The data processing framework of the present study.

<p>Normal, normal controls; T-PD, tremor-dominant PD; NT-PD, non-tremor-dominant PD.</p

Structural Criteria for the Rational Design of Selective Ligands. 2. Effect of Alkyl Substitution on Metal Ion Complex Stability with Ligands Bearing Ethylene-Bridged Ether Donors

A novel approach is presented for the application and interpretation of molecular mechanics calculations in ligand structural design. The methodology yields strain energies that (i) provide a yardstick for the measurement of ligand binding site organization for metal ion complexation and (ii) allow the comparison of any two ligands independent of either the number and type of donor atoms or the identity of the metal ion. Application of this methodology is demonstrated in a detailed examination of the influence of alkyl substitution on the structural organization of ethylene-bridged, bidentate, ether donor ligands for the alkali and alkaline earth cations. Nine cases are examined, including the unsubstituted ethylene bridge (dimethoxyethane), all possible arrangements of individual alkyl groups (monoalkylation, gem-dialkylation, meso-dialkylation, d,l-dialkylation, trialkylation, and tetraalkylation), and both cis and trans attachments of the cyclohexyl group. The calculated degree of binding site organization for metal ion complexation afforded by these connecting structures is shown to correlate with known changes in complex stability caused by alkyl substitution of crown ether macrocycles

Highly Sensitive Vibrational Imaging by Femtosecond Pulse Stimulated Raman Loss

Nonlinear vibrational imaging of live cells and organisms is demonstrated by detecting femtosecond pulse stimulated Raman loss. Femtosecond pulse excitation produced a 12 times larger stimulated Raman loss signal than picosecond pulse excitation. The large signal allowed real-time imaging of the conversion of deuterated palmitic acid into lipid droplets inside of live cells and three-dimensional sectioning of fat storage in live C. elegans. With the majority of the excitation power contributed by the Stokes beam in the 1.0–1.2 μm wavelength range, photodamage of biological samples was not observed

Highly Sensitive Vibrational Imaging by Femtosecond Pulse Stimulated Raman Loss

Nonlinear vibrational imaging of live cells and organisms is demonstrated by detecting femtosecond pulse stimulated Raman loss. Femtosecond pulse excitation produced a 12 times larger stimulated Raman loss signal than picosecond pulse excitation. The large signal allowed real-time imaging of the conversion of deuterated palmitic acid into lipid droplets inside of live cells and three-dimensional sectioning of fat storage in live C. elegans. With the majority of the excitation power contributed by the Stokes beam in the 1.0–1.2 μm wavelength range, photodamage of biological samples was not observed

Distinguishing Patients with Parkinson's Disease Subtypes from Normal Controls Based on Functional Network Regional Efficiencies

<div><p>Many studies have demonstrated that the pathophysiology and clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are inhomogeneous. However, the symptom-specific intrinsic neural activities underlying the PD subtypes are still not well understood. Here, 15 tremor-dominant PD patients, 10 non-tremor-dominant PD patients, and 20 matched normal controls (NCs) were recruited and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Functional brain networks were constructed based on randomly generated anatomical templates with and without the cerebellum. The regional network efficiencies (i.e., the local and global efficiencies) were further measured and used to distinguish subgroups of PD patients (i.e., with tremor-dominant PD and non-tremor-dominant PD) from the NCs using linear discriminant analysis. The results demonstrate that the subtype-specific functional networks were small-world-organized and that the network regional efficiency could discriminate among the individual PD subgroups and the NCs. Brain regions involved in distinguishing between the study groups included the basal ganglia (i.e., the caudate and putamen), limbic regions (i.e., the hippocampus and thalamus), the cerebellum, and other cerebral regions (e.g., the insula, cingulum, and calcarine sulcus). In particular, the performances of the regional local efficiency in the functional network were better than those of the global efficiency, and the performances of global efficiency were dependent on the inclusion of the cerebellum in the analysis. These findings provide new evidence for the neurological basis of differences between PD subtypes and suggest that the cerebellum may play different roles in the pathologies of different PD subtypes. The present study demonstrated the power of the combination of graph-based network analysis and discrimination analysis in elucidating the neural basis of different PD subtypes.</p></div

The performances of brain network parameters in distinguishing PD subtypes from NCs.

<p>LE, local efficiency; GE, global efficiency;</p>a<p>AAL1024 template including the cerebellum;</p>b<p>AAL1024 template without cerebellum;</p>1<p>mixted PD - NCs;</p>2<p>tremor-dominant PD - NCs;</p>3<p>non-tremor-dominant PD - NCs;</p>4<p>tremor-dominant PD - non-tremor-dominant PD.</p><p>The performances of brain network parameters in distinguishing PD subtypes from NCs.</p

Regions capable of identifying the mixed PD patients from the NCs.

<p>a, the local efficiency related to cere-AAL1024; b, the global efficiency associated with cere-AAL1024; c, the local efficiency for AAL1024; d, the global efficiency for AAL1024.</p

Highly Sensitive Vibrational Imaging by Femtosecond Pulse Stimulated Raman Loss

Nonlinear vibrational imaging of live cells and organisms is demonstrated by detecting femtosecond pulse stimulated Raman loss. Femtosecond pulse excitation produced a 12 times larger stimulated Raman loss signal than picosecond pulse excitation. The large signal allowed real-time imaging of the conversion of deuterated palmitic acid into lipid droplets inside of live cells and three-dimensional sectioning of fat storage in live C. elegans. With the majority of the excitation power contributed by the Stokes beam in the 1.0–1.2 μm wavelength range, photodamage of biological samples was not observed

Distinguishing regions for distinguishing PD patients from the NCs.

<p>a-d are related to the local efficiency, and e-f is related to the global efficiency. a, c, and e correspod to the tremor-dominant PD classificantion compared with the NCs, and b, d, and f correspond to the classification of non-tremor-dominant PD compared with the NCs.</p

Spatial properties of the whole-brain functional networks.

<p>The network properties are depicted in terms of the network efficiency. NC, normal controls; T-PD, tremor-dominant PD; NT-PD, non-tremor-dominant PD.</p