Alterations of Structural Network Efficiency in Early-Onset and Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

Background And Purpose: Early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD and LOAD, respectively) share the same neuropathological hallmarks of amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles but have distinct cognitive features. We compared structural brain connectivity between the EOAD and LOAD groups using structural network efficiency and evaluated the association of structural network efficiency with the cognitive profile and pathological markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: The structural brain connectivity networks of 80 AD patients (47 with EOAD and 33 with LOAD) and 57 healthy controls were reconstructed using diffusion-tensor imaging.

Choroid Plexus Volume, Amyloid Burden, and Cognition in the Alzheimer's Disease Continuum.

As a part of the glymphatic system, the choroid plexus (CP) is involved in the clearance of harmful metabolites from the brain. We investigated the association between CP volume (CPV), amyloid-β (Aβ) burden, and cognition in patients on the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 203 patients on the AD continuum and 82 healthy controls who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and F-florbetaben positron emission tomography.

Analysis of abnormal muscle activities in patients with loss of cervical lordosis: a cross-sectional study.

Background: This study aimed to detect the differences in cervical muscle activation patterns in people with versus without cervical lordosis and explore the possible mechanism of cervical pain originating therein.

Methods: This cross-sectional design included 39 participants without and 18 with normal cervical lordosis. Muscular activation was measured for 5 s in both groups using surface electromyography.

Evaluation of glymphatic system activity using diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space and amyloid PET in older adults with objectively normal cognition: a preliminary study.

Objectives: Diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) is a recently introduced method for the assessment of the glymphatic system without the need for contrast injection. The purpose of our study was to assess the glymphatic system in cognitively normal older adults with or without subjective cognitive decline (SCD) using DTI-ALPS, and correlating with amyloid PET.

Design And Participants: To evaluate the glymphatic system in cognitively normal older adults using DTI-ALPS, we built a prospective cohort including a total of 123 objectively cognitively normal older adults with or without SCD.

Variability and magnitude of brain glutamate levels in schizophrenia: a meta and mega-analysis.

Glutamatergic dysfunction is implicated in schizophrenia pathoaetiology, but this may vary in extent between patients. It is unclear whether inter-individual variability in glutamate is greater in schizophrenia than the general population. We conducted meta-analyses to assess (1) variability of glutamate measures in patients relative to controls (log coefficient of variation ratio: CVR); (2) standardised mean differences (SMD) using Hedges g; (3) modal distribution of individual-level glutamate data (Hartigan's unimodality dip test).

Fluoroquinolone and no risk of Achilles-tendinopathy in childhood pneumonia under eight years of age-a nationwide retrospective cohort.

Background: The emergence of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MRMP) has made its treatment challenging. A few guidelines have recommended fluoroquinolones (FQs) as second-line drugs of choice for treating MRMP in children under the age of eight, but concerns about potential adverse events (i.e.

Association of Age, Antipsychotic Medication, and Symptom Severity in Schizophrenia With Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Brain Glutamate Level: A Mega-analysis of Individual Participant-Level Data.

Importance: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies indicate that altered brain glutamatergic function may be associated with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the response to antipsychotic treatment. However, the association of altered glutamatergic function with clinical and demographic factors is unclear.

Objective: To assess the associations of age, symptom severity, level of functioning, and antipsychotic treatment with brain glutamatergic metabolites.

Cardiac-induced cerebral pulsatility, brain structure, and cognition in middle and older-aged adults.

Changes of cardiac-induced regional pulsatility can be associated with specific regions of brain volumetric changes, and these are related with cognitive alterations. Thus, mapping of cardiac pulsatility over the entire brain can be helpful to assess these relationships. A total of 108 subjects (age: 66.

Voxel-wise partial volume correction method for accurate estimation of tissue sodium concentration in Na-MRI at 7 T.

Sodium is crucial for the maintenance of cell physiology, and its regulation of the sodium-potassium pump has implications for various neurological conditions. The distribution of sodium concentrations in tissue can be quantitatively evaluated by means of sodium MRI ( Na-MRI). Despite its usefulness in diagnosing particular disease conditions, tissue sodium concentration (TSC) estimated from Na-MRI can be strongly biased by partial volume effects (PVEs) that are induced by broad point spread functions (PSFs) as well as tissue fraction effects.

The increased risk of bleeding due to drug-drug interactions in patients administered direct oral anticoagulants.

Introduction: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have the potential to increase bleeding due to drug-drug interactions (DDIs). In the present study, the risk of bleeding was evaluated when drugs with potential DDIs were simultaneously prescribed with DOACs.

Materials And Methods: The present study included patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) who were newly prescribed DOACs between January 2014 and December 2016.

Annual and seasonal patterns in etiologies of pediatric community-acquired pneumonia due to respiratory viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae requiring hospitalization in South Korea.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the leading worldwide causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. Its disease burden varies by age and etiology and is time dependent. We aimed to investigate the annual and seasonal patterns in etiologies of pediatric CAP requiring hospitalization.

Trends in Lower Limb Amputation in Patients with Diabetic Foot Based on Vascular Intervention of Peripheral Arterial Disease in Korea: a Population-based Nationwide Study.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is known as the greatest risk factor affecting the amputation of diabetic foot. Thus, it is crucial to understand the epidemiology of PAD associated with diabetic foot and the relationship between PTA and amputation in predicting prognosis. However, no such multi-year data are available in Korea.

The Mechanism of Hip Dislocation Related to the Use of Abduction Bar and Hip Compression Bandage in Patients With Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

Objective: The aims of the study were to identify the differences of forces in the hip adductors between with or without the abduction bar and to evaluate the effect of hip compression bandage on the spasticity of the adductor muscles.

Design: Thirty-three patients with cerebral palsy (Gross Motor Functional Classification System IV and V) were prospectively included. Surface electromyography was taken by attaching electromyography on the adductor and abductor muscles.

Quantifying the association between acute leukemia and serum zinc, copper, and selenium: a meta-analysis.

Acute leukemia is a clonal malignant disorder that occurs when immature blast cells accumulate in bone marrow. Zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) are related to normal lymphocyte maturation and immune function regulation. Selenium (Se) is protective against oxidative damage.

In Vivo Brain Glycine and Glutamate Concentrations in Patients With First-Episode Psychosis Measured by Echo Time-Averaged Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at 4T.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests the involvement of abnormal glutamateric neurotransmission and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor hypofunction in the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders. The purpose of this study was to quantify in vivo glutamate (Glu) and glycine (Gly) levels in patients with first-episode psychosis as well as age-matched healthy control subjects with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

Methods: The subjects were 46 patients with first-episode psychosis (20 with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, 26 with bipolar disorder) and 50 age-matched healthy control subjects.

Rapid and simultaneous measurement of phosphorus metabolite pool size ratio and reaction kinetics of enzymes in vivo.

Purpose: The metabolites phosphocreatine (PCr), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and in-organic phosphate (Pi) are biochemically coupled. Their pool sizes, assessed by their magnetization ratios, have been extensively studied and reflect bioenergetics status in vivo. However, most such studies have ignored chemical exchange and T relaxation effects.

Brain bioenergetics and redox state measured by P magnetic resonance spectroscopy in unaffected siblings of patients with psychotic disorders.

Background: Brain bioenergetic anomalies and redox dysregulation have been implicated in the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders. The present study examined brain energy-related metabolites and the balance between nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide metabolites (oxidized NAD+ and reduced NADH) using P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P-MRS) in unaffected siblings, compared to first episode psychosis (FEP) patients and healthy controls.

Methods: 21 unaffected siblings, 32 FEP patients (including schizophrenia spectrum and affective psychoses), and 21 controls underwent P-MRS in the frontal lobe (6×6×4cm) on a 4T MR scanner, using custom-designed dual-tuned surface coil with outer volume suppression.

Redox Dysregulation in Schizophrenia Revealed by in vivo NAD+/NADH Measurement.

Balance between the redox pair of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotides (oxidized NAD+ and reduced NADH), reflects the oxidative state of cells and the ability of biological systems to carry out energy production. A growing body of evidence suggests that an "immuno-oxidative" pathway including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and cell-mediated immune response may contribute to disruptions in brain activity in schizophrenia (SZ). The aim of this study is to assess possible redox imbalance in SZ patients by using a novel in vivo P MRS technique.

International variability in diet and requirements of manganese: Causes and consequences.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element that is critical for human health and development. At the turn of the century when diets were based on whole grains, cereals and other traditional foods, Mn intakes (8-9mg/d) were much greater than that prevalent today (2mg/d). As societies have developed, diets have shifted as part of a nutrition transition, to those that are high in processed foods, fat, and sugar.

Clinical Variables Correlated with Numbers of Intra-arterial Nimodipine Infusion in Patients with Medically Refractory Cerebral Vasospasm.

Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the clinical variables correlated with repeated intra-arterial (IA) nimodipine infusions in patients with medically refractory cerebral vasospasm (CV) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Materials And Methods: During the 36 months between January 2011 and December 2013, 275 patients were treated at our institute for SAH due to a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. Of the 275 patients, 26 patients (9.

Design of a fused phantom for quantitative evaluation of brain metabolites and enhanced quality assurance testing for magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRI-MRS) is a useful tool for the identification and evaluation of chemical changes in anatomical regions. Quality assurance (QA) is performed in either images or spectra using QA phantom. Therefore, consistent and uniform technical MRI-MRS QA is crucial.

Effect of acupuncture on patients with insomnia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Hypnotic drugs tend to be the dominant form of treatment of insomnia, but these come with a number of reported side effects. Acupuncture has been studied as an alternative, resulting in a rising need for methodological research towards verifying its efficacy as insomnia treatment.

Methods/design: We describe a proposal for a single-center, patient-assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms.

Chronic repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation enhances GABAergic and cholinergic metabolism in chronic unpredictable mild stress rat model: ¹H-NMR spectroscopy study at 11.7T.

Gamma-animobutyric acid (GABA) systems are emerging as targets for development of medications for mood disorders. Deficits in GABA-containing neurons are consistently reported in psychiatric disease, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) that use magnetic field to stimulate focal cortical regions with electrical current have a potential therapeutic effects with non-invasive and painless method.

Dose-dependent influence of short-term intermittent ethanol intoxication on cerebral neurochemical changes in rats detected by ex vivo proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the effects of short-term intermittent ethanol intoxication on cerebral metabolite changes among sham controls (CNTL), low-dose ethanol (LDE)-exposed, and high-dose ethanol (HDE)-exposed rats, which were determined with ex vivo high-resolution spectra. Eight-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into three groups. Twenty rats in the LDE (n=10) and the HDE (n=10) groups received ethanol doses of 1.