Correlations of diffusion tensor imaging and clinical measures with spinal cord cross-sectional area measurements in pediatric spinal cord injury patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to employ a semi-automatic method for measuring spinal cord cross-sectional area (SCCSA) and investigate the correlations between diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and SCCSA for the cervical and thoracic spinal cord for typically developing pediatric subjects and pediatric subject with spinal cord injury.

Methods: Ten typically developing (TD) pediatric subjects and ten pediatric subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI) were imaged using a Siemens Verio 3 T MR scanner to acquire DTI and high-resolution anatomic scans covering the cervical and thoracic spinal cord (C1-T12). SCCSA was measured using a semi-automated edge detection algorithm for the entire spinal cord.

An fMRI Study of the Effects of Vibroacoustic Stimulation on Functional Connectivity in Patients with Insomnia.

Background: It is well known that vibratory and auditory stimuli from vehicles such as cars and trains can help induce sleep. More recent literature suggests that specific types of vibratory and acoustic stimulation might help promote sleep, but this has not been tested with neuroimaging. Thus, the purpose of this study was to observe the effects of vibroacoustic stimulation (providing both vibratory and auditory stimuli) on functional connectivity changes in the brain using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and compare these changes to improvements in sleep in patients with insomnia.

Fundamentals of Preoperative Task Functional Brain Mapping.

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) imaging is gaining traction in the clinical realm as a measure for quantifying changes in regional blood flow in response to external stimuli. Through the evoked signal changes that are a consequence of hemoglobin's intrinsic paramagnetic properties, this technique allows for the statistical mapping of brain regions associated with a given task, which has broad applications in preneurosurgical planning for tumor resection. From an acquisition perspective, collection of BOLD data most commonly requires the use of echo planar imaging readout schemes.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Assessment of Regional White Matter Changes in the Cervical and Thoracic Spinal Cord in Pediatric Subjects.

There are no studies to date,describing changes in the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of the white matter (WM) regions of the entire cervical and thoracic spinal cord (SC) remote from the lesion in pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether DTI at sites cephalad and caudal to a lesion provides measures of cord abnormalities in children with chronic SCI. A retrospective study included 10 typically developing subjects (TD) and 10 subjects with chronic SCI who underwent SC imaging in 2014-2017.

Characterization of spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging metrics in clinically asymptomatic pediatric subjects with incidental congenital lesions.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Objectives: To perform quantitative DTI measurements of the entire cervical and thoracic spinal cord (SC) in typically developing (TD) pediatric subjects with incidental findings of syringomyelia or hydromyelia on conventional MRI and in a TD population without any abnormalities.

Setting: USA.

Age related diffusion and tractography changes in typically developing pediatric cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

Background And Objective: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) are two techniques that can measure white matter integrity of the spinal cord. Recently, DTI indices have been shown to change with age. The purpose of this study is (a) to evaluate the maturational states of the entire pediatric spinal cord using DTI and DTT indices including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), mean length of white matter fiber tracts and tract density and (b) to analyze the DTI and DTT parameters along the entire spinal cord as a function of spinal cord levels and age.

Application of Color Transformation Techniques in Pediatric Spinal Cord MR Images: Typically Developing and Spinal Cord Injury Population.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an improved and reliable visualization method for pediatric spinal cord MR images in healthy subjects and patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). A total of 15 pediatric volunteers (10 healthy subjects and 5 subjects with cervical SCI) with a mean age of 11.41 years (range 8-16 years) were recruited and scanned using a 3.

Identification of ghost artifact using texture analysis in pediatric spinal cord diffusion tensor images.

Purpose: Ghost artifacts are a major contributor to degradation of spinal cord diffusion tensor images. A multi-stage post-processing pipeline was designed, implemented and validated to automatically remove ghost artifacts arising from reduced field of view diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the pediatric spinal cord.

Method: A total of 12 pediatric subjects including 7 healthy subjects (mean age=11.

Reduced Field of View Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Fiber Tractography of the Pediatric Cervical and Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury.

The aim of this study is to assess the utility and effectiveness of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) of the entire pediatric cervical and thoracic spinal cord toward discrimination of typically developing (TD) controls and subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI). A total of 43 pediatric subjects, including 23 TD subjects ranging in age from 6 to 16 years old and 20 subjects with SCI ranging in age from 7 to 16 years, were recruited and scanned using a 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner.

Changes in cerebellar functional connectivity and autonomic regulation in cancer patients treated with the Neuro Emotional Technique for traumatic stress symptoms.

Purpose: A growing number of research studies have implicated the cerebellum in emotional processing and regulation, especially with regard to negative emotional memories. However, there currently are no studies showing functional changes in the cerebellum as a result of treatment for traumatic stress symptoms. The Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) is an intervention designed to help improve symptoms related to traumatic stress using an integrative approach that combines emotional, cognitive, and motor processing, with a particular focus on autonomic nervous system regulation.

Genetic and neural predictors of behavioral weight loss treatment: A preliminary study.

Objective: To examine neural mechanisms of action in behavioral weight loss treatment (BWL) and explore neural and genetic predictors of BWL.

Methods: Neural activation to milkshake receipt and genetics were compared in 17 women with obesity who received 12 weeks of BWL and 17 women who received no intervention. Participants were scanned twice using functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and 12 weeks.

Spatially selective 2D RF inner field of view (iFOV) diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) of the pediatric spinal cord.

Magnetic resonance based diffusion imaging has been gaining more utility and clinical relevance over the past decade. Using conventional echo planar techniques, it is possible to acquire and characterize water diffusion within the central nervous system (CNS); namely in the form of Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). While each modality provides valuable clinical information in terms of the presence of diffusion and its directionality, both techniques are limited to assuming an ideal Gaussian distribution for water displacement with no intermolecular interactions.

Technical considerations for functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis.

Clinical application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) effect has increased over the past decade because of its ability to map regional blood flow in response to brain stimulation. This mapping is primarily achieved by exploiting the BOLD effect precipitated by changes in the magnetic properties of hemoglobin. BOLD fMRI has utility in neurosurgical planning and mapping neuronal functional connectivity.

Immunohistochemistry is a reliable screening tool for identification of ALK rearrangement in non-small-cell lung carcinoma and is antibody dependent.

Introduction: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the standard procedure for the detection of anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) rearrangement in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) but is expensive and time consuming. We tested three antibodies to ALK, using various detection systems, and hypothesized that ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) may represent a cost-effective and efficient means of screening for ALK rearrangement in NSCLC.

Methods: We screened 377 stage I or II NSCLC cases in a tissue microarray by FISH and IHC (5A4 [Leica Biosystems Newcastle Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, UYnited Kingdom] by Nichirei's N-Histofine ALK detection kit [Nichirei Biosciences inc.

Tissue microarray analysis of connexin expression and its prognostic significance in human breast cancer.

Breast cancer accounts for approximately 15% of all cancer deaths. Currently, axillary nodal status is the most reliable prognostic indicator for breast cancer. Tumor size and histological grade are used to stage breast cancer.

Genistein and quercetin increase connexin43 and suppress growth of breast cancer cells.

Connexin proteins form gap junctions, which permit direct exchange of cytoplasmic contents between neighboring cells. Evidence indicates that gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) is important for maintaining homeostasis and preventing cell transformation. Furthermore, connexins may have independent functions including tumor growth suppression.