We compared young people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with age, sex and IQ matched controls on emotion recognition of faces and pictorial context. Each participant completed two tests of emotion recognition. The first used Ekman series faces. The second used facial expressions in visual context. A control task involved identifying occupations using visual context. The ability to recognize emotions in faces (with or without context) and the ability to identify occupations from context was positively correlated with both increasing age and IQ score. Neither a diagnosis of ASD nor a measure of severity (Autism Quotient score) affected these abilities, except that the participants with ASD were significantly worse at recognizing angry and happy facial expressions. Unlike the control group, most participants with ASD mirrored the facial expression before interpreting it. Test conditions may lead to results different from everyday life. Alternatively, deficits in emotion recognition in high-functioning ASD may be less marked than previously thought.

The efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) in the treatment of painful lumbosacral spondylosis has been reported. This case series reviews 22 consecutive patients presenting to clinic who had been previously treated with PRF with good results. Patients being prescribed opioids were excluded. During the PRF application, tissue temperature was limited to 43 degrees C. A minimum of 200 mA of current was delivered in each case. The minimum current (at 50 Hz) necessary to stimulate the involved nerve was recorded. The duration of time from PRF treatment until the patient requested a subsequent application was documented. The effective duration of PRF in patients treated for lumbosacral spondylosis ranged from 5 to 18 months (mean +/- SD: 9 +/- 3.7 months; n = 16). PRF applications to dorsal root ganglia were effective from 2 to 12 months (7 +/- 3.8 months; n = 8). Similar results were observed when PRF was applied to cervical medial branch nerves, one suprascapular nerve, and one stellate ganglion. The mean (50 Hz) sensory stimulation thresholds obtained before treatment ranged from 0.08 V to 0.14 V. In this select population of patients not receiving controlled substances, who had a favorable response to a previous PRF application, the duration of pain relief supports the use of PRF as an effective pain treatment.

In borderline hypertensive rats (BHR), behavioral stress produces hypertension, which has been attributed to increases in sympathetic nervous system activity and peripheral changes in vascular structure. However, the mechanisms mediating development of stress-induced hypertension have not been well defined. Experiments were designed to determine hemodynamic effects and changes in small mesenteric artery (≈300 μm) vascular reactivity in response to 10 days of air-jet stress (2 h/day) in BHR and in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. The acute stress-induced increase in mean arterial pressure (AP) was impaired in WKY rats compared with BHR on day 1, and habituation developed to the increase in AP in BHR, but not WKY rats. Conversely, WKY rats adapted to the stress-induced tachycardia to a larger extent than BHR. The mechanisms mediating endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh) were altered in small mesenteric arteries isolated from WKY rats and BHR after 10 days of air-jet stress. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase activity had a significantly larger inhibitory effect on ACh-induced relaxation in vessels from stressed compared with control BHR. Also, cyclooxygenase products contributed to ACh-induced relaxation of small mesenteric arteries from stressed WKY rats, but not control WKY rats. Endothelium-independent relaxation to nitroprusside was impaired in vessels from stressed WKY rats, but not stressed BHR. Finally, contraction to phenylephrine was impaired in vessels from stressed BHR, but not WKY rats. In conclusion, changes in vascular reactivity induced by air-jet stress appear to correlate with, and may contribute to, the differential hemodynamic adaptations to stress observed in WKY rats and BHR.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is thought to play an important role in the development of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension. Because hypertension is associated with an increased incidence of coronary artery disease, this study was designed to determine if coronary vascular contraction to ET-1 is altered in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats and to determine the effect of chronic treatment of DOCA-salt rats with the selective ETA receptor antagonist A-127722. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: DOCA, Placebo, DOCA + A-127722, and Placebo + A-127722. A-127722 was administered in drinking water at a concentration of 8 mg/100 ml. After 3 wk, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was significantly enhanced in DOCA-salt compared with Placebo rats. A-127722 significantly inhibited the increase in MAP. Contraction to ET-1 (10−11 to 3 × 10−8 M) was measured in isolated coronary and mesenteric small arteries (200–300 μm, intraluminal diameter) maintained at a constant intraluminal pressure of 40 mmHg and was significantly impaired in vessels from DOCA-salt compared with Placebo rats. Dose-dependent contractions to KCl were also inhibited in coronary, but only minimally impaired in mesenteric, arteries of DOCA-salt rats. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase activity did not restore contraction to ET-1 in coronary small arteries. However contractions to ET-1 were enhanced in mesenteric small arteries. Chronic treatment with A-127722 significantly restored contraction to ET-1 in coronary, but not in mesenteric, arteries of DOCA-salt rats. Because ETAreceptor blockade impairs the development of hypertension and improves coronary vascular reactivity, these data indicate that ET-1 plays an important role in coronary vascular dysfunction associated with DOCA-salt hypertension.

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