Applying spatial reasoning to topographical data with a grounded geographical ontology

Grounding an ontology upon geographical data has been pro- posed as a method of handling the vagueness in the domain more effectively. In order to do this, we require methods of reasoning about the spatial relations between the regions within the data. This stage can be computationally expensive, as we require information on the location of points in relation to each other. This paper illustrates how using knowledge about regions allows us to reduce the computation required in an efficient and easy to understand manner. Further, we show how this system can be implemented in co-ordination with segmented data to reason abou

Impact of white matter hyperintensities scoring method on correlations with clinical data: The LADIS study

Background and Purpose - White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are associated with decline in cognition, gait, mood, and urinary continence. Associations may depend on the method used for measuring WMH. We investigated the ability of different WMH scoring methods to detect differences in WMH load between groups with and without symptoms. Methods - We used data of 618 independently living elderly with WMH collected in the Leukoaraiosis And Disability (LADIS) study. Subjects with and without symptoms of depression, gait disturbances, urinary incontinence, and memory decline were compared with respect to WMH load measured qualitatively using 3 widely used visual rating scales (Fazekas, Scheltens, and Age-Related White Matter Changes scales) and quantitatively with a semiautomated volumetric technique and an automatic lesion count. Statistical significance between groups was assessed with the \ucf\u872and Mann-Whitney tests. In addition, the punctate and confluent lesion type with comparable WMH volume were compared with respect to the clinical data using Student t test and \ucf\u872test. Direct comparison of visual ratings with volumetry was done using curve fitting. Results - Visual and volumetric assessment detected differences in WMH between groups with respect to gait disturbances and age. WMH volume measurement was more sensitive than visual scores with respect to memory symptoms. Number of lesions nor lesion type correlated with any of the clinical data. For all rating scales, a clear but nonlinear relationship was established with WMH volume. Conclusions - Visual rating scales display ceiling effects and poor discrimination of absolute lesion volumes. Consequently, they may be less sensitive in differentiating clinical groups

Transparent Meta-Analysis: Does Aging Spare Prospective Memory with Focal vs. Non-Focal Cues?

Background: Prospective memory (ProM) is the ability to become aware of a previously-formed plan at the right time and place. For over twenty years, researchers have been debating whether prospective memory declines with aging or whether it is spared by aging and, most recently, whether aging spares prospective memory with focal vs. non-focal cues. Two recent meta-analyses examining these claims did not include all relevant studies and ignored prevalent ceiling effects, age confounds, and did not distinguish between prospective memory subdomains (e.g., ProM proper, vigilance, habitual ProM) (see Uttl, 2008, PLoS ONE). The present meta-analysis focuses on the following questions: Does prospective memory decline with aging? Does prospective memory with focal vs. non-focal cues decline with aging? Does the size of age-related declines with focal vs. non-focal cues vary across ProM subdomains? And are age-related declines in ProM smaller than agerelated declines in retrospective memory? Methods and Findings: A meta-analysis of event-cued ProM using data visualization and modeling, robust count methods, and conventional meta-analysis techniques revealed that first, the size of age-related declines in ProM with both focal and non-focal cues are large. Second, age-related declines in ProM with focal cues are larger in ProM proper and smaller in vigilance. Third, age-related declines in ProM proper with focal cues are as large as age-related declines in recall measures of retrospective memory

Oral Fluid–Based Biomarkers of Alveolar Bone Loss in Periodontitis

Periodontal disease is a bacteria-induced chronic inflammatory disease affecting the soft and hard supporting structures encompassing the teeth. When left untreated, the ultimate outcome is alveolar bone loss and exfoliation of the involved teeth. Traditional periodontal diagnostic methods include assessment of clinical parameters and radiographs. Though efficient, these conventional techniques are inherently limited in that only a historical perspective, not current appraisal, of disease status can be determined. Advances in the use of oral fluids as possible biological samples for objective measures of current disease state, treatment monitoring, and prognostic indicators have boosted saliva and other oral-based fluids to the forefront of technology. Oral fluids contain locally and systemically derived mediators of periodontal disease, including microbial, host-response, and bone-specific resorptive markers. Although most biomarkers in oral fluids represent inflammatory mediators, several specific collagen degradation and bone turnover-related molecules have emerged as possible measures of periodontal disease activity. Pyridinoline cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide (ICTP), for example, has been highly correlated with clinical features of the disease and decreases in response to intervention therapies, and has been shown to possess predictive properties for possible future disease activity. One foreseeable benefit of an oral fluid–based periodontal diagnostic would be identification of highly susceptible individuals prior to overt disease. Timely detection and diagnosis of disease may significantly affect the clinical management of periodontal patients by offering earlier, less invasive, and more cost-effective treatment therapies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73247/1/annals.1384.028.pd

Regional distribution of white matter hyperintensities in vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease and healthy aging

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI scans indicate lesions of the subcortical fiber system. The regional distribution of WMH may be related to their pathophysiology and clinical effect in vascular dementia (VaD), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy aging. Methods: Regional WMH volumes were measured in MRI scans of 20 VaD patients, 25 AD patients and 22 healthy elderly subjects using FLAIR sequences and surface reconstructions from a three-dimensional MRI sequence. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient for interrater reliability of WMH volume measurements ranged between 0.99 in the frontal and 0.72 in the occipital lobe. For each cerebral lobe, the WMH index, i.e. WMH volume divided by lobar volume, was highest in VaD and lowest in healthy controls. Within each group, the WMH index was higher in frontal and parietal lobes than in occipital and temporal lobes. Total WMH index and WMH indices in the frontal lobe correlated significantly with the MMSE score in VaD. Category fluency correlated with the frontal lobe WMH index in AD, while drawing performance correlated with parietal and temporal lobe WMH indices in VaD. Conclusions: A similar regional distribution of WMH between the three groups suggests a common (vascular) pathogenic factor leading to WMH in patients and controls. Our findings underscore the potential of regional WMH volumetry to determine correlations between subcortical pathology and cognitive impairment. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

The Neural Basis of Decision-Making and Reward Processing in Adults with Euthymic Bipolar Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD) share DSM-IV criteria in adults and cause problems in decision-making. Nevertheless, no previous report has assessed a decision-making task that includes the examination of the neural correlates of reward and gambling in adults with ADHD and those with BD

Your Resting Brain CAREs about Your Risky Behavior

Research on the neural correlates of risk-related behaviors and personality traits has provided insight into mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological decision-making. Task-based neuroimaging studies implicate a distributed network of brain regions in risky decision-making. What remains to be understood are the interactions between these regions and their relation to individual differences in personality variables associated with real-world risk-taking.We employed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) methods to investigate differences in the brain's intrinsic functional architecture associated with beliefs about the consequences of risky behavior. We obtained an individual measure of expected benefit from engaging in risky behavior, indicating a risk seeking or risk-averse personality, for each of 21 participants from whom we also collected a series of R-fMRI scans. The expected benefit scores were entered in statistical models assessing the RSFC of brain regions consistently implicated in both the evaluation of risk and reward, and cognitive control (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, lateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate). We specifically focused on significant brain-behavior relationships that were stable across R-fMRI scans collected one year apart. Two stable expected benefit-RSFC relationships were observed: decreased expected benefit (increased risk-aversion) was associated with 1) stronger positive functional connectivity between right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and right insula, and 2) weaker negative functional connectivity between left nucleus accumbens and right parieto-occipital cortex.Task-based activation in the IFG and insula has been associated with risk-aversion, while activation in the nucleus accumbens and parietal cortex has been associated with both risk seeking and risk-averse tendencies. Our results suggest that individual differences in attitudes toward risk-taking are reflected in the brain's functional architecture and may have implications for engaging in real-world risky behaviors

Heterogeneity in age-related white matter changes

White matter changes occur endemically in routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of elderly persons. MRI appearance and histopathological correlates of white matter changes are heterogeneous. Smooth periventricular hyperintensities, including caps around the ventricular horns, periventricular lining and halos are likely to be of non-vascular origin. They relate to a disruption of the ependymal lining with subependymal widening of the extracellular space and have to be differentiated from subcortical and deep white matter abnormalities. For the latter a distinction needs to be made between punctate, early confluent and confluent types. Although punctate white matter lesions often represent widened perivascular spaces without substantial ischemic tissue damage, early confluent and confluent lesions correspond to incomplete ischemic destruction. Punctate abnormalities on MRI show a low tendency for progression, while early confluent and confluent changes progress rapidly. The causative and modifying pathways involved in the occurrence of sporadic age-related white matter changes are still incompletely understood, but recent microarray and genome-wide association approaches increased the notion of pathways that might be considered as targets for therapeutic intervention. The majority of differentially regulated transcripts in white matter lesions encode genes associated with immune function, cell cycle, proteolysis, and ion transport. Genome-wide association studies identified six SNPs mapping to a locus on chromosome 17q25 to be related to white matter lesion load in the general population. We also report first and preliminary data that demonstrate apolipoprotein E (ApoE) immunoreactivity in white matter lesions and support epidemiological findings indicating that ApoE is another factor possibly related to white matter lesion occurrence. Further insights come from modern MRI techniques, such as diffusion tensor and magnetization transfer imaging, as they provide tools for the characterization of normal-appearing brain tissue beyond what can be expected from standard MRI scans. There is a need for additional pre- and postmortem studies in humans, including these new imaging techniques