Peripersonal space representation develops independently from visual experience

Our daily-life actions are typically driven by vision. When acting upon an object, we need to represent its visual features (e.g. shape, orientation, etc.) and to map them into our own peripersonal space. But what happens with people who have never had any visual experience? How can they map object features into their own peripersonal space? Do they do it differently from sighted agents? To tackle these questions, we carried out a series of behavioral experiments in sighted and congenitally blind subjects. We took advantage of a spatial alignment effect paradigm, which typically refers to a decrease of reaction times when subjects perform an action (e.g., a reach-To-grasp pantomime) congruent with that afforded by a presented object. To systematically examine peripersonal space mapping, we presented visual or auditory affording objects both within and outside subjects' reach. The results showed that sighted and congenitally blind subjects did not differ in mapping objects into their own peripersonal space. Strikingly, this mapping occurred also when objects were presented outside subjects' reach, but within the peripersonal space of another agent. This suggests that (the lack of) visual experience does not significantly affect the development of both one's own and others' peripersonal space representation

Quantification of renal function following stereotactic body radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer: secondary dosimetric analysis of a prospective clinical trial

Abstract Background This is the first known study examining renal function following stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for pancreatic head adenocarcinoma. Methods Thirty-eight borderline-resectable/unresectable patients, part of an ongoing prospective trial, underwent 3 cycles of gemcitabine/5-fluorouracil followed by SBRT (5 daily fractions of 5/6/7/8 Gy) and concurrent nelfinavir. Thereafter, in resectable cases, surgery was performed within 4–8 weeks. The last available pre-SBRT creatinine was recorded, along with the highest post-SBRT value. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by the commonly-utilized Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula. GFR decline was defined as the post-SBRT nadir GFR minus the pre-SBRT GFR. Correlations with the V5–V30, and mean/maximum kidney doses was performed. Statistics included Pearson correlation, Mann-Whitney, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results The median total kidney volume was 355 cm3. Median dosimetric values were as follows: V5 (209 cm3), V10 (103 cm3), V15 (9 cm3), V20 (0 cm3), V25 (0 cm3); and mean (6.7 Gy) & maximum kidney dose (18.3 Gy). Median GFR change was −23 (range, −105 to 25) mL/min/1.73 cm2. Of all dosimetric parameters, only V5 was significantly associated with changes in GFR (Pearson r = −0.40, p = 0.012). In patients with V5 23 mL/min/1.73 cm2. If V5 is kept <210 cm3, median GFR decline was only 11.8 mL/min/1.73 cm2. Further validation is needed to ascertain definite dose-volume parameters and examine late renal decline

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activities of some fluorine containing 2-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1<i>H</i>-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-chloro­chromones, 2-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1<i>H</i>-pyrazol-4-yl)chromones and 5-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1<i>H</i>-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydropyrazolines

422-425Base catalyzed condensation of 1 with 2gives compound 3 [1-(5-fluoro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-2-propen-1-one]. On oxidative cyclization  with DMSO-CuCl2 3 gives 2-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-chloro-6-fluoro­chro­­m­­ones 4. On cyclization with DMSO-I2, 3 gives 2-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)- 6-fluorochromones 5. When 3 is heated with hydrazine in dioxane gives 6 [5-(1-phenyl-3-aryl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-(5-fluoro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydropyra­zo­lines. The pro­­ducts 3, 4, 5 and 6 are characterized by spectral and elemental analysis. Compounds 3, 4 and 6 are tested for their antimicrobial activities

Which Prognostic Index is Most Appropriate in the Setting of Delayed Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases?

OBJECTIVES: To determine if five commonly-used prognostic indices (PI)–Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA), Score Index for Radiosurgery (SIR), Basic Score for Brain Metastases (BSBM), graded prognostic assessment (GPA), and the diagnosis-specific GPA (DSGPA)— are valid following delay between diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases. METHODS: In a single-institutional cohort, records of patients that underwent SRS more than 30 days from diagnosis of brain metastases were collected, and five PI scores were calculated for each patient. For each PI, three score-based groupings were made to examine survival differences by means of adjusted log-rank analysis and area under the curve.RESULTS: Of 121 patients with sufficient PI information, 72 underwent SRS more than 30 days after diagnosis. Median age and Karnofsky performance status were 60 years and 80, respectively. Forty-three (60%) patients had lung primaries. Prior to SRS, 38 (52.8%) and 12 (16.7%) patients underwent whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and surgery, respectively. 2 (2.8%) patients underwent both WBRT and surgery prior to SRS. A median of two lesions were treated per SRS course. Median survival of the cohort was 9.0 months. Using adjusted log-rank analysis for pairwise comparison, BSBM and GPA showed significance between two out of three prognostic groups, while the other scores showed either one or no significant differences on comparison. Area under the curve demonstrated good applicability for BSBM, RPA, and GPA, although SIR was statistically less prognostic than the other PIs. CONCLUSIONS: The PIs analyzed in this study were applicable in the setting of delayed SRS. Though these data are hypothesis-generating, they serve to encourage further analyses to validate a PI that is most optimal for these patients