Publication date: Available online 11 July 2017
Source:European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery
Author(s): C.A. Hinojosa, J.E. Anaya-Ayala, Z. Gomez-Arcive, H. Laparra-Escareno, A. Torres-Machorro, R. Lizola
Objective/BackgroundTakayasu's arteritis (TA) is rare inflammatory large vessel form of vasculitis. The objective of this study was to evaluate experience in the management of TA patients and to identify the influence of inflammatory markers and clinical variables associated with disease progression, worsening ischaemic symptoms, and the need for interventions.MethodsDemographics, and laboratory and clinical variables in patients that required revascularisation procedures were compared with those who had adequate symptomatic control with medical management. Categorical data were analysed with Fisher's exact test, continuous variables with two-sample t test, and a life table analysis was used to study the recurrence of symptoms in intervened patients.ResultsFrom January 1995 to May 2016, 47 patients (mean age 30 years; range 14–59 years) were managed; 44 (94%) were female. During the mean follow-up period of 120 months, 21 (45%) underwent 23 procedures (17 of these [74%] open, six [26%] endovascular). From the intervened group, eight (38%) patients presented with transient ischaemic attacks, five (24%) with renovascular hypertension, and four (19%) with upper extremity and four (19%) lower extremity claudication. Comparative analysis demonstrated that elevation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at the time of the diagnosis (revascularisation group: median value 28 mm/hour; medical management group: median value 15 mm/hour) was associated with progression of the disease, worsening symptoms, and subsequent need for intervention (p = .04). Active smoking was a factor connected with the need for revascularisation (p = .05). Immediate symptomatic improvement occurred in 19 (90%) patients that underwent surgical or endovascular revascularisation.ConclusionPatients with TA who underwent interventions had higher ESR at the time of diagnosis; this factor and active smoking were associated with progression of the disease and worsening ischaemic symptoms despite medical therapy. Revascularisation procedures are effective at relieving symptoms; lifelong surveillance is necessary.
http://ift.tt/2u81Vd0
Τετάρτη 12 Ιουλίου 2017
Factors Associated With Need for Revascularisation in Non-coronary Arterial Occlusive Lesions Secondary to Takayasu's Arteritis
The Ambiguous Role of γδ T Lymphocytes in Antitumor Immunity
Publication date: Available online 11 July 2017
Source:Trends in Immunology
Author(s): Guranda Chitadze, Hans-Heinrich Oberg, Daniela Wesch, Dieter Kabelitz
γδ T cells play a role in immune surveillance because they recognize stress-induced surface molecules and metabolic intermediates that are frequently dysregulated in transformed cells. Hence, γδ T cells have attracted much interest as effector cells in cell-based immunotherapy. Recently, however, it has been realized that γδ T cells can also promote tumorigenesis through various mechanisms including regulatory activity and IL-17 production. In this review we outline both the pathways involved in cancer cell recognition and killing by γδ T cells as well as current evidence for their protumorigenic activity in various models. Finally, we discuss strategies to improve the tumor reactivity of γδ T cells and to counteract their protumorigenic activities, which should open improved perspectives for their clinical application.
http://ift.tt/2tMqDge
Scholar : These new articles for Annals of the American Association of Geographers are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for The Aging Male are available online
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INVASIVE ASPERGILLOSIS IN A PATIENT WITH END STAGE RENAL DISEASE
Publication date: Available online 11 July 2017
Source:Medical Mycology Case Reports
Author(s): Neslihan Cicek, Nurdan Yildiz, Eda Kepenekli Kadayifci, Ibrahim Gokce, Harika Alpay
Invasive aspergillosis caused by A. Fumigatus, almost occurs in immunocompromised hosts and has a poor prognosis. We report a case of invasive Aspergillosis in a 15-year-old boy with ESRD. He was initially diagnosed as lobar pneumonia and peritonitis. When he complained for lower extremity weakness and had convulsions, a solid mass originated from right lung compresses the spinal cord and intracranial hemorrhagic abscesses were found on MRI. The biopsy specimen showed hypae of aspergillus-spp and he died on 12th day.
http://ift.tt/2tMFMhI
Scholar : Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Volume 107, Issue 5, September 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online
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Scholar : Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, Volume 75, Issue 6, August 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online
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Scholar : Advances in Mental Health, Volume 15, Issue 2, September 2017 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online
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Scholar : These new articles for Studies in Theatre and Performance are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for a/b: Auto/Biography Studies are available online
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The sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres suppressed the TLR/NF-κB signaling in DSS-induced experimental colitis
Publication date: September 2017
Source:International Immunopharmacology, Volume 50
Author(s): Huifang Xiong, Liang Tian, Zihan Zhao, Shuping Chen, Qiaoyun Zhao, Junbo Hong, Yong Xie, Nanjin Zhou, Yingjun Fu
Sinomenine is a pure alkaloid with immunosuppressive effects that is extracted from the Chinese medicinal plant Sinomenium acutum. We studied the therapeutic effects of sinomenine on inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, we randomly divided mice into the following ten groups: Control group; DSS-induced colitis group; Salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP)-treated group; Chitosan-treated group; low-, medium-, and high-dose sinomenine-treated and sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres-treated groups. We recorded changes in colon length, disease activity index (DAI), and colon pathology, measured TLR4, MyD88, SIGIRR, NF-κB p65 protein levels and inflammatory serum cytokine levels.Except for the Control group, the weight of mice in each group decreased, the DAI of the DSS-induced colitis group was significantly higher than the other groups, and the DAIs of the sinomenine- and sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres-treated groups were significantly lower than that of the SASP-treated group. TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB p65 and proinflammatory cytokine expressions decreased dose dependently in the sinomenine and sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres-treated groups and were generally lower in the sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres groups. However, SIGIRR and anti-inflammatory IL-10 expressions exhibited the opposite pattern. Based on the superior therapeutic effect, sinomenine enteric-coated microspheres might regulate TLR/NF-κB signaling and would be beneficial for an effective and safe therapy of inflammatory bowel disease.
http://ift.tt/2ui5LAC
Carvedilol can attenuate histamine-induced paw edema and formaldehyde-induced arthritis in rats without risk of gastric irritation
Publication date: September 2017
Source:International Immunopharmacology, Volume 50
Author(s): faf Sayed Osman, Dina Ahmed Labib, Mahmoud M. Kamel
Background and aimRheumatoid arthritis treatment aims to control joint damage and any associated complications such as cardiovascular disease. Most anti-inflammatory drugs have a high tendency to cause gastro-intestinal irritation. The present study is designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of carvedilol and to study its effect on gastric mucosa.Experimental approachLornoxicam (1.3mg/kg) or carvedilol (10mg/kg) was administrated orally 1h before histamine injection into animals of a histamine-induced paw edema model and orally daily for 11days into animals of a formaldehyde-induced arthritis model. Tumor necrosis factor-α and prostaglandin E2 were measured in animals of the formaldehyde-induced arthritis model. The effect of lornoxicam and carvedilol on gastric mucosa was assessed in normal rats and after induction of cold stress ulcer.ResultsCarvedilol succeeded in reducing hind paw edema in both histamine-induced paw edema and formaldehyde-induced arthritis and in reducing the elevated level of tumor necrosis factor-α and prostaglandin E2 nearly with near equal efficacy compared with lornoxicam. Carvedilol did not show any ulcerative effect on the gastric mucosa of normal rats, and its use was associated with an improvement of both the gross and histopathological pictures of gastric ulcers in animals of the cold stress ulcer model compared with lornoxicam treated rats.ConclusionThe current findings support the use of carvedilol both in the management of inflammation as well as the prevention of cardiovascular complications in rheumatoid arthritis patients. The use of carvedilol was not associated with any gastro-intestinal tract irritation.
http://ift.tt/2uQLMGz
Influence of the number and interval of treatment cycles on cytokine-induced killer cells and their adjuvant therapeutic effects in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Publication date: September 2017
Source:International Immunopharmacology, Volume 50
Author(s): Yuanlong Gu, Huimin Lv, Juan Zhao, Qi Li, Guannan Mu, Jiade Li, Jiazi Wuyang, Ge Lou, Ruitao Wang, Yanqiao Zhang, Xiaoyi Huang
ObjectiveCytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells have important therapeutic effects in adoptive cell transfer (ACT) for the treatment of various malignancies. In this study, we focused on in vitro expansion of CIK cells and their clinical efficacy in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsA total of 64 patients with NSCLC (enrolled from 2011 to 2012), including 32 patients who received chemotherapy alone or with sequential radiotherapy (conventional treatment, control group) and 32 patients who received conventional treatment and sequential CIK infusion (study group), were retrospectively analyzed. The time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS) and adverse effects were analyzed and the phenotype of lymphocytes in CIK population was also determined by flow cytometry.ResultsAfter in vitro expansion, the average percentage of CIK cells was 26.35%. During the 54-month follow up, the median OS and TTP were significantly longer in the study group than in the control group (P=0.0189 and P=0.0129, respectively). The median OS of the ACT≥4cycles subgroup was significantly longer than that of the ACT<4cycles subgroup (P=0.0316). The percentage of CIK cells in patients who received ≥4cycles of ACT was higher than that in patients treated with <4cycles of ACT (P=0.0376). Notably, CIK cells were difficult to expand in vitro in some patients after the first ACT cycle but became much easier as the treatment cycles increased monthly. Longer treatment interval negatively impacted the expansion of CIK cells.ConclusionsSystematic immune levels can be increasingly boosted by reinfusion of ACT. Conventional treatment plus CIK cells is an effective therapeutic strategy to prevent progression and prolong survival of patients with advanced NSCLC.
http://ift.tt/2ui0XLN
Physiological and ultrastructural effects of acute ozone fumigation in the lichen Xanthoria parietina : the role of parietin and hydration state
Abstract
The physiological and ultrastructural effects induced by acute exposure to ozone (O3) were investigated in the lichen Xanthoria parietina. Our working hypothesis was that parietin content and hydration of the thalli may play a role in the modulation of the effects of O3 exposure. Four batches of X. parietina samples, dry and wet, with (P+) and without (P−) parietin, were fumigated for 1 h with 3 ppm O3. The effects of O3 were assessed immediately after the fumigation and after one week of recovery under controlled conditions. O3 fumigation caused physiological and ultrastructural impairment both to the photobiont and the mycobiont, irrespective if samples were fumigated wet or dry, and P+ or P−. However, one week after fumigation, a recovery was observed in P+ samples for the photobiont and in dry samples for the mycobiont. We suggest that the hydration state may play a major role in determining the severity of the damage, while the presence of parietin may promote the recovery. Our results provide physiological and ultrastructural basis to explain the ecological insensitivity of lichens to high environmental levels of ozone occurring during dry Mediterranean summers.
http://ift.tt/2sP1ZKZ
Joint prediction of multiple scores captures better individual traits from brain images
Publication date: September 2017
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Mehdi Rahim, Bertrand Thirion, Danilo Bzdok, Irène Buvat, Gaël Varoquaux
To probe individual variations in brain organization, population imaging relates features of brain images to rich descriptions of the subjects such as genetic information or behavioral and clinical assessments. Capturing common trends across these measurements is important: they jointly characterize the disease status of patient groups. In particular, mapping imaging features to behavioral scores with predictive models opens the way toward more precise diagnosis. Here we propose to jointly predict all the dimensions (behavioral scores) that make up the individual profiles, using so-called multi-output models. This approach often boosts prediction accuracy by capturing latent shared information across scores. We demonstrate the efficiency of multi-output models on two independent resting-state fMRI datasets targeting different brain disorders (Alzheimer's Disease and schizophrenia). Furthermore, the model with joint prediction generalizes much better to a new cohort: a model learned on one study is more accurately transferred to an independent one. Finally, we show how multi-output models can easily be extended to multi-modal settings, combining heterogeneous data sources for a better overall accuracy.
Graphical abstract
http://ift.tt/2tI0HUL
Comparing test-retest reliability of dynamic functional connectivity methods
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Ann S. Choe, Mary Beth Nebel, Anita D. Barber, Jessica R. Cohen, Yuting Xu, James J. Pekar, Brian Caffo, Martin A. Lindquist
Due to the dynamic, condition-dependent nature of brain activity, interest in estimating rapid functional connectivity (FC) changes that occur during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has recently soared. However, studying dynamic FC is methodologically challenging, due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in fMRI and the massive number of data points generated during the analysis. Thus, it is important to establish methods and summary measures that maximize reliability and the utility of dynamic FC to provide insight into brain function. In this study, we investigated the reliability of dynamic FC summary measures derived using three commonly used estimation methods - sliding window (SW), tapered sliding window (TSW), and dynamic conditional correlations (DCC) methods. We applied each of these techniques to two publicly available rs-fMRI test-retest data sets - the Multi-Modal MRI Reproducibility Resource (Kirby Data) and the Human Connectome Project (HCP Data). The reliability of two categories of dynamic FC summary measures were assessed, specifically basic summary statistics of the dynamic correlations and summary measures derived from recurring whole-brain patterns of FC ("brain states"). The results provide evidence that dynamic correlations are reliably detected in both test-retest data sets, and the DCC method outperforms SW methods in terms of the reliability of summary statistics. However, across all estimation methods, reliability of the brain state-derived measures was low. Notably, the results also show that the DCC-derived dynamic correlation variances are significantly more reliable than those derived using the non-parametric estimation methods. This is important, as the fluctuations of dynamic FC (i.e., its variance) has a strong potential to provide summary measures that can be used to find meaningful individual differences in dynamic FC. We therefore conclude that utilizing the variance of the dynamic connectivity is an important component in any dynamic FC-derived summary measure.
http://ift.tt/2tHCuxL
Interoceptive signals impact visual processing: Cardiac modulation of visual body perception
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Roberta Ronchi, Fosco Bernasconi, Christian Pfeiffer, Javier Bello-Ruiz, Mariia Kaliuzhna, Olaf Blanke
Multisensory perception research has largely focused on exteroceptive signals, but recent evidence has revealed the integration of interoceptive signals with exteroceptive information. Such research revealed that heartbeat signals affect sensory (e.g., visual) processing: however, it is unknown how they impact the perception of body images. Here we linked our participants' heartbeat to visual stimuli and investigated the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of cardio-visual stimulation on the processing of human body images. We recorded visual evoked potentials with 64-channel electroencephalography while showing a body or a scrambled-body (control) that appeared at the frequency of the on-line recorded participants' heartbeat or not (not-synchronous, control). Extending earlier studies, we found a body-independent effect, with cardiac signals enhancing visual processing during two time periods (77–130 ms and 145–246 ms). Within the second (later) time-window we detected a second effect characterised by enhanced activity in parietal, temporo-occipital, inferior frontal, and right basal ganglia-insula regions, but only when non-scrambled body images were flashed synchronously with the heartbeat (208–224 ms). In conclusion, our results highlight the role of interoceptive information for the visual processing of human body pictures within a network integrating cardio-visual signals of relevance for perceptual and cognitive aspects of visual body processing.
http://ift.tt/2tdwOs8
How to improve parameter estimates in GLM-based fMRI data analysis: cross-validated Bayesian model averaging
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Joram Soch, Achim Pascal Meyer, John-Dylan Haynes, Carsten Allefeld
In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), model quality of general linear models (GLMs) for first-level analysis is rarely assessed. In recent work (Soch et al., 2016: "How to avoid mismodelling in GLM-based fMRI data analysis: cross-validated Bayesian model selection", NeuroImage, vol. 141, pp. 469–489; http://ift.tt/2tdeWxw), we have introduced cross-validated Bayesian model selection (cvBMS) to infer the best model for a group of subjects and use it to guide second-level analysis. While this is the optimal approach given that the same GLM has to be used for all subjects, there is a much more efficient procedure when model selection only addresses nuisance variables and regressors of interest are included in all candidate models. In this work, we propose cross-validated Bayesian model averaging (cvBMA) to improve parameter estimates for these regressors of interest by combining information from all models using their posterior probabilities. This is particularly useful as different models can lead to different conclusions regarding experimental effects and the most complex model is not necessarily the best choice. We find that cvBMS can prevent not detecting established effects and that cvBMA can be more sensitive to experimental effects than just using even the best model in each subject or the model which is best in a group of subjects.
http://ift.tt/2tHotA8
Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Julia Wendt, Andreas Löw, Mathias Weymar, Martin Lotze, Alfons O. Hamm
Defensive behaviors in animals and humans vary dynamically with increasing proximity of a threat and depending upon the behavioral repertoire at hand. The current study investigated physiological and behavioral adjustments and associated brain activation when participants were exposed to dynamically approaching threat that was either inevitable or could be avoided by motor action. When the approaching threat was inevitable, attentive freezing was observed as indicated by fear bradycardia, startle potentiation, and a dynamic increase in activation of the anterior insula and the periaqueductal grey. In preparation for active avoidance a switch in defensive behavior was observed characterized by startle inhibition and heart rate acceleration along with potentiated activation of the amygdala and the periaqueductal grey. Importantly, the modulation of defensive behavior according to threat imminence and the behavioral option at hand was associated with activity changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings improve our understanding of brain mechanisms guiding human behavior during approaching threat depending on available resources.
http://ift.tt/2tHGi2j
Improved tractography using asymmetric fibre orientation distributions
Publication date: September 2017
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): Matteo Bastiani, Michiel Cottaar, Krikor Dikranian, Aurobrata Ghosh, Hui Zhang, Daniel C. Alexander, Timothy E. Behrens, Saad Jbabdi, Stamatios N. Sotiropoulos
Diffusion MRI allows us to make inferences on the structural organisation of the brain by mapping water diffusion to white matter microstructure. However, such a mapping is generally ill-defined; for instance, diffusion measurements are antipodally symmetric (diffusion along x and –x are equal), whereas the distribution of fibre orientations within a voxel is generally not symmetric. Therefore, different sub-voxel patterns such as crossing, fanning, or sharp bending, cannot be distinguished by fitting a voxel-wise model to the signal. However, asymmetric fibre patterns can potentially be distinguished once spatial information from neighbouring voxels is taken into account. We propose a neighbourhood-constrained spherical deconvolution approach that is capable of inferring asymmetric fibre orientation distributions (A-fods). Importantly, we further design and implement a tractography algorithm that utilises the estimated A-fods, since the commonly used streamline tractography paradigm cannot directly take advantage of the new information. We assess performance using ultra-high resolution histology data where we can compare true orientation distributions against sub-voxel fibre patterns estimated from down-sampled data. Finally, we explore the benefits of A-fods-based tractography using in vivo data by evaluating agreement of tractography predictions with connectivity estimates made using different in-vivo modalities. The proposed approach can reliably estimate complex fibre patterns such as sharp bending and fanning, which voxel-wise approaches cannot estimate. Moreover, histology-based and in-vivo results show that the new framework allows more accurate tractography and reconstruction of maps quantifying (symmetric and asymmetric) fibre complexity.
http://ift.tt/2tdiBLJ
Neural inhibition can explain negative BOLD responses: A mechanistic modelling and fMRI study
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 158
Author(s): S. Sten, K. Lundengård, S.T. Witt, G. Cedersund, F. Elinder, M. Engström
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of hemodynamic changes captured in the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response contains information of brain activity. The BOLD response is the result of a complex neurovascular coupling and comes in at least two fundamentally different forms: a positive and a negative deflection. Because of the complexity of the signaling, mathematical modelling can provide vital help in the data analysis. For the positive BOLD response, there are plenty of mathematical models, both physiological and phenomenological. However, for the negative BOLD response, no physiologically based model exists. Here, we expand our previously developed physiological model with the most prominent mechanistic hypothesis for the negative BOLD response: the neural inhibition hypothesis. The model was trained and tested on experimental data containing both negative and positive BOLD responses from two studies: 1) a visual-motor task and 2) a working-memory task in conjunction with administration of the tranquilizer diazepam. Our model was able to predict independent validation data not used for training and provides a mechanistic underpinning for previously observed effects of diazepam. The new model moves our understanding of the negative BOLD response from qualitative reasoning to a quantitative systems-biology level, which can be useful both in basic research and in clinical use.
http://ift.tt/2tHhBTo
Scholar : These new articles for Annals of GIS are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science are available online
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Differential expression of albumins and globulins of wheat flours of different technological qualities revealed by nanoUPLC-UDMSE
Publication date: Available online 12 July 2017
Source:Food Chemistry
Author(s): Verônica Cristina Mayrinck Victorio, Gustavo H.M.F. Souza, Millena Cristina Barros Santos, Andrés Rodríguez Vega, L.C. Cameron, Mariana Simões Larraz Ferreira
Soluble proteins were extracted from common wheat flour obtained from nine cultivars of different qualities and were analyzed by nanoUPLC and Ultra Definition Mass Spectrometry (UDMSE) label-free quantitative approach. Collectively, 5,894 proteins were identified and quantified with 8 peptides/protein. A total of 414 proteins were found differentially expressed with 85% proteins not yet described in the literature, according to their biological function. Quality-related proteins, such as puroindolines and chaperones, notably involved in the gluten-protein folding process, were up-regulated in superior (SP) and medium (MD) flours qualities and down-regulated in the low (LW) ones. Domains related to the chaperones activity were also found up-regulated in SP and MD and down-regulated in LW. In this work, nanoUPLC-UDMSE analysis was effective to identify and quantify metabolic proteins, allowing a clear distinction of the wheat flours and providing new perspectives for evaluating the technological quality based on the low abundant proteins of wheat endosperm.
http://ift.tt/2sPiNBe
Scholar : These new articles for Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for Critical Discourse Studies are available online
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Scholar : These new articles for American Review of Canadian Studies are available online
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Publication date: September 2017 Source: Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 110 Author(s): Lucía Fernández-del-Río, Anish Nag, Elen...
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Abstract Noise pollution is a major factor of environmental complaints in many cities, which has significant impacts on human health. As a...
