Detection of hemodynamic responses to epileptic activity using simultaneous Electro-EncephaloGraphy (EEG)/Near Infra Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) acquisitions

Simultaneous recordings of Electro-EncephaloGraphy (EEG) with Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS) allow measuring hemodynamic changes (changes in the concentration of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin) at the time of epileptic discharges detected on scalp EEG. Two NIRS detection methods based on the General Linear Model (GLM) respectively in the time domain and in the time-frequency domain are investigated in this study using realistic simulations of spontaneous interictal epileptic activity. We evaluated the sensitivity at different Signal to Noise Ratios (SNR), the effect of either a large or a small number of discharges and the impact of model misspecification (e.g. omission or false detection of epileptic discharges). We also explored the effect on the estimation of key parameters, which set the model order. Simulations showed that both methods become inaccurate in lower SNR conditions, leading to many false positive detections. However, the time-frequency estimator showed better performance than the time-domain one. Key parameters for each algorithm were identified and results suggest to model confounds in the GLM differently for oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. We also demonstrated that an inaccurate marking of epileptic events has a small impact on the detection statistics whereas an inaccurate specification of the hemodynamic response function delay decreases drastically the detection abilities. Finally, we illustrated the two methods on clinical EEG/NIRS data of one patient with focal epilepsy, showing an increase of regional Cerebral Blood Volume (rCBV) spatially concordant with the presumed epileptogenic focus.     

胫后动脉穿支岛状皮瓣修复小腿中下段皮肤缺损的临床效果研究

目的:探讨胫后动脉穿支岛状皮瓣在小腿中下段皮肤缺损修复中的临床疗效.方法:对2016年6月-2020年1月笔者医院收治的31例小腿中下段皮肤缺损患者行胫后动脉穿支岛状皮瓣修复,缺损面积3 cm×4 cm～13 cm×15 cm,切取皮瓣面积4 cm×5 cm～14 cm×16 cm,观察患者治疗效果及术后随访情况.结果...     

紫杉醇脂质体对宫颈癌HeLa细胞生长及其claudin-7表达的影响

目的 探讨注射用紫杉醇脂质体对人宫颈癌HeLa细胞增殖及claudin-7蛋白表达水平的影响.方法 体外培养人宫颈癌 HeLa细胞,采用 MTT法观察不同浓度紫杉醇脂质体（0.01、0.1、1、10、100 μmol/L）对HeLa细胞增殖的抑制作用;采用Western blot法检测HeLa细胞claudin-7蛋白表达水平在不同浓度紫杉醇脂质体作用下的变化.结果 5个浓度的紫杉醇脂质体均能显著抑制HeLa细胞的增殖,且呈时间和剂量依赖性;Western blot显示HeLa细胞经不同浓度紫杉醇脂质体处理48 h后,随着紫杉醇脂质体浓度的增高,claudin-7蛋白表达逐渐减弱.结论 紫杉醇脂质体对宫颈癌HeLa细胞体外生长具有明显的抑制作用,HeLa细胞claudin-7蛋白的表达在紫杉醇脂质体影响下是下调的.     

应用SELDI技术与MATLAB软件预测替吉奥联合榄香烯治疗消化道肿瘤敏感性的前瞻性研究

目的：借助蛋白质指纹技术及MATLAB软件探索预测替吉奥联合榄香烯治疗晚期消化道肿瘤耐药的可能性。方法：选择7例术后采用替吉奥联合榄香烯治疗有确切疗效的晚期消化道肿瘤患者,应用CM10弱阳离子芯片结合表面增强飞行时间质谱（SELDI—TOF—MS）技术于用药前检测患者血清样本的蛋白质谱,动态观察该药应用后2周至半年内的疗效,根据实体瘤近期疗效标准分为用药稳定组（SD）（4例）和无效组（PD）（3例）,应用Biomarker Wizard软件得出两组间差异有统计学意义的指纹。用MATLAB软件进行多项式曲线拟合得出每个差异指纹的拟合曲线及曲线方程。结果：稳定组与无效组相比有6个蛋白质峰的差异有统计学意义（均P〈0．05）,蛋白质质荷比（M/Z）分别为4467、7959、9277、9555、15903、15064,其中,与稳定组相比,无效组上调的峰M／Z为9277、9555,下调的峰M／Z为4467、7959、15903、15064。用MATLAB软件进行多项式曲线拟合得出每个差异指纹的曲线和曲线方程均呈线性函数关系。结论：替吉奥联合榄香烯治疗晚期消化道癌前检测SELDI指纹M/Z为4467、7959、9277、9555、15903、15064的蛋白质组指纹可以预测替吉奥联合榄香烯治疗晚期消化道癌的敏感性。     

Visual outcome after fronto-temporo-orbito-zygomatic approach combined with early extradural and intradural optic nerve decompression in tuberculum and diaphragma sellae meningiomas

Object

The surgical challenge of the treatment of tuberculum (TSMs) and diaphragma sellae meningiomas (DSMs) is to preserve or improve the visual function. Extradural and intradural optic nerve decompression should reduce surgical trauma of the nerve achieving a good visual result.

Methods

We reported 37 consecutive TSMs and DSMs operated through fronto-temporo-orbito-zygomatic approach with extradural unroofing of the optical canal and early intradural incision of the dural sheath. Visual data were recorded measuring the visual impairment score (VIS), the visual acuity (VA), the visual field (VF) and the postoperative improvement.

Results

A good visual outcome (VIS improved or unchanged) was obtained in 97.2% of patients (35/36). The evaluation of 72 eyes showed a good outcome (VA and VF unchanged or improved) in 98.6% (71/72 eyes). The degree of preoperative VA and VF impairment was the only factor correlating with the postoperative improvement of VA (P < .001 and P = .018) and VF defect (P < .001). Worsening of visual function occurred in 1/37 patient (2.7%).

Conclusion

Using this surgical technique we achieved a high improvement rate of visual defects and a low frequency of worsening.     

Microcephaly-thin corpus callosum syndrome maps to 8q23.2-q24.12

Postnatal microcephaly is defined as normal head circumference at birth, which progressively declines to more than 2 standard deviations below the average for the patient's age and sex. We describe four patients from three consanguineous families of Arab Bedouin origin who presented with autosomal recessive inheritance of progressive microcephaly, spasticity, thin corpus callosum, pyramidal signs, and intellectual disability. Homozygosity mapping (Human Mapping NspI 250K arrays, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA) placed the disease locus at 8q23.2-q24.12. The candidate region includes 22 known or predicted genes, including RAD21, which is related to the cohesion complex EIF3H, which is involved in translation initiation, and TAF2, which may be involved in intellectual disability. Identification of the causative gene in our reported family will shed light on the pathogenesis of this severe condition.     

Pathways involved in human conscious vision contribute to obstacle-avoidance behaviour

Human patients with visual field defects following damage to their primary visual cortex (V1) will often misperceive the midpoint of a horizontal line. They tend to shift the midpoint away from the real position towards their blind field. In patients with unilateral neglect, where midpoint shifts can also be observed, these perceptual errors do not lead to errors in an obstacle-avoidance task, which also requires the ability to find the midpoint between two obstacles. This dissociation in neglect patients was taken as evidence that obstacle-avoidance performance is guided by visual information from the dorsal visual stream. Recently it was shown that a patient with hemianopia could avoid an obstacle presented in his blind field. This suggests that obstacle-avoidance behaviour can be guided by subconscious vision alone involving a direct route from extrageniculate structures in the brain to dorsal stream areas. To investigate whether obstacle avoidance relies only on this subconscious route or also uses information from pathways involved in conscious vision, we examined the effect of the hemianopic shift on obstacle-avoidance behaviour. This shift is found in tasks where a conscious visual judgement is required and presumably arises in pathways underlying conscious vision (V1 and ventral stream areas). We compared the performance of six patients with left hemianopia with the performance of six patients with right hemianopia. We found a clear bias in both groups, which also affected obstacle-avoidance performance. It is thus concluded that obstacle avoidance does not bypass the system for conscious vision completely.     

Evidence of IQ-modulated association between ZNF804A gene polymorphism and cognitive function in schizophrenia patients

ZNF804A gene polymorphism rs1344706 has been suggested as the most compelling case of a candidate gene for schizophrenia by a genome-wide association study and several replication studies. The current study of 570 schizophrenia patients and 448 controls again found significantly different genotype frequencies of rs1344706 between patients and controls. More important, we found that this association was modulated by IQ, with a stronger association among individuals with relatively high IQ, which replicated results of Walters et al, 2010. We further examined whether this IQ-modulated association also existed between the SNP and the intermediate phenotypes (working memory and executive functions) of schizophrenia. Data were available from an N-back task (366 patients and 414 controls) and the attention network task (361 patients and 416 controls). We found that the SNP and IQ had significant interaction effects on the intermediate phenotypes for patients, but not for controls. The disease risk allele was associated with poorer cognitive function in patients with high IQ, but better cognitive function in patients with low IQ. Together, these results indicated that IQ may modulate the role of rs1344706 in the etiology of both schizophrenia and its cognitive impairments, and pointed to the necessity of considering general cognitive function as indexed by IQ in the future studies of genetic bases of schizophrenia.