Complex enameloid microstructure of †Ischyrhiza mira rostral denticles.

Serving in a foraging or self-defense capacity, pristiophorids, pristids, and the extinct sclerorhynchoids independently evolved an elongated rostrum lined with modified dermal denticles called rostral denticles. Isolated rostral denticles of the sclerorhynchoid Ischyrhiza mira are commonly recovered from Late Cretaceous North American marine deposits. Although the external morphology has been thoroughly presented in the literature, very little is known about the histological composition and organization of these curious structures.

An open-source solution for shape modeling and analysis of objects of challenging topologies.

Shape analysis is an important and powerful tool in a wide variety of medical applications. Many shape analysis techniques require shape representations which are in correspondence. Unfortunately, popular techniques for generating shape representations do not handle objects with complex geometry or topology well, and those that do are not typically readily available for non-expert users.

Advanced statistical analysis to classify high dimensionality textural probability-distribution matrices.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with significant pain and disability. It is really hard to diagnose TMJ OA during early stages of the disease. Subchondral bone texture has been observed to change in the TMJ early during TMJ OA progression.

Methods for quantitative characterization of bone injury from computed-tomography images.

Computed tomography (CT) images can potentially provide insights into bone structure for diagnosis of disorders and diseases. However, evaluation of trabecular bone structure and whole bone shape is often qualitative or semi-quantitative. This limits inter-study comparisons and the ability to detect subtle bone quality variations during early disease onset or in response to new treatments.

CC-10004 but not thalidomide or lenalidomide inhibits lamina propria mononuclear cell TNF-α and MMP-3 production in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Thalidomide, one of whose activities is to inhibit Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α production, has been reported to be an effective treatment for refractory inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). TNF-α driven production of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 by gut lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) is a major pathway of tissue injury in IBD; however the effect of thalidomide and newer more potent immunomodulatory derivatives on this pathway has not been studied.

Aim: To investigate the effect of thalidomide, CC-4047 (pomalidomide), CC-5013 (lenalidomide), and CC-10004 (apremilast) on gut LPMC TNFα and MMP-3 production in patients with IBD.

Disruption of CNTNAP2 and additional structural genome changes in a boy with speech delay and autism spectrum disorder.

Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently harbour chromosome rearrangements and segmental aneuploidies, which allow us to identify candidate genes. In a boy with mild facial dysmorphisms, speech delay and ASD, we reconstructed by karyotyping, FISH and SNP array-based segmental aneuploidy profiling a highly complex chromosomal rearrangement involving at least three breaks in chromosome 1 and seven breaks in chromosome 7. Chromosome banding revealed an inversion of region 7q32.

Matrix metalloproteinase-3 production by gut IgG plasma cells in chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: In both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) there is a marked increase in mucosal IgG plasma cells (PC), although their precise role is not well established. In this study we isolated gut PCs from patients with IBD and normal controls and analyzed cytokine production, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 production, and PC longevity ex vivo.

Methods: Lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) were isolated from patients with CD (n = 19), UC (n = 27), and normal controls (n = 42).

Functional modulation of Crohn's disease myofibroblasts by anti-tumor necrosis factor antibodies.

Background & Aims: Infliximab induces immune cell apoptosis by outside-to-inside signaling through transmembrane tumor necrosis factor-alpha (mTNF). However, in inflamed gut, myofibroblasts also produce TNF-alpha, and the affects of anti-TNF antibodies on these structural cells are unknown. We investigated the action of infliximab on apoptosis, the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, and migration of Crohn's disease (CD) myofibroblasts.

Aplasia cutis congenita, terminal limb defects and falciform retinal folds: confirmation of a distinct syndrome of vascular disruption.

We describe a son of consanguineous parents with congenital scalp defects, transverse limb abnormalities, hypoplasia of the corpus callosum and bilateral falciform retinal folds. Aplasia cutis congenita with transverse limb defects are features of Adams-Oliver syndrome, which is usually inherited as an autosomal dominant condition. The association of bilateral retinal folds and brain abnormalities with scalp defects and terminal limb defects has only once been previously described.

Perspectives on dimensional analysis in scaling studies.

Scaling, as defined here, refers to the precise identification of those structural and functional aspects of selected systems that are size-independent, over some specified size-range. Small and large instances of such systems are said to be similar in respect to those aspects. Physicists and engineers have developed an elaborate methodology for identifying quantitative similarity criteria applicable to physical systems.

Small brain, large brain -- a quest for nature's scale-up rules.

A scaling model of the gyrencephalic mammalian brain, invoking identical repeating cortical units, whose number and size both increase with increasing brain size, was described previously (Prothero, 1997a,b). Each repeating unit, of microscopic dimensions, is viewed as extending from the pial membrane to the underlying white matter. The model predicts discrete scaling exponents, all integral multiples of 1/9, as a function of brain size, as follows: cortical thickness (1/9), outer cortical surface area (6/9), total (folded) cortical surface area (8/9), cortical volume (9/9), white matter volume (9/9), neuron line-count (0/9) and neuron volume density (-3/9).

The use of an independent visual background to reduce simulator side-effects.

Background: Simulator sickness (SS) is a major problem which potentially limits interface applications that feature simulated motion. While display imperfections play a role, a large part of SS is motion sickness (MS). Sensory rearrangement theory holds that MS is related to conflicting motion cues; in the case of simulators, mainly a conflict between inertial cues (usually indicating no self-motion) and visual stimuli from the display (indicating self-motion).

Visualization-based mapping of language function in the brain.

Cortical language maps, obtained through intraoperative electrical stimulation studies, provide a rich source of information for research on language organization. Previous studies have shown interesting correlations between the distribution of essential language sites and such behavioral indicators as verbal IQ and have provided suggestive evidence for regarding human language cortex as an organization of multiple distributed systems. Noninvasive studies using ECoG, PET, and functional MR lend support to this model; however, there as yet are no studies that integrate these two forms of information.

Scaling of cortical neuron density and white matter volume in mammals.

A prior scaling model, based on repeating cortical units, whose number and size increase with brain size, gave discrete exponents for cortical thickness (1/9), outer (visible) surface area (2/3), folded cortical surface area (8/9) and cortical volume (1), each as a function of brain volume. These exponents are in reasonable agreement with a diversity of empirical data (Prothero, 1997). Rockel et al.

Cortical scaling in mammals: a repeating units model.

A simple scaling model germane to the gyrencephalic mammalian cortex is proposed. The model aims to account for the empirical scaling of morphometric variables such as cortical thickness, surface area and volume, as a function of brain size. Several assumptions are made.

Scaling of organ subunits in adult mammals and birds: a model.

Members of one class of organs--including kidney and lung--consist chiefly of repeating units, or subunits, similar in size and shape. Across species, both the number and size of repeating units may increase with increasing organ size. A simple model is proposed, relating the scaling of unit-size and unit-number to that of organ volume.

Visualization and mapping of neurosurgical functional brain data onto a 3-D MR-based model of the brain surface.

The Human Brain Project was initiated with the goal of developing methods for managing and sharing information about the brain. As a prototype Human Brain Project application we are developing a system for organizing, visualizing, integrating and sharing information about human language function. The goal of the brain mapping component of our work, described in this article, is to generate the 3D location and extent of cortical language sites with respect to a uniform, 3D patient coordinate system.

Bone and fat as a function of body weight in adult mammals.

Three independent data sets, for both bone and fat weight, in adult mammals, expressed as a function of body weight, were submitted to linear regression analysis of the log-log transformed data. For land mammals generally, weighing up to 6.6 metric tons, the slope of the best-fit regression line for skeletal weight is 1.

A resource guide to VR in medicine.

This guide provides a bibliography of many of the most noteworthy contributions to the emerging literature about virtual reality in medicine, along with listings of the most relevant conferences and resources for researchers. This is an abridged version of a continuously updated comprehensive document which is available on-line to the research community.

Adult life span as a function of age at maturity.

A regression analysis was made of age at first reproduction in female mammals, as a function of body weight, using the data of Wootton. Data on maximal life span, also expressed as a function of body weight, were used to calculate "adult" life span, wherever possible, by subtracting the cognate value for age at first reproduction. Then a regression analysis of adult life span as a function of age at first reproduction was made.

Determination of relative fiber orientation in heart muscle: methodological problems.

Knowledge of the muscle pattern in the heart is important to understanding cardiac contraction and propagation of the electrical stimulus. Most work on this pattern has been carried out by blunt gross dissection, whereby fiber bundles are easily visible on the peeled heart wall. However, it has never been shown, to our knowledge, that the orientation of macroscopic fiber bundles seen in a peeled heart corresponds to that of the constituent myofibers (muscle cells).

Scaling of bodily proportions in adult terrestrial mammals.

To model body shape, a data base was constructed for body, forelimb, and hindlimb length, surface area, and girth, each as a function of body weight, in a diversity of mammals. These data were submitted to linear least-squares regression analysis. In addition, data on the partitioning of weight and surface area among the body segments (head-trunk, forelimbs, and hindlimbs) were collected.

Myofiber orientation in the weanling mouse heart.

This study provides a quantitative description at the cellular level of myofiber orientation throughout the ventricles of the mouse heart. We employed computer-based methods of three-dimensional reconstruction from 3 microns plastic-embedded serial sections. Registration marks were introduced by drilling minute holes into each plastic block.