Successful delivery of the fetus (parturition) depends on coordinate interactions between the uterus and cervix. A majority (70%) of mice deficient in the type 1 isozyme of steroid 5alpha-reductase fail to deliver their young at term and thus manifest a parturition defect. Using in vitro and in vivo measurements we show here that rhythmic contractions of the uterus occur normally in these mutant mice at the end of gestation. In contrast, the cervix of the mutant animal fails to ripen at term as judged by biomechanical, histological, and endocrinological assays. Impaired metabolism of progesterone in the cervix of the mutant mice in late gestation leads to an accumulation of this steroid in the tissue. We conclude that a failure of cervical ripening underlies the parturition defect in mice lacking steroid 5alpha-reductase type 1 and that this enzyme normally plays an essential role in cervical progesterone catabolism at the end of pregnancy.
The morning glory is a meteorological phenomenon which occurs in northern Australia and takes the form of a series of roll clouds. The morning glory is generated by the interaction of nocturnal seabreezes over Cape York Peninsula and propagates in a south-westerly direction over the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the present work, it is shown that the morning glory can be modelled by the resonant flow of a two-layer fluid over topography, the topography being the mountains of Cape York Peninsula. In the limit of a deep upper layer, the equations of motion reduce to a forced Benjamin–Ono equation. In this context, resonant means that the underlying flow velocity of the seabreezes is near a linear long-wave velocity for one of the long-wave modes. The morning glory is then modelled by the undular bore (simple wave) solution of the modulation equations for the Benjamin–Ono equation. This modulation solution is compared with full numerical solutions of the forced Benjamin–Ono equation and good agreement is found when the wave amplitudes are not too large. The reason for the difference between the numerical and modulation solutions for large wave amplitude is also discussed. Finally, the predictions of the modulation solution are compared with observational data on the morning glory and good agreement is found for the pressure jump due to the lead wave of the morning glory, but not for the speed and half-width of this lead wave. The reasons for this are discussed.
New evidence suggests that autism may be associated with (a) varied behavioral responses to folate therapy and (b) metabolic anomalies, including those in folate metabolism, that contribute to hypomethylation of DNA. We hypothesized that children with autism who are homozygous for the MTHFR 677 T allele (TT) and, to a lesser extent those with the CT variant, would exhibit more behavioral problems and/or more severe problematic behaviors than homozygous wild-type (CC) individuals because of difficulties in effectively converting 5,10-MTHF to 5-MTHF. Data from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) collection were analyzed for all children who met strict criteria for autism per the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and who had been genotyped for the 677 C to T MTHFR polymorphism (n=147). Chi-square tests, logistic regression, and one-way ANOVAs were used to determine whether differences existed among MTHFR genotypes for specific behaviors on the ADI-R and indices for level of functioning. Exploratory results indicated four behaviors from the ADI-R that were more common and problematic (95% CI) among those with at least one copy of the T allele as compared to homozygous wild-type individuals: direct gaze, current complex body movements, a history of self-injurious behavior, and current overactivity (ORs=2.72, 2.33, 2.12, 2.47, respectively). No differences existed among genotypes for level of functioning as measured with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition, Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices, or the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Findings call for further investigation of the relationship between folate metabolism and problem behaviors among children with autism.
As psychiatrists in training, we are taught that "language is the mirror of thought" (2, p. 156). Implicitly, we learn that language means speech, for we find, in revered textbooks, amid detailed descriptions of the wealth of information gleanable from the speech of psychiatric patients, remarks like this: "eliciting the history and mental state becomes impossible in a mute patient" (2, p .163). Thus, believing speech to be the primary window on thought, we learn to listen carefully to the speech of patients. To under stand the patient's experiences and sources of distress, in order to find a way to help, we attend to what is said, and extrapolate what is not said. We A m e r ic a n J o u r n a l o f P s y c h o t h e r a p y
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