Changes in cortical activation patterns accompanying somatosensory recovery in a stroke patient: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

The somatosensory system plays a crucial role in executing precise movements by providing sensory feedback （Farrer et al., 2003; Rabin and Gordon, 2004）. Somatosensory dys- function is a common problem following stroke. In partic- ular, somatosensory impairments, such as impairment in touch, proprioception, light touch, and vibration have been frequently observed （Carey et al., 1993; Sullivan and Hed- man, 2008; Tyson et al., 2008）. Patients with somatosensory dysfunction show negative effects on motor control, and it sometimes becomes difficult to perform daily activities independently.

Age-related changes of lateral ventricular width and periventricular white matter in the human brain: a diffusion tensor imaging study

Introduction Aging is the accumulation of multidimensional deterioration of process- ing of biological, psychological, and social changes with expansion over time （Bowen and Atwood, 2004; Grady, 2012）. Aging-related changes are typically accompanied by decline in cognitive function, urinary control, sensory-motor function, and gait ability （Bradley et al., 1991; Bowen and Atwood, 2004; Hedden and Gabrieli, 2004; Grady, 2012; Moran et al., 2012）. In addition, a number of studies have suggested changes in brain structure with normal aging, such as decrease in cortical thickness or increase in ventricular width （Blatter et al., 1995; Tang et al., 1997; Uylings and de Brabander, 2002; Preul et al., 2006; Apostolova et al., 2012）. In particular, ventricular enlargement has been suggested as a structural biomarker for normal aging and progression of some illnesses, such as Alzheimer＇s disease （Blatter et al., 1995; Tang et al.,

Microglia activation in the offspring of prenatal Poly I:C exposed rats:a PET imaging and immunohistochemistry study

Background The well-known ‘pyrotherapy’ of Julius Wagner-Jauregg might be the beginning of the study on the immunological concepts of schizophrenia. As the primary immune effector cells in the brain, microglia play a pivotal role in neuroinfammatory processes. Maternal viral infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for psychiatric disorders with presumed neurodevelopmental origin, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. The present study was to quantify microglia activation in vivo in the mature offspring of rats exposed to polyriboinosinic–polyribocytidilicacid （Poly I：C） during pregnancy using ^11C-PK11195 positron emission tomography （PET） and immunohistochemistry.Objective The study aimed to quantify microglia activation in vivo in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in mature offspring of prenatal Poly I：C exposed rats.Methods Offspring of Poly I：C-treated dams were the model group, offspring of saline-treated dams were the control group. Behavioural test for two groups was taken by spontaneous activity, prepulse inhibition （PPI） and latent inhibition （LI） test （including active avoidance conditioning task and passive avoidance conditioning task）. Randomly selected successful model rats were assessed by behavioural test in the model group and control group rats. 11C-PK11195 micro-PET/CT and immunohistochemistry were performed on the selected rats to measure microglia activation.Results The treatment group showed hyperlocomotion and defcits in PPI and LI compared with the control group. The treatment group also showed an increased 11C-PK11195 uptake ratio in the prefrontal cortex （t=-3.990, p=0.003） and hippocampus （t=-4.462, p=0.001）. The number of activated microglia cells was signifcantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group （hippocampus： t=8.204, p〈0.001; prefrontal： t=6.995, p〈0.001）. Within the treatment group, there were signifcant correlations between the behavioural parameters and the activation of microglia as measured by PET and immunohistochemistry.Conclusions The present study demonstrated microglia activation in vivo in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in mature offspring of prenatal Poly I：C exposed rats. This study suggests that microglia activation may play a possible or potential role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Clinical imaging study and meta-analysis of ossification of the ligamentum flavum

Objective To study the clinical epidemiology of ossification of ligamentum flavum(OLF)and evaluate its characteristics of prevalence, morphology, and distribution in a common population.Some factors associated with its occurrence were analyzed

Accidental esophageal intubation via a large type C congenital tracheoesophageal fistula:A case report

BACKGROUND Tracheoesophageal fistula(TEF)is a congenital anomaly characterized by interruptions in esophageal continuity with or without fistulous communication to the trachea.Anesthetic management during TEF repair is challenging because of the difficulty of perioperative airway management.It is important to determine the appropriate position of the endotracheal tube(ETT)for proper ventilation and to prevent excessive gastric dilatation.Therefore,the tip of the ETT should be placed immediately below the fistula and above the carina.CASE SUMMARY A full-term,one-day-old,2.4 kg,50 cm male neonate was diagnosed with TEF type C.During induction,an ETT was inserted using video laryngoscope and advanced deeply to ensure that the tip passed over the fistula,according to known strategies.The passage of the ETT through the vocal cords was confirmed via video laryngoscope.However,after inflating the ETT cuff,breath sounds were not heard on bilateral lung auscultation.Instead,gastric sounds were heard.Considering that a large fistula(approximately 6.60 mm×4.54 mm)located 10.2mm above the carina was confirmed on preoperative tracheal computed tomography,the possibility of unintentional esophageal intubation was highly suspected.Therefore,we decided to uncuff and withdraw the ETT carefully for repositioning,while monitoring auscultation and end-tidal CO2 simultaneously.At a certain point(9.5 cm from the lip),clear breath sounds and proper end-tidal CO_(2) readings were suddenly achieved,and adequate ventilation was possible.CONCLUSION Preanesthetic anatomical evaluation with imaging studies in TEF is necessary to minimize complications related to airway management.

PANCREATO-BILIARY TUMOR: MR DIAGNOSIS AND RESECTABILITY ASSESSMENT

Objective: TO evaluate the clinical value of MR multi-imaging technique in diagnosing and assessing the resectability of pancreato-biliary tumor. Methods The prospective diagnosis and resectability of 17 patients with suspicious pancreato-biliary tumors were evaluated. Surgical findings and pathologic results confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma in 11 cases, cholangiocarcinoma in 4, and non-neoplastic lesion in 2. MR multi-imaging protocol, including MR cross-sectional imaging, us cholangiopancreatography (MRCP ), and three-dimensional dynamic contrast-enhanced MR portography (3D DCE MRP), were performed in all patients. Results MR multi-imaging technique allowed-correct diagnosing 15 of 17 (88. 2% ) patients with pancreato-biliary tumors. The accuracy in detecting the range of tumor invasion was 64. 4%. The sensitivity, speificity, accuracy, positive, and negative predictive value of MR multi-imaging technique in assessing the resectability of pancreato-biliary tumors were 83. 3%, 77. 8%, 80. 0%, 71. 4%, and 87. 5%, respectively. Conclusion MR multi-imaging technique can not only improve the diagnostic ability of pancreato-biliary tumor, but also assess the surgical reartability of the tumor. With the fast development of MR techniques, the diagnosing and pre-operative assessment of aoncreato-biliary tumor may be more simplified and efficient by using the non-invasive "all-in-one" method.

A study on the statistics of sonic images

The statistics of sonic images obtained by an image sonar is analysed. The results show that the statistics of the sonic images is different from that of common TV images and, therefore, the processing methods for the sonic images possibly are different from that used for common TV images.

Pay Attention to the Imaging Study of Sport Injury and Illness in Winter Olympics Sports

After successfully holding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the series of National Games, and a successful bid of Beijing and Zhangjiakou for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Chinese sports lace the greater opportunities of development. The imaging study of sport injury and illness in winter sports is to be developed for effective diagnosis and evaluation, which aims to stay in step with the progress in winter sports field. This will boost the development of sports promoting health strategy and advance the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Differentiation of white and red thrombus with magnetic resonance imaging： a phantom study

Background An early identification of the composition of arterial thrombus may have diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic implications. The variation of magnetic resonance （MR） signal intensity between white and red thrombi, especially in the susceptibility sensitive MR sequence, remains unknown. Our research was to evaluate the feasibility of MRI in differentiating of white and red thrombi with a phantom study. Methods A total of 12 red and 12 white thrombi were prepared with the venous blood. Examination of the phantom was completed using a 3.0T MR unit, including fluid attenuated inversion recovery （FLAIR） T1, T2-weighted imaging （T2WI）, FLAIR T2, T2＊ gradient echo （T2＊GRE） imaging, and susceptibility weighted angiography sequences （SWAN）. MR signal intensity patterns of the thrombi were objectively classified as hyperintensity, isointensity and hypointensity, compared with the background agar. The volume of thrombus was calculated and correlated with its signal intensity. Results For white thrombi, 11/12 clots showed hyperintensity and 1/12 showed isointensity in FLAIR T1 images. In T2WI, 6/12 clots showed hyperintensity, 3/12 isointensity, and 3/12 hypointensity. In FLAIR T2, 8/12 clots showed hyperintensity and 4/12 showed isointensity. In T2＊GRE, 3/12 clots showed hyperintensity and the remaining 9/12 clots showed isointensity. In SWAN, 5/12 clots demonstrated hyperintensity and 7/12 isointensity. For the red thrombus, 12/12 clots demonstrated hyperintensity in FLAIR T1, T2WI, and FLAIR T2 sequences. In T2＊GRE and SWAN sequences, 3/12 clots displayed hypointensity and the remaining 9/12 clots showed slight hyperintensity. Thrombi with hypointensity displayed in T2＊GRE and SWAN sequences were significantly larger than those with hyperintensity. Conclusions Differentiation of white and red thrombi with conventional MR sequence is unreliable, because both kinds of thrombi do not possess unique signal intensity features in these sequences. Red thrombus may or may not show hypointensity in the susceptibility sensitive MR sequences, depending on its size and time course.

Feasibility study of phase-sensitive imaging based on multiple reference optical coherence tomography

Multiple reference optical coherence tomography（MR-OCT） is a recently developed, low-cost and compact time-domain OCT solution for primary care and consumer level applications. A combination of a voice coil actuator and a partial mirror（PM） extends the scan range for imaging depths of approximately 1 mm in biological samples. Our previous research on MR-OCT is based only on intensity information obtained from the depth-resolved interference signal. In this Letter, we extract the phase information from the MR-OCT signal and, hence, provide an additional contrast modality. The phase sensitivity of the system is measured to be approximately 0.2 and 1.5 rad for the first and twelfth orders of reflection when using a mirror as the sample.This Letter describes first results of phase-sensitive data measured on a phantom obtained with MR-OCT. Data from a chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane（CAM） is used to demonstrate the feasibility of MR-OCT for in vivo phase-sensitive imaging.

Microstructural white matter lesion in Alzheimer's disease: a diffusion tensor imaging study using voxel-based analysis

Objective To study the microscopic changes of white matter and the relationship between white matter changes and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease(AD)using voxel-based analysis of DTI.Methods Thirty-seven patients with probable AD,and 32 normal controls(NC)were all examined by MMSE scores,and un-