Comparative in vitro toxicity of compositionally distinct thermal spray particulates in human bronchial cells.

Unlabelled: Thermal spray, in general, is a process that involves forcing a melted substance, such as metal or ceramic in the form of wire or powder, onto the surface of a targeted object to enhance its desired surface properties. In this paper, the melted substance is metal wire generated by an electric arc and forcibly coated on a rotary iron substrate using compressed air. This thermal process is referred to as double-wire arc thermal spray.

Face Value: Remote facial expression analysis adds predictive power to perceived effectiveness for selecting anti-tobacco PSAs.

Perceived effectiveness (PE) is a validated tool for predicting the potential impact of anti-tobacco public service announcements (PSAs). We set out to evaluate the added predictive value of facial expression analysis when combined with PE in a remote (online) survey. Each of 302 tobacco users watched 3 PSAs and allowed transmission of webcam videos from which metrics for "attention" (head position) and "facial action units" (FAU) were computed.

Ovulation induction is associated with altered growth but with preservation of normal metabolic function in murine offspring.

Objective: To study the effects of ovulation induction on mouse postnatal health, with a focus on growth pattern and glucose tolerance. To study the effect of ovulation induction on DNA methylation, we took advantage of the agouti viable yellow (A) mouse.

Design: Animal study.

Effect of culture conditions and method of conception on mouse live birth rate.

Objective: To understand in a mouse model whether there are differences in the decidua and live birth rate after transfer of blastocysts generated by in vitro fertilization (IVF) or by superovulation with spontaneous mating into unstimulated recipients.

Design: Animal experiment.

Setting: University-affiliated tertiary hospital.

Sex-specific epigenetic profile of inner cell mass of mice conceived in vivo or by IVF.

The preimplantation stage of development is exquisitely sensitive to environmental stresses, and changes occurring during this developmental phase may have long-term health effects. Animal studies indicate that IVF offspring display metabolic alterations, including hypertension, glucose intolerance and cardiac hypertrophy, often in a sexual dimorphic fashion. The detailed nature of epigenetic changes following in-vitro culture is, however, unknown.

Patient-specific early seizure detection from scalp electroencephalogram.

The objective of this study is to develop a method for automatic detection of seizures before or immediately after clinical onset using features derived from scalp electroencephalogram. This detection method is patient specific. It uses recurrent neural networks and a variety of input features.

Automatic EEG spike detection.

Since the 1970s advances in science and technology during each succeeding decade have renewed the expectation of efficient, reliable automatic epileptiform spike detection (AESD). But even when reinforced with better, faster tools, clinically reliable unsupervised spike detection remains beyond our reach. Expert-selected spike parameters were the first and still most widely used for AESD.

Renal function and survival after renal artery stent revascularization may be influenced by embolic debris.

Unlabelled: Four years of follow-up renal function and survival data were obtained on 544 patients who underwent 714 successful renal artery stenosis (RAS) stent revascularizations. The mean serum creatinine (SCr) was unchanged at 4 years (1.6+/-1.

Antibody levels against galactosyl (alpha1 --> 3) galactose epitopes in cervical mucus from patients with human papillomavirus infection.

Objectives: The general objective of the present study is to quantify antigalactosyl (alpha1 --> 3) galactose (anti-Gal) antibody levels in the cervical mucus of patients with/without human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and, as specific objectives, to compare these levels in the different HPV subgroups and with the presence of intraepithelial lesions.

Methods: Sixty women between 18 and 35 years old (mean: 26 years) were studied through the following methods: vaginal cytology, colposcopy, biopsy of suspicious lesions, sample taking for evaluating HPV presence through PCR and hybridization, and quantification of anti-Gal levels using ELISA with laminin antigen extracted from the Engelbreth-Horm-Swarm cell line.

Results: The presence of HPV was detected in 55% of patients; 45% of them had intermediate/high oncogenic risk HPV, 12% had low oncogenic risk HPV, and the other 43% had both subgroups.

Primary skin infections secondary to Vibrio vulnificus: the role of operative intervention.

Background: Vibrio vulnificus can cause rapidly spreading skin and soft tissue infections with significant associated morbidity and mortality. Patients with underlying chronic illness, such as cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, or immunosuppression, have been noted to be at high risk for rapid progression of this infection. The importance of early antibiotic therapy has been reported but the role of operative intervention in these patients is less clear.

Spike detection. I. Correlation and reliability of human experts.

A panel of 5 experienced electroencephalographers detected spikes in EEG trials from 40 epilepsy patients and 10 control subjects. 1952 spikes were detected, and detailed attribute scores were recorded. Statistics from the theory of measurement error are utilized to quantify the reliability and difficulty of the study.

Use of Prediction Intervals to Characterize Electroencephalographic Changes Caused by Diphenhydramine.

The authors report on progress in the use of a two-channel, microprocessor-based electroencephalographic (EEG) device and the statistical strategy of prediction intervals for characterizing the normal limits of variability in cerebral state in older subjects and recognition of excessive change caused by mildly toxic medications. Prediction intervals for relative delta, theta, alpha, and beta power were calculated from repeated EEG measures on 54 medically stable elderly subjects. The authors subsequently evaluated the effects of diphenhydramine (25-75 mg) administered to 10 additional subjects.

Prolactin secretion following repetitive seizures.

We studied serum prolactin levels after 24 seizures occurring in eight subjects. Video-EEG intracranial monitoring confirmed temporal or frontal partial seizures. Seizure type, focus, and duration were similar for seizures with and without significant postictal prolactin elevations.

Cognitive bias, functional cortical geometry, and the frontal lobes: laterality, sex, and handedness.

Abstract Performance of patients with quadrant lesions on the inherently ambiguous Cognitive Bias Task (CBT) suggests sexual dimorphism in the fundamental aspects of functional cortical geometry, by emphasizing different cerebral axes. In right-handed males, extreme context-dependent and context-independent response selection biases are reciprocally linked to left vs. right frontal systems.

Felbamate monotherapy for partial-onset seizures: an active-control trial.

We evaluated felbamate (FBM) monotherapy in 111 patients with uncontrolled partial-onset seizures in a multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group trial. During the 56-day baseline period, patients had at least eight partial-onset seizures and received one standard antiepileptic drug (AED) at a therapeutic level; a second AED was allowed if at a subtherapeutic level. Patients received either FBM 3,600 mg/d or valproate (VPA) 15 mg/kg/d.

Presurgical electroencephalographic patterns and outcome from anterior temporal lobectomy.

We reviewed data from 48 patients after anterior temporal lobe resection for medically intractable epilepsy. All had ictal electro-encephalographic (EEG) evidence of unilateral temporal lobe onset. Depth electrodes were used in 19 patients.

Interictal EEG topography of frontal lobe epilepsy.

Ictal localization of seizure discharges in the frontal lobe is difficult and not easily resolved by simple translation of techniques that have proved useful for localization within the temporal lobe. There is need for improved interictal localization of functional abnormalities within the frontal lobe utilizing CET and other methods of functional localization including magnetoencephalography, cerebral blood flow, and cerebral metabolism. It is likely that improved localization within the frontal lobe and clarification of clinical syndromes of frontal epilepsy will be obtained through the use of a combination of these interictal methods, aided by the results of intracranial ictal recording and surgical extirpation (7a,b,10a,b,15a-c).

Bedside clinical and electrophysiological assessment: assessment of change in vulnerable patients.

Current approaches to the diagnosis of delirium are based upon the recognition of symptoms that emerge in the pathological state. As an alternative, we propose an approach to case identification for research purposes based on the recognition of significant changes in the cognitive or cerebral state of the individual patient. Categorical change can be defined using prediction intervals calculated from repeated measures on a population of medically stable subjects.

Utilization of a two-channel, microprocessor-based EEG device for monitoring cognitively vulnerable patients.

Several experiments were conducted to validate the use of a two-channel microprocessor-based electroencephalographic (EEG) device for detecting changes in EEG background rhythm in the clinic or at the bedside. The reliability of background measures in healthy individuals was evaluated by obtaining EEG data on 20 control subjects on two occasions separated by at least 1 day. The sensitivity to an experimental toxic encephalopathy was evaluated using measures of EEG and the Buschke Memory Selective Reminding Test after the administration of scopolamine hydrobromide, 0.

Singular value decomposition--a general linear model for analysis of multivariate structure in the electroencephalogram.

The application of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to analysis of EEG and evoked potential data has led to a hypothesis concerning the underlying structure of the EEG recorded from multiple channels. Based on the SVD algorithm the EEG is considered to be the linear combination of a sufficient number of features, each of which is defined in terms of its spatial distribution, temporal distribution, and amplitude. Use of this model leads to clear concepts concerning sampling, data reduction, normalization, and calculation of statistical significance, some of which are less evident when analysis is restricted to a single domain of interest.

Bicycling movements as a manifestation of complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin.

Alternating movements of the limbs during a seizure, especially bicycling movements of the legs, are often taken as strong evidence for the psychogenic origin of seizure activity in an adult population. A recent review of pseudoseizure manifestations concluded that alternating limb movements were "highly characteristic of pseudoseizures." We report two adult patients with complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin, confirmed by ictal video EEG recording, in whom bicycling movements were the prominent ictal manifestation.

Computed EEG topography in acute stroke.

The potential for clinical application of computed EEG topography (CET) has been known since 1978. However, studies relating to the focal brain lesions are few. We have studied 19 cases of acute stroke involving the cerebral hemispheres.

Initial experience with SPECT imaging of the brain using I-123 p-iodoamphetamine in focal epilepsy.

Nineteen patients with complex partial seizures refractory to medical treatment were examined with routine electroencephalography (EEG), video EEG monitoring, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological tests and interictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with I-123 iodoamphetamine (INT). In 18 patients, SPECT identified areas of focal reduction in tracer uptake that correlated with the epileptogenic focus identified on the EEG. In addition, SPECT disclosed other areas of neurologic dysfunction as elicited on neuropsychological tests.

Application of singular value decomposition to topographic analysis of flash-evoked potentials.

Singular value decomposition is a robust numerical method for decomposing a matrix of multichannel EEG or EP data into a sharply reduced set of features with corresponding waveform, amplitude, and spatial vectors. In 19 normal subjects aged 19 to 40 years, the three largest features computed by the SVD algorithm accounted for 93-98 percent of the total variance of the averaged flash-evoked potential. There was good separation of major brain areas as well as clustering of related electrode sites.