7T MRI Versus 3T MRI of the Brain in Professional Fighters and Patients With Head Trauma.

Many studies have investigated the imaging sequelae of repetitive head trauma with mixed results, particularly with regard to the detection of intracranial white matter changes (WMCs) and cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs) on ≤3 Tesla (T) field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 7T MRI, which has recently been approved for clinical use, is more sensitive at detecting lesions associated with multiple neurological diagnoses. In this study, we sought to determine whether 7T MRI would detect more WMCs and CMHs than 3T MRI in 19 professional fighters, 16 patients with single TBI, versus 82 normal healthy controls (NHCs).

Polymeric particle-based therapies for acute inflammatory diseases.

Acute inflammation is essential for initiating and coordinating the body's response to injuries and infections. However, in acute inflammatory diseases, inflammation is not resolved but propagates further, which can ultimately lead to tissue damage such as in sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and deep vein thrombosis. Currently, clinical protocols are limited to systemic steroidal treatments, fluids and antibiotics that focus on eradicating inflammation rather than modulating it.

Implementing Just Culture to Improve Patient Safety.

Introduction: The number of deaths in the United States related to medical errors remains unacceptably high. Further complicating this situation is the problem of underreporting due to the fear of the consequences. In fact, the most commonly reported cause of underreporting worldwide is the fear of the negative consequences associated with reporting.

Structured Reporting in Multiple Sclerosis Reduces Interpretation Time.

Rationale And Objectives: Previous studies have reported mixed results regarding whether the use of structured reporting (SR) leads to a change in interpretation times. The objective of this study was to quantify any change in interpretation times after the implementation of SR for multiple sclerosis (MS) follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain.

Materials And Methods: Interpretation times before and after the transition to MS MRI SR were compared over a 5-year period.

Association of Cavum Septum Pellucidum and Cavum Vergae With Cognition, Mood, and Brain Volumes in Professional Fighters.

Importance: Many studies have investigated the imaging findings showing sequelae of repetitive head trauma, with mixed results.

Objective: To determine whether fighters (boxers and mixed martial arts fighters) with cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) and cavum vergae (CV) have reduced volumes in various brain structures or worse clinical outcomes on cognitive and mood testing.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study assessed participants from the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study.

Different culture media modulate growth, heterogeneity, and senescence in human mammary epithelial cell cultures.

The ability to culture normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) greatly facilitates experiments that seek to understand both normal mammary cell biology and the many differences between normal and abnormal human mammary epithelia. To maximize in vivo relevance, the primary cell culture conditions should maintain cells in states that resemble in vivo as much as possible. Towards this goal, we compared the properties of HMEC strains from two different reduction mammoplasty tissues that were grown in parallel using different media and culture conditions.

High-Dimensional Phenotyping Identifies Age-Emergent Cells in Human Mammary Epithelia.

Aging is associated with tissue-level changes in cellular composition that are correlated with increased susceptibility to disease. Aging human mammary tissue shows skewed progenitor cell potency, resulting in diminished tumor-suppressive cell types and the accumulation of defective epithelial progenitors. Quantitative characterization of these age-emergent human cell subpopulations is lacking, impeding our understanding of the relationship between age and cancer susceptibility.

Biomimetic Accommodating Intraocular Lens Using a Valved Deformable Liquid Balloon.

Objective: Presbyopia is a common age-related condition that prevents people from focusing on near objects. The etiology of presbyopia continues to be debated, but the end effect of all postulated mechanisms is the lack of deformation of the human lens. Using our understanding of the biomechanical properties of the natural human lens, we created a unique accommodating intraocular lens.

Age and the means of bypassing stasis influence the intrinsic subtype of immortalized human mammary epithelial cells.

Based on molecular features, breast cancers are grouped into intrinsic subtypes that have different prognoses and therapeutic response profiles. With increasing age, breast cancer incidence increases, with hormone receptor-positive and other luminal-like subtype tumors comprising a majority of cases. It is not known at what stage of tumor progression subtype specification occurs, nor how the process of aging affects the intrinsic subtype.

Investigating cognitive flexibility as a potential mechanism of mindfulness in Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Background And Objectives: Research suggests mindfulness-based treatments may enhance efficacy of CBT for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). One hypothesized mechanism of mindfulness is cognitive flexibility; however, research findings to date are mixed as to a) whether cognitive inflexibility represents a characteristic of GAD, and b) whether mindfulness impacts cognitive flexibility. It is proposed that limitations in study methodology may partially account for these mixed findings.

Convergence and divergence of neuroanatomic correlates and executive task performance in healthy controls and psychiatric participants.

The associations between brain matter volume in the cerebral cortex and set shifting and attentional control as operationalized by the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) and Condition Three of the Delis-Kaplan version of the Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) were investigated in 15 healthy controls and 16 heterogeneously diagnosed psychiatric patients with self-control problems using voxel based morphometry. Both groups underwent standardized magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological assessment. WCST and CWIT variables, and a composite, were regressed across the whole brain.

A Fresh Look at Potential Mechanisms of Change in Applied Relaxation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Case Series.

Applied Relaxation (AR), which involves noticing early signs of anxiety and responding with a relaxation response, is an empirically supported treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). However, research on hypothesized mechanisms of AR (e.g.

Using Mindfulness- and Acceptance-Based Treatments With Clients From Nondominant Cultural and/or Marginalized Backgrounds: Clinical Considerations, Meta-Analysis Findings, and Introduction to the Special Series.

A growing body of research suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based principles can increase efforts aimed at reducing human suffering and increasing quality of life. A critical step in the development and evaluation of these new approaches to treatment is to determine the acceptability and efficacy of these treatments for clients from nondominant cultural and/or marginalized backgrounds. This special series brings together the wisdom of clinicians and researchers who are currently engaged in clinical practice and treatment research with populations who are historically underrepresented in the treatment literature.

Fabrication and use of microenvironment microarrays (MEArrays).

The interactions between cells and their surrounding microenvironment have functional consequences for cellular behaviour. On the single cell level, distinct microenvironments can impose differentiation, migration, and proliferation phenotypes, and on the tissue level the microenvironment processes as complex as morphogenesis and tumorigenesis(1). Not only do the cell and molecular contents of microenvironments impact the cells within, but so do the elasticity(2) and geometry(3) of the tissue.

The development of a brief acceptance and mindfulness-based program aimed at reducing sexual revictimization among college women with a history of childhood sexual abuse.

Women with a history of childhood sexual assault (CSA) are more likely to be revictimized; however, most existing programs aimed at reducing sexual victimization do not expressly address the issue of revictimization. The present study examined the efficacy of a brief mindfulness-based program in reducing rates of sexual assault and revictimization in college women over the course of an academic semester. Although the results were not statistically significant, a large-magnitude effect was noted, whereby women with a history of CSA who participated in the program were less likely to be sexually assaulted and raped at 2-month follow-up.

The role of values-consistent behavior in generalized anxiety disorder.

Background: Theory and research suggest that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with diminished quality of life and restriction in valued action. The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of values-consistent behavior (valued action) in understanding the impairment in quality of life in GAD.

Method: Treatment-seeking clients with a principal diagnosis of GAD (n = 30) were compared with demographically matched nonanxious controls (n = 30) using self-report measures.

Distress and avoidance in generalized anxiety disorder: exploring the relationships with intolerance of uncertainty and worry.

Theory and research suggest that treatments targeting experiential avoidance may enhance outcomes for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study examined the role of experiential avoidance and distress about emotions in a treatment-seeking sample with a principal diagnosis of GAD compared with demographically matched nonanxious controls and sought to explore their shared relationship with two putative psychopathological processes in GAD: intolerance of uncertainty and worry. Patients with GAD reported significantly higher levels of experiential avoidance and distress about emotions compared with nonclinical controls while controlling for depressive symptoms, and measures of these constructs significantly predicted GAD status.

Mindfulness and emotion regulation difficulties in generalized anxiety disorder: preliminary evidence for independent and overlapping contributions.

Diminished levels of mindfulness (awareness and acceptance/nonjudgment) and difficulties in emotion regulation have both been proposed to play a role in symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); the current studies investigated these relationships in nonclinical and clinical samples. In the first study, among a sample of 395 individuals at an urban commuter campus, self-reports of both emotion regulation difficulties and aspects of mindfulness accounted for unique variance in GAD symptom severity, above and beyond variance shared with depressive and anxious symptoms, as well as variance shared with one another. In the second study, individuals with GAD (n=16) reported significantly lower levels of mindfulness and significantly higher levels of difficulties in emotion regulation than individuals in a nonanxious control group (n=16).