Perception of 3D shape integrates intuitive physics and analysis-by-synthesis.

Many surface cues support three-dimensional shape perception, but humans can sometimes still see shape when these features are missing-such as when an object is covered with a draped cloth. Here we propose a framework for three-dimensional shape perception that explains perception in both typical and atypical cases as analysis-by-synthesis, or inference in a generative model of image formation. The model integrates intuitive physics to explain how shape can be inferred from the deformations it causes to other objects, as in cloth draping.

Ultrasound/MRI-targeted biopsy versus saturated trans-rectal ultrasound guided biopsy of prostate in patients with primary negative conventional biopsy and still elevated PSA: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: To evaluate and compare the rate of cancer detection by two methods Saturated TRUS guided biopsy and ultrasound/magnetic resonance imaging (US/MRI)-targeted biopsy in patients with primary negative prostate cancer in standard 12 cores biopsy evaluation but still have elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Materials And Methods: From 105 patients who met our inclusion criteria, 53 patients underwent US/MRI-targeted biopsy and 52 remaining patients underwent Saturated 20 core TRUS guided biopsy in a prospective randomized clinical trial.

Results: The mean age (±SD) was 62.

Seeing Soft Materials Draped Over Objects: A Case Study of Intuitive Physics in Perception, Attention, and Memory.

We typically think of intuitive physics in terms of high-level cognition, but might aspects of physics also be extracted during lower-level visual processing? Might we not only think about physics, but also see it? We explored this using multiple tasks in online adult samples with objects covered by soft materials-as when you see a chair with a blanket draped over it-where you must account for the physical interactions between cloth, gravity, and object. In multiple change-detection experiments ( = 200), observers from an online testing marketplace were better at detecting image changes involving underlying object structure versus those involving only the superficial folds of cloths-even when the latter were more extreme along several dimensions. And in probe-comparison experiments ( = 100), performance was worse when both probes (vs.

Adult neuronal regeneration in the telencephalon of the killifish Aphaniops hormuzensis.

The potential of central nervous system regeneration was evaluated for the first time in the injured brain of the old world killifish Aphaniops hormuzensis. The histomorphological organization in the regeneration procedure was evaluated using the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and the bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry technique. The histological tissue sections were sampled daily for 10 days.

Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Ultrasonic Versus Pneumatic Lithotripsy in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Percutaneous nephrolitotomy (PCNL) is the preferred treatment for large renal stones. There is a need for more comparative data for different lithotripters used in PCNL.

Objective: To evaluate the comparative safety and efficacy of ultrasonic and pneumatic lithotripsy in patients undergoing PCNL.

Inhaled corticosteroid normalizes some but not all airway vascular remodeling in COPD.

Background: This study assessed the effects of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) on airway vascular remodeling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: Thirty-four subjects with mild-to-moderate COPD were randomly allocated 2:1 to ICS or placebo treatment in a double-blinded clinical trial over 6 months. Available tissue was compared before and after treatment for vessel density, and expression of VEGF, TGF-β1, and TGF-β1-related phosphorylated transcription factors p-SMAD 2/3.

A randomized controlled trial of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in large airway samples in COPD: an exploratory proof of concept study.

Background: We recently reported that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is active in the airways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting presence of an active profibrotic and promalignant stroma. With no data available on potential treatment effects, we undertook a blinded analysis of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) effects versus placebo on EMT markers in previously obtained endobronchial biopsies in COPD patients, as a "proof of concept" study.

Methods: Assessment of the effects of inhaled fluticasone propionate (FP; 500 μg twice daily for 6 months) versus placebo in 34 COPD patients (23 on fluticasone propionate and eleven on placebo).

Changes in airway histone deacetylase2 in smokers and COPD with inhaled corticosteroids: a randomized controlled trial.

Unlabelled: The expression of HDAC2 is reported as reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We assessed HDAC2 expression within the airways of smokers and subjects with COPD and effects of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), using immuno-histology to contrast with previous molecular methodology. Endobronchial biopsies (ebb) from current smokers with COPD (COPD-CS; n = 15), ex-smokers with COPD (COPD-ES; n = 17), smokers with normal lung function (NS; n = 16) and normal controls (NC; n = 9) were immunostained for HDAC2.

Vessel-associated transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) is increased in the bronchial reticular basement membrane in COPD and normal smokers.

Background: Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) is a multipotential cytokine with angiogenic activity. There are only limited data about its role in airway remodeling in COPD. We have previously shown that the reticular basement membrane (Rbm) is hypervascular in the airways of current smokers either with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Reticular Basement Membrane Vessels Are Increased in COPD Bronchial Mucosa by Both Factor VIII and Collagen IV Immunostaining and Are Hyperpermeable.

Background and Objective. Using Collagen IV staining, we have previously reported that the reticular basement membrane (Rbm) is hypervascular and the lamina propria (LP) is hypovascular in COPD airways. This study compared Collagen IV staining with vessels marked with anti-Factor VIII and examined vessel permeability in bronchial biopsies from COPD and normal subjects using albumin staining.

Distinctive characteristics of bronchial reticular basement membrane and vessel remodelling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in asthma: they are not the same disease.

Aims: This study compared reticular basement membrane (Rbm) and vascular remodelling within the bronchial mucosa of subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with those from patients with asthma, to test the 'Dutch hypothesis' of whether these are essentially the same or different pathological conditions.

Methods And Results: Bronchoscopic biopsies were stained with anti-collagen IV antibody; 18 current smoking COPD, 10 symptomatic asthmatics and 13 healthy non-smoking controls were studied. The Rbm in COPD was fragmented, non-homogeneous, variable in thickness and hypervascular, whereas in asthma the Rbm was compact and homogeneous with no evidence of increased vascularity compared to controls.

Mast cells in COPD airways: relationship to bronchodilator responsiveness and angiogenesis.

We have investigated whether mast cells are associated with bronchodilator responsiveness and airway vascular changes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) airways. We have previously shown that the reticular basement membrane is hypervascular and the lamina propria is hypovascular in COPD. Bronchial biopsies from 32 COPD subjects, 15 smokers with normal lung function and 17 controls, were immunostained for factor VIII, mast cell tryptase and chymase antibodies.

Different durations of corticosteroid therapy for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Current guidelines recommend that acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) be treated with systemic corticosteroids (SCs) for seven to 14 days. Intermittent SC use is cumulatively associated with adverse effects such as osteoporosis, hyperglycaemia and muscle weakness. Shorter treatment could therefore reduce the risk of adverse effects.

Evaluation of epithelial mesenchymal transition in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The reticular basement membrane (Rbm) in smokers and especially smokers with COPD is fragmented with "clefts" containing cells staining for the collagenase matrix-metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and fibroblast protein, S100A4. These cells are also present in the basal epithelium. Such changes are likely hallmarks of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Basement membrane and vascular remodelling in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Little is known about airway remodelling in bronchial biopsies (BB) in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We conducted an initial pilot study comparing BB from COPD patients with nonsmoking controls. This pilot study suggested the presence of reticular basement membrane (Rbm) fragmentation and altered vessel distribution in COPD.

Reticular basement membrane fragmentation and potential epithelial mesenchymal transition is exaggerated in the airways of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background And Objective: In COPD, the airways are chronically inflamed, and we have now observed fragmentation of the reticular basement membrane (Rbm). This appears to be a hallmark of the process known as epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), in which epithelial cells migrate through the Rbm and differentiate into fibroblasts. The aim of this study was to confirm the extent and relevance of Rbm fragmentation in smokers and patients with COPD, and to undertake a preliminary analysis of some classical markers of EMT.

Angiogenesis: a potentially critical part of remodelling in chronic airway diseases?

Angiogenesis is a prominent feature of the structural tissue remodelling that occurs in the chronic airway diseases of asthma, Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS, post-lung transplantation), and in smoking-related Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). For each, we have explored the relationship between angiogenesis and underlying chronic inflammatory processes--are the hypervascular changes secondary to inflammation, or do they occur in parallel? What are the likely growth factors which stimulate the angiogenic process? We discuss the relationships that have been studied between angiogenesis and the physiological impairment of airflow obstruction. The pattern that emerges is complex and variable.

Vascular remodelling in asthma.

Purpose Of Review: We review the recent literature, focusing on 2006 and 2007, to produce an update on the patho-biology of angiogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor in the asthmatic airway.

Recent Findings: In terms of conceptual development in asthma research, airway inflammation and remodelling have been regarded as separate processes or perhaps as sequential, with early inflammation leading later to remodelling. Recent insights identify a central role for vascular endothelial growth factor in stimulating both inflammation and vascular remodelling coincidentally, with the full panoply of vascular endothelial growth factor mediated events being complex and wide.