Novel Objective Tool to Assess Tremor Reveals Unilateral Focused Ultrasound Improves Tremor Bilaterally.

Background: Tremor in essential tremor and in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease is assessed by subjective observations in patients undergoing focused ultrasound thalamotomy, a minimally invasive procedure intended to alleviate tremor in these patients.

Objective: To develop an objective tool for tremor analysis to be used before and after focused ultrasound thalamotomy treatment in the treated hand (contralateral to ablation) and non-treated (ipsilateral to ablation).

Methods: Using image processing and signal processing that utilized images of a Archimedes spiral drawing, we created a tool to analyze tremor.

Maternal immunization impairs lymphoma growth and CNS/ocular metastasis in the offspring.

Maternal immunization is an important tool directed against a variety of infectious maladies in the offspring. A complementary, but less explored area is the use of maternal immunization in the prevention and treatment of childhood cancers. This in part stems from the lack of adequate experimental model systems.

Dynamics of amylopectin granule accumulation during the course of the chronic infection is linked to intra-cyst bradyzoite replication.

The contribution of amylopectin granules (AG), comprised of a branched chain storage homopolymer of glucose, to the maintenance and progression of the chronic infection has remained undefined. Here we describe the role of AG in the physiology of encysted bradyzoites by using a custom developed imaging-based application AmyloQuant that permitted quantification of relative levels of AG within derived tissue cysts during the initiation and maturation of the chronic infection. Our findings establish that AG are dynamic entities, exhibiting considerable heterogeneity among tissue cysts at all post infection time points examined.

Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Tremor Relief in Atypical Parkisnsonism.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) VIM-thalamotomy has established efficacy and safety in tremor relief in patients with essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. The efficacy and safety in patients with atypical parkinsonism have not been reported.

Objective: To report on the efficacy and safety of FUS VIM-thalamotomy in 8 patients with parkinsonism, multiple system atrophy-Parkinsonian type (MSA-P) ( = 5), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) ( = 3).

TgLaforin, a glucan phosphatase, reveals the dynamic role of storage polysaccharides in tachyzoites and bradyzoites.

The asexual stages of are defined by the rapidly growing tachyzoite during the acute infection and by the slow growing bradyzoite housed within tissue cysts during the chronic infection. These stages represent unique physiological states, each with distinct glucans reflecting differing metabolic needs. A defining feature of bradyzoites is the presence of insoluble storage glucans known as amylopectin granules (AGs), the function of which remains largely unexplored during the chronic infection.