436 research outputs found
Liver transplantation for glycogen storage disease types I, III, and IV
Glycogen storage disease (GSD) types I, III, and IV can be associated with severe liver disease. The possible development of hepatocellular carcinoma and/or hepatic failure make these GSDs potential candidates for liver transplantation. Early diagnosis and initiation of effective dietary therapy have dramatically improved the outcome of GSD type I by reducing the incidence of liver adenoma and renal insufficiency. Nine type I and 3 type III patients have received liver transplants because of poor metabolic control, multiple liver adenomas, or progressive liver failure. Metabolic abnormalities were corrected in all GSD type I and type III patients, while catch-up growth was reported only in two patients. Whether liver transplantation results in reversal and/or prevention of renal disease remains unclear. Neutropenia persisted in both GSDIb patients post liver transplantation necessitating continuous granulocyte colony stimulating factor treatment. Thirteen GSD type IV patients were liver transplanted because of progressive liver cirrhosis and failure. All but one patient have not had neuromuscular or cardiac complications during follow-up periods for as long as 13 years. Four have died within a week and 5 years after transplantation. Caution should be taken in selecting GSD type IV candidates for liver transplantation because of the variable phenotype, which may include life-limiting extrahepatic manifestations. It remains to be evaluated, whether a genotype-phenotype correlation exists for GSD type IV, which may aid in the decision making. Conclusion Liver transplantation should be considered for patients with glycogen storage disease who have developed liver malignancy or hepatic failure, and for type IV patients with the classical and progressive hepatic form
Detection of synchronization from univariate data using wavelet transform
A method is proposed for detecting from univariate data the presence of
synchronization of a self-sustained oscillator by external driving with varying
frequency. The method is based on the analysis of difference between the
oscillator instantaneous phases calculated using continuous wavelet transform
at time moments shifted by a certain constant value relative to each other. We
apply our method to a driven asymmetric van der Pol oscillator, experimental
data from a driven electronic oscillator with delayed feedback and human
heartbeat time series. In the latest case, the analysis of the heart rate
variability data reveals synchronous regimes between the respiration and slow
oscillations in blood pressure.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Data driven optimal filtering for phase and frequency of noisy oscillations: application to vortex flowmetering
A new method for extracting the phase of oscillations from noisy time series
is proposed. To obtain the phase, the signal is filtered in such a way that the
filter output has minimal relative variation in the amplitude (MIRVA) over all
filters with complex-valued impulse response. The argument of the filter output
yields the phase. Implementation of the algorithm and interpretation of the
result are discussed. We argue that the phase obtained by the proposed method
has a low susceptibility to measurement noise and a low rate of artificial
phase slips. The method is applied for the detection and classification of mode
locking in vortex flowmeters. A novel measure for the strength of mode locking
is proposed.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
A Blueprint for Real-Time Functional Mapping via Human Intracranial Recordings
International audienceBACKGROUND: The surgical treatment of patients with intractable epilepsy is preceded by a pre-surgical evaluation period during which intracranial EEG recordings are performed to identify the epileptogenic network and provide a functional map of eloquent cerebral areas that need to be spared to minimize the risk of post-operative deficits. A growing body of research based on such invasive recordings indicates that cortical oscillations at various frequencies, especially in the gamma range (40 to 150 Hz), can provide efficient markers of task-related neural network activity. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we introduce a novel real-time investigation framework for mapping human brain functions based on online visualization of the spectral power of the ongoing intracranial activity. The results obtained with the first two implanted epilepsy patients who used the proposed online system illustrate its feasibility and utility both for clinical applications, as a complementary tool to electrical stimulation for presurgical mapping purposes, and for basic research, as an exploratory tool used to detect correlations between behavior and oscillatory power modulations. Furthermore, our findings suggest a putative role for high gamma oscillations in higher-order auditory processing involved in speech and music perception. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The proposed real-time setup is a promising tool for presurgical mapping, the investigation of functional brain dynamics, and possibly for neurofeedback training and brain computer interfaces
Synchronization of chaotic oscillator time scales
This paper deals with the chaotic oscillator synchronization. A new approach
to detect the synchronized behaviour of chaotic oscillators has been proposed.
This approach is based on the analysis of different time scales in the time
series generated by the coupled chaotic oscillators. It has been shown that
complete synchronization, phase synchronization, lag synchronization and
generalized synchronization are the particular cases of the synchronized
behavior called as "time--scale synchronization". The quantitative measure of
chaotic oscillator synchronous behavior has been proposed. This approach has
been applied for the coupled Rossler systems.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures, published in JETP. 100, 4 (2005) 784-79
Thermoplastic elastomer with advanced hydrophilization and bonding performances for rapid (30 s) and easy molding of microfluidic devices
One of the most important area of research in microfluidic technologies focuses on the identification and characterisation
of novel materials with enhanced properties and versatility. Here we present a fast, easy and inexpensive microstructuration
method for the fabrication of novel, flexible, transparent and biocompatible microfluidic devices. Using a simple
hot-press, we demonstrate the rapid (30s) production of various microfluidic prototypes embossed in a commercially-available
soft thermoplastic elastomer (sTPE). This styrenic block copolymer (BCP) material is as flexible as PDMS and as
thermoformable as classical thermoplastics. It exhibits high fidelity in replication using SU–8 and epoxy master
molds in a highly convenient low-isobar (0.4 bar) and iso-thermal process. Microfluidic devices can then be easily
sealed using either a simple hot plate or even room-temperature assembly, allowing them so sustain liquid pressure
of 2 and 0.6 bars respectively. The excellent sorption and biocompatibility properties of the microchips were validated
via a standard rhodamine dye assay as well as a sensitive yeast cell-based assay. The morphology and composition of
the surface area after plasma treatment for hydrophilization purposes are stable and show constant and homogenous
distribution of the block nanodomains (∼ 22° after 4 days). These domains, which are evenly distributed at the nanoscale,
therefore account for a uniform and convenient surface at a “microfluidic scale device”. To our knowledge, this is
the first thermoplastic elastomer material that can be used for fast and reliable fabrication and assembly of
microdevices while maintaining a high and stable hydrophilicity
Optimising experimental design for MEG resting state functional connectivity measurement
The study of functional connectivity using magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an expanding area of neuroimaging, and adds an extra dimension to the more common assessments made using fMRI. The importance of such metrics is growing, with recent demonstrations of their utility in clinical research, however previous reports suggest that whilst group level resting state connectivity is robust, single session recordings lack repeatability. Such robustness is critical if MEG measures in individual subjects are to prove clinically valuable. In the present paper, we test how practical aspects of experimental design affect the intra-subject repeatability of MEG findings; specifically we assess the effect of co-registration method and data recording duration. We show that the use of a foam head-cast, which is known to improve co-registration accuracy, increased significantly the between session repeatability of both beamformer reconstruction and connectivity estimation. We also show that recording duration is a critical parameter, with large improvements in repeatability apparent when using ten minute, compared to five minute recordings. Further analyses suggest that the origin of this latter effect is not underpinned by technical aspects of source reconstruction, but rather by a genuine effect of brain state; short recordings are simply inefficient at capturing the canonical MEG network in a single subject. Our results provide important insights on experimental design and will prove valuable for future MEG connectivity studies
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