UWB-Modulated Microwave Imaging for Human Brain Functional Monitoring.

Morphological microwave imaging has shown interesting results on reconstructing biological objects inside the human body, and these parameters represent their actual biological condition, but not their biological activity. In this paper, we propose a novel microwave technique to locate the low-frequency (f≃1 kHz) -modulated signals produced by a microtag mimicking an action potential and proved it in a cylindrical phantom of the brain region. A set of two combined UWB microwave applicators, operating in the 0.

Multi-Element UWB Probe Optimization for Medical Microwave Imaging.

The need for non-ionizing techniques for medical imaging applications has led to the use of microwave signals. Several systems have been introduced in recent years based on increasing the number of antennas and frequency bandwidth to obtain high resolution and good accuracy in locating objects. A novel microwave imaging system that reduces the number of required antennas for precise target location appropriate for medical applications is presented.

Flexible UHF RFID Tag for Blood Tubes Monitoring.

Low-cost and flexible radio frequency identification (RFID) tag for automatic identification, tracking, and monitoring of blood products is in great demand by the healthcare industry. A robust performance to meet security and traceability requirements in the different blood sample collection and analysis centers is also required. In this paper, a novel low-cost and flexible passive RFID tag is presented for blood sample collection tubes.

A case control study of risk factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in romania: experience at a clinical hospital of pneumology.

Background And Aim: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health issue in Romania. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors for TB among hospitalized patients in Romania.

Methods: This is a case-control study conducted between March 1st 2014 and March 30th 2015 at Leon Daniello Clinical Hospital of Pneumology, Cluj Napoca.

Electroinductive waves role in left-handed stacked complementary split rings resonators.

In this letter it is presented a Left-Handed Metamaterial design route based upon stacked arrays of screens made of complementary split rings resonators under normal incidence in the microwave regime. Computation of the dispersion diagram highlights the possibility to obtain backward waves provided the longitudinal lattice is small enough. The experimental results are in good agreement with the computed ones.

Polypropylene-substrate-based SRR- and CSRR- metasurfaces for submillimeter waves.

In this paper it is presented the fabrication of low loss millimeter wave metamaterials based on patterning on polypropylene substrates by conventional contact photolitography. We study numerically and experimentally the transmission and reflection properties of two dimensional arrays of split ring resonators (SRRs), or metasurfaces, and their complementary structure (CSRRs) for co- and cross-polarization excitations up to submillimeter frequencies under normal incidence conditions. The obtained results suggest the possibility of scaling them at terahertz frequencies based on this substrate where other lossy substrates degrade the resonators quality.

Lateralization and catecholaminergic neuroimmunomodulation: prazosin, an alpha1/alpha2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, suppresses interleukin-1 and increases interleukin-10 production induced by lipopolysaccharides.

Objective: The brain has previously been shown to asymmetrically modulate neurochemical, neuroendocrine and immune responses to lipopolysaccharides (LPS). As these responses are reversed by a chemical sympathectomy, it can be hypothesized that the asymmetry in the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system may be one of the mechanisms by which the brain hemispheres asymmetrically modulate immune reactivity.

Methods: The effects of prazosin, an alpha1/alpha2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, on the production of interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-10 induced by LPS was studied in mice selected for their paw preference.

Influence of gender and behavioural lateralisation on two exploratory models of anxiety in C3H mice.

Behavioural lateralisation, which has been postulated to be an individual personality trait, is related to the activity of various physiological systems including the immune system. As lateralisation has been related to anxiety, which is known to influence immune reactivity, it can be hypothesized that the relation between lateralisation and immune reactivity involves individual behavioural patterns as they appear in exploratory-based anxiety models. In order to answer this question, a behavioural investigation focussing on exploratory activity was undertaken in male and female C3H mice previously selected for their paw preference.

Locomotor bias produced by intra-accumbens injection of dopamine agonists and antagonists.

Several experiments have shown that the dopamine (DA) receptors in the nucleus accumbens control the intensity of locomotor activity; however, there are several contradictory results concerning the role of the accumbens in the regulation of the direction of locomotion. To further evaluate the contribution of dopaminergic function in the accumbens to the direction of locomotion, we first compared the effect on the direction of locomotor activity of unilateral intra-accumbens injections of the nonspecific DA antagonist haloperidol, the specific D-1 antagonist SCH-23390, the specific D-2 antagonist metoclopramide. In the second part of the experiment, we examined the effect on the direction of locomotor activity of unilateral intra-accumbens injections of the non-specific DA agonist apomorphine, the specific D-1 agonist SKF-38393, the specific D-2 agonist LY-171555, and the combination of SKF-38393 and LY-171555.

Locomotor bias produced by intra-accumbens and intracaudate injection of polyclonal dopamine anti-idiotypic antibodies.

The preceding article described anti-idiotypic antibodies to conjugated dopamine (AIDA); results were consistent with the hypothesis that these antibodies contained the internal image of conjugated dopamine (DA-G-BSA) and binded to dopamine (DA) receptors. We further tested these anti-idiotypic antibodies to conjugated dopamine by examining the functional changes produced by unilateral injection of AIDA (or DA-G-BSA) into the nucleus accumbens or into the medio-dorsal caudate in mice. Our results showed that unilateral injection of AIDA (or DA-G-BSA) into the nucleus accumbens or into the medio-dorsal caudate produced an ipsilateral locomotor asymmetry in amphetamine-treated animals which was similar to the one produced by unilateral intra-caudate injection of haloperidol (a non-specific DA antagonist).

Bidirectional potentiation between D1 and D2 dopamine agonists: effects of unilateral intra-accumbens injections on locomotor activity in mice.

We tested the effect of a single unilateral injection of a specific D1 agonist into the nucleus accumbens on the behavioral response to a subsequent unilateral intra-accumbens injection of a selective D2 agonist ten days later. The effect of the inverse order of presentation (D2 agonist followed ten days later by a D1 agonist) was also tested. No significant differences between the locomotor effects of the intra-accumbens injection of either SKF-38393 (3.

Memory-improving action of glucose: indirect evidence for a facilitation of hippocampal acetylcholine synthesis.

The effect of a 3 g/kg glucose injection on the velocity of the sodium-dependent high-affinity choline uptake mechanism in the hippocampus was both measured in quiet control mice and in mice immediately after training in an operant bar pressing task. Glucose did not significantly change high-affinity choline uptake in resting animals. High-affinity choline uptake in the hippocampus was increased by training in the operant bar pressing task.

[Circling behavior produced by the unilateral intra-accumbens injection of dopaminergic agonist and two dopaminergic antagonists in mice].

Unilateral intra-accumbens injection of apomorphine, a dopaminergic agonist, produced circling contralateral to the site of injection in Balb/c mice. Unilateral intra-accumbens injection of haloperidol and metoclopramide, two dopaminergic antagonists, produced ipsilateral circling. These results support the hypothesis that the dopaminergic receptors in the nucleus accumbens also contribute to the direction of locomotor activity.