Probing dynamic myocardial microstructure with cardiac magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging

This article is an invited editorial comment on the paper entitled “In vivo cardiovascular magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging shows evidence of abnormal myocardial laminar orientations and mobility in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy” by Ferreira et al., and published as Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2014; 16:87

The Politics of Deliberation: Qat Chews as Public Spheres in Yemen

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.isa Wedeen is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, as well as an associate member of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. Her research interests include comparative politics, the Middle East, political theory, and feminist theory. In addition to teaching on the Middle East, Wedeen teaches courses on nationalism, comparative identity formation, power and resistance, and citizenship. She is author of numerous articles and two books, Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria (University of Chicago Press, 1999) and Peripheral Visions: Publics, Power and Performance in Yemen (University of Chicago Press, 2008). In Peripheral Visions, Wedeen draws on 18 months of field experience in Yemen. She analyzes the development of national attachments in an environment with weak state institutions. Through her fieldwork, Wedeen has found that much of public life in Yemen revolves around qat, a leafy stimulant typically chewed during afternoon socializing. Qat chews foster a wide range of discussions and interactions among community members, as well as strangers, including intense debates of primarily political issues. By analyzing these informal gatherings, Wedeen reveals how the study of public discussions, existing outside of official electoral or governmental institutions, provides insight into the development of participatory politics.Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent webpage, event photo

Statistical DSI Brain Tractography: A Way to Handle the Kiss-Cross Uncertainty.

Despite the advent of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and tractography algorithms, the accurate mapping of complex fiber kiss-crossings areas of the brain remains out of reach. In this study, we present a statistical DSI-based tractography algorithm which explores all possible paths in the brain white matter. We also introduce a cortex connectivity graph whose weighted edges correspond to the connection likelihood. The tests performed on the centrum semi-ovale have shown that a simple thresholding applied to the edges of this graph allows us to image the connectivity of any part of the brain to the desired level of complexity

Ambiguities after Asad

The announcement of Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad's death on Saturday, 10 June 2000, prompted panegyrics to his greatness and public displays of grief. Syrians Ð those who genuinely admired him and even those who feared him Ð may have experienced sadness at his passing. Death has a way of generating mournful feelings, or at least of inducing apprehension about the future. Yet the political rituals praising his rule, likening his brilliance to the sun's and stressing his role as a 'man of the people', were not new to Syrians. Asad's image was omnipresent for much of his rule (1970-2000), and the rhetoric of flattery was commonplace. In newspapers, on television and during orchestrated events, Asad was repeatedly lauded as the 'father' and the 'gallant knight'. If only by dint of its repetition, all were fluent in this symbolic language of the Syrian state, which had become a hallmark of Asad's rule

Diffusion MR Tractography of the Heart

Histological studies have shown that the myocardium consists of an array of crossing helical fiber tracts. Changes in myocardial fiber architecture occur in ischemic heart disease and heart failure, and can be imaged non-destructively with diffusion-encoded MR. Several diffusion-encoding schemes have been developed, ranging from scalar measurements of mean diffusivity to a 6-dimensional imaging technique known as diffusion spectrum imaging or DSI. The properties of DSI make it particularly suited to the generation of 3-dimensional tractograms of myofiber architecture. In this article we review the physical basis of diffusion-tractography in the myocardium and the attributes of the available techniques, placing particular emphasis on DSI. The application of DSI in ischemic heart disease is reviewed, and the requisites for widespread clinical translation of diffusion MR tractography in the heart are discussed