Locus coeruleus features are linked to vagus nerve stimulation response in drug-resistant epilepsy.

The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system is thought to be involved in the clinical effects of vagus nerve stimulation. This system is known to prevent seizure development and induce long-term plastic changes, particularly with the release of norepinephrine in the hippocampus. However, the requisites to become responder to the therapy and the mechanisms of action are still under investigation.

3D Whole-Body MRI of the Musculoskeletal System.

With its outstanding soft tissue contrast, spatial resolution, and multiplanar capacities, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a widely used technique. Whole-body MRI (WB-MRI) has been introduced among diagnostic methods for the staging and follow-up assessment in oncologic patients, and international guidelines recommend its use. In nononcologic applications, WB-MRI is as a promising imaging tool in inflammatory diseases, such as seronegative arthritis and inflammatory myopathies.

Acceptability of Nurse-Driven HIV Screening for Key Populations in Emergency Departments: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Optimizing care continuum entry interventions is key to ending the HIV epidemic. Offering HIV screening to key populations in emergency departments (EDs) is a strategy that has been demonstrated to be effective. Analyzing patient and provider perceptions of such screening can help identify implementation facilitators and barriers.

Experimental Evidence for Common Driving Effects in Low-Energy Fission from Sublead to Actinides.

Isotopic distributions of fragments from fission of the neutron-deficient ^{178}Hg nuclide are reported. This experimental observable is obtained for the first time in the region around lead using an innovative approach based on inverse kinematics and the coincidence between the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer VAMOS++ and a new detection arm close to the target. The average fragment N/Z ratio and prompt neutron M_{n} multiplicity are derived and compared with current knowledge from actinide fission.

Double Diffusion Encoding for Probing Radiation-Induced Microstructural Changes in a Tumor Model: A Proof-of-Concept Study With Comparison to the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient and Histology.

Background: Microstructure analyses are gaining interest in cancer MRI as an alternative to the conventional apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), of which the determinants remain unclear.

Purpose: To assess the sensitivity of parameters calculated from a double diffusion encoding (DDE) sequence to changes in a tumor's microstructure early after radiotherapy and to compare them with ADC and histology.

Study Type: Cohort study on experimental tumors.

Insights into tissue microstructure using a double diffusion encoding sequence on a clinical scanner: Validation and application to experimental tumor models.

Purpose: To present a double diffusion encoding MRI sequence on a clinical scanner to analyze micro-structure and micro-vasculature of tumors.

Methods: The sequence was tested on phantoms, asparaguses, and 2 tumors allografts in a rodent. Results were analyzed using an adapted VERDICT model to estimate microstructural parameters.

Experimental Evidence for Transverse Wobbling in ^{105}Pd.

New rotational bands built on the ν(h_{11/2}) configuration have been identified in ^{105}Pd. Two bands built on this configuration show the characteristics of transverse wobbling: the ΔI=1 transitions between them have a predominant E2 component and the wobbling energy decreases with increasing spin. The properties of the observed wobbling bands are in good agreement with theoretical results obtained using constrained triaxial covariant density functional theory and quantum particle rotor model calculations.

_{36}^{96}Kr_{60}-Low-Z Boundary of the Island of Deformation at N=60.

Prompt γ-ray spectroscopy of the neutron-rich ^{96}Kr, produced in transfer- and fusion-induced fission reactions, has been performed using the combination of the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array and the VAMOS++ spectrometer. A second excited state, assigned to J^{π}=4^{+}, is observed for the first time, and a previously reported level energy of the first 2^{+} excited state is confirmed. The measured energy ratio R_{4/2}=E(4^{+})/E(2^{+})=2.

A comparative study of the sensitivity of diffusion-related parameters obtained from diffusion tensor imaging, diffusional kurtosis imaging, q-space analysis and bi-exponential modelling in the early disease course (24 h) of hyperacute (6 h) ischemic stroke patients.

Objectives: To compare the sensitivity and early temporal changes of diffusion parameters obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI), q-space analysis (QSA) and bi-exponential modelling in hyperacute stroke patients.

Materials And Methods: A single investigational acquisition allowing the four diffusion analyses was performed on seven hyperacute stroke patients with a 3T system. The percentage change between ipsi- and contralateral regions were compared at admission and 24 h later.

Discovery and spectroscopy of the young jovian planet 51 Eri b with the Gemini Planet Imager.

Directly detecting thermal emission from young extrasolar planets allows measurement of their atmospheric compositions and luminosities, which are influenced by their formation mechanisms. Using the Gemini Planet Imager, we discovered a planet orbiting the ~20-million-year-old star 51 Eridani at a projected separation of 13 astronomical units. Near-infrared observations show a spectrum with strong methane and water-vapor absorption.

Experimental study of the two-body spin-orbit force in nuclei.

Energies and spectroscopic factors of the first 7/2-, 3/2-, 1/2-, and 5/2- states in the (35)Si21 nucleus were determined by means of the (d, p) transfer reaction in inverse kinematics at GANIL using the MUST2 and EXOGAM detectors. By comparing the spectroscopic information on the Si35 and S37 isotones, a reduction of the p3/2-p1/2 spin-orbit splitting by about 25% is proposed, while the f7/2-f5/2 spin-orbit splitting seems to remain constant. These features, derived after having unfolded nuclear correlations using shell model calculations, have been attributed to the properties of the two-body spin-orbit interaction, the amplitude of which is derived for the first time in an atomic nucleus.

Probing the order-to-chaos region in superdeformed 151Tb and 196Pb nuclei with continuum gamma transitions.

The gamma decay associated with the warm rotation of the superdeformed nuclei 151Tb and 196Pb has been measured with the EUROBALL IV array. Several independent quantities provide a stringent test of the population and decay dynamics in the superdeformed well. A Monte Carlo simulation of the gamma decay based on microscopic calculations gives remarkable agreement with the data only assuming a large enhancement of the B(E1) strength for 1-2 MeV gamma rays, which may be related to the evidence for octupole vibrations in both mass regions.

Anatomy of a flaring proto-planetary disk around a young intermediate-mass star.

Although planets are being discovered around stars more massive than the Sun, information about the proto-planetary disks where such planets have built up is sparse. We have imaged mid-infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the surface of the disk surrounding the young intermediate-mass star HD 97048 and characterized the disk. The disk is in an early stage of evolution, as indicated by its large content of dust and its hydrostatic flared geometry, indicative of the presence of a large amount of gas that is well mixed with dust and gravitationally stable.

An infrared flash contemporaneous with the gamma-rays of GRB 041219a.

The explosion that results in a cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) is thought to produce emission from two physical processes: the central engine gives rise to the high-energy emission of the burst through internal shocking, and the subsequent interaction of the flow with the external environment produces long-wavelength afterglows. Although observations of afterglows continue to refine our understanding of GRB progenitors and relativistic shocks, gamma-ray observations alone have not yielded a clear picture of the origin of the prompt emission nor details of the central engine. Only one concurrent visible-light transient has been found and it was associated with emission from an external shock.

Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of the GG Tauri Circumbinary Ring.

We present 1 µm Hubble Space Telescope/near-infrared camera and multiobject spectrometer resolved imaging polarimetry of the GG Tau circumbinary ring. We find that the ring displays east-west asymmetries in surface brightness as well as several pronounced irregularities but is smoother than suggested by ground-based adaptive optics observations. The data are consistent with a 37 degrees system inclination and a projected rotational axis at a position angle of 7 degrees east of north, determined from millimeter imaging.