108 research outputs found
Bariatric surgery and brain health: A longitudinal observational study investigating the effect of surgery on cognitive function and gray matter volume
Dietary modifications leading to weight loss have been suggested as a means to improve brain health. In morbid obesity, bariatric surgery (BARS)âincluding different procedures, such as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), gastric banding (GB), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgeryâis performed to induce rapid weight loss. Combining reduced food intake and malabsorption of nutrients, RYGB might be most effective, but requires life-long follow-up treatment. Here, we tested 40 patients before and six months after surgery (BARS group) using a neuropsychological test battery and compared them with a waiting list control group. Subsamples of both groups underwent structural MRI and were examined for differences between surgical procedures. No substantial differences between BARS and control group emerged with regard to cognition. However, larger gray matter volume in fronto-temporal brain areas accompanied by smaller volume in the ventral striatum was seen in the BARS group compared to controls. RYGB patients compared to patients with restrictive treatment alone (VSG/GB) had higher weight loss, but did not benefit more in cognitive outcomes. In sum, the data of our study suggest that BARS might lead to brain structure reorganization at long-term follow-up, while the type of surgical procedure does not differentially modulate cognitive performance
Polarised epithelial monolayers of the gastric mucosa reveal insights into mucosal homeostasis and defence against infection
Objective Helicobacter pylori causes life-long colonisation of the gastric mucosa, leading to chronic inflammation with increased risk of gastric cancer. Research on the pathogenesis of this infection would strongly benefit from an authentic human in vitro model. Design Antrum-derived gastric glands from surgery specimens served to establish polarised epithelial monolayers via a transient airâliquid interface culture stage to study cross-talk with H. pylori and the adjacent stroma. Results The resulting âmucosoid culturesâ, so named because they recapitulate key characteristics of the gastric mucosa, represent normal stem cell-driven cultures that can be passaged for months. These highly polarised columnar epithelial layers encompass the various gastric antral cell types and secrete mucus at the apical surface. By default, they differentiate towards a foveolar, MUC5AC-producing phenotype, whereas Wnt signalling stimulates proliferation of MUC6-producing cells and preserves stemnessâreminiscent of the gland base. Stromal cells from the lamina propria secrete Wnt inhibitors, antagonising stem-cell niche signalling and inducing differentiation. On infection with H. pylori, a strong inflammatory response is induced preferentially in the undifferentiated basal cell phenotype. Infection of cultures for several weeks produces foci of viable bacteria and a persistent inflammatory condition, while the secreted mucus establishes a barrier that only few bacteria manage to overcome. Conclusion Gastric mucosoid cultures faithfully reproduce the features of normal human gastric epithelium, enabling new approaches for investigating the interaction of H. pylori with the epithelial surface and the cross-talk with the basolateral stromal compartment. Our observations provide striking insights in the regulatory circuits of inflammation and defence.</p
Weight loss reduces head motion: Re-visiting a major confound in neuroimaging
Head motion during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) induces image artifacts that affect virtually every brain measure. In parallel, crossâsectional observations indicate a correlation of head motion with age, psychiatric disease status and obesity, raising the possibility of a systematic artifactâinduced bias in neuroimaging outcomes in these conditions, due to the differences in head motion. Yet, a causal link between obesity and head motion has not been tested in an experimental design. Here, we show that a change in body mass index (BMI) (i.e., weight loss after bariatric surgery) systematically decreases head motion during MRI. In this setting, reduced imaging artifacts due to lower head motion might result in biased estimates of neural differences induced by changes in BMI. Overall, our finding urges the need to rigorously control for head motion during MRI to enable valid results of neuroimaging outcomes in populations that differ in head motion due to obesity or other conditions
Structural Properties of Self-Attracting Walks
Self-attracting walks (SATW) with attractive interaction u > 0 display a
swelling-collapse transition at a critical u_{\mathrm{c}} for dimensions d >=
2, analogous to the \Theta transition of polymers. We are interested in the
structure of the clusters generated by SATW below u_{\mathrm{c}} (swollen
walk), above u_{\mathrm{c}} (collapsed walk), and at u_{\mathrm{c}}, which can
be characterized by the fractal dimensions of the clusters d_{\mathrm{f}} and
their interface d_{\mathrm{I}}. Using scaling arguments and Monte Carlo
simulations, we find that for u<u_{\mathrm{c}}, the structures are in the
universality class of clusters generated by simple random walks. For
u>u_{\mathrm{c}}, the clusters are compact, i.e. d_{\mathrm{f}}=d and
d_{\mathrm{I}}=d-1. At u_{\mathrm{c}}, the SATW is in a new universality class.
The clusters are compact in both d=2 and d=3, but their interface is fractal:
d_{\mathrm{I}}=1.50\pm0.01 and 2.73\pm0.03 in d=2 and d=3, respectively. In
d=1, where the walk is collapsed for all u and no swelling-collapse transition
exists, we derive analytical expressions for the average number of visited
sites and the mean time to visit S sites.Comment: 15 pages, 8 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Swelling-collapse transition of self-attracting walks
We study the structural properties of self-attracting walks in d dimensions
using scaling arguments and Monte Carlo simulations. We find evidence for a
transition analogous to the \Theta transition of polymers. Above a critical
attractive interaction u_c, the walk collapses and the exponents \nu and k,
characterising the scaling with time t of the mean square end-to-end distance
~ t^{2 \nu} and the average number of visited sites ~ t^k, are
universal and given by \nu=1/(d+1) and k=d/(d+1). Below u_c, the walk swells
and the exponents are as with no interaction, i.e. \nu=1/2 for all d, k=1/2 for
d=1 and k=1 for d >= 2. At u_c, the exponents are found to be in a different
universality class.Comment: 6 pages, 5 postscript figure
Polymers in long-range-correlated disorder
We study the scaling properties of polymers in a d-dimensional medium with
quenched defects that have power law correlations ~r^{-a} for large separations
r. This type of disorder is known to be relevant for magnetic phase
transitions. We find strong evidence that this is true also for the polymer
case. Applying the field-theoretical renormalization group approach we perform
calculations both in a double expansion in epsilon=4-d and delta=4-a up to the
1-loop order and secondly in a fixed dimension (d=3) approach up to the 2-loop
approximation for different fixed values of the correlation parameter, 2=<a=<3.
In the latter case the numerical results need appropriate resummation. We find
that the asymptotic behavior of self-avoiding walks in three dimensions and
long-range-correlated disorder is governed by a set of separate exponents. In
particular, we give estimates for the 'nu' and 'gamma' exponents as well as for
the correction-to-scaling exponent 'omega'. The latter exponent is also
calculated for the general m-vector model with m=1,2,3.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Modeling Vortex Swarming In Daphnia
Based on experimental observations in \textit{Daphnia}, we introduce an
agent-based model for the motion of single and swarms of animals. Each agent is
described by a stochastic equation that also considers the conditions for
active biological motion. An environmental potential further reflects local
conditions for \textit{Daphnia}, such as attraction to light sources. This
model is sufficient to describe the observed cycling behavior of single
\textit{Daphnia}. To simulate vortex swarming of many \textit{Daphnia}, i.e.
the collective rotation of the swarm in one direction, we extend the model by
considering avoidance of collisions. Two different ansatzes to model such a
behavior are developed and compared. By means of computer simulations of a
multi-agent system we show that local avoidance - as a special form of
asymmetric repulsion between animals - leads to the emergence of a vortex
swarm. The transition from uncorrelated rotation of single agents to the vortex
swarming as a function of the swarm size is investigated. Eventually, some
evidence of avoidance behavior in \textit{Daphnia} is provided by comparing
experimental and simulation results for two animals.Comment: 24 pages including 11 multi-part figs. Major revisions compared to
version 1, new results on transition from uncorrelated rotation to vortex
swarming. Extended discussion. For related publications see
http://www.sg.ethz.ch/people/scfrank/Publication
Multifractal behavior of linear polymers in disordered media
The scaling behavior of linear polymers in disordered media modelled by
self-avoiding random walks (SAWs) on the backbone of two- and three-dimensional
percolation clusters at their critical concentrations p_c is studied. All
possible SAW configurations of N steps on a single backbone configuration are
enumerated exactly. We find that the moments of order q of the total number of
SAWs obtained by averaging over many backbone configurations display
multifractal behavior, i.e. different moments are dominated by different
subsets of the backbone. This leads to generalized coordination numbers \mu_q
and enhancement exponents \gamma_q, which depend on q. Our numerical results
suggest that the relation \mu_1 = p_ c \mu between the first moment \mu_1 and
its regular lattice counterpart \mu is valid.Comment: 11 pages, 12 postscript figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Weak quenched disorder and criticality: resummation of asymptotic(?) series
In these lectures, we discuss the influence of weak quenched disorder on the
critical behavior in condensed matter and give a brief review of available
experimental and theoretical results as well as results of MC simulations of
these phenomena. We concentrate on three cases: (i) uncorrelated random-site
disorder, (ii) long-range-correlated random-site disorder, and (iii) random
anisotropy.
Today, the standard analytical description of critical behavior is given by
renormalization group results refined by resummation of the perturbation theory
series. The convergence properties of the series are unknown for most
disordered models. The main object of these lectures is to discuss the
peculiarities of the application of resummation techniques to perturbation
theory series of disordered models.Comment: Lectures given at the Second International Pamporovo Workshop on
Cooperative Phenomena in Condensed Matter (28th July - 7th August 2001,
Pamporovo, Bulgaria). 51 pages, 12 figures, 1 style files include
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