The Influence of Climatic Factors on the Provocation of Epileptic Seizures.

Recent studies provide the first indications of the impact of climate factors on human health, especially with individuals already grappling with internal and neurological conditions being particularly vulnerable. In the face of escalating climate change, our research delves into the specific influence of a spectrum of climatic factors and seasonal variations on the hospital admissions of patients receiving treatment for epileptic seizures at our clinic in Kaiserslautern. Our study encompassed data from 9366 epilepsy patients who were admitted to hospital due to epileptic seizures.

Temperature-related increase in growth rate in four freshwater lake fish species.

Growth is one of the most direct and common ways fish respond to climate change, as fish growth is intimately linked to the temperature of the environment. Observational studies on the effect of shifts in temperature on fish growth are scarce for freshwater fish, and particularly lacking for lake populations. Here, changes in growth rate of bream (Abramis brama), perch (Perca fluviatilis), pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), and roach (Rutilus rutilus) over three decades were studied and compared with changes in temperature in the two largest lakes of western Europe: Lake IJsselmeer and Lake Markermeer in the Netherlands.

Glass eel migration in an urbanized catchment: an integral bottleneck assessment using mark-recapture.

Diadromous fish such as the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) are hampered by a high density of barriers in estuaries and freshwater systems. Modified and fragmented waterbodies lack tidal flows, and habitat may be less accessible and underutilized compared to free-flowing rivers and estuaries.

Alterations of intracerebral connectivity in epilepsy patients with secondary bilateral synchrony.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to evaluate intracerebral network changes in epilepsy patients demonstrating secondary bilateral synchrony (SBS) in EEG by applying a new Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) method using an energy-based global tracking algorithm.

Materials And Methods: 10 MRI negative epilepsy patients demonstrating SBS in 10-20 surface EEG were included. EEG findings were analyzed for irritative zones characterized by focal interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) triggering SBS.

Multilobar Resections for 3T MRI-Negative Epilepsy: Worth the Trouble?

Objective: Multilobar resection in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-negative drug-resistant epilepsy warrants attention because they account for up to one third of MRI-negative epilepsy surgery. Despite their high prevalence, data are sparse, and the risk/benefit ratio continues to be debated. The present study investigated the postoperative seizure outcomes in this especially challenging subgroup.

Functional hemispherectomy is safe and effective in adult patients with epilepsy.

Introduction: Functional hemispherectomy (FH) is a well-established therapeutic option for children with epilepsy with parenchymal damage confined to one hemisphere, yet its application in adults remains rare. The intention of our study was to investigate postoperative clinical and epileptological outcome in adults who received FH for intractable epilepsy.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 12 adult patients (18-56years) with intractable epilepsy due to unihemispheric pathology.

Bilateral cingulum fiber reductions in temporal lobe epilepsy with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis.

Purpose: To evaluate whether white matter tracts within the Papez circuit are altered in patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS).

Methods: Twenty patients with histologically proven unilateral HS and 20 age-matched controls were studied with a 3T Epilepsy-dedicated MRI protocol including a MPRAGE sequence for hippocampus volumetry and a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) sequence (61 diffusion-encoding directions, 2×2×2mm voxels) for diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). An energy-based global tracking algorithm was used to calculate streamline counts (SC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of cingulate, fornix, and mammillo-thalamic tracts, respectively.

The role of presurgical EEG parameters and of reoperation for seizure outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Purpose: After surgery for intractable mesiotemporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) seizures recur in 30-40%. One predictor for seizure recurrence is the distribution of seizure onset and interictal epileptiform discharges (IED). Our study focused on lateralization and extent of epileptiform activity regarding postoperative seizure persistence and the effect of reoperation.

Long-term outcome characteristics in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with and without associated cortical dysplasia.

Object: The intention of our study was to identify predictive characteristics for long-term seizure control and running down phenomenon after surgical treatment of pharmacoresistant mesiotemporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) with and without associated cortical dysplasia.

Materials And Methods: Our study comprises a consecutive series of 458 patients who underwent surgical treatment for intractable mTLE at the Epilepsy Center Freiburg. Data evaluated included semiology, duration and frequency of seizures, results of presurgical diagnostics including video-EEG monitoring, MRI, PET and SPECT as well as postoperative seizure outcome.

Physiological effects of cigarette smoking in the limbic system revealed by 3 tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Several studies and recent models of effects of nicotine, the main addictive and psychoactive component in tobacco, point to action of the drug on the limbic system during maintenance of addiction, either direct or indirect via projections from the ventral tegmental area. The objective of this study was to demonstrate physiological effects of cigarette smoking on the hippocampus and the grey matter of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in the human brain with regard to addiction and withdrawal. This aim was achieved by group comparisons of results of magnetic resonance spectroscopy between non-smokers, smokers and smokers during withdrawal.

Long-term trends in calcifying plankton and pH in the North Sea.

Relationships between six calcifying plankton groups and pH are explored in a highly biologically productive and data-rich area of the central North Sea using time-series datasets. The long-term trends show that abundances of foraminiferans, coccolithophores, and echinoderm larvae have risen over the last few decades while the abundances of bivalves and pteropods have declined. Despite good coverage of pH data for the study area there is uncertainty over the quality of this historical dataset; pH appears to have been declining since the mid 1990s but there was no statistical connection between the abundance of the calcifying plankton and the pH trends.

Magnetic resonance fiber density mapping of age-related white matter changes.

Objectives: To introduce fiber density mapping (FDM) for investigation of age-related white matter (WM) changes and to compare its capabilities with conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) post-processing.

Methods: DTI data with 1.9 mm(3) isotropic voxels were acquired from 44 healthy volunteers (18-88 years) at 3T.

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) in pharmacoresistant epilepsies: a proof of concept trial.

To elucidate, in a pilot-study, whether noninvasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) is a safe and tolerable alternative treatment option in pharmacoresistant epilepsy. t-VNS was applied to 10 patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsies. Stimulation via the auricular branch of the vagus nerve of the left tragus was delivered three times per day for 9 months.

Differences in metabolism of fiber tract alterations in gliomas: a combined fiber density mapping and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study.

Background: Gliomas propagate diffusely throughout and along white matter structures. Glioma-related changes in structural integrity and metabolism are not detectable by standard magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Objective: To investigate differences in the metabolism of fiber tract alterations between gliomas grade II to IV by correlation of fiber density values with metabolite concentrations measured by fiber density mapping and MR spectroscopic imaging.

Whether ideal free or not, predatory mites distribute so as to maximize reproduction.

Ideal free distribution (IFD) models predict that animals distribute themselves such that no individual can increase its fitness by moving to another patch. Many empirical tests assume that the interference among animals is independent of density and do not quantify the effects of density on fitness traits. Using two species of predatory mites, we measured oviposition as a function of conspecific density.

Association of N-acetylaspartate and cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42 in dementia.

The interplay of amyloid and mitochondrial function is considered crucial in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We tested the association of the putative marker of mitochondrial function N-acetylaspartate (NAA) as measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy within the medial temporal lobe and cerebrospinal fluid amyoid-β42 (Aβ42), total Tau and pTau181. 109 patients were recruited in a multicenter study (40 mild AD patients, 14 non-AD dementia patients, 29 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) AD-type patients, 26 MCI of non-AD type patients).

Classification of peritumoral fiber tract alterations in gliomas using metabolic and structural neuroimaging.

Unlabelled: The aims of this study were to investigate and categorize peritumoral fiber tract alterations while considering changes in metabolism and integrity of fiber structures using multimodal neuroimaging-that is, PET with O-(2-(18)F-fluoroethyl)-l-tyrosine and diffusion tensor imaging evaluated by fiber density mapping-and to correlate categories of fiber alterations with preoperative neurologic deficits and postoperative course.

Methods: We examined 26 patients with cerebral gliomas. Fiber density data were used to segment peritumoral fiber structures and were coregistered to anatomic MR images and PET data.

Multimodality approach in cryptogenic epilepsy with focus on morphometric 3T MRI.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential contribution of morphometric MRI analysis in comparison to other modalities, such as MEG, SPECT and PET, in identifying the epileptogenic focus in patients with cryptogenic epilepsy.

Patients And Methods: Study inclusion was limited to epilepsy patients with a monolobar focus hypothesis, as concluded from EEG/seizure semiology and the best individual concordance rate. Feature maps, generated by the MATLAB(®) "morphometric analysis program" (MAP), were evaluated by a neuroradiologist blinded to conventional MRI and the focus hypothesis (MAP(1)).

18Fluoroethyl-L-tyrosine-PET in long-term epilepsy associated glioneuronal tumors.

Purpose: Long-term epilepsy associated tumors (LEATs) are a frequent cause of drug-resistant partial epilepsy. A reliable tumor diagnosis has an important impact on therapeutic strategies and prognosis in patients with epilepsy, but often is difficult by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) only. Herein we analyzed a large LEAT cohort investigated by 18fluoroethyl-L-tyrosine-positron emission tomography (FET-PET).

Multi-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 T in patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy.

Purpose: The objective of our study was to gain further insight into the extent of local metabolic alterations in patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE), respectively, the subgroup with generalised tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS). The extent of regional metabolic involvement perhaps indicates the key structures in generation of seizures and involvement of specific network of dysfunction.

Methods: Using the multi-voxel technique at a 3 T MRI Scanner metabolite levels of 25 age-matched healthy controls and 18 patients with GTCS were obtained from the basal ganglia, insular cortex, cingulum, hippocampus and along both hemispheres in the fronto-parietal white and grey matter.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging for visualization of the infiltration zone of glioma.

Background And Purpose: In conventional MR imaging, it is often difficult to delineate the heterogeneous structure of gliomas. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1)H-MRSI) is a noninvasive tool for investigating the spatial distribution of metabolic changes in brain lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the improvements in delineation of gliomas based on segmentation of metabolic changes measured with (1)H-MRSI.

Cues of intraguild predators affect the distribution of intraguild prey.

Theory on intraguild (IG) predation predicts that coexistence of IG-predators and IG-prey is only possible for a limited set of parameter values, suggesting that IG-predation would not be common in nature. This is in conflict with the observation that IG-predation occurs in many natural systems. One possible explanation for this difference might be antipredator behaviour of the IG-prey, resulting in decreased strength of IG-predation.