AxonTracer: a novel ImageJ plugin for automated quantification of axon regeneration in spinal cord tissue.

Background: Quantification of axon regeneration in spinal cord tissue sections is a fundamental step to adequately determine if an applied treatment leads to an anatomical benefit following spinal cord injury. Recent advances have led to the development of therapies that can promote regeneration of thousands of injured axons in vivo. Axon labeling methods and in the application of regeneration-enabling stem cell grafts have increased the number of detectable regenerating axons by orders of magnitudes.

Injured adult motor and sensory axons regenerate into appropriate organotypic domains of neural progenitor grafts.

Neural progenitor cell (NPC) transplantation has high therapeutic potential in neurological disorders. Functional restoration may depend on the formation of reciprocal connections between host and graft. While it has been reported that axons extending out of neural grafts in the brain form contacts onto phenotypically appropriate host target regions, it is not known whether adult, injured host axons regenerating into NPC grafts also form appropriate connections.

Spinal cord reconstitution with homologous neural grafts enables robust corticospinal regeneration.

The corticospinal tract (CST) is the most important motor system in humans, yet robust regeneration of this projection after spinal cord injury (SCI) has not been accomplished. In murine models of SCI, we report robust corticospinal axon regeneration, functional synapse formation and improved skilled forelimb function after grafting multipotent neural progenitor cells into sites of SCI. Corticospinal regeneration requires grafts to be driven toward caudalized (spinal cord), rather than rostralized, fates.

Perioperative cataract OP management by means of teleconsultation.

Background: Teleconsultation services have the potential to improve the communication among different medical care providers and between them and the patient. Increasing effectiveness in the shape of a savings in time or cost is often the result of better communication.

Methods: A study was performed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of teleconsultation services, using the perioperative management of cataract patients as an example, and to provide data on the quality, acceptance and effectiveness of these services in comparison with a control group experiencing normal treatment.