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Purpose: To estimate workforce participation characteristics and employees' attitudes regarding participation in workplace wellness programs.Design: Data from a statewide stratified random sample were used to compare small (<50 employees) and larger (50+ employees) workplaces to estimate participation in screening programs and likelihood of participation in workplace wellness programs.Setting: A telephone survey of employed Iowans registered to vote.Subjects: Surveyed were 1171 employed Iowans registered to vote, ages 18 to 65.Measure: Among questionnaire survey modules were items from the Wellness Council of America Employee Needs and Interest Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for employment documentation, and the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire for assessment of sickness absenteeism and presenteeism.Analysis: Prevalence of participation in screening and wellness programs was analyzed by employment size and levels of likeliness to participate, and multivariable analyses of employee baseline characteristics regarding participation in screening programs and likelihood of participation in wellness programs was presented as top and bottom quartiles.Results: Those employed in smaller workplaces participated less often in screening programs. Multivariable models identified male gender and those with an abnormal body mass index were associated with nonparticipation, while having a primary care physician was associated with participation. Very few items showed significant statistical difference in willingness to participate.Conclusion: Workforce characteristics and access to health care may influence participation in screening and wellness programs. Employment size is not a determining factor for willingness to participate in wellness programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aged animals have been used by researchers to better understand the differences between the young and the aged brain and how these differences may provide insight into the mechanisms of acute seizures and epilepsy in the elderly. To date, there have been relatively few studies dedicated to the modeling of acute seizures and epilepsy in aged, healthy animals. Inherent challenges to this area of research include the costs associated with the purchase and maintenance of older animals and, at times, the unexpected and potentially confounding comorbidities associated with aging. However, recent studies using a variety of in vivo and in vitro models of acute seizures and epilepsy in mice and rats have built upon early investigations in the field, all of which has provided an expanded vision of seizure generation and epileptogenesis in the aged brain. Results of these studies could potentially translate to new and tailored interventional approaches that limit or prevent the development of epilepsy in the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poststroke seizures and epilepsy have been described in numerous clinical and epidemiological studies over many years. In contrast, the pathophysiological events occurring in injured brain that establish poststroke epileptogenesis and epilepsy are not known. However, in the last several years, animal modeling has made significant inroads toward an improved understanding of the progressive biochemical, anatomical, and physiological changes associated with both early and late seizures following stroke. A review of animal studies of poststroke seizures and epilepsy is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A change in the type of cranial deformities (plagiocephaly) presenting to certain clinics has occurred. The purpose of this study was to compare infant head shapes against head shapes of their biologic parents to explore the roles of heredity and environment on cranial shape. Standardized family photographs and anthropometric measurements demonstrated that 30% of the infants had cranial widths 2 standard deviations above norm, while 4.6% had widths exceeding 3 standard deviations. Despite a mean age of only 8 months, 11.6% had widths that were already greater than that of 1 parent. These results demonstrate that plagiocephaly has taken on a new configuration, presenting not only with asymmetry, but also with excessive cranial width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The development of a new cranial imaging system to capture a three-dimensional (3D) model of an infant's head has been previously reported. The accuracy of this new system has been independently established. However, before replacing the traditional plaster casting technique, the two methods require a comparison to ensure that the models they produce are equivalent. Methods: Ten sequential infants were digitized by the 3D imaging system and the plaster casting technique following previously reported protocols. The cast models were also digitized so they could be compared with the digitized images. The two models (3dlmage and Cast) were then imported into dimensional analysis software and aligned and registered with well-established registration algorithms. Difference maps that identified the variation between the two surfaces were generated for each pair, and descriptive statistics of these differences were recorded. Results: The mean difference between the cast and the digitized models was 0.052 mm (standard deviation = 0.988), with a root mean square (RMS) difference of 1.028 mm. Two-dimensional slices obtained from the registered 3D surfaces demonstrated excellent agreement between the cranial contours. Conclusions: In this investigation, the 3D models created by the new imaging system were found to be within 1.0 mm RMS of the models created by the plaster casting technique. Two-dimensional cranial contours demonstrated excellent agreement between the two methods. The results of this investigation confirmed that the new cranial imaging system and the traditional plaster casting technique yield equivalent models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the sonographic characteristics identified in known breast cancers and compares results with mammogram and histologic findings. Echo characteristics; Border characteristics; Quantitative features; Doppler features; Other features.

Maggio N, Shavit E, Chapman J, Segal M. J Neurosci 2008;28(3):732–736. The effects of thrombin, a blood coagulation serine protease, were studied in rat hippocampal slices, in an attempt to comprehend its devastating effects when released into the brain after stroke and head trauma. Thrombin acting through its receptor, protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1), produced a long-lasting enhancement of the reactivity of CA1 neurons to afferent stimulation, an effect that saturated the ability of the tissue to undergo tetanus-induced long-term potentiation. This effect was mediated by activation of a PAR1 receptor, because it was shared by a PAR1 agonist, and was blocked by its selective antagonist. An independent effect of thrombin involved the lowering of the threshold for generating epileptic seizures in CA3 region of the hippocampus. Thus, the experiments in a slice mimicked epileptic and cognitive dysfunction induced by thrombin in the brain, and suggest that these effects are mediated by activation of the PAR1 receptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which focused on the behavioral detection of tactile stimuli during cortical oscillations. Purpose of the use of spike-wave discharge (SWD) as a model of absence seizures; Assessment of perception and auditory information processing during SWD; Association of behavioral characteristics with SWD.

Presents a study which discussed the effect of hypoxia on aminobutyric acid receptor function and subunit expression in NT2-N cells. Association of hypoxia with the physiologic and pathologic changes in neurons; Characterization of NT2-N cells; Analysis of cell response to hypoxia.

Discusses research being done on the mechanisms of epileptogenesis that follow traumatic brain injury. Reference to a study by R. D'Ambrosio et al published in a 2004 issue of "Brain" journal; Factor that hampered the identification of clinically relevant epileptogenic mechanisms and development of effective therapies; Significance of a single episode of severe fluid percussion injury to posttraumatic epilepsy.

Hartings JA, Williams AJ, Tortella FC Exp Neurol 2003;179:139–149 A significant proportion of neurologic patients have electroencephalographic (EEG) seizures in the acute phase after traumatic or ischemic brain injury, including many without overt behavioral manifestations. Although such nonconvulsive seizures may exacerbate neuropathologic processes, they have received limited attention clinically and experimentally. Here we characterize seizure episodes after focal cerebral ischemia in the rat as a model for brain injury–induced seizures. Cortical EEG activity was recorded continuously from both hemispheres up to 72 hours after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Seizure discharges appeared in EEG recordings within 1 hour of MCAo in 13 (81%) of 16 animals and consisted predominantly of generalized 1- to 3-Hz rhythmic spiking. During seizures, animals engaged in quiet awake or normal motor behaviors, but exhibited no motor convulsant activity. Animals had a mean of 10.6 seizure episodes within 2 hours, with a mean duration of 60 seconds per episode. On average, seizures ceased at 1 hour 59 minutes after MCAo in permanently occluded animals and did not occur after reperfusion at 2 hours in transiently occluded animals. In addition to seizures, periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) appeared over penumbral regions in the injured hemisphere, whereas intermittent rhythmic delta activity (IRDA) recurred in the contralateral hemisphere with frontoparietal dominance. PLEDs and IRDA persisted up to 72 hours in permanent MCAo animals, and early onset of the former was predictive of prolonged seizure activity. The presentation of these EEG waveforms, each with characteristic features replicating those in clinical neurologic populations, validates rat MCAo for study of acutely induced brain seizures and other neurophysiologic aspects of brain injury. Karhunen H, Pitkanen A, Virtanen T, Gureviciene I, Pussinen R, Ylinen A, Sivenius J, Nissinen J, Jolkkonen J Epilepsy Res 2003;54:1–10 Poststroke seizures occur in 5% to 20% of patients. Modeling of stroke-induced seizures in animals provides a useful tool for investigating the molecular basis of epileptogenesis and for developing therapies for stroke patients at increased risk for epileptogenesis. The questions addressed in the study were (a) Do rats develop spontaneous seizures after transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO)? (b) Is epileptogenesis associated with impaired hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory? (c) Are the functional abnormalities linked to axonal plasticity in the dentate gyrus? (d) Does the sensorimotor impairment induced by MCAO predict the risk of epileptogenesis? Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to MCAO for 120 minutes. Development of spontaneous seizures was monitored by 1 week of continuous video-electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings at 3, 7, and 12 months after MCAO. Spontaneous seizures were not detected during 1-year follow-up in ischemic rats. Animals were, however, impaired in the spatial memory task ( P < .001), which was not associated with altered hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) or abnormal mossy fiber sprouting (Timm staining). Animals also had a long-lasting sensorimotor deficit ( P < .05). The present study indicates that MCAO causes long-lasting sensorimotor and spatial memory impairment but does not induce epileptogenesis or spontaneous seizures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]