Thalamic inflammation after brain trauma is associated with thalamo-cortical white matter damage

Background Traumatic brain injury can trigger chronic neuroinflammation, which may predispose to neurodegeneration. Animal models and human pathological studies demonstrate persistent inflammation in the thalamus associated with axonal injury, but this relationship has never been shown in vivo. Findings Using [11C]-PK11195 positron emission tomography, a marker of microglial activation, we previously demonstrated thalamic inflammation up to 17 years after traumatic brain injury. Here, we use diffusion MRI to estimate axonal injury and show that thalamic inflammation is correlated with thalamo-cortical tract damage. Conclusions These findings support a link between axonal damage and persistent inflammation after brain injury

Whose expertise is it? Evidence for autistic adults as critical autism experts

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this recordAutistic and non-autistic adults' agreement with scientific knowledge about autism, how they define autism, and their endorsement of stigmatizing conceptions of autism has not previously been examined. Using an online survey, we assessed autism knowledge and stigma among 636 adults with varied relationships to autism, including autistic people and nuclear family members. Autistic participants exhibited more scientifically based knowledge than others. They were more likely to describe autism experientially or as a neutral difference, and more often opposed the medical model. Autistic participants and family members reported lower stigma. Greater endorsement of the importance of normalizing autistic people was associated with heightened stigma. Findings suggest that autistic adults should be considered autism experts and involved as partners in autism research.Professional Staff CongressCity University of New Yor

Return to driving after traumatic brain injury : a British perspective

Primary Objective: to identify current legal situation, and professional practice in assisting persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to return to safe driving after injury. Methods and Procedures A brief review of relevant literature, a description of the current statutory and quasi-statutory authorities regulating return to driving after TBI in the UK, and a description of the nature and resolution of clinical and practical dilemmas facing professionals helping return to safe driving after TBI. Each of the 15 UK mobility centres was contacted and literature requested; in addition a representative of each centre responded to a structured telephone survey. Main Outcome and Results: The current situation in Great Britain is described, with a brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses both of the current statutory situation, and also the practical situation (driving centres), with suggestions for improvements in practice. Conclusion Although brain injury may cause serious limitations in driving ability, previous drivers are not routinely assessed or advised regarding return to driving after TBI

Iron stored in ferritin is chemically reduced in the presence of aggregating Aβ(1-42).

Atypical low-oxidation-state iron phases in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology are implicated in disease pathogenesis, as they may promote elevated redox activity and convey toxicity. However, the origin of low-oxidation-state iron and the pathways responsible for its formation and evolution remain unresolved. Here we investigate the interaction of the AD peptide β-amyloid (Aβ) with the iron storage protein ferritin, to establish whether interactions between these two species are a potential source of low-oxidation-state iron in AD. Using X-ray spectromicroscopy and electron microscopy we found that the co-aggregation of Aβ and ferritin resulted in the conversion of ferritin's inert ferric core into more reactive low-oxidation-states. Such findings strongly implicate Aβ in the altered iron handling and increased oxidative stress observed in AD pathogenesis. These amyloid-associated iron phases have biomarker potential to assist with disease diagnosis and staging, and may act as targets for therapies designed to lower oxidative stress in AD tissue

Results of the British Society of Gastroenterology supporting women in gastroenterology mentoring scheme pilot.

Introduction: Mentorship has long been recognised as beneficial in the business world and has more recently been endorsed by medical and academic professional bodies. Recruitment of women into gastroenterology and leadership roles has traditionally been difficult. The Supporting Women in Gastroenterology network developed this pilot scheme for female gastroenterologists 5 years either side of the Completion Certificate of Specialist Training (CCST) to examine the role that mentorship could play in improving this discrepancy. Method: Female gastroenterology trainees and consultant gastroenterologists within 5 years either side of CCST were invited to participate as mentees. Consultant gastroenterologists of both genders were invited to become mentors. 35 pairs of mentor:mentees were matched and completed the scheme over 1 year. Training was provided. Results: The majority of the mentees found the sessions useful (82%) and enjoyable (77%), with the benefit of having time and space to discuss professional or personal challenges with a gastroenterologist who is not a colleague. In the longitudinal study of job satisfaction, work engagement, burnout, resilience, self-efficacy, self-compassion and work-life balance, burnout scale showed a small but non significant improvement over the year (probably an effect of small sample size). Personal accomplishment improved significantly. The main challenges were geography, available time to meet and pair matching. The majority of mentors surveyed found the scheme effective, satisfying, mutually beneficial (70%) and enjoyable (78%). Conclusion: Mentorship is shown to be beneficial despite the challenges and is likely to improve the recruitment and retention of women into gastroenterology and leadership roles, but is likely to benefit gastroenterologists of both genders

Scalable target detection for large robot teams

In this paper, we present an asynchronous display method, coined image queue, which allows operators to search through a large amount of data gathered by autonomous robot teams. We discuss and investigate the advantages of an asynchronous display for foraging tasks with emphasis on Urban Search and Rescue. The image queue approach mines video data to present the operator with a relevant and comprehensive view of the environment in order to identify targets of interest such as injured victims. It fills the gap for comprehensive and scalable displays to obtain a network-centric perspective for UGVs. We compared the image queue to a traditional synchronous display with live video feeds and found that the image queue reduces errors and operator's workload. Furthermore, it disentangles target detection from concurrent system operations and enables a call center approach to target detection. With such an approach we can scale up to very large multi-robot systems gathering huge amounts of data that is then distributed to multiple operators. Copyright 2011 ACM

Investigating the missing data mechanism in quality of life outcomes: a comparison of approaches

Background: Missing data is classified as missing completely at random (MCAR), missing at random (MAR) or missing not at random (MNAR). Knowing the mechanism is useful in identifying the most appropriate analysis. The first aim was to compare different methods for identifying this missing data mechanism to determine if they gave consistent conclusions. Secondly, to investigate whether the reminder-response data can be utilised to help identify the missing data mechanism. Methods: Five clinical trial datasets that employed a reminder system at follow-up were used. Some quality of life questionnaires were initially missing, but later recovered through reminders. Four methods of determining the missing data mechanism were applied. Two response data scenarios were considered. Firstly, immediate data only; secondly, all observed responses (including reminder-response). Results: In three of five trials the hypothesis tests found evidence against the MCAR assumption. Logistic regression suggested MAR, but was able to use the reminder-collected data to highlight potential MNAR data in two trials. Conclusion: The four methods were consistent in determining the missingness mechanism. One hypothesis test was preferred as it is applicable with intermittent missingness. Some inconsistencies between the two data scenarios were found. Ignoring the reminder data could potentially give a distorted view of the missingness mechanism. Utilising reminder data allowed the possibility of MNAR to be considered.The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorate. Research Training Fellowship (CZF/1/31

Intermittent control models of human standing: similarities and differences

Two architectures of intermittent control are compared and contrasted in the context of the single inverted pendulum model often used for describing standing in humans. The architectures are similar insofar as they use periods of open-loop control punctuated by switching events when crossing a switching surface to keep the system state trajectories close to trajectories leading to equilibrium. The architectures differ in two significant ways. Firstly, in one case, the open-loop control trajectory is generated by a system-matched hold, and in the other case, the open-loop control signal is zero. Secondly, prediction is used in one case but not the other. The former difference is examined in this paper. The zero control alternative leads to periodic oscillations associated with limit cycles; whereas the system-matched control alternative gives trajectories (including homoclinic orbits) which contain the equilibrium point and do not have oscillatory behaviour. Despite this difference in behaviour, it is further shown that behaviour can appear similar when either the system is perturbed by additive noise or the system-matched trajectory generation is perturbed. The purpose of the research is to come to a common approach for understanding the theoretical properties of the two alternatives with the twin aims of choosing which provides the best explanation of current experimental data (which may not, by itself, distinguish beween the two alternatives) and suggesting future experiments to distinguish between the two alternatives