a transverse and longitudinal mr imaging voxel based morphometry study in patients with primary cervical dystonia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Findings of standard MR imaging examinations are usually normal in primary CD. These findings are now increasingly challenged by studies using advanced neuroimaging techniques detecting abnormalities in brain areas that may be functionally involved in the pathophysiology of CD. Our purpose was to evaluate GM volumes in patients with CD at baseline and 5 years later. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled 19 patients (F/M = 15:4, mean age = 53.2 + 11.2 years), 12 of whom were studied at baseline and again approximately 5 years later. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers acted as controls (F/M = 17:11, mean age = 47.5 + 15.6 years). The subjects were imaged with a 1.5T scanner by using a 3D T1-weighted sequence on 150 contiguous axial 1-mm-thick sections to apply VBM. RESULTS: At entry, VBM analysis disclosed significantly lower GM volumes in the left caudate head and putamen and in the premotor and primary sensorimotor cortices bilaterally in patients than in controls. No correlation was found between decreased GM volumes and patient age, severity of dystonia, or disease duration. At the 5-year follow-up, GM volumes in the left primary sensorimotor cortex in patients had decreased significantly from baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The findings obtained at entry and after a 5-year follow-up consistently showed decreased caudate, putamen, and sensorimotor cortex GM volumes in patients with CD, and they probably play a pathophysiologic role in CD

Recurrent Subarachnoid Bleeding and Superficial Siderosis in a Patient with Histopathologically Proven Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

A 68-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented with recurrent subarachnoid bleeding. Brain MRI showed superficial siderosis, and diagnostic cerebral angiograms did not show any intracranial vascular malformation or arterial aneurism. Post mortem neuropathological examination of the brain was consistent with a diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Clinicians should be aware that cerebral amyloid angiopathy should be considered in patients with unexplained recurrent subarachnoid bleeding, even in cases without familial clustering or transthyretin variant

The genetic architecture of divergence between threespine stickleback species.

The genetic and molecular basis of morphological evolution is poorly understood, particularly in vertebrates. Genetic studies of the differences between naturally occurring vertebrate species have been limited by the expense and difficulty of raising large numbers of animals and the absence of molecular linkage maps for all but a handful of laboratory and domesticated animals. We have developed a genome-wide linkage map for the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), an extensively studied teleost fish that has undergone rapid divergence and speciation since the melting of glaciers 15,000 years ago. Here we use this map to analyse the genetic basis of recently evolved changes in skeletal armour and feeding morphologies seen in the benthic and limnetic stickleback species from Priest Lake, British Columbia. Substantial alterations in spine length, armour plate number, and gill raker number are controlled by genetic factors that map to independent chromosome regions. Further study of these regions will help to define the number and type of genetic changes that underlie morphological diversification during vertebrate evolution

From Profile to Surface Monitoring: SPC for Cylindrical Surfaces Via Gaussian Processes

Quality of machined products is often related to the shapes of surfaces that are constrained by geometric tolerances. In this case, statistical quality monitoring should be used to quickly detect unwanted deviations from the nominal pattern. The majority of the literature has focused on statistical profile monitoring, while there is little research on surface monitoring. This paper faces the challenging task of moving from profile to surface monitoring. To this aim, different parametric approaches and control-charting procedures are presented and compared with reference to a real case study dealing with cylindrical surfaces obtained by lathe turning. In particular, a novel method presented in this paper consists of modeling the manufactured surface via Gaussian processes models and monitoring the deviations of the actual surface from the target pattern estimated in phase I. Regardless of the specific case study in this paper, the proposed approach is general and can be extended to deal with different kinds of surfaces or profiles

Limited genetic parallels underlie convergent evolution of quantitative pattern variation in mimetic butterflies

Mimetic systems allow us to address the question of whether the same genes control similar phenotypes in different species. Although widespread parallels have been found for major effect loci, much less is known about genes that control quantitative trait variation. In this study, we identify and compare the loci that control subtle changes in the size and shape of forewing pattern elements in twoHeliconiusbutterfly co-mimics. We use quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis with a multivariate phenotyping approach to map the variation in red pattern elements across the whole forewing surface ofHeliconius eratoandHeliconius melpomene. These results are compared with a QTL analysis of univariate trait changes, and show that our resolution for identifying small effect loci is somewhat improved with the multivariate approach, but also that different loci are detected with these different approaches. QTL likely corresponding to the known patterning geneoptixwere found in both species but otherwise, a remarkably low level of genetic parallelism was found. This lack of similarity indicates that the genetic basis of convergent traits may not be as predictable as assumed from studies that focus solely on Mendelian traits.Peer reviewe

Linear frictional forces cause orbits to neither circularize nor precess

For the undamped Kepler potential the lack of precession has historically been understood in terms of the Runge-Lenz symmetry. For the damped Kepler problem this result may be understood in terms of the generalization of Poisson structure to damped systems suggested recently by Tarasov[1]. In this generalized algebraic structure the orbit-averaged Runge-Lenz vector remains a constant in the linearly damped Kepler problem to leading order in the damping coeComment: 16 pages. 1 figure, Rewrite for resubmissio

Stress related epigenetic changes may explain opportunistic success in biological invasions in Antipode mussels

Different environmental factors could induce epigenetic changes, which are likely involved in the biological invasion process. Some of these factors are driven by humans as, for example, the pollution and deliberate or accidental introductions and others are due to natural conditions such as salinity. In this study, we have analysed the relationship between different stress factors: time in the new location, pollution and salinity with the methylation changes that could be involved in the invasive species tolerance to new environments. For this purpose, we have analysed two different mussels’ species, reciprocally introduced in antipode areas: the Mediterranean blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the New Zealand pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis, widely recognized invaders outside their native distribution ranges. The demetylathion was higher in more stressed population, supporting the idea of epigenetic is involved in plasticity process. These results can open a new management protocols, using the epigenetic signals as potential pollution monitoring tool. We could use these epigenetic marks to recognise the invasive status in a population and determine potential biopollutants

Late Paleocene-middle Eocene benthic foraminifera on a Pacific seamount (Allison Guyot, ODP Site 865): Greenhouse climate and superimposed hyperthermal events

We investigated the response of late Paleocene-middle Eocene (~60-37.5 Ma) benthic foraminiferal assemblages to long-term climate change and hyperthermal events including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 865 on Allison Guyot, a seamount in the Mid-Pacific Mountains. Seamounts are isolated deep-sea environments where enhanced current systems interrupt bentho-pelagic coupling, and fossil assemblages from such settings have been little evaluated. Assemblages at Site 865 are diverse and dominated by cylindrical calcareous taxa with complex apertures, an extinct group which probably lived infaunally. Dominance of an infaunal morphogroup is unexpected in a highly oligotrophic setting, but these forms may have been shallow infaunal suspension feeders, which were ecologically successful on the current-swept seamount. The magnitude of the PETM extinction at Site 865 was similar to other sites globally, but lower diversity postextinction faunas at this location were affected by ocean acidification as well as changes in current regime, which might have led to increased nutrient supply through trophic focusing. A minor hyperthermal saw less severe effects of changes in current regime, with no evidence for carbonate dissolution. Although the relative abundance of infaunal benthic foraminifera has been used as a proxy for surface productivity through bentho-pelagic coupling, we argue that this proxy can be used only in the absence of changes in carbonate saturation and current-driven biophysical linking