Erratum zu: Sinnvolle Diagnostik: Bildgebung

Herz - In der Legende der Abb. 1 „Sinnvolle Diagnostik: Bildgebung“ (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00059-019-04873-3) wurde der Endpunkt des 10-Jahres-Risikos des schematisch...     

Neuroarchitecture of the central complex of the desert locust: Tangential neurons

The central complex (CX) comprises a group of midline neuropils in the insect brain, consisting of the protocerebral bridge (PB), the upper (CBU) and lower division (CBL) of the central body and a pair of globular noduli. It receives prominent input from the visual system and plays a major role in spatial orientation of the animals. Vertical slices and horizontal layers of the CX are formed by columnar, tangential, and pontine neurons. While pontine and columnar neurons have been analyzed in detail, especially in the fruit fly and desert locust, understanding of the organization of tangential cells is still rudimentary. As a basis for future functional studies, we have studied the morphologies of tangential neurons of the CX of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria. Intracellular dye injections revealed 43 different types of tangential neuron, 8 of the PB, 5 of the CBL, 24 of the CBU, 2 of the noduli, and 4 innervating multiple substructures. Cell bodies of these neurons were located in 11 different clusters in the cell body rind. Judging from the presence of fine versus beaded terminals, the vast majority of these neurons provide input into the CX, especially from the lateral complex (LX), the superior protocerebrum, the posterior slope, and other surrounding brain areas, but not directly from the mushroom bodies. Connections are largely subunit- and partly layer-specific. No direct connections were found between the CBU and the CBL. Instead, both subdivisions are connected in parallel with the PB and distinct layers of the noduli.     

Soziale Ungleichheit und Gesundheit

Social differences in morbidity and mortality have always been a central topic in public health research. In recent years, there has been a growing research interest that has clearly resonated with the general public and the political arena as well. This article describes the development and establishment of social epidemiology in Germany and presents the current status of research. In addition, it describes different models for explaining health inequalities. On this basis, selected challenges and prospects of socio-epidemiological research are demonstrated. The reason why the analysis of social differences in morbidity and mortality will continue to be a key task of public health research in the national and international context in the future is also explained.     

Lymphocyte Subpopulations,Oxidative Burst and Apoptosis in Peripheral Blood Cells of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis–Effect of Interferon-β

At present, the most efficient therapeutical treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) is achieved by IFN-β. However, its in vivo effects remain incompletely understood. If applied parenterally, the hydrophobic IFN-β acts primarily on blood cells with probable selectivity for functionally different lymphocyte subpopulations, monocytes and granulocytes. We have investigated the expression of the activation marker interleukin-2 receptor-α (CD25) on CD3⁺ T cells, CD19⁺ B cells, foetal-type γδ⁺CD3⁺ T cells and foetal-type CD5⁺CD19⁺ B cells of the peripheral blood. In addition, the oxidative burst activity and apoptosis have been determined in mononuclear and polymorphonuclear blood cells, respectively. The study accompanied a phase III trial with IFN-β1b (BETAFERON^®, Schering). Two groups of MS patients with relapsing-remitting course of the disease have been investigated at 8 time points (days 0, 5, 15, 31, 60, 90, 180 and 270 after starting therapy): (1) verum group (n=8) with application of 8 Mill. units IFN-β1b every other day, and (2) placebo group (n=4) with application of placebo for 3 months and therapy as in (1) from day 90 onward. The main results were: (1) Activated T cells decreased until day 180 in the verum group and return thereafter to pre-treatment values, whereas in the placebo group the values remained relatively stable over the whole observation period. (2) Activated B cells increased between days 90 and 270 in both groups, i.e. after verum application in both groups. (3) Foetal-type B cells were more activated than total B and T cells with increase over time in both groups. (4) Foetal-type T cells exerted relatively stable intra-individual levels with generally low CD25 expression, but punctual CD25 peaks in both groups. (5) The spontaneous oxidative burst was higher in lymphocytes, more variable in monocytes and faster increasing in granulocytes in the verum group than in the placebo group. (6) Apoptosis of mononuclear cells and granulocytes showed similar variations in the verum and placebo groups with the exception of a selective increase over time of the proportion of granulocytes undergoing induced apoptosis in the verum group. It is concluded that IFN-β has the following main effects on the immune system of MS patients: (1) the T cell immunity is systemically and reversibly suppressed, (2) the foetal-type lymphocytes, which are responsible for the first line of defence of infections, are stimulated in the long range, (3) the oxidative burst activity is increased in lymphocytes and granulocytes and instable in monocytes, and (4) the inducibility of apoptosis in granulocytes is increased. Re-examination of the altered blood cell parameters after long-term IFN-β therapy is warranted.     

Comparison of different compressed sensing algorithms for low SNR 19F MRI applications—Imaging of transplanted pancreatic islets and cells labeled with perfluorocarbons

Transplantation of pancreatic islets is a possible treatment option for patients suffering from Type I diabetes. In vivo imaging of transplanted islets is important for assessment of the transplantation site and islet distribution. Thanks to its high specificity, the absence of intrinsic background signal in tissue and its potential for quantification, ¹⁹F MRI is a promising technique for monitoring the fate of transplanted islets in vivo. In order to overcome the inherent low sensitivity of ¹⁹F MRI, leading to long acquisition times with low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), compressed sensing (CS) techniques are a valuable option. We have validated and compared different CS algorithms for acceleration of ¹⁹F MRI acquisition in a low SNR regime using pancreatic islets labeled with perfluorocarbons both in vitro and in vivo. Using offline simulation on both in vitro and in vivo low SNR fully sampled ¹⁹F MRI datasets of labeled islets, we have shown that CS is effective in reducing the image acquisition time by a factor of three to four without seriously affecting SNR, regardless of the particular algorithms used in this study, with the exception of CoSaMP. Using CS, signals can be detected that might have been missed by conventional ¹⁹F MRI. Among different algorithms (SPARSEMRI, OMMP, IRWL1, Two‐level and CoSAMP), the two‐level l₁ method has shown the best performance if computational time is taken into account. We have demonstrated in this study that different existing CS algorithms can be used effectively for low SNR ¹⁹F MRI. An up to fourfold gain in SNR/scan time could be used either to reduce the scan time, which is beneficial for clinical and translational applications, or to increase the number of averages, to potentially detect otherwise undetected signal when compared with conventional ¹⁹F MRI acquisitions. Potential applications in the field of cell therapy have been demonstrated.