Value of routine follow-up in oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer patients treated with curative intent.

Background: The major goal of routine follow-up in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients is the asymptomatic detection of new disease in order to improve survival. This study evaluated the effect of routine follow-up on overall survival (OS).

Methods: A retrospective cohort of 307 consecutive OPSCC patients treated with curative intent between 2006 and 2012 was analyzed.

The Hybrid Drive: a chronic implant device combining tetrode arrays with silicon probes for layer-resolved ensemble electrophysiology in freely moving mice.

. Understanding the function of brain cortices requires simultaneous investigation at multiple spatial and temporal scales and to link neural activity to an animal's behavior. A major challenge is to measure within- and across-layer information in actively behaving animals, in particular in mice that have become a major species in neuroscience due to an extensive genetic toolkit.

Quantifying the duration of the preclinical detectable phase in cancer screening: a systematic review.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide an overview of published mathematical estimation approaches to quantify the duration of the preclinical detectable phase (PCDP) using data from cancer screening programs.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed and Embase was conducted for original studies presenting mathematical approaches using screening data. The studies were categorized by mathematical approach, data source, and assumptions made.

Implantation of Neuropixels probes for chronic recording of neuronal activity in freely behaving mice and rats.

How dynamic activity in neural circuits gives rise to behavior is a major area of interest in neuroscience. A key experimental approach for addressing this question involves measuring extracellular neuronal activity in awake, behaving animals. Recently developed Neuropixels probes have provided a step change in recording neural activity in large tissue volumes with high spatiotemporal resolution.

High-density electrophysiological recordings in macaque using a chronically implanted 128-channel passive silicon probe.

Objective: The analysis of interactions among local populations of neurons in the cerebral cortex (e.g. within cortical microcolumns) requires high resolution and high channel count recordings from chronically implanted laminar microelectrode arrays.

Recording Quality of Mechanically Decoupled Floating Versus Skull-Fixed Silicon-Based Neural Probes.

Throughout the past decade, silicon-based neural probes have become a driving force in neural engineering. Such probes comprise sophisticated, integrated CMOS electronics which provide a large number of recording sites along slender probe shanks. Using such neural probes in a chronic setting often requires them to be mechanically anchored with respect to the skull.

Towards evidence-based follow-up intervals for breast cancer survivors: Estimates of the preclinical detectable phase of contralateral second breast cancer.

Purpose: Follow-up schemes in breast cancer survivors are predominantly consensus-based. To determine evidence-based follow-up intervals, estimates of sensitivity of the screening test(s) and duration of the preclinical detectable phase (PCDP) are key. We estimated the sensitivity and the duration of the PCDP of clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography for the detection of contralateral second breast cancers (CBC) in breast cancer survivors.

Fine-scale mapping of cortical laminar activity during sleep slow oscillations using high-density linear silicon probes.

Background: The cortical slow (∼1 Hz) oscillation (SO), which is thought to play an active role in the consolidation of memories, is a brain rhythm characteristic of slow-wave sleep, with alternating periods of neuronal activity and silence. Although the laminar distribution of cortical activity during SO is well-studied by using linear neural probes, traditional devices have a relatively low (20-100 μm) spatial resolution along cortical layers.

New Method: In this work, we demonstrate a high-density linear silicon probe fabricated to record the SO with very high spatial resolution (∼6 μm), simultaneously from multiple cortical layers.

A silicon-based neural probe with densely-packed low-impedance titanium nitride microelectrodes for ultrahigh-resolution in vivo recordings.

In this study, we developed and validated a single-shank silicon-based neural probe with 128 closely-packed microelectrodes suitable for high-resolution extracellular recordings. The 8-mm-long, 100-µm-wide and 50-µm-thick implantable shank of the probe fabricated using a 0.13-µm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) metallization technology contains square-shaped (20 × 20 µm), low-impedance (~ 50 kΩ at 1 kHz) recording sites made of rough and porous titanium nitride which are arranged in a 32 × 4 dense array with an inter-electrode pitch of 22.

Large-scale recording of thalamocortical circuits: in vivo electrophysiology with the two-dimensional electronic depth control silicon probe.

Recording simultaneous activity of a large number of neurons in distributed neuronal networks is crucial to understand higher order brain functions. We demonstrate the in vivo performance of a recently developed electrophysiological recording system comprising a two-dimensional, multi-shank, high-density silicon probe with integrated complementary metal-oxide semiconductor electronics. The system implements the concept of electronic depth control (EDC), which enables the electronic selection of a limited number of recording sites on each of the probe shafts.

Integration of silicon-based neural probes and micro-drive arrays for chronic recording of large populations of neurons in behaving animals.

Objective: Understanding how neuronal assemblies underlie cognitive function is a fundamental question in system neuroscience. It poses the technical challenge to monitor the activity of populations of neurons, potentially widely separated, in relation to behaviour. In this paper, we present a new system which aims at simultaneously recording from a large population of neurons from multiple separated brain regions in freely behaving animals.

Integrating powdered activated carbon into wastewater tertiary filter for micro-pollutant removal.

Integrating powdered activated carbon (PAC) into wastewater tertiary treatment is a promising technology to reduce organic micro-pollutant (OMP) discharge into the receiving waters. To take advantage of the existing tertiary filter, PAC was pre-embedded inside the filter bed acting as a fixed-bed adsorber. The pre-embedding (i.

Approaches for drug delivery with intracortical probes.

Intracortical microprobes allow the precise monitoring of electrical and chemical signaling and are widely used in neuroscience. Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technologies have greatly enhanced the integration of multifunctional probes by facilitating the combination of multiple recording electrodes and drug delivery channels in a single probe. Depending on the neuroscientific application, various assembly strategies are required in addition to the microprobe fabrication itself.

Two-dimensional multi-channel neural probes with electronic depth control.

This paper presents multi-electrode arrays for in vivo neural recording applications incorporating the principle of electronic depth control (EDC), i.e., the electronic selection of recording sites along slender probe shafts independently for multiple channels.

A 3D slim-base probe array for in vivo recorded neuron activity.

This paper introduces the first experimental results of a new implantable slim-base three-dimensional (3D) probe array for cerebral applications. The probes are assembled perpendicularly into the slim-base readout platform where electrical and mechanical connections are achieved simultaneously. A new type of micromachined interconnect has been developed to establish electrical connection using extreme planarization techniques.

The NeuroProbes project: a concept for electronic depth control.

The European project NeuroProbes has introduced a new methodology to allow the fine positioning of electrodes within an implantable probe with respect to individual neurons. In this approach, probes are built with a very large number of electrodes which are electronically selectable. This feature is implemented thanks to the modular approach adopted in NeuroProbes, which will allow the implementation of integrated electronics both along the probe shaft and on the array backbone.

Tympanometry by general practitioners: reliable?

Background: The diagnosis of otitis media with effusion (OME) is difficult using only medical history and otoscopy. Tympanometry may, therefore, be helpful in the diagnosis and follow-up of OME in general practice. Studies regarding the reliability of tympanogram production and validation of tympanogram outcome have been performed.

Detection and separation of Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium Nod metabolites using thin-layer chromatography.

Using radioactive acetate as a precursor, it was shown that the common nodABC genes of Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium strains are involved in the production of one or more metabolites that are excreted into the growth medium. A rapid thin-layer chromatography (TLC) system has been developed to separate these so-called Nod metabolites that can then be visualized by autoradiography. Different patterns of Nod metabolites were observed in the tested strains of the cross-inoculation groups of R.