Motor and phosphene thresholds to transcranial magnetic stimuli: a reproducibility study

in Acta Neurologica Belgica (2002), 102(4), 171-175

OBJECTIVES: As repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is often applied on different days, it is of interest to know whether motor (MT) and phosphene (PT) thresholds are reproducible across ... [more ▼]

OBJECTIVES: As repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is often applied on different days, it is of interest to know whether motor (MT) and phosphene (PT) thresholds are reproducible across time and whether the intensity determined on the first day can be used in subsequent sessions. METHODS: We studied MT and PT over 5 separate recordings in 10 healthy volunteers using a focal coil and a Magstim(Rapid stimulator. After the initial recording (session 1), the others (2 to 5) were performed respectively after 1 day, 7 days, 1 month and 4 months. RESULTS: Mean MT at rest were 65.30 +/- 5.54%, 65.7 +/- 7.18%, 60.4 +/- 4.27%, 61.8 +/- 4.34%, and 63 +/- 9.1% at sessions 1 to 5. Mean PT were 71.43 +/- 6.68%, 66.29 +/- 10.67%, 60.71 +/- 8.64%, 60.57 +/- 8.08%, and 68.71 +/- 15.48% at sessions 1 to 5. MT and PT were reproducible (ANOVA analysis), however, as shown by coefficients of variation, variability between the first 3 sessions exceeded 10% for MT in 3 subjects and in 4 subjects for PT. CONCLUSIONS: It seems preferable to determine thresholds and adapt output intensity of the stimulator at each rTMS session. [less ▲]

Littérature et Louisiane - Racisme, sexe, violence et magouilles au Pays des Bayous , pt 3

Article for general public (2002)

Kenneth ABEL - Ace ATKINS - John CONNOLLY - Robert CRAIS - Don J. DONALDSON - Anthony P. DUNBAR - Sophie DUNBAR - Jeff GULVIN - Barbara HAMBLY -Martin HEGWOOD - Greg ILES - Elmore LEONARD - David Lozell ... [more ▼]

Kenneth ABEL - Ace ATKINS - John CONNOLLY - Robert CRAIS - Don J. DONALDSON - Anthony P. DUNBAR - Sophie DUNBAR - Jeff GULVIN - Barbara HAMBLY -Martin HEGWOOD - Greg ILES - Elmore LEONARD - David Lozell MARTIN - Robert SKINNER - Julie SMITH - Penn WILLIAMSON - Daniel WOODRELL [less ▲]

Livres de Photographies

Article for general public (2002)

"Delta Land" by Maude Schuyler ( University Press of Mississippi , 1999) - "Sacred Space- Photographs from the Mississippi Delta" ( Univ. Press of MS,1993) - "Eudora Welty Photographs " (Univ. Press of MS ... [more ▼]

"Delta Land" by Maude Schuyler ( University Press of Mississippi , 1999) - "Sacred Space- Photographs from the Mississippi Delta" ( Univ. Press of MS,1993) - "Eudora Welty Photographs " (Univ. Press of MS, 1989) [less ▲]

Bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of patients with lung injury activate the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa beta in an alveolar cell line

in Clinical Science (2002), 103(6), 577-585

In bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from ventilated patients, cytotoxic oxidant activity is correlated with neutrophil activation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that BAL ... [more ▼]

In bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from ventilated patients, cytotoxic oxidant activity is correlated with neutrophil activation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that BAL fluid induces activation of the transcription nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in human alveolar cells, in correlation with inflammatory mediators. We measured endotoxin, inflammatory cytokines [Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-8], nitrated proteins and the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in BAL fluid from ventilated patients developing bronchopneumonia (n = 19 samples) or with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (n = 14), and from ARDS/infection-free patients (n = 11). We also exposed alveolar cells to the BAL fluid or to human MPO, H2O2 or HOCl, and tested nuclear extracts for the activation of NF-kappaB. IL-1beta, IL-8, nitrated protein, MPO and endotoxin levels were significantly higher in BAL fluid from patients with bronchopneumonia than in that from the ARDS and ARDS/infection-free groups. A correlation was observed between IL-8 and MPO values (r = 0.82). The level of NF-kappaB activity induced by the BAL fluid was correlated with levels of IL-1beta (P < 0.001), IL-8 (P < 0.005) and MPO (P < 0.002), and with the neutrophil count (P < 0.002), and was higher for BAL fluid from the bronchopneumonia group. NF-kappaB activation by MPO was also demonstrated. The activation of NF-kappaB by BAL fluid, especially that from bronchopneumonia patients, suggests that a similar phenomenon may occur in vivo, leading to potential amplification of the inflammatory reaction. [less ▲]

VALIDATION OF ENVISAT-1 LEVEL-2 PRODUCTS RELATED TO LOWER ATMOSPHERE O3 AND NOy CHEMISTRY BY A FTIR QUASI-GLOBAL NETWORK

Scientific conference (2002, December)

A coordinated action involving eleven stations of the ground-based Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) equipped with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) instruments was conducted to ... [more ▼]

A coordinated action involving eleven stations of the ground-based Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) equipped with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) instruments was conducted to contribute to the validation of the three atmospheric chemistry instruments onboard ENVISAT, that are MIPAS, SCIAMACHY and GOMOS. The target products for validation are total columns of O3, CH4, CO and some important NOy species (NO2, HNO3, NO) and the source gas N2O. Together the eleven stations cover the latitudes between 79 °N and 78°S, including polar, mid -latitude and subtropical and tropical locations. The goal is to contribute to the assessment of the data quality of the aforementioned ENVISAT instruments, from a quasi-global perspective. The period of intensive ground-based data collection for the benefit of the ENVISAT Validation Commissioning Phase that is dealt with in the present paper is July 15 to December 1, 2002. The FTIR network involved collected a data set corresponding to an equivalent of approximately 400 days of measurements; about three quarter of the data have already been submitted to the ENVISAT Calval database and are included in the present work. Unfortunately, the distribution of ENVISAT data has been slow and limited. Only a limited number of coincidences has been found for making data inter-comparisons. Therefore, the conclusions drawn in this paper are very preliminary and cover only a limited set of data products from SCIAMACHY only. Our findings up to now concerning the above mentioned target products are the following: (1) SCIAMACHY near infrared operational products (CO, CH4, N2O) have no scientific meaning yet, (2), the operational SCIAMACHY total vertical O3 column product derived in the ultraviolet window has undergone some improvements with changing versions of the processor(s) but it still underestimates the column by about 5 – 10 %, (3), the operational SCIAMACHY total vertical O3 column product derived in the visible window is unrealistically large, and (3), the operational NO2 total column product from SCIAMACHY seems to largely overestimate the real column, but very few coincidences and large dispersions of the data do inhibit any further conclusion at present. In a next phase, the same ground-based correlative data set will be exploited to further validate the ENVISAT data as soon as more and reprocessed data will be distributed. [less ▲]

Hyperpaysages - Sensibiliser à l'aménagement du territoire par les nouvelles technologies

in Point sur la Recherche en Education (Le) (2002)

Novel bioresorbable and bioactive composites based on bioactive glass and polylactide foams for bone tissue engineering

in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine (2002), 13(12), 1207-1214

Bioresorbable and bioactive tissue engineering scaffolds based on bioactive glass (45S5 Bioglass®) particles and macroporous poly(DL-lactide) (PDLLA) foams were fabricated. A slurry dipping technique in ... [more ▼]

Bioresorbable and bioactive tissue engineering scaffolds based on bioactive glass (45S5 Bioglass®) particles and macroporous poly(DL-lactide) (PDLLA) foams were fabricated. A slurry dipping technique in conjunction with pretreatment in ethanol was used to achieve reproducible and well adhering bioactive glass coatings of uniform thickness on the internal and external surfaces of the foams. In vitro studies in simulated body fluid (SBF) demonstrated rapid hydroxyapatite (HA) formation on the surface of the composites, indicating their bioactivity. For comparison, composite foams containing Bioglass® particles as filler for the polymer matrix (in concentration of up to 40 wt%) were prepared by freeze-drying, enabling homogenous glass particle distribution in the polymer matrix. The formation of HA on the composite surfaces after immersion in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) was investigated to confirm the bioactivity of the composites. Human osteoblasts (HOBs) were seeded onto as-fabricated PDLLA foams and onto PDLLA foams coated with Bioglass® particles to determine early cell attachment and spreading. Cells were observed to attach and spread on all surfaces after the first 90 min in culture. The results of this study indicate that the fabricated composite materials have potential as scaffolds for guided bone regeneration. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. [less ▲]

Alkali cation attachment to derivatized fullerenes studied by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

in Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (2002), 13(12), 1448-1458

The complexation of alkali metal ions with amphiphilic fullerene derivatives has been investigated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. The ... [more ▼]

The complexation of alkali metal ions with amphiphilic fullerene derivatives has been investigated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. The formation of analyte ions occurs via two competing mechanisms including electron transfer from matrix-derived ions and metal ion attachment. The interplay of these processes has been examined by laser fluence dependent sample activation and by variation of the target composition. The attachment of metal ions has been established as the gentler and thus more efficient route towards the formation of intact analyte ions. Investigations into the metal ion complexation have been conducted to reveal the reactivity order of the alkali metals in these reactions and to elucidate the influence of structural differences of the analytes, as well as to unravel effects caused by the anionic counter ion of the metal. The experimental data have been derived by two complementary approaches. Competing reactants were either studied simultaneously, so that the product distribution would provide direct insight into the reactivity pattern, and/or product distributions were obtained in a large variety of separate experiments and normalized for reliable comparison. It has been found that the extent to which complexation is observed follows the charge density order of the alkali metal ions. The structural features of the fullerene-attached ligands were of profound influence on the attachment of the metal ion, inducing enhanced selectivity for the complexation with less reactive metals. The metal ion attachment is reduced with the use of smaller anionic counter ions. Rationalization of these findings is provided within the framework of the mechanisms of ion formation in MALDI. [less ▲]

The neural substrates of the central executive: Exploration of the updating and shifting processes

Conference (2002, December)

Percutaneous stereotactic en bloc excision of nonpalpable breast carcinoma: a step in the direction of supraconservative surgery

in Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland ) (2002), 11(6), 501-508

Recently, the advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI) system has been introduced as an alternative to conventional breast biopsy techniques. This study was prospectively conducted to evaluate the ... [more ▼]

Recently, the advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI) system has been introduced as an alternative to conventional breast biopsy techniques. This study was prospectively conducted to evaluate the potential of the ABBI method in locoregional management of a consecutive series of patients with nonpalpable mammographically detected breast carcinomas. Sixty-one consecutive patients underwent an ABBI procedure as a first step before possible surgery for nonpalpable breast lesions that would in any case require complete excision. For the 27 patients in whom the ABBI biopsy revealed malignancy further surgery was recommended, including re-excision of the biopsy site and axillary dissection in cases of infiltrating carcinoma. We calculated the probabilities that the ABBI specimen would have tumor-free margins and that a definitely complete excision had been achieved as a function of the mammographic or pathological diameter of the cancer. For cancer with a pathological diameter less than 10 mm, measured on the ABBI specimen, the probability (92%) of obtaining complete resection was significantly better than for larger lesions (P = 0.01, Fisher's exact test). Although the therapeutic perspectives for the ABBI method are limited at present, we suggest that this approach is a first step in the direction of a surgical strategy that is better adapted to the pathological characteristics peculiar to these small tumors, whose incidence is increasing. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [less ▲]