Brain microbleeds as a potential risk factor for antiplatelet-related intracerebral haemorrhage: hospital-based, case-control study.

Background: Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is an uncommon but devastating complication of regular antiplatelet use: identifying high-risk patients before treatment could potentially reduce this hazard. Brain microbleeds on gradient-recalled echo (GRE) T2*-weighted MRI are considered a biomarker for bleeding-prone small-vessel diseases. The authors hypothesised that microbleeds are a risk factor for antiplatelet-related ICH, and investigated this in a hospital-based matched case-control study.

New ischaemic brain lesions on MRI after stenting or endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis: a substudy of the International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS).

Background: The International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS) of stenting and endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis found a higher incidence of stroke within 30 days of stenting compared with endarterectomy. We aimed to compare the rate of ischaemic brain injury detectable on MRI between the two groups.

Methods: Patients with recently symptomatic carotid artery stenosis enrolled in ICSS were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive carotid artery stenting or endarterectomy.

High-b-value diffusion MR imaging and basal nuclei apparent diffusion coefficient measurements in variant and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Background And Purpose: DWI using a standard b-value of 1000 s/mm(2) has emerged as the most sensitive sequence for the diagnosis of CJD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether DWI at a high b-value (b = 3000 s/mm(2)) and ADC measurements in the basal nuclei improve the diagnosis of vCJD and sCJD compared with visual assessment of DWI at a standard b-value (b = 1000 s/mm(2)).

Materials And Methods: Eight patients with vCJD, 9 patients with sCJD, and 5 healthy volunteers underwent DWI at b = 1000 s/mm(2), and 5 vCJD patients, 4 sCJD patients, and 1 growth hormone-related CJD patient underwent DWI at b = 3000 s/mm(2).

The Microbleed Anatomical Rating Scale (MARS): reliability of a tool to map brain microbleeds.

Objective: Brain microbleeds on gradient-recalled echo (GRE) T2*-weighted MRI may be a useful biomarker for bleeding-prone small vessel diseases, with potential relevance for diagnosis, prognosis (especially for antithrombotic-related bleeding risk), and understanding mechanisms of symptoms, including cognitive impairment. To address these questions, it is necessary to reliably measure their presence and distribution in the brain. We designed and systematically validated the Microbleed Anatomical Rating Scale (MARS).

MRI detection of new microbleeds in patients with ischemic stroke: five-year cohort follow-up study.

Background And Purpose: Little is known about the development of cerebral microbleeds in patients with ischemic stroke. We studied the incidence of new microbleeds in a cohort of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack screened for microbleeds at baseline.

Methods: Twenty-one surviving patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack were followed up after a mean interval of 5.

A framework for developing management goals for species at risk with examples from military installations in the United States.

A decision framework for setting management goals for species at risk is presented. Species at risk are those whose potential future rarity is of concern. Listing these species as threatened or endangered could potentially result in significant restrictions to activities in resource management areas in order to maintain those species.

Low-grade gliomas: six-month tumor growth predicts patient outcome better than admission tumor volume, relative cerebral blood volume, and apparent diffusion coefficient.

Purpose: To prospectively compare tumor volume, relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and short-term changes of these parameters as predictors of time to malignant transformation and time to death in patients with low-grade gliomas (LGGs).

Materials And Methods: Patients gave written informed consent for this institutional ethics committee-approved study. Patients with histologically proved LGGs underwent conventional, perfusion-weighted, and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at study entry and at 6 months.

A functional form for injected MRI Gd-chelate contrast agent concentration incorporating recirculation, extravasation and excretion.

A functional form for the vascular concentration of MRI contrast agent after intravenous bolus injection was developed that can be used to model the concentration at any vascular site at which contrast concentration can be measured. The form is based on previous models of blood circulation, and is consistent with previously measured data at long post-injection times, when the contrast agent is fully and evenly dispersed in the blood. It allows the first-pass and recirculation peaks of contrast agent to be modelled, and measurement of the absolute concentration of contrast agent at a single time point allows the whole time course to be rescaled to give absolute contrast agent concentration values.

Relative cerebral blood volume measurements of low-grade gliomas predict patient outcome in a multi-institution setting.

Background/purpose: The prognostic value of defining subcategories of gliomas is still controversial. This study aims to determine the utility of relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) in predicting clinical response in patients with low-grade glioma at multiple institutions.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-nine patients were studied with dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced perfusion MRI at two institutions.

Neuroimaging of CNS involvement in HIV.

Central nervous system involvement in HIV-positive patients is common with 40% of patients suffering neurological disease at some point in their lives. Neuroimaging is important to properly diagnose treatable conditions and to monitor response to treatment. In this article, we describe and illustrate the main CNS imaging findings.

Parkinsonism and dystonia caused by the illicit use of ephedrone--a longitudinal study.

A neurological syndrome characterized by levodopa unresponsive bradykinesia, retropulsion with falls backwards, dysarthria, gait disturbance, dystonia, and emotional lability was identified in 13 male opiate addicts following the prolonged intravenous use of ephedrone (methcathinone), a central nervous stimulant prepared from pseudoephedrine, potassium permanganate, and vinegar. The natural history, response to treatment, and clinical features has been studied, and MR and dopamine transporter SPECT brain imaging were carried out. Pubic hair was sampled for manganese.

Relaxation-based distance measurements between a nitroxide and a lanthanide spin label.

Distance measurements by electron paramagnetic resonance techniques between labels attached to biomacromolecules provide structural information on systems that cannot be crystallized or are too large to be characterized by NMR methods. However, existing techniques are limited in their distance range and sensitivity. It is anticipated by theoretical considerations that these limits could be extended by measuring the enhancement of longitudinal relaxation of a nitroxide label due to a lanthanide complex label at cryogenic temperatures.

Volumes and growth rates of untreated adult low-grade gliomas indicate risk of early malignant transformation.

Adult low-grade gliomas (LGG) grow slowly, but most eventually undergo malignant transformation. The relationship between tumour volume, growth rate and the likelihood of transformation is unknown. Twenty-seven patients with biopsy-proven, untreated LGG had at least three MRI studies at 6 monthly intervals.

Comparative study of pulsed electric field and thermal processing of apple juice with particular consideration of juice quality and enzyme deactivation.

As an alternative to thermal pasteurization, pulsed electric fields (PEF) were applied to apple juices on laboratory and pilot plant scale, investigating the effects on juice quality. PEF application still falls under the EU Novel Food Regulation. Consequently, extensive investigation of quality parameters is a prerequisite to prove substantial equivalence of juices resulting from the novel process and conventional production, respectively.

Pathology of the optic nerve.

This article focuses on pathologic processes affecting the optic nerve, optic nerve/sheath complex, and chiasm. Pathology of the visual pathways posterior to the chiasm is beyond the scope of this article and is discussed only briefly.

Inclusion or exclusion of intratumoral vessels in relative cerebral blood volume characterization in low-grade gliomas: does it make a difference?

We assessed the influence of inclusion (method 1) and exclusion (method 2) of intratumoral vessels when determining maximum relative cerebral blood volume (rCBVmax) in 3 types of low-grade gliomas (LGGs): astrocytomas, oligoastrocytomas, and oligodendrogliomas. Method 1 yielded significantly higher mean rCBVmax than method 2. However, only method 2 demonstrated a significant (P = .

Low-grade gliomas: do changes in rCBV measurements at longitudinal perfusion-weighted MR imaging predict malignant transformation?

Purpose: To prospectively perform longitudinal magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion imaging of conservatively treated low-grade gliomas to determine whether relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) changes precede malignant transformation as defined by conventional MR imaging and clinical criteria.

Materials And Methods: All patients gave written informed consent for this institutional ethics committee-approved study. Thirteen patients (seven men, six women; age range, 29-69 years) with biopsy-proved low-grade glioma treated only with antiepileptic drugs were examined longitudinally with susceptibility-weighted perfusion, T2-weighted, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and high-dose contrast material-enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging at 6-month intervals to date or until malignant transformation was diagnosed.

Spatially resolved determination of atomic particle densities and line shapes within an arc plasma by tomographic resonance interferometry.

The particle density of ground-state chromium atoms within one cross section of an arc plasma was measured spatially resolved, and the spatial distribution of the line shape of the chromium resonance line at 427.48 nm was partly determined. The measurements were performed with a newly developed setup that combines the methods of resonance interferometry and refractive tomography.

Enantiomorphic normalization of focally lesioned brains.

In order to make spatial inferences about the brain across a group of patients, it is usually necessary to employ some means of bringing each brain image into register with either a group mean image or a standard template. In the presence of focal brain lesions, automated methods for performing such so-called normalization are liable to distortion from the abnormal signal within the lesion, especially when the non-linear warping necessary for maximum registration fidelity is used. The most frequently used method for minimizing this distortion--cost function masking--simply eliminates the lesioned area when deriving the normalization parameters.

How run-of-river operation affects hydropower generation and value.

Regulated rivers in the United States are required to support human water uses while preserving aquatic ecosystems. However, the effectiveness of hydropower license requirements nationwide has not been demonstrated. One requirement that has become more common is "run-of-river" (ROR) operation, which restores a natural flow regime.