SAGIMA: An Easy-to-Use and Low Cost WEB-PACS System for an Optimal Access and Management of a Digital Angiography Database

Over several years, digital angiography studies from the Hemodynamic Unit of the Hospital Clínico Universitario (Valencia, Spain) have been stored in CD’s using first revisions of DICOM 3.0. In order to centralize the management and facilitate the access to these studies and reports, an easy to use and low cost WEB-PACS system that we have called SAGIMA has been developed in close collaboration between the BET Research Group of the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Cardiology Department of the Hospital Clínic

HIVE Tracker: A tiny, low-cost, and scalable device for sub-millimetric 3D positioning

Positional tracking systems could hugely benefit a number of niches, including performance art, athletics, neuroscience, and medicine. Commercial solutions can precisely track a human inside a room with sub-millimetric precision. However, these systems can track only a few objects at a time; are too expensive to be easily accessible; and their controllers or trackers are too large and inaccurate for research or clinical use. We present a light and small wireless device that piggybacks on current commercial solutions to provide affordable, scalable, and highly accurate positional tracking. This device can be used to track small and precise human movements, to easily embed custom objects inside of a VR system, or to track freely moving subjects for research purposes

Prediction of Reverse Remodeling at Cardiac MR Imaging Soon after First ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Results of a Large Prospective Registry

[EN] Conclusion: Assessment of infarct size and MVO with cardiac MR imaging soon after STEMI enables one to make a decision in the prediction of reverse remodeling. (C) RSNA, 2015Supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER (grant PI1400271) and the Generalitat Valenciana (grant PROMETEO/2013/007).Bodi, V.; Monmeneu, J.; Ortiz-Perez, J.; López-Lereu, M.; Bonanad, C.; Husser, O.; Minana, G.... (2016). Prediction of Reverse Remodeling at Cardiac MR Imaging Soon after First ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Results of a Large Prospective Registry. Radiology. 278(1):54-63. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2015142674S5463278

PETra: Software Tool for a Semiautomatic Positron Emission Tomography Image Analysis and its Application to the Study of Brain Glucose Consumption in Rats

[EN] This work presents a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) image analysis tool and its application to the study of rat brain glucose consumption (PETra comes from PET+rat). The described methodology has four steps: a preprocessing of PET images, a coregistration of these images with an atlas, a semiautomatic segmentation of the regions of interest in the rat brain and a 3D reconstruction of these regions to obtain the volumes of interest. Brain glucose uptake was quantified as Standardized Uptake Value (SUV). This tool was applied to nine Wistar rats, young (4-7 months) and old (22-24 months) groups, to study the effect of aging on brain glucose consumption and the difference between sexes. Results showed a lower glucose uptake in old rats than in young rats, regardless gender; while young female rats showed higher glucose consumption than young male rats, whereas these differences disappeared with aging. The developed tool allows the quantification of glucose in rat brain. Results show the accuracy of the tool to define ranges of variation in a population of young and old rats, showing a decrease in glucose consumption in aging.Del Canto, I.; Lopez-Grueso, R.; Gambini, J.; Monleón, D.; Borrás, C.; Viña, J.; Moratal, D. (2015). PETra: Software Tool for a Semiautomatic Positron Emission Tomography Image Analysis and its Application to the Study of Brain Glucose Consumption in Rats. IEEE Latin America Transactions. 13(3):876-884. doi:10.1109/TLA.2015.7069118S87688413

Identification of the presence of ischaemic stroke lesions by means of texture analysis on brain magnetic resonance images

Study funding This work was funded by the Row Fogo Charitable Trust (MVH, VGC) grant no. BRO-D.FID3668413, and the Wellcome Trust (patient recruitment, scanning, primary study Ref No. 088134/Z/09). The study was conducted independently of the funders who do not hold the data and did not participate in the study design or analyses. The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 is funded by Age UK (Disconnected Mind grant) and the Medical Research Council (MRC; MR/M01311/1, G1001245, 82800), and the latter supported BSA. IJD was supported by the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, which is funded by the MRC and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (MR/K026992/1). David Moratal acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and FEDER funds under Grant BFU2015-64380-C2-2-R, and from the Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (grants AEST/2017/013 and AEST/2018/021). Rafael Ortiz-Ramón was supported by grant ACIF/2015/078 and grant BEFPI/2017/004 from the Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport of the Valencian Community (Spain).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Incidence, Outcomes, and Predictors of Ventricular Thrombus after Reperfused ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction by Using Sequential Cardiac MR Imaging

[EN] Purpose: To characterize the incidence, outcomes, and predictors of left ventricular (LV) thrombus by using sequential cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging after ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Materials and Methods: Written informed consent was obtained from all patients, and the study protocol was approved by the committee on human research. In a cohort of 772 patients with STEMI, 392 (mean age, 58 years; range, 24-89 years) were retrospectively selected who were studied with cardiac MR imaging at 1 week and 6 months. Cardiac MR imaging guided the initiation and withdrawal of anticoagulants. Patients with LV thrombus at 6 months were restudied at 1 year. For predicting the occurrence of LV thrombus, a multiple regression model was applied. Results: LV thrombus was detected in 27 of 392 patients (7%): 18 (5%) at 1 week and nine (2%) at 6 months. LV thrombus resolved in 22 of 25 patients (88%) restudied within the first year. During a mean follow-up of 181 weeks 6 168, patients with LV thrombus displayed a very low rate of stroke (0%), peripheral embolism (0%), and severe hemorrhage (n = 1, 3.7%). LV ejection fraction (LVEF) less than 50% (P < .001) and anterior infarction (P = .008) independently helped predict LV thrombus. The incidence of LV thrombus was as follows: (a) nonanterior infarction, LVEF 50% or greater (one of 135, 1%); (b) nonanterior infarction, LVEF less than 50% (one of 50, 2%); (c) anterior infarction, LVEF 50% or greater (two of 92, 2%); and (d) anterior infarction, LVEF less than 50% (23 of 115, 20%) (P < .001 for the trend). Conclusion: Cardiac MR imaging contributes information for the diagnosis and therapy of LV thrombus after STEMI. Patients with simultaneous anterior infarction and LVEF less than 50% are at highest risk. (C) RSNA, 2017Study supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER (CB16/11/00486, PI14/00271, PIE15/00013) and Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2013/007).Cambronero-Cortinas, E.; Bonanad, C.; Monmeneu, J.; López-Lereu, M.; Gavara-Doñate, J.; De Dios, E.; Rios, C.... (2017). Incidence, Outcomes, and Predictors of Ventricular Thrombus after Reperfused ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction by Using Sequential Cardiac MR Imaging. Radiology. 284(2):372-380. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2017161898S372380284

Schwann-cell cylinders grown inside hyaluronic-acid tubular scaffolds with gradient porosity

[EN] Cell transplantation therapies in the nervous system are frequently hampered by glial scarring and cell drain from the damaged site, among others. To improve this situation, new biomaterials may be of help. Here, novel single-channel tubular conduits based on hyaluronic acid (HA) with and without poly-l-lactide acid fibers in their lumen were fabricated. Rat Schwann cells were seeded within the conduits and cultured for 10days. The conduits possessed a three-layered porous structure that impeded the leakage of the cells seeded in their interior and made them impervious to cell invasion from the exterior, while allowing free transport of nutrients and other molecules needed for cell survival. The channel's surface acted as a template for the formation of a cylindrical sheath-like tapestry of Schwann cells continuously spanning the whole length of the lumen. Schwann-cell tubes having a diameter of around 0.5mm and variable lengths can thus be generated. This structure is not found in nature and represents a truly engineered tissue, the outcome of the specific cell-material interactions. The conduits might be useful to sustain and protect cells for transplantation, and the biohybrids here described, together with neuronal precursors, might be of help in building bridges across significant distances in the central and peripheral nervous system.The authors acknowledge financing through projects MAT2011-28791-C03-02 and 03, and ERA-NET NEURON project PRI-PIMNEU-2011-1372. We thank the Cytomics Core Facility at Principe Felipe Research Center (CIPF, Valencia, Spain) for their support and advice in flow cytometry experiments, and the Electron Microscopy Service at the UPV, where the SEM images were obtained. The authors thankfully acknowledge the reviewers' comments, which have helped to improve the clarity of the paper's presentation.Vilariño Feltrer, G.; Martínez Ramos, C.; Monleon De La Fuente, A.; Vallés Lluch, A.; Moratal Pérez, D.; Barcia Albacar, JA.; Monleón Pradas, M. (2016). Schwann-cell cylinders grown inside hyaluronic-acid tubular scaffolds with gradient porosity. Acta Biomaterialia. 30:199-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2015.10.040S1992113

Goodbye Hartmann trial: a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study on the current use of a surgical procedure developed a century ago

Background: Literature suggests colonic resection and primary anastomosis (RPA) instead of Hartmann's procedure (HP) for the treatment of left-sided colonic emergencies. We aim to evaluate the surgical options globally used to treat patients with acute left-sided colonic emergencies and the factors that leading to the choice of treatment, comparing HP and RPA. Methods: This is a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. A total 1215 patients with left-sided colonic emergencies who required surgery were included from 204 centers during the period of March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. with a 1-year follow-up. Results: 564 patients (43.1%) were females. The mean age was 65.9 ± 15.6&nbsp;years. HP was performed in 697 (57.3%) patients and RPA in 384 (31.6%) cases. Complicated acute diverticulitis was the most common cause of left-sided colonic emergencies (40.2%), followed by colorectal malignancy (36.6%). Severe complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b) were higher in the HP group (P &lt; 0.001). 30-day mortality was higher in HP patients (13.7%), especially in case of bowel perforation and diffused peritonitis. 1-year follow-up showed no differences on ostomy reversal rate between HP and RPA. (P = 0.127). A backward likelihood logistic regression model showed that RPA was preferred in younger patients, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time from admission to surgery, operating early at the day working hours, by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections. Conclusions: After 100&nbsp;years since the first Hartmann's procedure, HP remains the most common treatment for left-sided colorectal emergencies. Treatment's choice depends on patient characteristics, the time of surgery and the experience of the surgeon. RPA should be considered as the gold standard for surgery, with HP being an exception

A fractal nature for polymerized laminin

Polylaminin (polyLM) is a non-covalent acid-induced nano- and micro-structured polymer of the protein laminin displaying distinguished biological properties. Polylaminin stimulates neuritogenesis beyond the levels achieved by ordinary laminin and has been shown to promote axonal regeneration in animal models of spinal cord injury. Here we used confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to characterize its three-dimensional structure. Renderization of confocal optical slices of immunostained polyLM revealed the aspect of a loose flocculated meshwork, which was homogeneously stained by the antibody. On the other hand, an ordinary matrix obtained upon adsorption of laminin in neutral pH (LM) was constituted of bulky protein aggregates whose interior was not accessible to the same anti-laminin antibody. SEM and AFM analyses revealed that the seed unit of polyLM was a flat polygon formed in solution whereas the seed structure of LM was highly heterogeneous, intercalating rod-like, spherical and thin spread lamellar deposits. As polyLM was visualized at progressively increasing magnifications, we observed that the morphology of the polymer was alike independently of the magnification used for the observation. A search for the Hausdorff dimension in images of the two matrices showed that polyLM, but not LM, presented fractal dimensions of 1.55, 1.62 and 1.70 after 1, 8 and 12 hours of adsorption, respectively. Data in the present work suggest that the intrinsic fractal nature of polymerized laminin can be the structural basis for the fractal-like organization of basement membranes in the neurogenic niches of the central nervous system.This work was supported by a grant from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq; 476772/2008-7) to TCS. MSS acknowledges support from the European Research Council through ERC - 306990. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Hochman Méndez, C.; Cantini ., M.; Moratal Pérez, D.; Salmerón Sánchez, M.; Coelho-Sampaio, T. (2014). A fractal nature for polymerized laminin. PLoS ONE. 9(10):109388-1-109388-11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109388S109388-1109388-11910Durbeej, M. (2009). Laminins. Cell and Tissue Research, 339(1), 259-268. doi:10.1007/s00441-009-0838-2Miner, J. H., & Yurchenco, P. D. (2004). LAMININ FUNCTIONS IN TISSUE MORPHOGENESIS. Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, 20(1), 255-284. doi:10.1146/annurev.cellbio.20.010403.094555Yurchenco, P. D. (2010). Basement Membranes: Cell Scaffoldings and Signaling Platforms. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 3(2), a004911-a004911. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a004911Hohenester, E., & Yurchenco, P. D. (2013). 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Polylaminin, a polymeric form of laminin, promotes regeneration after spinal cord injury. The FASEB Journal, 24(11), 4513-4522. doi:10.1096/fj.10-157628Barroso, M. M. S., Freire, E., Limaverde, G. S. C. S., Rocha, G. M., Batista, E. J. O., Weissmüller, G., … Coelho-Sampaio, T. (2008). Artificial Laminin Polymers Assembled in Acidic pH Mimic Basement Membrane Organization. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 283(17), 11714-11720. doi:10.1074/jbc.m709301200Freire, E. (2004). Sialic acid residues on astrocytes regulate neuritogenesis by controlling the assembly of laminin matrices. Journal of Cell Science, 117(18), 4067-4076. doi:10.1242/jcs.01276Hausdorff, F. (1918). Dimension und �u�eres Ma�. Mathematische Annalen, 79(1-2), 157-179. doi:10.1007/bf01457179Soille, P., & Rivest, J.-F. (1996). On the Validity of Fractal Dimension Measurements in Image Analysis. Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation, 7(3), 217-229. doi:10.1006/jvci.1996.0020Theiler, J. (1990). Estimating fractal dimension. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 7(6), 1055. doi:10.1364/josaa.7.001055Otsu, N. (1979). A Threshold Selection Method from Gray-Level Histograms. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 9(1), 62-66. doi:10.1109/tsmc.1979.4310076Iranfar, H., Rajabi, O., Salari, R., & Chamani, J. (2012). Probing the Interaction of Human Serum Albumin with Ciprofloxacin in the Presence of Silver Nanoparticles of Three Sizes: Multispectroscopic and ζ Potential Investigation. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 116(6), 1951-1964. doi:10.1021/jp210685qPalmero, C. Y., Miranda-Alves, L., Sant’Ana Barroso, M. M., Souza, E. C. L., Machado, D. E., Palumbo-Junior, A., … Nasciutti, L. E. (2013). The follicular thyroid cell line PCCL3 responds differently to laminin and to polylaminin, a polymer of laminin assembled in acidic pH. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 376(1-2), 12-22. doi:10.1016/j.mce.2013.05.020Behrens, D. T., Villone, D., Koch, M., Brunner, G., Sorokin, L., Robenek, H., … Hansen, U. (2012). The Epidermal Basement Membrane Is a Composite of Separate Laminin- or Collagen IV-containing Networks Connected by Aggregated Perlecan, but Not by Nidogens. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 287(22), 18700-18709. doi:10.1074/jbc.m111.336073Colognato, H., Winkelmann, D. A., & Yurchenco, P. D. (1999). Laminin Polymerization Induces a Receptor–Cytoskeleton Network. The Journal of Cell Biology, 145(3), 619-631. doi:10.1083/jcb.145.3.619Liesi, P., & Silver, J. (1988). Is astrocyte laminin involved in axon guidance in the mammalian CNS? Developmental Biology, 130(2), 774-785. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(88)90366-1Zhou, F. C. (1990). Four patterns of laminin-immunoreactive structure in developing rat brain. Developmental Brain Research, 55(2), 191-201. doi:10.1016/0165-3806(90)90200-iGarcia-Abreu, J., Cavalcante, L. A., & Neto, V. M. (1995). 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Journal of Cell Science, 125(2), 317-327. doi:10.1242/jcs.087916Hernández, J. C. R., Salmerón Sánchez, M., Soria, J. M., Gómez Ribelles, J. L., & Monleón Pradas, M. (2007). Substrate Chemistry-Dependent Conformations of Single Laminin Molecules on Polymer Surfaces are Revealed by the Phase Signal of Atomic Force Microscopy. Biophysical Journal, 93(1), 202-207. doi:10.1529/biophysj.106.102491Douet, V., Kerever, A., Arikawa-Hirasawa, E., & Mercier, F. (2013). Fractone-heparan sulphates mediate FGF-2 stimulation of cell proliferation in the adult subventricular zone. Cell Proliferation, 46(2), 137-145. doi:10.1111/cpr.12023Nikolova, G., Strilic, B., & Lammert, E. (2007). The vascular niche and its basement membrane. Trends in Cell Biology, 17(1), 19-25. doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2006.11.005Yurchenco, P. D., Amenta, P. S., & Patton, B. L. (2004). Basement membrane assembly, stability and activities observed through a developmental lens. 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Determination of Transmembrane Water Fluxes in Neurons Elicited by Glutamate Ionotropic Receptors and by the Cotransporters KCC2 and NKCC1: A Digital Holographic Microscopy Study.

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a noninvasive optical imaging technique that provides quantitative phase images of living cells. In a recent study, we showed that the quantitative monitoring of the phase signal by DHM was a simple label-free method to study the effects of glutamate on neuronal optical responses (Pavillon et al., 2010). Here, we refine these observations and show that glutamate produces the following three distinct optical responses in mouse primary cortical neurons in culture, predominantly mediated by NMDA receptors: biphasic, reversible decrease (RD) and irreversible decrease (ID) responses. The shape and amplitude of the optical signal were not associated with a particular cellular phenotype but reflected the physiopathological status of neurons linked to the degree of NMDA activity. Thus, the biphasic, RD, and ID responses indicated, respectively, a low-level, a high-level, and an "excitotoxic" level of NMDA activation. Moreover, furosemide and bumetanide, two inhibitors of sodium-coupled and/or potassium-coupled chloride movement strongly modified the phase shift, suggesting an involvement of two neuronal cotransporters, NKCC1 (Na-K-Cl) and KCC2 (K-Cl) in the genesis of the optical signal. This observation is of particular interest since it shows that DHM is the first imaging technique able to monitor dynamically and in situ the activity of these cotransporters during physiological and/or pathological neuronal conditions