How Much Evidence do we have on the Central Effects of Botulinum Toxin in Spasticity and Dystonia?

The brain is continually reorganizing (plasticity). Plastic changes within the sensorimotor system are not only beneficial (adaptive plasticity) but may even worsen function (maladaptive plasticity). Conditions such as dystonia and poststroke spasticity (PSS) that interfere with motor performance could be attributed to maladaptive plasticity. Botulinum toxin (BoNT) has been proven to be safe and effective in treating various hyperfunctional cholinergic states. Beside the well-known neuromuscular junction site of action, BoNT also exerts effects through supraspinal mechanisms and can even affect cortical reorganization. The hypothesis of central reorganization following BoNT treatment has been supported by studies using neurophysiological and imaging methods in patients with focal dystonia and PSS. The growing evidence of BoNT-related central (remote) effects make BoNT injections a promising tool to favorably affect maladaptive changes even at the cortical level

A method for determining venous contribution to BOLD contrast sensory activation

While BOLD contrast reflects haemodynamic changes within capillaries serving neural tissue, it also has a venous component. Studies that have determined the relation of large blood vessels to the activation map indicate that veins are the source of the largest response, and the most delayed in time. It would be informative if the location of these large veins could be extracted from the properties of the functional responses, since vessels are not visible in BOLD contrast images. The present study describes a method for investigating whether measures taken from the functional response can reliably predict vein location, or at least be useful in down-weighting the venous contribution to the activation response, and illustrates this method using data from one subject. We combined fMRI at 3 Tesla with high-resolution anatomical imaging and MR venography to test whether the intrinsic properties of activation time courses corresponded to tissue type. Measures were taken from a gamma fit to the functional response. Mean magnitude showed a significant effect of tissue type (P veins ≈ grey matter > white matter. Mean delays displayed the same ranking across tissue types (P grey matter. However, measures for all tissue types were distributed across an overlapping range. A logistic regression model correctly discriminated 72% of the veins from grey matter in the absence of independent information of macroscopic vessels (ROC=0.72). Whilst tissue classification was not perfect for this subject, weighting the T contrast by the predicted probabilities materially reduced the venous component to the activation map

Effect of Gait Imagery Tasks on Lower Limb Muscle Activity With Respect to Body Posture

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of gait imagery tasks on lowerlimb muscle activity with respect to body posture. The sitting and standing position and lower limb muscle activity were evaluated in 27 healthy female students (24.4±1.3 years, 167.2±5.2 cm, 60.10±6.4 kg). Surface electromyography was assessed during rest and in three different experimental conditions using mental imagery. These included a rhythmic gait, rhythmic gait simultaneously with observation of a model, and rhythmic gait after performing rhythmic gait. The normalized root mean square EMG values with respect to corresponding rest position were compared using non-parametric statistics. Standing gait imagery tasks had facilitatory effect on proximal lower limb muscle activity. However, electromyography activity of distal leg muscles decreased for all gait imagery tasks in the sitting position, when the proprioceptive feedback was less appropriate. For subsequent gait motor imagery tasks, the muscle activity decreased, probably as result of habituation. In conclusion, the effect of motor imagery on muscle activity appears to depend on relative strength of facilitatory and inhibitory inputs

HARDI-ZOOMit protocol improves specificity to microstructural changes in presymptomatic myelopathy

ABSTRACT: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) proved promising in patients with non-myelopathic degenerative cervical cord compression (NMDCCC), i.e., without clinically manifested myelopathy. Aim of the study is to present a fast multi-shell HARDI-ZOOMit dMRI protocol and validate its usability to detect microstructural myelopathy in NMDCCC patients. In 7 young healthy volunteers, 13 age-comparable healthy controls, 18 patients with mild NMDCCC and 15 patients with severe NMDCCC, the protocol provided higher signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced visualization of white/gray matter structures in microstructural maps, improved dMRI metric reproducibility, preserved sensitivity (SE = 87.88%) and increased specificity (SP = 92.31%) of control-patient group differences when compared to DTI-RESOLVE protocol (SE = 87.88%, SP = 76.92%). Of the 56 tested microstructural parameters, HARDI-ZOOMit yielded significant patient-control differences in 19 parameters, whereas in DTI-RESOLVE data, differences were observed in 10 parameters, with mostly lower robustness. Novel marker the white-gray matter diffusivity gradient demonstrated the highest separation. HARDI-ZOOMit protocol detected larger number of crossing fibers (5–15% of voxels) with physiologically plausible orientations than DTI-RESOLVE protocol (0–8% of voxels). Crossings were detected in areas of dorsal horns and anterior white commissure. HARDI-ZOOMit protocol proved to be a sensitive and practical tool for clinical quantitative spinal cord imaging

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging reveals tract‐specific microstructural correlates of electrophysiological impairments in non‐myelopathic and myelopathic spinal cord compression

ABSTRACT: Background and purpose: Non- myelopathic degenerative cervical spinal cord compres-sion (NMDC) frequently occurs throughout aging and may progress to potentially irre-versible degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Whereas standard clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiological measures assess compression sever-ity and neurological dysfunction, respectively, underlying microstructural deficits still have to be established in NMDC and DCM patients. The study aims to establish tract- specific diffusion MRI markers of electrophysiological deficits to predict the progression of asymptomatic NMDC to symptomatic DCM. Methods: High-resolution 3 T diffusion MRI was acquired for 103 NMDC and 21 DCM patients compared to 60 healthy controls to reveal diffusion alterations and relation-ships between tract-specific diffusion metrics and corresponding electrophysiological measures and compression severity. Relationship between the degree of DCM disability, assessed by the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale, and tract-specific mi-crostructural changes in DCM patients was also explored. Results: The study identified diffusion-derived abnormalities in the gray matter, dor-sal and lateral tracts congruent with trans-synaptic degeneration and demyelination in chronic degenerative spinal cord compression with more profound alterations in DCM than NMDC. Diffusion metrics were affected in the C3-6 area as well as above the com-pression level at C3 with more profound rostral deficits in DCM than NMDC. Alterations in lateral motor and dorsal sensory tracts correlated with motor and sensory evoked po-tentials, respectively, whereas electromyography outcomes corresponded with gray mat-ter microstructure. DCM disability corresponded with microstructure alteration in lateral columns. Conclusions: Outcomes imply the necessity of high- resolution tract-specific diffusion MRI for monitoring degenerative spinal pathology in longitudinal studies

Plant-dominated assemblage and invertebrates from the lower Cenomanian of Jaunay-Clan, western France

International audienceTwo fossil localities are reported on the "LGV SEA" railroad from the Lower Cenomanianof Jaunay-Clan (JC), near Poitiers, western France. The laminated mudstones yielded plantfossils including ferns (Cladophlebis, Osmundophyllum, Ruffordia goeppertii, Sphenopteris),conifers (Brachyphyllum, Dammarophyllum, Pagiophyllum), and terrestrial and aquaticfreshwater angiosperms (Eucalyptolaurus depreii, Ploufolia). They are associated with acoleopteran insect that shows systematic affinities to the modern subfamily Chrysomeli-nae (Chrysomelidae). This assemblage suggests connections with arborescent vegetationgrowing in calm freshwater environment. Brackish to marine invertebrates also occurand include a dakoticancroid crab (Brachyura, Podotremata, Dakoticancroidea) and a fewbivalves (Brachidontes). They suggest brackish episodes during pond sedimentation in acoastal environment. Lastly, vertebrates are represented by an isolated feather

Towards a synergy framework across neuroscience and robotics: Lessons learned and open questions. Reply to comments on: "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands"

We would like to thank all commentators for their insightful commentaries. Thanks to their diverse and complementary expertise in neuroscience and robotics, the commentators have provided us with the opportunity to further discuss state-of-the-art and gaps in the integration of neuroscience and robotics reviewed in our article. We organized our reply in two sections that capture the main points of all commentaries [1–9]: (1) Advantages and limitations of the synergy approach in neuroscience and robotics, and (2) Learning and role of sensory feedback in biological and robotics synergies

Quality Control for Coke Production - Raw Materials and Products

Import 04/07/2011Bakalářská práce se zabývá a popisuje kontrolu kvality vstupní suroviny pro výrobu koksu – uhlí, na závodě 10 Koksovna Arcelormittal Ostrava, a také produkty, které při výrobě koksu vznikají. V první části je představen podnik jako takový. Následně je popsán koloběh systému kontroly kvality od dodavatele až po odběratele a detailní popis kontroly kvality v Hutních a chemických laboratořích Koksovna. Dále je uveden konkrétní případ vzorku, na kterém si ukážeme fungování kontroly kvality s následným vyhodnocením a případně i s doporučením pro zlepšení. Závěr je věnován celkovému shrnutí.Bachelor's thesis addresses and describes the quality control of feedstock for the production of coke – coal, coke plant to plant 10 Arcelormittal, as well as products for the manufacture of coke formed. The first part of the undertaking as such. Next is description of quality kontrol cycle from supplier to customer and a detailed description of quality kontrol in the metalurgical and chemical laboratories Coking. The following is a sample of a particular case, where we show the operation of quality control with subsequent evaluation and where appropriate recommendations for improvement. The conclusion is devoted to summary.Prezenční545 - Institut ekonomiky a systémů řízenídobř

Social media analysis of state institutions

This bachelor thesis analyses the social networks of public institutions in the Czech Republic with an emphasis on the efficiency of the use of financial resources. The aim was to find out how different state institutions manage their social networks, what financial resources they spend on this activity and also to create a comparison between these institutions. The method involved the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, including a questionnaire survey and analysis of social networks of selected institutions. The work revealed that all institutions manage their social networks themselves, indicating a desire for self-control. The costs of social networks vary considerably across institutions and the study showed that some entities are unable to quantify these costs. This points to potential weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation of the resources invested. The paper concludes that further research is needed to gain a deeper understanding, which should focus on further data collection and specific aspects of communication across public sector institutions. This study contributes to the understanding of the use of social media in and highlights the importance of effective use of these platforms for transparency and communication with the public.Tato bakalářská práce se věnuje analýze sociálních sítí veřejných institucí v České republice s důrazem na efektivitu využití finančních zdrojů. Cílem bylo zjistit jakým způsobem různé státní orgány spravují své sociální sítě, jaké finanční prostředky na tuto činnost vynakládají a také vytvořit srovnání mezi těmito institucemi. Metoda zahrnovala sběr kvalitativních i kvantitativních dat, včetně dotazníkového šetření a analýzy sociálních sítí vybraných institucí. Práce odhalila, že si všechny instituce spravují sociální sítě samy, což naznačuje snahu o vlastní kontrolu. Náklady na sociální sítě se napříč institucemi výrazně liší a studie ukázala, že některé subjekty nejsou schopny tyto náklady vyčíslit. To poukazuje na potenciální nedostatky v monitorování a evaluaci vložených prostředků. Práce konstatuje, že pro hlubší porozumění je potřeba další výzkum, který by se měl zaměřit na další sběr dat a specifické aspekty komunikace jednotlivých institucí veřejného sektoru. Tato studie přispívá k porozumění použití sociálních sítí ve a poukazuje na význa