Automated fiber quantification analysis identifies tract-specific microstructural alterations in brain in intermittent exotropia.

Background: Growing evidence of neuroimaging has indicated brain microstructural abnormalities in comitant strabismus. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated neuropathological alterations in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT). This study aimed at examining the characteristics of brain microstructure along major fiber tracts in IXT patients using an automated fiber quantification analysis.

Diffusion-tensor-imaging 1-year-old and 2-year-old infant brain atlases with comprehensive gray and white matter labels.

Human infancy is marked by fastest postnatal brain structural changes. It also coincides with the onset of many neurodevelopmental disorders. Atlas-based automated structure labeling has been widely used for analyzing various neuroimaging data.

Partially Lacerated Digital Flexor Tendons: A Cadaveric Study Determining the Intact Cross-sectional Area and Biomechanical Analysis.

Background: The extent of injury in partially lacerated tendons has conventionally been expressed as a percentage of the total tendon, to justify surgical repair. We propose a more objective method to estimate the cross-sectional area of the remnant intact tendon and to determine if the remaining tendon fibers can withstand the tensile forces of early active mobilization against resistance.

Methods: The study was done on 20 cadaveric specimens, which were randomly assigned to receive a laceration of 25%, 50%, or 75% of the measured transverse tendon diameter.

Alterations of large-scale functional network connectivity in patients with infantile esotropia before and after surgery.

Background: Growing evidences have indicated neurodevelopmental disorders in infantile esotropia (IE). However, few studies have analyzed the characteristics of large-scale functional networks of IE patients or their postoperative network-level alterations.

Methods: Here, individuals with IE (n = 32) and healthy subjects (n = 30) accomplished the baseline clinical examinations and resting-state MRI scans.

Infant brain regional cerebral blood flow increases supporting emergence of the default-mode network.

Human infancy is characterized by most rapid regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases across lifespan and emergence of a fundamental brain system default-mode network (DMN). However, how infant rCBF changes spatiotemporally across the brain and how the rCBF increase supports emergence of functional networks such as DMN remains unknown. Here, by acquiring cutting-edge multi-modal MRI including pseudo-continuous arterial-spin-labeled perfusion MRI and resting-state functional MRI of 48 infants cross-sectionally, we elucidated unprecedented 4D spatiotemporal infant rCBF framework and region-specific physiology-function coupling across infancy.

Local structural-functional connectivity decoupling of caudate nucleus in infantile esotropia.

Abnormal brain structural and functional properties were demonstrated in patients with infantile esotropia (IE). However, few studies have investigated the interaction between structural and functional connectivity (SC-FC) in patients with IE. Structural network was generated with diffusion tensor imaging and functional network was constructed with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging for 18 patients with IE as well as 20 age- and gender- matched healthy subjects.

Abnormal developmental trends of functional connectivity in young children with infantile esotropia.

Previous studies have shown that functional networks are present at birth and change dynamically throughout infancy and early childhood. However, the status of functional connectivity is still poorly understood in patients with infantile esotropia (IE). The aim of this study is to investigate the developmental trends of functional connectivity in patients with IE during a critical period of growth and development.

Brain development in children with developmental delay using amide proton transfer-weighted imaging and magnetization transfer imaging.

Importance: The process of brain development in children with developmental delay is not well known. Amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging is a novel molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that can noninvasively detect cytosolic endogenous mobile proteins and peptides involved in the myelination process, and may be useful for providing insights into brain development.

Objective: To assess the contribution of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging and magnetization transfer (MT) imaging to the evaluation of children with developmental delay (DD).

IrCo alloy nanoparticles supported on N-doped carbon for hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis in acidic and alkaline electrolytes.

Designing efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance to advance water splitting technology towards practical applications. Herein, we report the preparation of IrCo nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (IrCo/NC) as a HER electrocatalyst in acidic and alkaline electrolytes. The IrCo/NC composite is obtained by pyrolyzing an Ir-doped Co(OH)2 precursor on g-C3N4, and is endowed with N-doped carbon and uniform IrCo alloy nanoparticles via a crystal confinement resulting from the Ir-doping into the Co(OH)2 layer.

N-self-doped porous carbon derived from animal-heart as an electrocatalyst for efficient reduction of oxygen.

Biomass-derived nitrogen-self-doped carbon was prepared by a simple and green approach based on the direct pyrolysis of pork heart using KOH as an activation reagent at controlled temperatures (700-900 °C). The obtained samples displayed a specific surface area up to 1718.84 m g, high content of nitrogen (3.

Total Syntheses of Norrisolide-Type Spongian Diterpenes Cheloviolene C, Seconorrisolide B, and Seconorrisolide C.

The first total syntheses of three unusual norrisolide-type rearranged spongian diterpenes, cheloviolene C, seconorrisolide B, and seconorrisolide C, have been accomplished via a common intermediate through late-stage ring-scissoring. The synthesis features a Wolff ring contraction for the synthesis of the trans-hydrindane system, and a crucial retro Diels-Alder reaction/intramolecular ene cyclization for the rapid stereoselective construction of the furo[2,3-b]furan system, which is commonly seen in rearranged spongian diterpenes.

Do magnetic resonance imaging manifestations of skeletal system improve after treatment of Gaucher disease?

Objectives: Skeletal lesions are the most serious complications of Gaucher disease (GD). The pathological changes of skeletal system are complex, which seriously affects the quality of life. The aim was to investigate whether the skeletal system improved in quantitative imaging after treatment with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT).

Differential White Matter Maturation from Birth to 8 Years of Age.

Comprehensive delineation of white matter (WM) microstructural maturation from birth to childhood is critical for understanding spatiotemporally differential circuit formation. Without a relatively large sample of datasets and coverage of critical developmental periods of both infancy and early childhood, differential maturational charts across WM tracts cannot be delineated. With diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of 118 typically developing (TD) children aged 0-8 years and 31 children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 2-7 years, the microstructure of every major WM tract and tract group was measured with DTI metrics to delineate differential WM maturation.

Nickel-catalyzed intermolecular oxidative Heck arylation driven by transfer hydrogenation.

The conventional oxidative Heck reaction between aryl boronic acids and alkenes typically involved the Pd/Pd/Pd catalytic cycle incorporating an external oxidant and often suffered C=C bond isomerization for internal alkyl-substituted alkenes via chain-walking. Herein, we demonstrate that the regioselectivity (γ-selectivity vs. δ-selectivity) and pathway selectivity (hydroarylation vs.

Altered brain functional network in children with type 1 Gaucher disease: a longitudinal graph theory-based study.

Purpose: Previous studies have investigated the brain structural abnormalities in children with type I Gaucher disease (GD). The purpose of our study is to investigate the topological efficiency of the brain functional network in children with type 1 GD.

Methods: Twenty-two children diagnosed with type 1 GD and 22 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) examination.

AgSbF-Mediated Selective Thiolation and Selenylation at C-4 Position of Isoquinolin-1(2 H)-ones.

A new and facile AgSbF-mediated protocol for the construction of C-4 thiolated or selenylated isoquinolin-1(2 H)-ones via a radical pathway was established. This reaction proceeded efficiently with excellent regioselectivity, a broad substrate scope, and good functional group tolerance. A radical reaction mechanism involving thiyl radicals as key intermediates is proposed for the present transformation.

Brain white matter microstructural alterations in children of type I Gaucher disease characterized with diffusion tensor MR imaging.

Objectives: To investigate white matter (WM) microstructural alterations in type I Gaucher disease (type I GD) pediatric patients and explore the correlation between the disease duration and WM changes.

Methods: Twenty-two GD patients and twenty-two sex- and age-matched typical development (TD) children were recruited. Changes in WM were investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and applying atlas-based tract analysis.

Short-range connections in the developmental connectome during typical and atypical brain maturation.

The human brain is remarkably complex with connectivity constituting its basic organizing principle. Although long-range connectivity has been focused on in most research, short-range connectivity is characterized by unique and spatiotemporally heterogeneous dynamics from infancy to adulthood. Alterations in the maturational dynamics of short-range connectivity has been associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia.

Altered Spontaneous Brain Activity in Children with Early Tourette Syndrome: a Resting-state fMRI Study.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset chronic disorder characterized by the presence of multiple motor and vocal tics. This study investigated the alterations of spontaneous brain activities in children with TS by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). We obtained rs-fMRI scans from 21 drug-naïve and pure TS children and 29 demographically matched healthy children.

BMI-for-Age and Weight-for-Length in Children 0 to 2 Years.

Objectives: To determine the agreement between weight-for-length and BMI-for-age in children 0 to <2 years by using research-collected data, examine factors that may affect agreement, and determine if agreement differs between research- and routinely collected data.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on healthy, term-born children (n = 1632) aged 0 to <2 years attending the TARGet Kids! practice-based research network in Toronto, Canada (December 2008-October 2014) were collected. Multiple visits for each child were included.

Amide Proton Transfer (APT) MR imaging and Magnetization Transfer (MT) MR imaging of pediatric brain development.

Objectives: To quantify the brain maturation process during childhood using combined amide proton transfer (APT) and conventional magnetization transfer (MT) imaging at 3 Tesla.

Methods: Eighty-two neurodevelopmentally normal children (44 males and 38 females; age range, 2-190 months) were imaged using an APT/MT imaging protocol with multiple saturation frequency offsets. The APT-weighted (APTW) and MT ratio (MTR) signals were quantitatively analyzed in multiple brain areas.