Ultrasound biomicroscopy in the quantification of brain perfusion parameters of a rat stroke model: Analysis of contrast agent bolus kinetic dynamics.

Background: Ischemic stroke represents a significant global health concern, necessitating thorough investigations and the utilization of stroke animal models to explore novel treatment modalities and diagnostic imaging techniques.

New Method: Ultrasound biomicroscopy (BMU), operating at a center frequency of 21 MHz, along with ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs), was used to quantify microcirculation cerebral blood flow in a rat model of ischemic stroke. The microcirculation parameters were derived from time intensity curve (TIC) plots obtained based on UCA-bolus kinetics.

Ultrasound biomicroscopy for the assessment of early-stage nonalcoholic fatty liver disease induced in rats by a high-fat diet.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the ability of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) to diagnose the initial stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a rat model.

Methods: Eighteen male Wistar rats were allocated to control or experimental groups. A high-fat diet (HFD) with 20% fructose and 2% cholesterol, resembling a common Western diet, was fed to animals in the experimental groups for up to 16 weeks; those in the control group received a regular diet.

Applying Different Strategies of Task Constraint Manipulation in Small-Sided and Conditioned Games: How Do They Impact Physical and Tactical Demands?

This study aimed to investigate how different strategies of task constraint manipulation impact physical and tactical demands in small-sided and conditioned games (SSCG). Ten recreational U-17 soccer players participated in this study (16.89 ± 0.

The P2X7 Receptor Promotes Colorectal Inflammation and Tumorigenesis by Modulating Gut Microbiota and the Inflammasome.

Given the role of the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), we investigated its role in the development and progression of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CA-CRC). CA-CRC was induced in P2X7R and P2X7R mice with azoxymethane (AOM) combined with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). In a therapeutic protocol, P2X7R mice were treated with a P2X7R-selective inhibitor (A740003).

Shear Elastic Coefficient of Normal and Fibrinogen-Deficient Clotting Plasma Obtained with a Sphere-Motion-Based Acoustic-Radiation-Force Approach.

Blood coagulation is a process involving several chemical reactions governed by coagulation factors, during which the shear elastic coefficient, μ, varies as the medium transitions from liquid to gel phase. This work used ultrasound to measure μ during the clotting of human plasma samples by tracking the motion of a glass sphere located inside a cuvette filled with the plasma. A 2.

3-D Endoluminal Ultrasound Biomicroscopic Imaging and Volumetry of Mouse Colon Tumors.

Currently, colonoscopy is considered the gold standard procedure for diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), the third most common cancer in the United States. However, this technique fails to detect flat adenomas, serrated polyps and advanced adenomas, with miss rates of 34%, 27% and 14%, respectively. These miss rates, more frequent than previously supposed, suggest the need for new CRC screening tools.

Dynamic assessment of plasma clotting in samples with distinct fibrinogen concentrations using impulsive acoustic radiation force.

While some diseases reduce fibrinogen concentration, others increase the amount of this clotting factor in the blood. Some studies have shown that the fibrinogen concentration in the blood is related to the stiffness of the formed clot. Hence, the aim of this study was to employ an ultrasonic method based on impulsive acoustic radiation force (IARF) to identify the fibrinogen concentration (coagulation factor I) in a plasma sample by means of peak-displacement (PD), time of peak-displacement (TPD), and shear modulus (μ) as well as to identify the change of plasma samples during the clot formation process.

Detection of Mice Colorectal Tumors by Endoluminal Ultrasound Biomicroscopic Images and Quantification of Image Augmented Gray Values Following Injection of VEGFR-2 Targeted Contrast Agent.

Rationale And Objectives: Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is a noninvasive imaging technique that can be applied in detecting colonic tumors and, once associated with an ultrasound contrast agent (UCA), can identify the molecular expression of cancer-related biomarkers, such as the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2). The present work aimed to detect colonic tumors and quantify augmented gray values of endoluminal UBM (eUBM) images from colonic tumors following the injection of VEGFR-2 targeted UCA (VEGFR2-UCA) into a mouse model of colorectal cancer.

Material And Methods: A 40 MHz miniprobe catheter inserted through the biopsy channel of a pediatric flexible bronchofiberscope was used to obtain colonoscopic and B-mode eUBM images simultaneously.

Temperature estimation of inflamed bowel by the photoacoustic inverse approach.

Local temperature increase is one of the five classical signs of regions with inflammations. This work is focused on the application of the photoacoustic technique for the estimation of the temperature field in the colon, as the solution of an inverse problem, for the detection of inflamed regions. Two-dimensional cases are examined here involving a cross section of the bowel, which characterize either the inflammation of the whole mucosa layer, or three small inflamed regions.

Changing Rules and Configurations During Soccer Small-Sided and Conditioned Games. How Does It Impact Teams' Tactical Behavior?

The present study aimed to investigate how team's tactical behavior varies within and between age categories in different Small-Sided and Conditioned Games' configurations and conditions. Twenty non-elite youth male soccer players (U15, = 10, mean age = 13.5 ± 1.

How Does the Adjustment of Training Task Difficulty Level Influence Tactical Behavior in Soccer?

: This study aimed to investigate if player tactical skill level and age category influence team performance and player exploratory behavior in tasks with different difficulty levels. : In total, 48 youth male soccer players participated in the study (U15, = 24, mean age = 13.06 ± 1.

In Vivo Endoluminal Ultrasound Biomicroscopy and Endoscopy of Inflamed Rat Esophagus.

The development of high-frequency endoscopic ultrasound for the investigation of models of esophageal disease may offer insights for future translation to human imaging. With respect to small animal models of esophageal diseases, ultrasound imaging instrumentation must employ frequencies scaled up to maintain the compromise between image resolution and inspected region. In this sense, a 40-MHz endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopy (eUBM) system and an endoscope were tested as diagnostic methods of imaging rat esophageal lesions in the acute and chronic phases caused by sodium hydroxide.

GRN and MAPT Mutations in 2 Frontotemporal Dementia Research Centers in Brazil.

Background: Mutations in GRN (progranulin) and MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau) are among the most frequent causes of monogenic frontotemporal dementia (FTD), but data on the frequency of these mutations in regions such as Latin America are still lacking.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the frequencies of GRN and MAPT mutations in FTD cohorts from 2 Brazilian dementia research centers, the University of Sao Paulo and the Federal University of Minas Gerais medical schools.

Methods: We included 76 probands diagnosed with behavioral-variant FTD (n=55), semantic-variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) (n=11), or nonfluent-variant PPA (n=10).

Ultrasound biomicroscopy and claudication test for in vivo follow-up of muscle repair enhancement based on platelet-rich plasma therapy in a rat model of gastrocnemius laceration.

Purpose: To track the regeneration process of lateral gastrocnemius due to a muscle laceration in rats, and to treatment with plateletrich plasma (PRP).

Methods: Ultrasound (40 MHz) images were used for measuring pennation angle (PA), muscle thickness (MT) and mean pixel intensity, along with claudication scores, of treated (PRPG) and non-treated (NTG) groups of rats.

Results: NTG showed a PA increase for the non-injured leg (p<0.

Laceration in rat gastrocnemius. Following-up muscle repairing by ultrasound biomicroscopy (in vivo), contractility test (ex vivo) and histopathology.

Purpose: Implement a laceration protocol of the rat lateral gastrocnemius (LG) and following-up its repair with ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), contractility tests and histology.

Methods: Sixty-three male Wistar rats were distributed into two groups. One, with sub-groups GI, GII and GIII (n=12), each containing right LG lacerated (n=6), control and sham (n=3) animals.

Effects of galantamine and galantamine combined with nimodipine on cognitive speed and quality of life in mixed dementia: a 24-week, randomized, placebo-controlled exploratory trial (the REMIX study).

Unlabelled: The effects of galantamine (GAL) on quality of life (QoL) and cognitive speed, as well its effects combined with nimodipine (NIM) in Alzheimer disease (AD) with cerebrovascular disease (mixed dementia), have not been explored.

Method: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter Brazilian trial, studying the effects of GAL/NIM vs. GAL/placebo (PLA) in mild to moderate mixed dementia.

Structural adaptations of rat lateral gastrocnemius muscle-tendon complex to a chronic stretching program and their quantification based on ultrasound biomicroscopy and optical microscopic images.

Background: A chronic regimen of flexibility training can increase range of motion, with the increase mechanisms believed to be a change in the muscle material properties or in the neural components associated with this type of training.

Methods: This study followed chronic structural adaptations of lateral gastrocnemius muscle of rats submitted to stretching training (3 times a week during 8weeks), based on muscle architecture measurements including pennation angle, muscle thickness and tendon length obtained from ultrasound biomicroscopic images, in vivo. Fiber length and sarcomere number per 100μm were determined in 3 fibers of each muscle (ex vivo and in vitro, respectively), using conventional optical microscopy.

Simultaneous follow-up of mouse colon lesions by colonoscopy and endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopy.

Aim: To evaluate the potential use of colonoscopy and endoluminal ultrasonic biomicroscopy (eUBM) to track the progression of mouse colonic lesions.

Methods: Ten mice were treated with a single azoxymethane intraperitoneal injection (week 1) followed by seven days of a dextran sulfate sodium treatment in their drinking water (week 2) to induce inflammation-associated colon tumors. eUBM was performed simultaneously with colonoscopy at weeks 13, 17-20 and 21.

Endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopy as a reliable tool for in vivo assessment of colonic inflammation in rats.

Purpose: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) imaging of the colon is an important diagnostic tool for early neoplasia, although usually restricted to the rectum in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study aimed to evaluate the ability of an endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopic (eUBM) system to detect and characterize lesions simulating Crohn's disease in the colon of rats in vivo.

Methods: Colitis was induced with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid instillated in the distal colon.

In vivo endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging in a mouse model of colorectal cancer.

Rationale And Objectives: The gold-standard tool for colorectal cancer detection is colonoscopy, but it provides only mucosal surface visualization. Ultrasound biomicroscopy allows a clear delineation of the epithelium and adjacent colonic layers. The aim of this study was to design a system to generate endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopic images of the mouse colon, in vivo, in an animal model of inflammation-associated colon cancer.

Statistical analysis of high frequency ultrasonic backscattered signals from basal cell carcinomas.

A statistical approach was implemented in the study of histologic characteristics from ex vivo basal cell carcinomas, based on the properties of backscattered acoustic waves, for the purpose of evaluating the method as a diagnostic tool. The study was developed using an ultrasound biomicroscope working at a frequency of 45 MHz. The parameters examined were signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and shape parameters from the Weibull (b(W)) and generalized gamma (c(GG) and υ(GG)) probability density functions.

Features of in vitro ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging and colonoscopy for detection of colon tumor in mice.

The present work tested the capability of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), at 45 MHz, to provide cross-sectional images with appropriate resolution and contrast to detect tumors and determine their penetration depths on the colon of mice, Mus musculus (Linnaeus 1758), treated with carcinogen for colon tumor induction. B-mode images were obtained, in vitro, from each animal (13 treated and 4 untreated) colon opened longitudinally and immersed in saline solution at room temperature. Prior to UBM inspection, all animals were also examined by colonoscopy.