The Individual Brain Charting (IBC) is a multi-task functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging dataset acquired at high spatial-resolution and dedicated to the cognitive mapping of the human brain. It consists in the deep phenotyping of twelve individuals, covering a broad range of psychological domains suitable for functional-atlasing applications. Here, we present the inclusion of task data from both naturalistic stimuli and trial-based designs, to uncover structures of brain activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe analysis and understanding of brain characteristics often require considering region-level information rather than voxel-sampled data. Subject-specific parcellations have been put forward in recent years, as they can adapt to individual brain organization and thus offer more accurate individual summaries than standard atlases. However, the price to pay for adaptability is the lack of group-level consistency of the data representation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVideogames are emerging as a promising experimental paradigm in neuroimaging. Acquiring gameplay in a scanner remains challenging due to the lack of a scanner-compatible videogame controller that provides a similar experience to standard, commercial devices. In this paper, we introduce a videogame controller designed for use in the functional magnetic resonance imaging as well as magnetoencephalography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To describe the pulmonary involvement in patients with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS), focusing on its relationship with extrapulmonary involvement, laboratory, radiological, and pathological findings.
Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study includes all patients grouped in the "CAPS Registry". All cases were reviewed, and those with pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) and/or diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) were selected.
Objectives: To explore the prevalence and clinical significance of low complement levels in patients with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS).
Methods: We reviewed data from the "CAPS Registry" on C3 and/or C4 complement plasma protein levels during acute CAPS episodes. Patients were classified into those with low and normal complement levels.
Patients with multimorbidity and complex health care needs are usually vulnerable elders with several concomitant advanced chronic diseases. Our research aim was to evaluate differences in patterns of multimorbidity by gender in this population and their possible prognostic implications, measured as in-hospital mortality, 1-month readmissions, and 1-year mortality. We focused on a cohort of elderly patients with well-established multimorbidity criteria admitted to a specific unit for chronic complex-care patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In preclinical studies, lysolipid-based temperature-sensitive liposomes (LTSLs) containing chemotherapy drugs administered in combination with local hyperthermia have been found to increase tumor drug concentrations and improve antitumor efficacy of the drugs. We used a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method to measure the temporal and spatial patterns of drug delivery in a rat fibrosarcoma model during treatment with LTSLs containing doxorubicin and an MRI contrast agent (manganese) (Dox/Mn-LTSLs) administered at different times with respect to hyperthermia.
Methods: Rats bearing 10- to 12-mm fibrosarcomas (n = 6-7 per group) were treated with Dox/Mn-LTSLs (at a dose of 5 mg doxorubicin/kg body weight) before and/or during 60 minutes of local tumor hyperthermia administered via a catheter inserted at the center of the tumor.
Effective cancer chemotherapy depends on the delivery of therapeutic drugs to cancer cells at cytotoxic concentrations. However, physiologic barriers, such as variable vessel permeability, high interstitial fluid pressure, and heterogeneous perfusion, make it difficult to achieve that goal. Efforts to improve drug delivery have been limited by the lack of noninvasive tools to evaluate intratumoral drug concentration and distribution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug delivery systems have been developed for cancer therapy in an attempt to increase the tumour drug concentration while limiting systemic exposure. Liposomes have achieved passive targeting of solid tumours through enhanced vascular permeability, which is greatly augmented by hyperthermia. However, anti-tumour efficacy has often been limited by slow release of bioavailable drug within the tumour.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo gain insight into how a naturally occurring scaffold composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins provides directional guidance for capillary sprouting, we examined angiogenesis in whole-mount specimens of rat mesentery. Angiogenesis was studied in response to normal maturation, the injection of a mast cell degranulating substance (compound 48/80), and mild wounding. Confocal microscopy of specimens immunolabeled for elastin revealed a network of crosslinked elastic fibers with a density of 140.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To study the effect on binocular contrast sensitivity and binocular summation of aniseikonia induced by size (afocal) lenses.
Methods: In 18 young emmetropic observers, the monocular and binocular contrast sensitivity function was measured under normal conditions and after inducing different degrees of aniseikonia (2%, 3%, and 5% and for 6 observers, 8%) in the right eye. The spatial frequencies tested were 2.
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
January 2004
Endothelial cells exhibit a number of unique phenotypes, some of which are angiogenesis dependent. To identify a capillary sprout-specific endothelial phenotype, we labeled angiogenic rat mesentery tissue using a microvessel and capillary sprout marker (laminin), selected endothelial cell markers (CD31, tie-2, and BS-I lectin), and the OX-43 monoclonal antibody, which recognizes a 90-kDa membrane glycoprotein of unknown function. In tissues that were stimulated through wound healing and compound 48/80 application, double-immunolabeling experiments with an anti-laminin antibody revealed that the OX-43 antigen was expressed strongly in all microvessels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSdic is a new gene that evolved recently in the lineage of Drosophila melanogaster. It was formed from a duplication and fusion of the gene AnnX, which encodes annexin X, and Cdic, which encodes the intermediate polypeptide chain of the cytoplasmic dynein. The fusion joins AnnX exon 4 with Cdic intron 3, which brings together three putative promoter elements for testes-specific expression of Sdic: the distal conserved element (DCE) and testes-specific element (TSE) are derived from AnnX, and the proximal conserved element (PCE) from Cdic intron 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF