In this study, 38 women with an index diagnosis of hysterical neurosis were evaluated after a period of 5 years; 63% of the patients remained totally asymptomatic. The premorbid hysterical personality alone showed significant relationship with the outcome.

The influence of orthographic consistency on reading development: word recognition in English and German children

Groups of 7, 8, and 9-year-old children who were learning to read in English and German were given three different continuous reading tasks: a numeral reading task, a number word reading task, and a nonsense word reading task. The nonsense words could be read by analogy to the number words. Whereas reading time and error rates in numeral and number word reading were very similar across the two orthographies, the German children showed a big advantage in reading the nonsense words. This pattern of results is interpreted as evidence for the initial adoption of different strategies for word recognition in the two orthographies. German children appear to rely on assembling pronunciations via grapheme-phoneme conversion, and English children appear to rely more on some kind of direct recognition strategy. A model of reading development that takes account of orthographic consistency is proposed.

Not all nonwords are alike: implications for reading development and theory

Three experiments were designed to examine children's and adults' ability to pronounce consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonsense words. Some of the nonwords, like tain and goach, shared their VC unit with a number of real words. Other nonwords, like goan and taich, shared their VC unit with few or no real words. Pooling across items, the very same grapheme-phoneme correspondences occurred in the two types of nonwords. First graders, good and poor third grade readers, and adults all performed better on the nonwords with the more common VC units than on the nonwords with the less common VC units. Although readers appeared to use VC units in the pronunciation of nonwords, we did not find evidence for use of initial CV units. Implications of the results for reading development, dyslexia, and models of nonword pronunciation are discussed.

Higher-order structure and relational reasoning: contrasting analogical and thematic relations

A popular explanation of younger children's success in analogy tasks is that lower-level associative reasoning strategies are used. Younger children are said to have a primarily associative understanding of analogy, with the ability to coordinate sets of relations largely emerging later in development (Goldman, Pellegrino, Parseghian, & Sallis, 1982; Sternberg & Nigro, 1980). One way of testing the associative claim is to pit young children's emergent analogical abilities against thematic (associative) relations, which are known to play an important role in the knowledge structures of young children. The present experiments presented 4-, 5- and 9-year-old children with a:b::c:d analogies in a picture choice format, offering a choice between Analogy and Thematic responses. Only the Analogy responses were correct in terms of the higher-order structure of the analogies. The results showed that the Analogy responses were consistently preferred to the Thematic responses by children of all ages. It is concluded that analogy is an important building block for learning from an early age.

Melting chocolate and melting snowmen: analogical reasoning and causal relations

Children's performance in the classical a:b::c:d analogy task is traditionally very poor prior to the Piagetian stage of formal operations. The interpretation has been that the ability to reason about higher-order relations (the relations between the a:b and c:d parts of the analogy) is late-developing. However, an alternative possibility is that the relations used to date in the analogies are too difficult for younger children. Two experiments presented children aged 3, 4 and 6 years with a:b::c:d analogies which were based on relations of physical causality such as melting and cutting, for example chocolate bar:melted chocolate::snowman:melted snowman. Understanding of these particular causal relations is known to develop between the ages of 3 and 4 years. It was found that even 3-year-olds could solve the classical analogies if they understood the causal relations on which they were based.

Phonological priming and orthographic analogies in reading

Recent work has demonstrated that children can use orthographic analogies between the spelling patterns in words to help in decoding new words (e.g., using beak to read peak; Goswami, 1986, 1988). However, one objection has been that these analogy effects may be due to phonological priming. Two experiments examined the phonological priming alternative. In Experiment 1, a single word reading task compared the use of analogies to read words that shared both orthography and phonology (e.g., most-post), that shared orthography only (e.g., most-cost), or that shared phonology only (e.g. most-toast--the phonological priming condition). Limited effects of phonological priming were found. Experiment 2 then presented the same words embedded in prose passages--"real reading." While the orthographic analogy effect remained robust, the small phonological priming effect disappeared. It is argued that phonological priming is an insufficient explanation of the analogy effect at the single word level, and plays no role in the use of analogies in story reading.

A special link between rhyming skill and the use of orthographic analogies by beginning readers

The existence of a strong correlation between phonological awareness and the development of reading has long been known. More recently, it has been shown that pre-reading rhyming skills are the best predictor of later reading ability that we have. One reason for this relationship may be that children who have put words into rhyming categories before they begin school may be quick to realize that these words also tend to share the same spelling patterns, and may then use such similarities in spelling to make predictions (analogies) about how new written words will sound. The present study tests one aspect of this hypothesis, which is that children who make more analogies in reading are also better at rhyming than children who do not. Evidence consistent with this prediction is presented.

Electroconvulsive therapy in neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism

The effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on the severity of neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism was studied in nine schizophrenic inpatients in a longitudinal triphasic design: neuroleptics-neuroleptics plus ECT-neuroleptics. The results suggest that ECT has a true antiparkinsonian potential. The role of ECT in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, especially with therapy-resistant patients complicated with on-off symptoms, is highlighted.