Neonatal cerebral ultrasound: anatomical variants and age-related diseases.

Cerebral ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging technique widely used for the assessment of brain anatomy and diseases in neonates and infants. Indeed, it allows a precise characterization of common variants such as cavum septum pellucidum or diseases like intraventricular hemorrhage. The aim of this pictorial review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the main ultrasound features of the most common cerebral anatomical variants and disorders detectable by cerebral ultrasound using an age-related approach which could support non-subspecialized radiologists.

Recording from Snail Motor Nerves to Investigate Central Pattern Generation.

Feeding in pond snails has long been a model system for central pattern generation and its modulation. The pattern is generated by a small set of neurons in the buccal ganglia, which innervate the buccal mass, esophagus, and salivary glands. In this exercise, students observe feeding behavior and then record and quantify rhythmic motor activity and its response to feeding stimulants and neuromodulators.

Video Microscopy for Teaching: Optimizing the Field of View.

Whether teaching online or in person, video microscopy can demonstrate and document procedures such as dissection and electrophysiology. Such videos can streamline in-person lab work or make online material more interesting and lifelike. Microscope video can also be streamed live over Zoom or other services for live online demonstration.

Body composition assessment: comparison of quantitative values between magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography.

Background: The primary objective of this study was to compare measurements of skeletal muscle index (SMI), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) at the level of L3, on subjects who underwent computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations within a three-month period. The secondary objective was to compare the automatic and semi-automatic quantifications of the same values for CT images.

Methods: Among subjects who underwent CT and MRI at our Institution between 2011 and 2020, exclusion criteria were: presence of extensive artifacts; images not including the whole waist circumference; CT acquired with low-dose technique and lack of non-contrast images.

Posterior reversible leukoencephalopathy syndrome associated with acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis: systematic review.

Background: Kidney diseases are a recognized cause of posterior reversible leukoencephalopathy syndrome, usually abbreviated as PRES. The purpose of this review was to systematically address the association between acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis and PRES.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature on acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis associated with PRES.

Imaging of Carotid Plaque Neovascularization by Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Carotid plaque neovascularization (vasa vasorum [VV]) may be useful for detecting high-risk atherosclerotic plaques. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) are 2 commonly used techniques for imaging VV of the carotid plaque, yet the relationship between their measurements remains unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to blindly evaluate the correlation between CEUS and DCE-MRI in measuring carotid plaque VV.

Reducing the Cost of Electrophysiology in the Teaching Laboratory.

Electrophysiology is a fundamental part of neuroscience and there are many published laboratory exercises suitable for undergraduates. However, the cost of equipping a lab is often a barrier to implementing these exercises. In this paper, we outline lab needs, suggest strategies for building a lab incrementally by adding equipment as budgets permit, and suggest specific areas for cost-cutting.

The Growing Field of Imaging of Atherosclerosis in Peripheral Arteries.

In the past decades, peripheral arteries have represented a model for the comprehension of atherosclerosis as well as for the development of new diagnostic imaging modalities and therapeutic strategies. Peripheral arteries may represent a window to study atherosclerosis. Pathology has prominently contributed to move the clinical and research attention from the arterial lumen stenosis and angiography to morphological and functional imaging techniques.

Long-term Outcomes of a Telementoring Program for Distant Teaching of Endovascular Aneurysm Repair.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the long-term outcomes after a telementoring program for distant teaching of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and the degree of EVAR procedure assimilation into routine practice.

Methods: A telementoring protocol using stepwise introduction of EVAR was implemented between a university care center and a remote vascular health care site; from March 1999 to October 2003, 49 EVAR patients (mean age 72 years; 48 men) were treated during telementoring at the remote center. After the telementoring period, 86 patients (mean age 71 years; 77 men) underwent EVAR procedures carried out at the secondary care center from November 2003 to July 2011.

A Protocol Demonstrating 60 Different Behaviors in One Assay.

The fruit fly performs many behaviors, from simple motor actions to complex social interactions, that are of interest to neurobiologists studying how the brain controls behavior. Here, an undergraduate laboratory exercise uses cutting-edge methods to activate sets of neurons thermogenetically, triggering 60 different behaviors. Students learn how to recognize this large repertoire of behaviors from 16 fly strains that are publicly available, and from a large set of training videos provided here.

A simple method for low-contrast detectability, image quality and dose optimisation with CT iterative reconstruction algorithms and model observers.

Background: The aim of this work was to evaluate detection of low-contrast objects and image quality in computed tomography (CT) phantom images acquired at different tube loadings (i.e. mAs) and reconstructed with different algorithms, in order to find appropriate settings to reduce the dose to the patient without any image detriment.

Data on consistency among different methods to assess atherosclerotic plaque echogenicity on standard ultrasound and intraplaque neovascularization on contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging in human carotid artery.

Here we provide the correlation among different carotid ultrasound (US) variables to assess echogenicity n standard carotid US and to assess intraplaque neovascularization on contrast enhanced US. We recruited 45 consecutive subjects with an asymptomatic≥50% carotid artery stenosis. Carotid plaque echogenicity at standard US was visually graded according to Gray-Weale classification (GW) and measured by the greyscale median (GSM), a semi-automated computerized measurement performed by Adobe Photoshop.

A combined "in vivo" noninvasive evaluation of carotid plaques using ultrasonography and high-resolution magnetic resonance - new insight into plaque burden and vulnerability.

Background: Qualitative change in carotid plaques was prospectively evaluated by Gray Scale Median (GSM) analysis at repeated examinations "in vivo", in relation to quantitative change in carotid arterial geometry, as assessed by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI).

Patients And Methods: Duplex ultrasound with GSM analysis and HR-MRI at the carotid level were performed at baseline and 1- and 2-year follow up in 30 patients with < 70% carotid stenosis. Changes in GSM values (ΔGSM) were evaluated as the intra-individual difference between 2-year and baseline values.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging of intraplaque neovascularization and its correlation to plaque echogenicity in human carotid arteries atherosclerosis.

Background: Currently the most widely accepted predictor of stroke risk in patients with carotid atherosclerosis is the degree of stenoses. Plaque echogenicity on ultrasound imaging (US) and intraplaque neovascularization (IPNV) are becoming recognized as factors of plaque vulnerability. Aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between the echogenicity of the carotid atherosclerosis by standard US and the degree of IPNV by contrast enhanced US (CEUS).

Intra-individual comparison of carotid and femoral atherosclerotic plaque features with in vivo MR plaque imaging.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences of plaque composition and morphology within the same patient in different vascular beds using non-invasive MR-plaque imaging. 28 patients (67.8 ± 7.

Documenting Laboratory Procedures with Video.

Demonstrating laboratory procedures in person during class time can be time-consuming. When procedures are done under a microscope, live demonstration is also impractical because of the limited number of students who can view the demonstration at once. Creating videos beforehand, which students can watch before class and review during lab sessions, solves both of these problems.

Assessment of Liver Perfusion by IntraVoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) Magnetic Resonance-Diffusion-Weighted Imaging: Correlation With Phase-Contrast Portal Venous Flow Measurements.

Objectives: To prospectively verify, in vivo, Le Bihan's model of signal decay in magnetic resonance/diffusion-weighted imaging (intravoxel incoherent motion) in healthy liver parenchyma.

Methods: Informed consent and institutional board approval were obtained. To measure both underfasting and postprandial conditions, apparent, slow, and fast diffusion (D*) coefficients and perfusion fraction of liver parenchyma, 40 healthy volunteers (19 women and 21 men) underwent a 3.

Mosquito (Aedes aegypti) flight tones: frequency, harmonicity, spherical spreading, and phase relationships.

Mosquito flight produces a tone as a side effect of wing movement; this tone is also a communication signal that is frequency-modulated during courtship. Recordings of tones produced by tethered flying male and female Aedes aegypti were undertaken using pairs of pressure-gradient microphones above and below, ahead and behind, and to the left and right over a range of distances. Fundamental frequencies were close to those previously reported, although amplitudes were lower.

Endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair and impact of systematic preoperative embolization of collateral arteries: endoleak analysis and long-term follow-up.

Purpose: To report our results of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) over a 10-year period using systematic preoperative collateral artery embolization.

Methods: From 1999 until 2009, 124 patients (117 men; mean age 70.8 years) with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) underwent embolization of patent lumbar and/or inferior mesenteric arteries prior to elective EVAR procedures.

Exploring sensory neuroscience through experience and experiment.

Many phenomena that we take for granted are illusions - color and motion on a TV or computer monitor, for example, or the impression of space in a stereo music recording. Even the stable image that we perceive when looking directly at the real world is illusory. One of the important lessons from sensory neuroscience is that our perception of the world is constructed rather than received.

Associative learning in the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti: avoidance of a previously attractive odor or surface color that is paired with an aversive stimulus.

Associative learning has been shown in a variety of insects, including the mosquitoes Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae. This study demonstrates associative learning for the first time in Aedes aegypti, an important vector of dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses. This species prefers to rest on dark surfaces and is attracted to the odor of 1-octen-3-ol.

Extracardiac findings detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and importance of extracardiac findings (ECF) in patients undergoing clinical CMR and to test the hypothesis that the original CMR reading focusing on the heart may underestimate extracardiac abnormalities.

Methods: 401 consecutive patients (mean age 53 years) underwent CMR at 1.5 T.

Diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary CT angiography at low tube voltage: intraindividual comparison of a normal-dose protocol at 120 kVp and a low-dose protocol at 80 kVp using reduced amount of contrast medium in a simulation study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to simulate pulmonary emboli (PE) and image quality at low tube energy and reduced contrast material volume in normal-dose pulmonary CT angiography (CTA) images and to analyze the diagnostic accuracy with normal- and low-dose pulmonary CTA.

Materials And Methods: Normal-dose pulmonary CTA examinations using 120 kVp and 100 mL of contrast material in 10 patients with no PE were retrospectively selected. The image characteristics of an 80-kVp low-dose pulmonary CTA protocol (patient exposure reduction, 57%) with 75 mL of contrast material were simulated.

Progression of human carotid and femoral atherosclerosis: a prospective follow-up study by magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging.

Aims: The time course of atherosclerosis burden in distinct vascular territories remains poorly understood. We longitudinally evaluated the natural history of atherosclerotic progression in two different arterial territories using high spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI), a powerful, safe, and non-invasive tool.

Methods And Results: We prospectively studied a cohort of 30 patients (mean age 68.