Corrigendum to “Developmental synergy between thalamic structure and interhemispheric connectivity in the visual system of preterm infants” [NeuroImage: Clinical 8 (2015) 462–472]

Why preserve bamboos? Bamboos are a natural material and under natural conditions will gradually decay. If they are used as structural components they will need to be replaced after a period of time. The costs of this may prove prohibitive and the status of the bamboo will need constant monitoring to determine when it needs to be replaced. Preserving bamboos extends their life, reduces costs in the long run and improves safety of the structures they are used to form. What are sap displacement preservation methods? Sap displacement methods replace the sap in the vessels of a fresh bamboo culm with preservative. The culms are then left to stand for two weeks in order that the preservative can diffuse into the surrounding tissues and the preserving salts can be fixed in the cells. Sap displacement can be done by using natural capillary action or by one of a small range of simple pressurised techniques. What is the role of a sap displacement preservation unit in rural development? The unit itself offers employment opportunities to its employees and to many people in its forward and backward linkages. The unit can only treat freshly harvested bamboos and so a source of bamboos near to the unit is required. Local bamboo plantations can be established to supply the unit and create further income generating opportunities. Bamboos can be intercropped with food plants and the plantations can thereby increase the food security of the rural people that manage them. How do I establish a sap displacement unit? A sap displacement preservation unit can be established very cheaply. The only requirements are a supply of freshly harvested bamboos, labour and information from the secondary processors of their requirements. If a pressurised unit is to be established then a source of energy for the compressor will be needed. A pressurised unit capable of treating 50 bamboos per day can be established for USD $500, including a compressor, and non-pressurised units can be established for considerably less.Preserving bamboos extends their life, reduces costs in the long run and improves safety of the structures they are used to for

Supplementary Material for: Infants with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Exhibit Thalamic Discrepancies in Early Brain Structure

Introduction: Patients with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) have prenatal and postnatal hormonal imbalances. To characterize the ontogeny of reported brain and behavior changes in older children with CAH, we aimed to study brain structure in infants with CAH compared to healthy controls. Methods: We performed neuroimaging in 16 infants with classical CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency [8 males, gestational age 38.2 ± 1.7 weeks, post-conceptional age (PCA) 42.2 ± 3.0 weeks] and 14 control infants (9 males, gestational age 38.5 ± 1.8 weeks, PCA 42.5 ± 2.4 weeks) utilizing 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. Regional brain volumes were adjusted for PCA and sex, along with an additional adjustment for total brain volume (TBV), for group comparisons by regression analyses [mean, 95% confidence interval (CI)]. The degree to which each brain region was differentiated between CAH and control infants was examined by relaimpo analyses, adjusting for all other brain regions, PCA, and sex. Results: Infants with CAH had significantly smaller thalamic volumes [8606 mm3, 95% CI (8209, 9002)] compared to age-matched control infants [9215 mm3, 95% CI (8783, 9647); β = -609; p = 0.02], which remained smaller after further adjustment for TBV. Upon further adjustment for TBV, the temporal lobe was larger in infants with CAH [66817 mm3, CI (65957, 67677)] compared to controls [65616 mm3, CI (64680, 66551); β = 1202, p = 0.03]. The brain regions most differentiated between CAH vs controls were the thalamus (22%) and parietal lobe (10%). Conclusions: Infants with CAH exhibit smaller thalamic regions from early life, suggesting a prenatal influence on brain development in CAH. Thalamic emergence at 8-14 weeks makes the region particularly vulnerable to changes in the intrauterine environment, with potential implications for later maturing brain regions. These changes may take time to manifest, meriting longitudinal study through adolescence in CAH