Diffusion Tensor Imaging as a Biomarker to Differentiate Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis From Multiple Sclerosis at First Demyelination.

Background: There are no clinical features or biomarkers that can reliably differentiate acute disseminated encephalomyelitis from multiple sclerosis at the first demyelination attack. Consequently, a final diagnosis is sometimes delayed by months and years of follow-up. Early treatment for multiple sclerosis is recommended to reduce long-term disability.

Interactions Between Carnivores in Madagascar and the Risk of Disease Transmission.

Introduced carnivores exert considerable pressure on native predators through predation, competition and disease transmission. Recent research shows that exotic carnivores negatively affect the distribution and abundance of the native and endangered carnivores of Madagascar. In this study, we provide information about the frequency and distribution of interactions between exotic (dogs and cats) and native carnivores (Eupleridae) in the Betampona Natural Reserve (BNR), Madagascar, using noninvasive camera trap surveys.

Diffusion Basis Spectral Imaging Detects Ongoing Brain Inflammation in Virologically Well-Controlled HIV+ Patients.

Inflammation occurs after HIV infection and persists, despite highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures HIV-associated white matter changes, but can be confounded by inflammation. Currently, the influence of inflammation on white matter integrity in well-controlled HIV+ patients remains unknown.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study of carbohydrate-terminated alkanethiol monolayers on nanoporous gold: Implications for pore wetting.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to compare the apparent electron transfer rate constant () for a series of alkanethiol and of carbohydrate-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on both flat gold and on nanoporous gold (np-Au). Using the surface area for np-Au determined by oxide stripping, the values of for the alkanethiol modified np-Au are initially over two orders of magnitude smaller than the values found on flat Au. This result provides evidence that the diffusing redox probe Fe(CN) only accesses a fraction of the np-Au surface after alkanethiol modification suggesting very limited wetting of the internal pores due to the hydrophobic nature of these surfaces.

Lateral Violence in Nursing: Implications and Strategies for Nurse Educators.

Lateral violence among nurses persists as a prevalent problem, contributing to psychological distress, staff turnover, and attrition. Newly graduated nurses are at particular risk for being targets of lateral violence and experiencing its negative sequelae. Preparing student nurses to respond to lateral violence prior to entering the nursing may alter this scenario.

Topological Organization of Whole-Brain White Matter in HIV Infection.

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with neuroimaging alterations. However, little is known about the topological organization of whole-brain networks and the corresponding association with cognition. As such, we examined structural whole-brain white matter connectivity patterns and cognitive performance in 29 HIV+ young adults (mean age = 25.

Long-term consequences of adolescent cannabis use: Examining intermediary processes.

Background: In the United States, perceptions of marijuana's acceptability are at an all-time high, risk perceptions among youth are low, and rates are rising among Black youth. Thus, it is imperative to increase the understanding of long-term effects of adolescent marijuana use and ways to mitigate adverse consequences.

Objectives: To identify the midlife consequences of heavy adolescent marijuana use and the mechanisms driving effects among a Black, urban population.

Nanoporous Gold for Enzyme Immobilization.

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is a material of emerging interest for immobilization of biomolecules, especially enzymes. The material provides a high surface area form of gold that is suitable for physisorption or for covalent modification by self-assembled monolayers. The material can be used as a high surface area electrode and with immobilized enzymes can be used for amperometric detection schemes.

Using Simulation to Teach Responses to Lateral Violence: Guidelines for Nurse Educators.

Lateral violence among nurses persists as a pervasive problem in health care, contributing to detrimental individual and organizational consequences. Nurse educators can prepare students to respond effectively to lateral violence before they graduate and enter the workplace, where it is likely to be encountered. Simulation provides an effective platform for delivering this type of student-centered education.

APPLICATION OF A NOVEL QUANTITATIVE TRACTOGRAPHY-BASED ANALYSIS OF DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING TO EXAMINE FIBER BUNDLE LENGTH IN HUMAN CEREBRAL WHITE MATTER.

This paper reviews basic methods and recent applications of length-based fiber bundle analysis of cerebral white matter using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a dMRI technique that uses the random motion of water to probe tissue microstructure in the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an extension of DWI that measures the magnitude and direction of water diffusion in cerebral white matter, using either voxel-based scalar metrics or tractography-based analyses.

REDUCING CSF PARTIAL VOLUME EFFECTS TO ENHANCE DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING METRICS OF BRAIN MICROSTRUCTURE.

Technological advances over recent decades now allow for in vivo observation of human brain tissue through the use of neuroimaging methods. While this field originated with techniques capable of capturing macrostructural details of brain anatomy, modern methods such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that are now regularly implemented in research protocols have the ability to characterize brain microstructure. DTI has been used to reveal subtle micro-anatomical abnormalities in the prodromal phase ofº various diseases and also to delineate "normal" age-related changes in brain tissue across the lifespan.

PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO SELECTED VIRUSES AND PARASITES IN INTRODUCED AND ENDEMIC CARNIVORES IN WESTERN MADAGASCAR.

Introduced animals impact endemic populations through predation, competition, and disease transmission. Populations of endemic carnivores in Madagascar are declining, and pathogens transmitted from introduced species may further endanger these unique species. We assessed the exposure of introduced and endemic carnivores to common viral and parasitic pathogens in two national parks of Madagascar (Kirindy Mitea National Park and Ankarafantsika National Park) and their neighboring villages.

Objective and subjective measurement of sleep disturbance in female trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Sleep disturbance may be the most often endorsed symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Much of this research is based on subjective reports from trauma survivors; however, objective measures of sleep-related impairment have yielded findings inconsistent with self-report data. More studies investigating subjective and objective assessments concordantly are needed to understand sleep impairment in PTSD.

This "Ethical Trap" Is for Roboticists, Not Robots: On the Issue of Artificial Agent Ethical Decision-Making.

In this paper we address the question of when a researcher is justified in describing his or her artificial agent as demonstrating ethical decision-making. The paper is motivated by the amount of research being done that attempts to imbue artificial agents with expertise in ethical decision-making. It seems clear that computing systems make decisions, in that they make choices between different options; and there is scholarship in philosophy that addresses the distinction between ethical decision-making and general decision-making.

Cognitive reserve moderates the relationship between neuropsychological performance and white matter fiber bundle length in healthy older adults.

Recent work using novel neuroimaging methods has revealed shorter white matter fiber bundle length (FBL) in older compared to younger adults. Shorter FBL also corresponds to poorer performance on cognitive measures sensitive to advanced age. However, it is unclear if individual factors such as cognitive reserve (CR) effectively moderate the relationship between FBL and cognitive performance.

Bacon Brains: Video Games for Teaching the Science of Addiction.

Researchers have developed many different computerized interventions designed to teach students about the dangers of substance use. Following in this tradition, we produced a series of video games called . However, unlike many other programs, ours focused on the "Science of Addiction," providing lessons on how alcohol and other drugs affect the brain.

Inexpensive Method for Selecting Receptor Structures for Virtual Screening.

This article introduces a screening performance index (SPI) to help select from a number of experimental structures one or a few that are more likely to identify more actives among its top hits from virtual screening of a compound library. It achieved this by docking only known actives to the experimental structures without considering a large number of decoys to reduce computational costs. The SPI is calculated by using the docking energies of the actives to all the receptor structures.

Longitudinal Change in Performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Older Adults.

Objective: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief screening measure commonly used to determine cognitive status among older adults. Despite the popularity of the MoCA, there has been little research into how performance on the MoCA changes over time in healthy older adults.

Methods: The present study examined a sample of older adults (n = 53) recruited for a longitudinal study of healthy aging.

Selective logging: do rates of forest turnover in stems, species composition and functional traits decrease with time since disturbance? - A 45 year perspective.

Selective logging, the targeted harvesting of timber trees in a single cutting cycle, is globally rising in extent and intensity. Short-term impacts of selective logging on tropical forests have been widely investigated, but long-term effects on temporal dynamics of forest structure and composition are largely unknown. Understanding these long-term dynamics will help determine whether tropical forests are resilient to selective logging and inform choices between competing demands of anthropogenic use versus conservation of tropical forests.

Human immunodeficiency virus has similar effects on brain volumetrics and cognition in males and females.

Most studies that have examined neuropsychological impairments associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have focused on males, yet females represent one of the largest groups of newly infected patients. Further, few studies have examined neuropsychological performance and neuroimaging outcomes among females compared to males in the modern era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). The present study investigated neuropsychological performance and brain volumetrics among HIV+ males (n = 93) and females (n = 44) on stable HAART compared to HIV seronegative (HIV-) males (n = 42) and females (n = 49).

Conformational transition paths harbor structures useful for aiding drug discovery and understanding enzymatic mechanisms in protein kinases.

This short article examines the usefulness of fast simulations of conformational transition paths in elucidating enzymatic mechanisms and guiding drug discovery for protein kinases. It applies the transition path method in the MOIL software package to simulate the paths of conformational transitions between six pairs of structures from the Protein Data Bank. The structures along the transition paths were found to resemble experimental structures that mimic transient structures believed to form during enzymatic catalysis or conformational transitions, or structures that have drug candidates bound.

The Effect of Central Nervous System Penetration Effectiveness of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Neuropsychological Performance and Neuroimaging in HIV Infected Individuals.

The incidence of HIV-associated dementia has been greatly reduced in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART); however milder forms of cognitive impairment persist. It remains uncertain whether HAART regimens with a high degree of central nervous system penetration effectiveness (CPE) exert beneficial neurological outcomes in HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals on stable treatment. Sixty-four HIV-infected adults on HAART were assigned a CPE score using a published ranking system and divided into high (≥7; n = 35) and low (<7; n = 29) CPE groups.

Criminal Behavior and Repeat Violent Trauma: A Case-Control Study.

Introduction: Repeat violent injury is common among young urban men and is increasingly a focus of trauma center-based injury prevention efforts. Though understanding risk factors for repeat violent injury may be critical in designing such interventions, this knowledge is limited. This study aims to determine which criminal behaviors, both before and after the initial trauma, predict repeat violent trauma.

Regional age differences in gray matter diffusivity among healthy older adults.

Aging is associated with microstructural changes in brain tissue that can be visualized using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). While previous studies have established age-related changes in white matter (WM) diffusion using DTI, the impact of age on gray matter (GM) diffusion remains unclear. The present study utilized DTI metrics of mean diffusivity (MD) to identify age differences in GM/WM microstructure in a sample of healthy older adults (N = 60).

Quantitative differences in nourishment affect caste-related physiology and development in the paper wasp Polistes metricus.

The distinction between worker and reproductive castes of social insects is receiving increased attention from a developmental rather than adaptive perspective. In the wasp genus Polistes, colonies are founded by one or more females, and the female offspring that emerge in that colony are either non-reproducing workers or future reproductives of the following generation (gynes). A growing number of studies now indicate that workers emerge with activated reproductive physiology, whereas the future reproductive gynes do not.