Memory decline shows stronger associations with estimated spatial patterns of amyloid deposition progression than total amyloid burden.

The development of amyloid imaging compounds has allowed in vivo imaging of amyloid deposition. In this study, we examined the spatial patterns of amyloid deposition throughout the brain using Pittsburgh Compound Blue ((11)C-PiB) positron emission tomography data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. We used a new methodology that allowed us to approximate spatial patterns of the temporal progression of amyloid plaque deposition from cross-sectional data.

FAST-Mag protocol with or without mild hypothermia (35°C) does not improve outcome after permanent MCAO in rats.

The current study assessed the neuroprotective efficacy of magnesium using a FAST-Mag trial treatment protocol alone, and in combination with mild hypothermia, in Sprague Dawley rats subjected to permanent, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Treatment with magnesium (MgSO4.7H2O) consisted of an intravenous loading dose (LD: 360 μmol/kg) and a 24 hour infusion (120 μmol/kg/h), while mild hypothermia at 35°C was maintained for 24 hours.

The MCIC collection: a shared repository of multi-modal, multi-site brain image data from a clinical investigation of schizophrenia.

Expertly collected, well-curated data sets consisting of comprehensive clinical characterization and raw structural, functional and diffusion-weighted DICOM images in schizophrenia patients and sex and age-matched controls are now accessible to the scientific community through an on-line data repository (coins.mrn.org).

Imaging biomarkers and the role of neuroinflammation in neuropathic pain.

The papers from this thematic issue followed a translational research workshop, Imaging Neuroinflammation and Neuropathic Pain, that focused on the search for neuroimaging biomarkers to assess neuroinflammation associated with neuropathic pain. The topics covered in this issue include overviews of the historical and current knowledge regarding neuropathic pain, the potential mechanisms involved, the often under-recognized clinical presentations that can delay diagnosis, the various neuroimaging techniques that have been applied to evaluate neuropathic pain and neuroinflammation, to case series illustrating novel treatments of neuropathic pain. Furthermore, the use of telemedicine to disseminate knowledge and improve the diagnosis and treatment of pain syndromes is also discussed.

Treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to determine the treatment outcome and prognostic factors for survival in patients with peripheral intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). A retrospective chart review was performed for patients diagnosed with ICC between 2000 and 2009 at a single institution. We identified a total of 105 patients with ICC.

Emergency contraception: no. 280 (replaces No. 131, August 2003).

Objective: To review current knowledge about emergency contraception (EC), including available options, their modes of action, efficacy, safety, and the effective provision of EC within a practice setting.

Options: The combined estradiol-levonorgestrel (Yuzpe regimen) and the levonorgestrel-only regimen, as well as post-coital use of copper intrauterine devices, are reviewed.

Outcomes: Efficacy in terms of reduction in risk of pregnancy, safety, and side effects of methods for EC and the effect of the means of access to EC on its appropriate use and the use of consistent contraception.

Genomic analysis of non-NF2 meningiomas reveals mutations in TRAF7, KLF4, AKT1, and SMO.

We report genomic analysis of 300 meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumors, leading to the discovery of mutations in TRAF7, a proapoptotic E3 ubiquitin ligase, in nearly one-fourth of all meningiomas. Mutations in TRAF7 commonly occurred with a recurrent mutation (K409Q) in KLF4, a transcription factor known for its role in inducing pluripotency, or with AKT1(E17K), a mutation known to activate the PI3K pathway. SMO mutations, which activate Hedgehog signaling, were identified in ~5% of non-NF2 mutant meningiomas.

A rapid multi-disciplinary biodiversity assessment of the Kamdebooberge (Sneeuberg, Eastern Cape, South Africa): implications for conservation.

Unlabelled: Botanical work since 2008 on the Sleeping Giant section of the Kamdebooberge (Sneeuberg mountain complex, Eastern Cape, South Africa) has indicated that these mountains may be of significant conservation value. Accordingly, a precursory, rapid multi-disciplinary biodiversity assessment was undertaken in January 2011, focusing on plants, tetrapod vertebrates and leafhoppers. The botanical results confirm the Kamdebooberge as being of high botanical conservation value, hosting three strict endemics, healthy populations of five other Sneeuberg endemics, and fynbos communities comprising species not found elsewhere in the Sneeuberg.

Hepatic preservation injury: severity of hepatitis C recurrence and survival after liver transplantation.

Background: Preservation injury in the HCV liver transplant population has been reported to correlate with poorer survival outcomes compared to preservation injury in the non-HCV liver transplant population. However, determinants of progression to cirrhosis in HCV infection remain poorly defined in this population.

Aim: This study aimed to determine if the presence and severity of preservation injury impact the acceleration of HCV recurrence and survival after liver transplant.

New therapeutic strategies in HCV: second-generation protease inhibitors.

Telaprevir and boceprevir are the first direct-acting antiviral agents approved for use in HCV treatment and represent a significant advance in HCV therapy. However, these first-generation drugs also have significant limitations related to thrice-daily dosing, clinically challenging side-effect profiles, low barriers to resistance and a lack of pan-genotype activity. A second wave of protease inhibitors are in phase II and III trials and promise to provide a drug regimen with a better dosing schedule and improved tolerance.

Predictors of body mass index change from 11 to 15 years of age: the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study.

Purpose: We explored predictors of nutritional status change from 11 to 15 years of age by analyzing prospective data.

Methods: We collected data at 11 and 15 years of age from individuals born in 1993 in Pelotas, Brazil. We assessed nutritional status using body mass index (BMI) for age in z-score according to the World Health Organization 2007 standards.

Socioeconomic trajectories from birth to adolescence and risk factors for noncommunicable disease: prospective analyses.

Purpose: To evaluate the associations between family socioeconomic trajectories from 0 to 11 years of age and risk factors for noncommunicable disease at 15 years.

Methods: Individuals born in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993 are part of a birth cohort study. Socioeconomic position, collected at birth and at 11 years of age, was our main exposure.

Incidence of school failure according to baseline leisure-time physical activity practice: prospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate the prospective association between leisure-time physical activity practice at 11 years of age and incidence of school failure from 11 to 15 years of age.

Methods: The sample comprised >4,300 adolescents followed up from birth to 15 years of age participating in a birth cohort study in Pelotas, Brazil. The incidence of school failure from age 11 to 15 years was calculated by first excluding from the analyses all subjects who experienced a school failure before 11 years of age, and then categorizing as "positive" all those who reported repeating a grade at school from 11 to 15 years of age.

Mindfulness and its relationship with eating disorders symptomatology in women receiving residential treatment.

Objective: Mindfulness and its related constructs (e.g., awareness and acceptance) are increasingly being recognized as relevant to understanding eating disorders and improving treatment.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts overall and recurrence-free survival after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: The goal of this study is to evaluate whether an elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at the time of diagnosis predicts survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation (LT). We hypothesize that the NLR is predictive of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with HCC who undergo LT.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of adult patients undergoing LT for HCC between 2000 and 2008 at our institution.

Three-way (N-way) fusion of brain imaging data based on mCCA+jICA and its application to discriminating schizophrenia.

Multimodal fusion is an effective approach to better understand brain diseases. However, most such instances have been limited to pair-wise fusion; because there are often more than two imaging modalities available per subject, there is a need for approaches that can combine multiple datasets optimally. In this paper, we extended our previous two-way fusion model called "multimodal CCA+joint ICA", to three or N-way fusion, that enables robust identification of correspondence among N data types and allows one to investigate the important question of whether certain disease risk factors are shared or distinct across multiple modalities.

CC genotype donors for the interleukin-28B single nucleotide polymorphism are associated with better outcomes in hepatitis C after liver transplant.

Background/aims: Interleukin-28B (IL-28B) polymorphism is the strongest pretreatment predictor of viral clearance in the hepatitis C (HCV) population. Donor and recipient IL-28B genomic background may play an important role in post-transplant HCV recurrence. We sought to examine the role of IL-28B polymorphisms of donor and recipients in liver transplant patients with recurrent HCV and its impact on the response to interferon-based therapy.

The anti-viral effect of sorafenib in hepatitis C-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Sorafenib is currently the only approved systemic therapy shown to have efficacy in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent studies suggest that hepatitis C (HCV)-related HCC patients derive more clinical benefit from sorafenib than other subgroups, but the mechanism for this effect is unknown. In vitro data suggest that sorafenib may exert anti-viral properties, and thus our aim in this study was to evaluate potential anti-viral activity of sorafenib in patients with HCV-related HCC.

Reduced fMRI activity predicts relapse in patients recovering from stimulant dependence.

Relapse presents a significant problem for patients recovering from stimulant dependence. Here we examined the hypothesis that patterns of brain function obtained at an early stage of abstinence differentiates patients who later relapse versus those who remain abstinent. Forty-five recently abstinent stimulant-dependent patients were tested using a randomized event-related functional MRI (ER-fMRI) design that was developed in order to replicate a previous ERP study of relapse using a selective attention task, and were then monitored until 6 months of verified abstinence or stimulant use occurred.

Molecular cloning of skin peptide precursor-encoding cDNAs from tibial gland secretion of the Giant Monkey Frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor (Hylidae, Anura).

The skins of phyllomedusine frogs have long been considered as being tremendously rich sources of bioactive peptides. Previous studies of both peptides and cloning of their precursor encoding cDNAs have relied upon methanolic skin extracts or the dissected skins of recently deceased specimens and have not considered the different glands in isolation. We therefore focused our attention on the tibial gland of the Giant Monkey Frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor and constructed a cDNA library from the skin secretion that was obtained via mechanical stimulation of this macrogland.

Enhancement of object detection with transcranial direct current stimulation is associated with increased attention.

Background: We previously found that Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) improves learning and performance in a task where subjects learn to detect potential threats indicated by small target objects hidden in a complex virtual environment. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that these effects on learning and performance are related to changes in attention. The effects of tDCS were tested for three forms of attention (alerting, orienting, and executive attention) using the Attention Network Task (ANT), which were compared with performance on the object-learning task.

Neuroinflammation, neuroautoimmunity, and the co-morbidities of complex regional pain syndrome.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is associated with non-dermatomal patterns of pain, unusual movement disorders, and somatovisceral dysfunctions. These symptoms are viewed by some neurologists and psychiatrists as being psychogenic in origin. Recent evidence, however, suggests that an autoimmune attack on self-antigens found in the peripheral and central nervous system may underlie a number of CRPS symptoms.

Liver test results do not identify liver disease in adults with α(1)-antitrypsin deficiency.

Background & Aims: Liver disease is a significant cause of death among adults with α(1)-antitrypsin (A-AT) deficiency. Age and male sex are reported risk factors for liver disease. In the absence of adequate risk stratification, current recommendations are to intermittently test A-AT-deficient adults for liver function.

Body mass index and waist circumference predictors of cardiovascular risk in African Americans.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine which measure of obesity is better at predicting cardiovascular risk in African Americans. We hypothesized that BMI alone would be significantly associated with cardiovascular reactivity. We also hypothesized that waist circumference alone would be significantly associated with cardiovascular reactivity.

Altered small-world brain networks in schizophrenia patients during working memory performance.

Impairment of working memory (WM) performance in schizophrenia patients (SZ) is well-established. Compared to healthy controls (HC), SZ patients show aberrant blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activations and disrupted functional connectivity during WM performance. In this study, we examined the small-world network metrics computed from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected as 35 HC and 35 SZ performed a Sternberg Item Recognition Paradigm (SIRP) at three WM load levels.