Evaluation of Volume Selection Methods in in Vivo MRS

1995 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Starck ◽  
R. Lundin ◽  
E. Forssell-Aronsson ◽  
M. Arvidsson ◽  
M. Alpsten ◽  
...  

In vivo MR spectroscopy (MRS) requires some kind of volume selection method to be able to measure the signal from a selected part of the body. To be able to interpret the spectra correctly, the quality of the volume selection must be investigated for each new MRS application using phantom measurements. A new phantom, especially suitable for precision measurements of the volume selection performance, is presented. It contains a small, remotely controlled signal source placed inside a larger vessel. This principle can be applied to various body regions, coil types and nuclei. The measurement conditions are close to the clinical situation. The phantom does not have to be repositioned during a signal profile measurement and the signal contribution from each point along the profile is determined regarding sign and amplitude.

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 76-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Anderson ◽  
Paul M. Weinberg

It is an easy matter, nowadays, to diagnose the clinical situation in which the blood returning to the atriums passes to the morphologically appropriate ventricle, but in which the ventricles then supply morphologically inappropriate arterial trunks. The consequence of this discordance in junctional morphology, of course, is that the circulations end-up in parallel, rather than in series, with the systemic venous return being channelled back to the body, and the pulmonary venous blood returning to the lungs (Fig. 1). In the absence of associated malformations, such as atrial or ventricular septal defects, or patency of the arterial duct, this morphological arrangement is incompatible with survival. Indeed, prior to the modern era, most infants born with this combination died in the first months of life.1,2 Therapeutic innovations, notably the introduction of balloon atrial septostomy,3 have changed all that. Now, coupled with surgical advances, initially atrial redirection,4,5 and then the arterial switch procedure,6 most neonates born with the malformation can anticipate a lengthy and good quality of life. Although there is now consensus concerning the clinical management of these segmental combinations, the best way of describing the morphological arrangement has been, and remains, fraught with difficulty.


Zygote ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Makarevich ◽  
L. Stádník ◽  
E. Kubovičová ◽  
Z. Hegedüšová ◽  
R. Holásek ◽  
...  

SummaryThis study examined the impact of cow body condition on the quality of bovine preimplantation embryos. The embryos (n = 107) were flushed from dairy cows and classified according to a five-point scale body condition score (BCS2 n = 17; BCS3 n = 31; BCS4 n = 11) on the 7th day after insemination and then analyzed for development, dead cell index (DCI), cell number and actin cytoskeleton quality. The highest embryo recovery rate (P < 0.05) was recorded in the BCS3 group and the lowest in the BCS4 group. More transferable (morula, blastocyst) embryos were obtained from the BCS4 cows (79%), compared with the BCS2 (64%) or BCS3 (63%) animals. However, cell numbers were higher in the BCS2 and BCS3 groups (P < 0.05) compared with the BCS4 embryos. Conversely, the DCI was lowest in the BCS2 (3.88%; P < 0.05) and highest in the BCS4 (6.56%) embryos. The proportion of embryos with the best actin quality (grade I) was higher in the BCS2 and BCS3 cows compared with the BCS4 group. Almost 25% of all embryos showed fragmented morphology and a higher DCI (5.65%) than normal morulas (1.76%). More fragmented embryos were revealed in the BCS2 (28.6%) and BCS4 (31.25%) groups, and less (19.15%) in the BCS3 group. The cell numbers in such embryos were lower in the BCS4 (22.57) than in the BCS2 (46.25) or BCS3 (42.4) groups. In conclusion, the body condition of dairy cows affects the quality of preimplantation embryos. A BCS over 3.0 resulted in a higher incidence of poor (fragmented) embryos.


2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 144-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Galey ◽  
Colleen Miller ◽  
Michael Nazareth ◽  
Rohit Bakshi ◽  
Carol M. Brownscheidle ◽  
...  

Sensory abnormalities such as numbness, paresthesias, and altered sensations of pain or temperature are common in MS. Using phenomenologic methodology, patient interviews were conducted to assess the occurrence of sensory abnormalities termed “macrosomatic illusions” in MS. These were defined as sensations of “largeness” accompanied by banding and/or tightness in specific body regions. These sensations were reported by 72 MS patients with mean disease duration of 4.7 years and mean EDSS score of 2.9. The phenomena usually affected more than one site: lower extremity (58 reports), torso (36 reports), upper extremity (26 reports), face (9 reports), and entire side of the body (4 reports). The sensations were variously described as “toes are like sausages,” “feels like I'm wearing clown shoes,” “like I have a tight corset on,” or “fingers feel swollen.” In five of seven patients for whom cervical MRI was available at the time of symptoms, lesions were identified in the spinal cord that correlated anatomically with the macrosomatic illusions. Longitudinal prospective studies are warranted to further characterize the prevalence and cause of these phenomena, their impact on disability and quality of life, and association with spinal cord disease.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Huiting Qiao ◽  
Libin Wang ◽  
Jintao Han ◽  
Yingmao Chen ◽  
Daifa Wang ◽  
...  

The reports on medical imaging and nanomedicine are getting more and more prevalent. Many nanoparticles entering into the body act as contrast agents, or probes in medical imaging, which are parts of nanomedicines. The application extent and the quality of imaging have been improved by nanotechnique. On one hand, nanomedicines advance the sensitivity and specificity of molecular imaging. On the other hand, the biodistribution of nanomedicine can also be studiedin vivoby medical imaging, which is necessary in the toxicological research. The toxicity of nanomedicine is a concern which may slow down the application of nanomedical. The quantitative description of the kinetic process is significant. Based on metabolic study on radioactivity tracer, a scheme of pharmacokinetic research of nanomedicine is proposed. In this review, we will discuss the potential advantage of medical imaging in toxicology of nanomedicine, as well as the advancement of medical imaging prompted by nanomedicine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-372
Author(s):  
Helen Caroline de Morais Santos ◽  
Fabiana Cury Viana ◽  
Deivid Kennedy da Silva

The military policeman's work activity can lead to musculoskeletal overload, due to long working hours, standing for many hours and the use of heavy equipment such as the ballistic vest, which can cause discomfort, fatigue and musculoskeletal pain, predisposing these professionals to pain. That compromise your health and quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of musculoskeletal pain of military police, identifying the presence of painful points and establishing relationships between the points found and their working conditions. Fifty-five military police officers of both sexes, with more than five years of service to the institution, who belonged to the 15th Battalion of the city of Patos de Minas-MG, participated in the study. The sociodemographic and health questionnaire was applied and, subsequently, the “Body Pain Map”. All police officers had pain in some region of the body after the workday. Associations between the body regions with pain, the use of the ballistic vest, work vehicle and length of service, showed involvement mainly in the lower back region. Given the results presented, there is a prevalence of pain in the lower back followed by pain in the thoracic region. All participants were wearing the ballistic vest, a fact that influenced the presence of the painful points presented. Therefore, studies are important in order to detect health risk factors for these workers, in order to propose strategies that improve their quality of life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1075-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn E. Barnes ◽  
Eichi Watabe ◽  
Kanako Ono ◽  
Euiyoung Kwak ◽  
Hidehito Kuroyanagi ◽  
...  

Tropomyosin, one of the major actin filament–binding proteins, regulates actin–myosin interaction and actin-filament stability. Multicellular organisms express a number of tropomyosin isoforms, but understanding of isoform-specific tropomyosin functions is incomplete. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a single tropomyosin gene, lev-11, which has been reported to express four isoforms by using two separate promoters and alternative splicing. Here, we report a fifth tropomyosin isoform, LEV-11O, which is produced by alternative splicing that includes a newly identified seventh exon, exon 7a. By visualizing specific splicing events in vivo, we find that exon 7a is predominantly selected in a subset of the body wall muscles in the head, while exon 7b, which is the alternative to exon 7a, is utilized in the rest of the body. Point mutations in exon 7a and exon 7b cause resistance to levamisole-­induced muscle contraction specifically in the head and the main body, respectively. Overexpression of LEV-11O, but not LEV-11A, in the main body results in weak levamisole resistance. These results demonstrate that specific tropomyosin isoforms are expressed in the head and body regions of the muscles and contribute differentially to the regulation of muscle contractility.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Tailan Moretti Mattos ◽  
Dandhara Rossi Carvalho ◽  
Mateus Santos de Brito ◽  
Francisco Gerson Araújo

. Phoretic relationships often bring large advantages to epibionts. By attaching themselves to mobile hosts, epibionts are able to: expand their ranges without spending energy, reduce their risk of being predated, and increase their probability of finding food. We assessed the phoretic relationship between the siluriform fish Ancistrusmultispinis (Regan, 1912) and the chironomid larva Ichthyocladius sp. in three streams of the Atlantic forest in southeastern Brazil. We evaluated changes in epibiont distribution throughout the body regions of the host and among three different aquatic systems. We had predicted that certain body regions are more prone to support epibiont attachment, and that epibiont prevalence increases with increased host size and quality of the aquatic system. Three streams (Santana, São Pedro and D’Ouro), tributaries of the Guandu River, were sampled during 2010 and 2011. A total of 102 specimens of A.multispinis were collected and analyzed. Epibionts were found in fourteen of fifteen body regions of the host. Observation from scanning electron microscopy revealed that Chironomidae larvae fix themselves to the spicules through the anal prolegs, not at the skin, as previously reported. The amount of epibionts (degree of infestation) was significantly correlated with fish size in the Santana Stream (r = 0.6, p &lt; 0.01), and São Pedro Stream (r = 0.56, p &lt; 0.01), but not in the D’Ouro Stream, the most altered of the three. The presence of epibionts on the body of the fish is directly correlated with the availability of spicules on the fish’s body, the largest numbers of infestations being found in structures associated with swimming (caudal and pectoral fins), since the swimming movement can create favorable conditions (e.g., suspension of organic particles, increasing oxygenation) for the epibiont.


Reproduction ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. R83-R96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Schwarz ◽  
Mariana Medina-Sánchez ◽  
Oliver G Schmidt

Sperm cells that cannot swim and orient properly compromise male fertility. Such defects are responsible for male infertility regardless of the actual quality of the most important content, the sperm’s DNA. Synthetic micromotors are engineered devices that are able to swim in (body) fluids and microscopic environments, similar to flagellated cells like sperm. Coupled together, a sperm-hybrid micromotor embodies the concept of bringing the sperm cell together with artificial components that assist or replace defective functions of the cell, helping it to pursue its goal without interfering with its health, enabling the process of assisted fertilization and further embryo development all inside the body. Non-invasive, remote-controlled in vivo applicability is the key quality of such hybrid microdevices. Assisted reproduction with the help of micromotors is in the focus of this review, although other biomedical applications that arise from the powerful combination of sperm cell and synthetic enhancement are also discussed and summarized. Details are provided about different fabrication processes and cell-material coupling strategies, and the way from proof-of-concept studies to in vivo experiments in animals is outlined.


2012 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Serafini ◽  
Giuseppa Morabito

Dietary polyphenols have been shown to scavenge free radicals, modulating cellular redox transcription factors in different in vitro and ex vivo models. Dietary intervention studies have shown that consumption of plant foods modulates plasma Non-Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC), a biomarker of the endogenous antioxidant network, in human subjects. However, the identification of the molecules responsible for this effect are yet to be obtained and evidences of an antioxidant in vivo action of polyphenols are conflicting. There is a clear discrepancy between polyphenols (PP) concentration in body fluids and the extent of increase of plasma NEAC. The low degree of absorption and the extensive metabolism of PP within the body have raised questions about their contribution to the endogenous antioxidant network. This work will discuss the role of polyphenols from galenic preparation, food extracts, and selected dietary sources as modulators of plasma NEAC in humans.


Author(s):  
А.А. Раецкая ◽  
С.В. Калиш ◽  
С.В. Лямина ◽  
Е.В. Малышева ◽  
О.П. Буданова ◽  
...  

Цель исследования. Доказательство гипотезы, что репрограммированные in vitro на М3 фенотип макрофаги при введении в организм будут существенно ограничивать развитие солидной карциномы in vivo . Методика. Рост солидной опухоли инициировали у мышей in vivo путем подкожной инъекции клеток карциномы Эрлиха (КЭ). Инъекцию макрофагов с нативным М0 фенотипом и с репрограммированным M3 фенотипом проводили в область формирования солидной КЭ. Репрограммирование проводили с помощью низких доз сыворотки, блокаторов факторов транскрипции STAT3/6 и SMAD3 и липополисахарида. Использовали две схемы введения макрофагов: раннее и позднее. При раннем введении макрофаги вводили на 1-е, 5-е, 10-е и 15-е сут. после инъекции клеток КЭ путем обкалывания макрофагами с четырех сторон область развития опухоли. При позднем введении, макрофаги вводили на 10-е, 15-е, 20-е и 25-е сут. Через 15 и 30 сут. после введения клеток КЭ солидную опухоль иссекали и измеряли ее объем. Эффект введения макрофагов оценивали качественно по визуальной и пальпаторной характеристикам солидной опухоли и количественно по изменению ее объема по сравнению с группой без введения макрофагов (контроль). Результаты. Установлено, что M3 макрофаги при раннем введении от начала развития опухоли оказывают выраженный антиопухолевый эффект in vivo , который был существенно более выражен, чем при позднем введении макрофагов. Заключение. Установлено, что введение репрограммированных макрофагов M3 ограничивает развитие солидной карциномы в экспериментах in vivo . Противоопухолевый эффект более выражен при раннем введении М3 макрофагов. Обнаруженные в работе факты делают перспективным разработку клинической версии биотехнологии ограничения роста опухоли, путем предварительного программирования антиопухолевого врожденного иммунного ответа «в пробирке». Aim. To verify a hypothesis that macrophages reprogrammed in vitro to the M3 phenotype and injected into the body substantially restrict the development of solid carcinoma in vivo . Methods. Growth of a solid tumor was initiated in mice in vivo with a subcutaneous injection of Ehrlich carcinoma (EC) cells. Macrophages with a native M0 phenotype or reprogrammed towards the M3 phenotype were injected into the region of developing solid EC. Reprogramming was performed using low doses of serum, STAT3/6 and SMAD3 transcription factor blockers, and lipopolysaccharide. Two schemes of macrophage administration were used: early and late. With the early administration, macrophages were injected on days 1, 5, 10, and 15 following the injection of EC cells at four sides of the tumor development area. With the late administration, macrophages were injected on days 10, 15, 20, and 25. At 15 and 30 days after the EC cell injection, the solid tumor was excised and its volume was measured. The effect of macrophage administration was assessed both qualitatively by visual and palpation characteristics of solid tumor and quantitatively by changes in the tumor volume compared with the group without the macrophage treatment. Results. M3 macrophages administered early after the onset of tumor development exerted a pronounced antitumor effect in vivo , which was significantly greater than the antitumor effect of the late administration of M3 macrophages. Conclusion. The observed significant inhibition of in vivo growth of solid carcinoma by M3 macrophages makes promising the development of a clinical version of the biotechnology for restriction of tumor growth by in vitro pre-programming of the antitumor, innate immune response.


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