Keep Out of My Passport: Access Control Mechanisms in E-passports

Abstract Nowadays, over 40 different countries issue biometric passports to increase security on there borders. Among these are the European Union countries. These e-passports are based on the ICAO 9303 standard. One of the goals is including biometric data to increase the security. To prevent fraude on a logical en physical level, security mechanisms are defined in the ICAO standard. In this paper the Basic Access Control (BAC) mechanism is discussed. BAC has been well scrutinized and appears not to be without issues. These issues pose a real threat, but can be mitigated by some adaptions and implementing the extended access control (EAC) mechanism suggested by the ICAO standard

Sentinel node in ovarian cancer : study protocol for a phase 1 study

Background: The concept of sentinel lymph node surgery is to determine whether the cancer has spread to the very first lymph node or sentinel node. If the sentinel node does not contain cancer, then there is a high likelihood that the cancer has not spread to other lymph nodes. The sentinel node technique has been proven to be effective in different types of cancer. In this study we want to determine whether a sentinel node procedure in patients with ovarian cancer is feasible when the tracers are injected into the ovarian ligaments. Methods/Design: Patients with a high likelihood of having an ovarian malignancy in whom a median laparotomy and a frozen section analysis is planned and patients with endometrial cancer in whom a staging laparotomy is planned will be included. Before starting the surgical staging procedure, blue dye and radioactive colloid will be injected into the ligamentum ovarii proprium and the ligamentum infundibulo-pelvicum. In the analysis we calculate the percentage of patients in whom it is feasible to identify sentinel nodes. Other study parameters are the anatomical localization of the sentinel node(s) and the incidence of false negative lymph nodes

An international multi-center investigation on the accuracy of radionuclide calibrators in nuclear medicine theragnostics

Background: Personalized molecular radiotherapy based on theragnostics requires accurate quantification of the amount of radiopharmaceutical activity administered to patients both in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This international multi-center study aims to investigate the clinical measurement accuracy of radionuclide calibrators for 7 radionuclides used in theragnostics: 99mTc, 111In, 123I, 124I, 131I, 177Lu, and 90Y. Methods: In total, 32 radionuclide calibrators from 8 hospitals located in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany were tested. For each radio

Psychological intervention with working memory training increases basal ganglia volume: A VBM study of inpatient treatment for methamphetamine use

Background: Protracted methamphetamine (MA) use is associated with decreased control over drug craving and altered brain volume in the frontostriatal network. However, the nature of volumetric changes following a course of psychological intervention for MA use is not yet known. Methods: 66 males (41 MA patients, 25 healthy controls, HC) between the ages of 18–50 were recruited, the MA patients from new admissions to an in-patient drug rehabilitation centre and the HC via public advertisement, both in Cape Town, South Africa. 17 MA patients received 4 weeks of treatment as usual (TAU), and 24 MA patients completed TAU plus daily 30-minute cognitive training (CT) using an N-back working memory task. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline and 4-week follow-up was acquired and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used for analysis. Results: TAU was associated with larger bilateral striatum (caudate/putamen) volume, whereas CT was associated with more widespread increases of the bilateral basal ganglia (incorporating the amygdala and hippocampus) and reduced bilateral cerebellum volume coinciding with improvements in impulsivity scores. Conclusions: While psychological intervention is associated with larger volume in mesolimbic reward regions, the utilisation of additional working memory training as an adjunct to treatment may further normalize frontostriatal structure and function

The corticostriatal system in response flexibility and spatial cognition

The corticostriatal system has been suggested to play a role in cognitive functions, but its importance for spatial cognition has been scarcely studied. Different neurological and psychiatric diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia, are related to (cortico)striatal dysfunctions. These disorders are characterized by motor impairments and psychotic episodes, but cognitive problems occur as well, specifically during early phases of these disorders. These cognitive deficits are largely intractable with available treatment, remain chronically present throughout the course of the disease, and are linked to poor functional prognosis of patients. The most important goal of this dissertation was to investigate the corticostriatal system in relation to spatial-cognitive functions and behavioural flexibility. We reported differential and time-dependent involvement of the dorsomedial (DMS) and dorsolateral (DLS) parts of the striatum in spatial cognition. DMS, but not DLS, was crucial to acquire spatial information and subsequent deployment of spatial search strategies during early learning phases. Furthermore, we revealed decreased DMS involvement as learning progressed or when adjustments in navigation were required. These results suggest a role for DMS during spatial navigation, when contextual information is used to develop and use a spatial search strategy, and when behaviour is still flexible. DMS receives direct input from the anterior cingulate cortex (aCC) and both Arc expression levels and aCC/DMS disruption lesions demonstrated that aCC/DMS connectivity is crucial for spatial cognition. By and large, our experiments identified DMS and aCC/DMS connectivity as central anatomical substrates in response flexibility and spatial learning. These findings relate to cognitive deficits of disorders with corticostriatal (dys)functioning and may show the way for possible treatment of these devastating disorders.status: publishe

Inability to acquire spatial information and deploy spatial search strategies in mice with lesions in dorsomedial striatum

Dorsal striatum has been shown to contribute to spatial learning and memory, but the role of striatal subregions in this important aspect of cognitive functioning remains unclear. Moreover, the spatial-cognitive mechanisms that underlie the involvement of these regions in spatial navigation have scarcely been studied. We therefore compared spatial learning and memory performance in mice with lesions in dorsomedial (DMS) and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) using the hidden-platform version of the Morris water maze (MWM) task. Compared to sham-operated controls, animals with DMS damage were impaired during MWM acquisition training. These mice displayed delayed spatial learning, increased thigmotaxis, and increased search distance to the platform, in the absence of major motor dysfunction, working memory defects or changes in anxiety or exploration. They failed to show a preference for the target quadrant during probe trials, which further indicates that spatial reference memory was impaired in these animals. Search strategy analysis moreover demonstrated that DMS-lesioned mice were unable to deploy cognitively advanced spatial search strategies. Conversely, MWM performance was barely affected in animals with lesions in DLS. In conclusion, our results indicate that DMS and DLS display differential functional involvement in spatial learning and memory. Our results show that DMS, but not DLS, is crucial for the ability of mice to acquire spatial information and their subsequent deployment of spatial search strategies. These data clearly identify DMS as a crucial brain structure for spatial learning and memory, which could explain the occurrence of neurocognitive impairments in brain disorders that affect the dorsal striatum.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Inability to acquire spatial information and deploy spatial search strategies in mice with lesions in dorsomedial striatum journaltitle: Behavioural Brain Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2015.11.001 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Telencephalic neurocircuitry and synaptic plasticity in rodent spatial learning and memory

Spatial learning and memory in rodents represent close equivalents of human episodic declarative memory, which is especially sensitive to cerebral aging, neurodegeneration, and various neuropsychiatric disorders. Many tests and protocols are available for use in laboratory rodents, but Morris water maze and radial-arm maze remain the most widely used as well as the most valid and reliable spatial tests. Telencephalic neurocircuitry that plays functional roles in spatial learning and memory includes hippocampus, dorsal striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal-hippocampal circuitry comprises the major associative system in the rodent brain, and is critical for navigation in physical space, whereas interconnections between prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum are probably more important for motivational or goal-directed aspects of spatial learning. Two major forms of synaptic plasticity, namely long-term potentiation, a lasting increase in synaptic strength between simultaneously activated neurons, and long-term depression, a decrease in synaptic strength, have been found to occur in hippocampus, dorsal striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. These and other phenomena of synaptic plasticity are probably crucial for the involvement of telencephalic neurocircuitry in spatial learning and memory. They also seem to play a role in the pathophysiology of two brain pathologies with episodic declarative memory impairments as core symptoms, namely Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Further research emphasis on rodent telencephalic neurocircuitry could be relevant to more valid and reliable preclinical research on these most devastating brain disorders. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Brain and Memory.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Telencephalic neurocircuitry and synaptic plasticity in rodent spatial learning and memory journaltitle: Brain Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.015 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe