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� Objective: To determine whether prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations in type 2 diabetic men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism are lower than those in eugonadal men with type 2 diabetes and whether PSA concentrations are related to plasma testosterone concentrations. � Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we measured serum total testosterone, sex hormone–binding globulin, free testosterone, PSA, hematocrit, and hemoglobin A 1c in consecutive type 2 diabetic men who presented to 2 endocrinology referral centers between January 2006 and January 2007. We collected other clinical and demographic data including age, height, weight, and ethnicity. � Results:�Of 400 eligible patients, 280 men met inclusion criteria. Plasma PSA concentrations were lower in type 2 diabetic men with low free testosterone concentrations than in those with normal free testosterone concentrations (25.65 ± 2.02 ng/dL vs 31.70 ± 2.31 ng/dL, P = .011). PSA concentrations were positively related to age (r = 0.34, P

Reflective functioning or mentalizing is the capacity to interpret both the self and others in terms of internal mental states such as feelings, wishes, goals, desires, and attitudes. This paper is part of a series of papers outlining the development and psychometric features of a new self-report measure, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), designed to provide an easy to administer self-report measure of mentalizing. We describe the development and initial validation of the RFQ in three studies. Study 1 focuses on the development of the RFQ, its factor structure and construct validity in a sample of patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Eating Disorder (ED) (n = 108) and normal controls (n = 295). Study 2 aims to replicate these findings in a fresh sample of 129 patients with personality disorder and 281 normal controls. Study 3 addresses the relationship between the RFQ, parental reflective functioning and infant attachment status as assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) in a sample of 136 community mothers and their infants. In both Study 1 and 2, confirmatory factor analyses yielded two factors assessing Certainty (RFQ_C) and Uncertainty (RFQ_U) about the mental states of self and others. These two factors were relatively distinct, invariant across clinical and non-clinical samples, had satisfactory internal consistency and test–retest stability, and were largely unrelated to demographic features. The scales discriminated between patients and controls, and were significantly and in theoretically predicted ways correlated with measures of empathy, mindfulness and perspective-taking, and with both self-reported and clinician-reported measures of borderline personality features and other indices of maladaptive personality functioning. Furthermore, the RFQ scales were associated with levels of parental reflective functioning, which in turn predicted infant attachment status in the SSP. Overall, this study lends preliminary support for the RFQ as a screening measure of reflective functioning. Further research is needed, however, to investigate in more detail the psychometric qualities of the RFQ. ispartof: PLoS One vol:11 issue:7 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The stratified inner layer of the embryonic fetal brain, the ventricular zone (VZ), contains glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive cell bodies of radial glia. The adult cerebral ventricle is lined by a single layer of cuboidal, ciliated common ependymal cells which are, immunohistologically, GFAP negative. In late gestation, the ventricular lining is formed by tanycytes, ependymal cells with short, intensely GFAP-positive basal fibres. The development of ependyma was examined, morphologically and immunohistologically, in human fetal brain from between 11 weeks gestation to 6 months post-term to determine the relationship between the radial glia cell, tanycyte and common ependymal cell. This study was not able to show whether tanycytes were formed from radial glia or were formed from a previously uncommitted population of VZ cells. The study did show, however, that tanycytes probably mature into common ependymal cells following acquisition of cilia and loss of basal fibres. Electron microscopic data indicate that tanycytes have features suggestive of a secretory and/or transport function.

The germinal layer in preterm infants is a common site of intracerebral hemorrhage that is associated with increased mortality and morbidity in survivors. This matrix is composed of a mass of immature cells containing many thin-walled blood vessels. A major factor in the occurrence of hemorrhage at this site is the absence of a network of fibers to support these vessels. This immunocytochemical study has examined glial differentiation within the germinal layer of brains from fetuses and preterm infants of gestational ages 18 to 35 weeks. Progressive glial differentiation with gestation is described. This process is not uniform and the more posterior germinal layer, lying over the body of the caudate nucleus, demonstrates more rapid maturation than that lying anteriorly near the head of the caudate nucleus. Anteriorly, even at 35 weeks of gestation, a central core of germinal layer cells remains immature with little evidence of glial differentiation. These changes may be related to the occurrence and distribution of germinal layer hemorrhages in preterm infants of varying gestations.