McGill University

About: McGill University is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 72688 authors who have published 162565 publications receiving 6966523 citations. The organization is also known as: Royal institution of advanced learning & University of McGill College.

Suppression of hadrons with large transverse momentum in central Au + Au collisions at √sNN = 130 GeV

Abstract: Transverse momentum spectra for charged hadrons and for neutral pions in the range 1 Gev/c < P-T < 5 GeV/c have been measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in Au + Au collisions at rootS(NN) = 130 GeV. At high p(T) the spectra from peripheral nuclear collisions are consistent with scaling the spectra from p + p collisions by the average number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The spectra from central collisions are significantly suppressed when compared to the binary-scaled p + p expectation, and also when compared to similarly binary-scaled peripheral collisions, indicating a novel nuclear-medium effect in central nuclear collisions at RHIC energies.

The mesolimbic dopaminergic system is implicated in the reinforcing effects of nicotine

Abstract: Rats were trained to self-administer nicotine on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Infusion of the nicotinic antagonist chlorisondamine into the cerebral ventricles produced a sustained reduction in nicotine self-administration compared to vehicle-treated controls. Lesions of the mesolimbic dopamine system were produced by microinfusion of 6-hydroxydopamine into the nucleus accumbens. Following production of the lesions, nicotine self-administration was markedly reduced for the 3-week test period; motor impairment did not appear to be responsible. Post mortem analysis of brain tissue showed that the lesion produced a pronounced decrease in dopamine content of the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle, and a small depletion in the striatum. These data demonstrate that the reinforcing effects of nicotine occur within the central nervous system, and that the mesolimbic dopamine projection plays an important role in these effects.

BRCA1 testing in families with hereditary breast-ovarian cancer. A prospective study of patient decision making and outcomes.

Abstract: Objectives. —To identify predictors of utilization of breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility ( BRCA1 gene) testing and to evaluate outcomes of participation in a testing program. Design. —Prospective cohort study with baseline interview assessment of predictor variables (eg, sociodemographic factors, knowledge about hereditary cancer and genetic testing, perceptions of testing benefits, limitations, and risks). BRCA1 test results were offered after an education and counseling session in a research setting. Outcome variables (including depression, functional health status, and prophylactic surgery plans [follow-up only]) were assessed at baseline and 1-month follow-up interviews. Participants. —Adult male and female members (n=279) of families with BRCA 1 -linked hereditary breast-ovarian cancer (HBOC). Results. —Of subjects who completed a baseline interview (n=192), 60% requested BRCA 1 test results (43% of all study subjects requested results). Requests for results were more frequent for persons with health insurance (odds ratio [OR], 3.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.06-6.80); more first-degree relatives affected with breast cancer (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.16-2.16); more knowledge about BRCA1 testing (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.36-2.50); and indicating that test benefits are important (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.13-1.86). At follow-up, noncarriers of BRCA1 mutations showed statistically significant reductions in depressive symptoms and functional impairment compared with carriers and nontested individuals. Individuals identified as mutation carriers did not exhibit increases in depression and functional impairment. Among unaffected women with no prior prophylactic surgery, 17% of carriers (2/12) intended to have mastectomies and 33% (4/12) to have oophorectomies. Conclusions. —Only a subset of HBOC family members are likely to request BRCA 1 testing when available. Rates of test use may be higher in persons of a higher socioeconomic status and those with more relatives affected with breast cancer. For some high-risk individuals who receive test results in a research setting that includes counseling, there may be psychological benefits. More research is needed to assess the generalizability of these results and evaluate the long-term consequences of BRCA1 testing. ( JAMA . 1996;275:1885-1892)

Memory deficit produced by bilateral lesions in the hippocampal zone.

Abstract: It has often been assumed that memory depends upon the total action of the brain rather than upon some specialized intracerebral neuron mechanism. There is recent evidence, however, in support of the view that the recording of experience is localizable in the same sense that sensory functions and speech functions are localizable. Obviously, none of these subdivisions is separable from the work of the brain as a whole. The following study shows that the capacity to record the daily current of conscious experience may be lost when there is bilateral destruction of a man's hippocampus and hippocampal gyrus. Functional paralysis of this recording mechanism does not, however, interfere with the patient's intellectual performance in other psychological tests not dependent on recent memory. Skills, language, and all those things which have already been learned are not lost. This inability to record new experience is not found in cases of strictly unilateral