Observation of activation status of motor-related cortex of patients with acute ischemic stroke through functional magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND： About more than three fourth of patients with stroke have motor dysfunction at different degrees, especially hand motor dysfunction. Functional magnetic resonance imaging （fMRI） provides very reliable visible evidence for studying central mechanism of motor dysfunction after stroke, and has guiding and applicable value for clinical therapy. OBJECTIVE： To observe the activation of motor-related cortex of patients with acute ischemic stroke with functional magnetic resonance imaging, and analyze the relationship between brain function reconstruction and motor restoration after stroke. DESIGN ： A contrast observation SETTING： Medical Imaging Center, Fuzhou General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA. PARTICIPANTS ： Nine patients with acute ischemic stroke who suffered from motor dysfunction and received the treatment in the Fuzhou General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA between August and December 2005 were recruited, serving as experimental group. The involved patients including 5 male and 4 female, aged 16 to 87 years, all met the diagnostic criteria of cerebrovascular disease revised by The Fourth National Conference on Cerebrovascular Disease, mainly presenting paralysis in clinic, and underwent fMRI. Another 9 right handed persons matched in age and gender who simultaneously received healthy body examination were recruited, serving as control group. All the subjects were informed of the detected items. METHODS ： ①Muscular strength of patients of the experimental group was evaluated according to Brunnstrom grading muscular strength （Grade Ⅰ -Ⅳ）. ②Passive finger to finger motion was used as the mission （alternate style of quiescence, left hand motion and quiescence, nght hand motion was repeated 3 times, serving as 1 sequence, 20 s per block and 20 s time interval. The whole process of scanning was 260 s）, and subjects of 2 groups were given Bold-fMRI examination with GEl .5T double gradient 16-channel magnetic resonance imaging system. All the data were given off-line management, and fMRI was treated with SPM2 softwere. The activation of passive finger-to-finger motion-related cortex of subjects in 2 groups was observed. ③ Results of fMRI of subjects in 2 groups were compared. The size of activation region of brain and signal intensity were measured and unilateral index was calculated. The data of activation region of cerebral hemisphere of different sides at finger motion were given statistical analysis of unilateral index. Differences among unilateral indexes at hand motion were compared between intact and affected hands of patients in experimental group. The relationship between unilateral index and muscular strength of affected hands at affected hand motion in patients of the experimental group was performed Spearman correlation analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： ① The activation of motion-related cortex passive finger-to-finger motion between handedness and non-handedness was detected with functional magnetic resonance imaging of subjects in 2 groups. ②Relationship between unilateral index and muscular strength of subjects of experimental group at affected hand motion. RESULTS： Nine patients with ischemic stroke and 9 controls all participated in the final result analysis. ① Passive fMRI detection results between handedness and non-handedness of controls： Right-handed finger-to-finger motion of subjects of control group mainly activated contralateral sensonmotor cortex, and left-handed finger-to-finger motion not only activated above-mentioned brain region, but also activated supplementary motor area （SMA） of contralateral brain region; ②In the experimental group, sensorimotor cortex of contralateral hemisphere was activated at affected hand motion, and homolateral posterior parietal cortex （PPC）was also obviously activated. Bilateral sensonmotor cortex was activated at affected hand motion in 2 patients, and homolateral activation area was larger than contralateral one. At intact hand motion, contralateral sensorimotor cortex was activated, but no obvious homolateral activation area was found. ③ Correlation of unilateral index with muscular strength： Passive finger-to-finger fMRI （ between affected and intact hands of subjects of experimental group： Unilateral index at passive single finger motion of affected and intact hand of subjects of experimental group was -0.018±0.01 and 0.319±0.187, respectively, with significant difference （t=4.059, P 〈 0.01 ）. Unilateral index was significantly positively correlated with the muscular strength of affected hand at affected hand motion（r=0.834, P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION ： ①fMRI can objectively shows different activation states of motor cortex between patients with ischemic stroke and healthy controls, and brain functional compensation and recombination exist. Both primary sensorimotor cortex and SMA of bilateral hemispheres participant in affected hand motion, at the same time, parietal lobe and cortex of intact side also obviously participant in the affected hand motion. ②Correlation analysis of unilateral index and muscular strength of affected hand performed through fMRI can be used as an effective means to investigate the relationship between motion rehabilitation and brain functional recombination after stroke.

Soil Geochemistry Changes Induced by a Foreign Soil Reconstruction Project in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of China

Fertile topsoil was added onto the surface of barren slope land in Three Gorges Reservoir region of China in an anthropogenic process known as the foreign soil reconstruction project. The main goal of this paper was to reveal the influence of anthropogenic activities on pedogenic processes and soil classifications. Chemical weathering indices and comparative analysis were applied to discuss changes in geochemical compositions and weathering features of purplish soils(Cambisols) before and after the project. Results showed that:(1) The foreign soil reconstruction project slightly altered the major element composition of topsoil and improved the soil structure. Although the distributions of major elements in the original topsoil, original subsoil, foreign topsoil and newly constructed topsoil were all similar to that in upper continental crust, newly constructed topsoil was the most similar soil.(2) The chemical index of alteration was more sensitive than the weathering index of Parker at indicating chemical weathering status of purplish soil. The chemical weathering status of newly constructed topsoil was higher than that of the original topsoil and lower than that of foreign topsoil.(3) Anthropogenic activities may provide a promising new thought for the anthropogenic soil classification system. The scope and subgroups of Anthrosols should be extended and strengthened. Or there may be a need to combine Anthrosols and Technosols orders to create a new soil order. The results may be used for optimizing soil mellowing engineering activities and enriching the soil classification system.

Does vitamin D affect disease severity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis？

Background Vitamin D has been found to have a role in the function of the immune system. There have been a lot of studies investigating a relation between vitamin D and disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis （AS）. However, there have not been any studies arranging AS in groups according to vitamin D levels and determining any differences among these patients in terms of disease activity, functional status, quality of life, and other clinical parameters. The aim of this study is to compare 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 （25（OH）D3） levels in AS patients with those in normal healthy subjects and to determine the relationship between 25（OH）D3 levels and AS disease activity, functional status, and quality of life. Methods Ninety-nine consecutive patients and 42 healthy volunteers were included in this study. After a comparison between the patient group and the control group, the patient group was divided into normal, insufficient and deficient subgroups according to the plasma 25（OH）D3 levels for another comparison. Results The differences in the 25（OH）D3 level between the patient and the control groups were statistically insignificant. The number of AS patients whose 25（OH）D3 levels were classified as normal, insufficient, and deficient were 34, 29, and 36, respectively. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR）, C-reactive protein （CRP）, and Bath AS Disease Activity Index （BASDAI） scores were higher in the low （including insufficient and deficient） 25（OH）D3 level subgroups （P 〈0.05）. The Bath AS Functional Index （BASFI） and AS Quality of Life （ASQoL） scores were significantly different between the normal and the deficient subgroups （P 〈0.05）. Pain, BASDAI, ESR, and CRP were inversely correlated to the 25（OH）D3 levels （P 〈0.05）. Conclusions The plasma 25（OH）D3 levels may decrease in AS patients and this may negatively affect disease activity, functional status and quality of life.