Orthographic priming in Braille reading as evidence for task-specific reorganization in the ventral visual cortex of the congenitally blind

The task-specific principle asserts that, following deafness or blindness, the deprived cortex is reorganized in a manner such that the task of a given area is preserved even though its input modality has been switched. Accordingly, tactile reading engages the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) in the blind in a similar way to regular reading in the sighted. Others, however, show that the vOT of the blind processes spoken sentence structure, which suggests that the task-specific principle might not apply to vOT. The strongest evidence for the vOT's engagement in sighted reading comes from orthographic repetition-suppression studies. Here, congenitally blind adults were tested in an fMRI repetition-suppression paradigm. Results reveal a double dissociation, with tactile orthographic priming in the vOT and auditory priming in general language areas. Reconciling our finding with other evidence, we propose that the vOT in the blind serves multiple functions, one of which, orthographic processing, overlaps with its function in the sighted

Population Diversity in Ant-inspired Optimization Algorithms

Finding a balance between exploration and exploitation is very important in the case of metaheuristics optimization, especially in the systems leveraging population of individuals expressing (as in Evolutionary Algorithms, etc.) or constructing (as in Ant Colony Optimization) solutions. Premature convergence is a real problem and finding means of its automatic detection and counteracting are of great importance. Measuring diversity in Evolutionary Algorithms working in real-value search space is often computationally complex, but feasible while measuring diversity in combinatorial domain is practically impossible (cf. Closest String Problem). Nevertheless, we propose several practical and feasible diversity measurement techniques dedicated to Ant Colony Optimization algorithms, leveraging the fact that even though analysis of the search space is at least an NP problem, we can focus on the pheromone table, where the direct outcomes of the search are expressed and can be analyzed. Besides proposing the measurement techniques, we apply them to assess the diversity of several variants of ACO, and closely analyze their features for the classic ACO. The discussion of the results is the first step towards applying the proposed measurement techniques in auto-adaptation of the parameters affecting directly the exploitation and exploration features in ACO in the future

Link between fibrosis-specific biomarkers and interstitial fibrosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Background: Cardiac fibrosis is a hallmark of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and has proven unfavorable clinical significance. Replacement fibrosis is better known, and has already been studied on a larger scale, whereas interstitial fibrosis is less explored. Aims: We aimed to analyze relationship between serum biomarkers and interstitial fibrosis, as assessed with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in HCM. Methods: We performed 3T CMR scans in 50 HCM patients to assess interstitial fibrosis as expressed by extracellular volume (ECV). In all patients, we determined levels of serum cardiac-specific (troponin T [TnT], N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]) and fibrosis-specific (procollagen I C-terminal propeptide, procollagen III N-terminal propeptide, transforming growth factor β1, galectin 3) biomarkers. Patients were divided based on their median value of ECV.  Results: The final study population consisted of 49 patients. The median value of ECV in our cohort was 28.1%. Patients stratified according to median ECV differed in terms of several variables: body mass index, late gadolinium extent, NT-proBNP and galectin 3 levels (all P < 0.05). Cardiac biomarkers (TnT and NT-proBNP) and galectin 3 were significantly correlated with ECV (rS  = 0.34; P = 0.02; rS = 0.39; P = 0.006; rS = 0.43; P = 0.002, respectively). Galectin 3 and body mass index were found to be independent predictors of ECV (odds ratio [OR], 2.29 [1.07–4.91]; P = 0.03; OR, 0.81 [0.68–0.97]; P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Galectin 3 was an independent predictor of interstitial fibrosis in HCM patients expressed as elevated ECV values. The other fibrosis-specific biomarkers measured were not useful in detecting interstitial fibrosis in HCM. In addition, there was a positive correlation between classical cardiac biomarkers and interstitial fibrosis in HCM patients

Topographical anatomy of the left ventricular summit: implications for invasive procedures

Background: Recent clinical reports have emphasized the clinical significance of the left ventricular summit (LVS), a specific triangular epicardial area, as the source of ventricular arrhythmias where radiofrequency ablation is of great difficulty. Materials and methods: The macroscopic morphology of the LVS has been assessed in 80 autopsied and 48 angio-CT human hearts. According to Yamada’s equation, the size was calculated based on the distance to the first, most prominent septal perforator. Results: The size of the LVS varies from 33.69 to 792.2 mm2, is highly variable, and does not correlate with BMI, sex, or age in general. The mean size of the LVS was 287.38 ± 144.95mm2 in autopsied and angio-CT (p=0.44). LVS is mostly disproportionately bisected by cardiac coronary veins to superior – inaccessible and inferior–accessible areas. The superior aspect dominates over the inferior in both groups (p=0.04). The relation between superior and inferior groups determines three possible arrangements: the most common type is superior domination (50.2%), then inferior domination (26.6%), and finally, equal distribution (17.2%). In 10.9 %, the inferior aspect is absent. Only 16.4% of the LVS were empty, without additional trespassing coronary arteries. Conclusions: The difference in size and content of the LVS is significant, with no correlation to any variable. The size depends on the anatomy of the most prominent septal perforator artery. The superior, inaccessible aspect dominates, and the LVS is seldom free from additional coronary vessels, thus making this region hazardous for electrophysiological procedures

Processing of Orthographical Stimuli by Congenitally Blind People Investigated With Priming and MRI Techniques

Opisany w niniejszej pracy projekt badawczy został przeprowadzony w celu zweryfikowania hipotezy o analogicznej funkcji Obszaru Wzrokowej Formy Słowa u osób niewidomych od urodzenia względem osób widzących. Okolica ta odpowiedzialna jest za tworzenie abstrakcyjnej reprezentacji czytanych słów. U osób widzących jej aktywacja uzależniona jest od ortograficznego podobieństwa między czytanymi słowami. Za pomocą behawioralnej metody torowania ortograficznego oraz techniki obrazowania funkcji mózgu w czynnościowym rezonansie magnetycznym (fMRI) udało się wstępnie stwierdzić, że u osób niewidomych wzorzec aktywacji jest analogiczny.W przeprowadzonych eksperymentach prezentowano badanym pary bodźców o różnym stopniu podobieństwa ortograficznego. Bodźcami były ciągi liter przypominające słowa, wyświetlane w dotykowym alfabecie brajla. Im bardziej słowa były do siebie podobne tym szybciej następowała reakcja na nie, w porównaniu z parami, w których bodźce różniły się jedną literą lub były całkowicie odmienne. Zaobserwowano także różnice w aktywacji na wspomniane warunki w lewym płacie potylicznym. U osób widzących obszar ten odpowiada za obróbkę bodźców wzrokowych, a jego przednia część wyspecjalizowana jest czytaniu. Z przeprowadzonych badań wynika, że u osób niewidomych od urodzenia nieużywana przez wzrok część kory mózgowej realizuje inne funkcje, w tym odpowiada za czytanie dotykiem.The study was conducted in order to verify the hypothesis about tuning to orthographical differences in the Visual Word Form Area. Congenitally blind participants were presented with pairs of pseudowords with different degree of similarity. The more similar stimuli was the faster were reaction times. The differences were also observed on the brain level. Along with the expectations, identical stimuli caused lesser activation in the parietal lobe than stimuli that had one letter different or totally different letter strings

Diagnostic imaging of colorectal cancer - case study of a 38-year-old woman

Choroby nowotworowe stają się coraz częściej przyczyną zgonów na całym świecie. Jednym z najczęstszych nowotworów złośliwych u obu płci jest rak jelita grubego. W poniższej pracy zaprezentowane zostały metody diagnostyki raka jelita grubego oraz studium przypadku. Przedstawione w nim zostały wyniki przeprowadzonych badań pozwalających postawić właściwe rozpoznanie i zaplanować adekwatne leczenie. Analizie zostały poddane artykuły naukowe, książki i wyniki badań pacjenta. Duża liczba zachorowań na raka jelita grubego mogłaby zostać ograniczona poprzez modyfikację stylu życia potencjalnego chorego oraz poprzez odpowiednio wczesną diagnostykę stanów przedrakowych, oraz wczesnych stadiów choroby. Złotym standardem w diagnostyce raka jelita grubego na całym świecie jest kolonoskopia. W sytuacjach, gdy nie można jej wykonać, korzysta się z innych badań obrazowych. Główną zaletą kolonoskopii jest możliwość natychmiastowego usunięcia polipów. Diagnostyka za pomocą tomografii komputerowej zapewnia wyższy komfort badania oraz możliwość zobaczenia innych struktur znajdujących się w badanym obszarze, a co za tym idzie możliwość wykrycia przerzutów bez wykonywania dodatkowych badań. Rezonans magnetyczny jest metodą alternatywną, najczęściej jest wykonywany dla oceny stopnia zaawansowania nowotworów odbytnicy . Obszar badania jest mniejszy niż w tomografii, dlatego nie można ocenić innych narządów jamy brzusznej w czasie jednego badania. Ultrasonografia jest wykonywana, gdy podejrzewane są przerzuty do wątroby. W części studium został opisany przypadek pacjentki z synchronicznym rakiem okrężnicy zlokalizowanym w zstępnicy i esicy. Badaniem z wyboru była kolonoskopia, następnie w celu sprawdzenia, czy występują przerzuty, zrobiono USG i TK z podaniem środka kontrastowego.Cancer are more and more common cause of death around the world. One of the most common malignant cancers in both sexes is colorectal cancer. In following dissertations, I showed diagnostic procedures of colorectal cancer and case study. The results of procedures are presented in this work. That allow us to diagnose and planed the proper treatment. My goal was to show and analyse done procedures. During writing this work I analysed science articles, books and results of patients examinations. Numerous cases of colon cancer could be reduced by modifying lifestyle of potential patient and by early diagnosis of precancerous states and early stages of illness.The golden standard in diagnosing colon cancer is colonoscopy. In some cases if we cannot use it, other diagnostic procedures should be done. The main advantage of colonoscopy is possibility to immediate removal of polyps. Diagnostic with computer tomography ensures comfort of examination and possibility to see other structures in examination field and hence the possibility to diagnose metastasis without doing additional examinations. Magnetic resonance imaging is alternative method and most common done to rate level of advancement sigmoid and rectal cancer. A field of examination is smaller than in computer tomography because there is no possibility to rate other abdominal structures in one examination time. Ultrasonography is done when we suspect metastasis in liver. In case study part described was case of a patient with synchronic colon cancer in descending and sigmoid colon. The test of choice was colonoscopy subsequently to check if a patient has monasteries US imaging and CT with contrast was done

Gestalt effects in visual working memory : whole-part similarity works, symmetry does not

Four experiments investigated whether conforming to Gestalt principles, well known to drive visual perception, also facilitates the active maintenance of information in visual working memory (VWM). We used the change detection task, which required the memorization of visual patterns composed of several shapes. We observed no effects of symmetry of visual patterns on VWM performance. However, there was a moderate positive effect when a particular shape that was probed matched the shape of the whole pattern (the whole-part similarity effect). Data support the models assuming that VWM encodes not only particular objects of the perceptual scene but also the spatial relations between them (the ensemble representation). The ensemble representation may prime objects similar to its shape and thereby boost access to them. In contrast, the null effect of symmetry relates the fact that this very feature of an ensemble does not yield any useful additional information for VWM