Prospective surveillance of drain associated meningitis/ventriculitis in a neurosurgery and neurological intensive care unit

International audienceThere are currently no data available on drain-associated infection occurrence related to the number of drainage-days, and thus drain-associated infection rates. Therefore, we conducted a prospective surveillance study to determine drain-associated infection rates and drainage-days of hospital-acquired external ventricular drain- (EVD) and lumbar drain- (LD) associated meningitis/ventriculitis in a neurosurgery (NSICU) and a neurologic intensive care unit (NICU)

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive Genetic Contributions to Human Brain Morphology and Intelligence

Variation in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume of the adult human brain is primarily genetically determined. Moreover, total brain volume is positively correlated with general intelligence, and both share a common genetic origin. However, although genetic effects on morphology of specific GM areas in the brain have been studied, the heritability of focal WM is unknown. Similarly, it is unresolved whether there is a common genetic origin of focal GM and WM structures with intelligence. We explored the genetic influence on focal GM and WM densities in magnetic resonance brain images of 54 monozygotic and 58 dizygotic twin pairs and 34 of their siblings. For genetic analyses, we used structural equation modeling and voxel-based morphometry. To explore the common genetic origin of focal GM and WM areas with intelligence, we obtained cross-trait/cross-twin correlations in which the focal GM and WM densities of each twin are correlated with the psychometric intelligence quotient of his/her cotwin. Genes influenced individual differences in left and right superior occipitofrontal fascicle (heritability up to 0.79 and 0.77), corpus callosum (0.82, 0.80), optic radiation (0.69, 0.79), corticospinal tract (0.78, 0.79), medial frontal cortex (0.78, 0.83), superior frontal cortex (0.76, 0.80), superior temporal cortex (0.80, 0.77), left occipital cortex (0.85), lef