Human thalamocortical connections and their involvement in language systems.

139 p.During evolution the expansion of the neocortex has been linked with the emergence of higher level cognitive functions, such as reasoning, abstract thinking, or language in human beings. Current research on cognitive neuroscience is mainly focused on the cerebral cortex. Whereas the thalamus is a structure that has extensive white-matter connections with the cerebral cortex, its expansion during evolution is parallel to the expansion of the neocortex. The thalamocortical connections are involved in communication between cortical areas. Thus, to fully understand the neural basis of cognition, a better understanding of the role of the thalamus in cortical function is necessary. The present doctoral dissertation is focused on the structure and function of the thalamus: the first study proposes a reproducible protocol to reconstruct the first-order thalamic white-matter tracts from diffusion-weighted imaging data; the second study investigates the higher-order thalamic white-matter tracts and a similar protocol is proposed to reconstruction those tracts; the third study uses task-based fMRI to examine the involvement of first-order thalamic nuclei in the main language systems.the current dissertation successfully reconstructed first-order and higher-order thalamic white-matter tracts from DWI data, and has proved high reproducibility of the reconstruction protocol. This protocol could benefit the tractography community to better understand the structural connectivity of the thalamus with cortical and subcortical structures and facilitate the research on thalamocortical pathways in humans. We also found evidence for differences in the processing of linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli in first-order thalamic nuclei through a task-based fMRI study. These results suggest that the first-order thalamic nuclei play roles in human language that are beyond relaying sensory information from periphery to cerebral cortex. These findings are important to push forward our understanding on the role of subcortical structures, such as the thalamus, in human language functions, and to urge a revisitation of existing language models taking the thalamus into consideration

High-Resolution Tractography Protocol to Investigate the Pathways between Human Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus and Prefrontal Cortex

Published: November 15, 2023Animal studies have established that the mediodorsal nucleus (MD) of the thalamus is heavily and reciprocally connected with all areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In humans, however, these connections are difficult to investigate. High-resolution imaging protocols capable of reliably tracing the axonal tracts linking the human MD with each of the PFC areas may thus be key to advance our understanding of the variation, development, and plastic changes of these important circuits, in health and disease. Here, we tested in adult female and male humans the reliability of a new reconstruction protocol based on in vivo diffusion MRI to trace, measure, and characterize the fiber tracts interconnecting the MD with 39 human PFC areas per hemisphere. Our protocol comprised the following three components: (1) defining regions of interest; (2) preprocessing diffusion data; and, (3) modeling white matter tracts and tractometry. This analysis revealed largely separate PFC territories of reciprocal MD–PFC tracts bearing striking resemblance with the topographic layout observed in macaque connection-tracing studies. We then examined whether our protocol could reliably reconstruct each of these MD–PFC tracts and their profiles across test and retest sessions. Results revealed that this protocol was able to trace and measure, in both left and right hemispheres, the trajectories of these 39 area-specific axon bundles with good-to-excellent test-retest reproducibility. This protocol, which has been made publicly available, may be relevant for cognitive neuroscience and clinical studies of normal and abnormal PFC function, development, and plasticity.L.M. was supported by Horizon 2020 the European Union’s research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant 713673 and from “la Caixa” Foundation (Grants 11660016 and 100010434 under Agreement HR18-00178-DYSTHAL). G.L-U. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grants IJC2020-042887-I and PID2021-123577NA-I00) and the Basque Government (Grant PIBA-2022-1- 0014). F.C. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grants MICINN-AEI PCI2019- 111900-2 and PID2020-115780GB-I00). P.M.P-A. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant PID2021-123574NB-I00), the Basque Government (Grant PIBA-2021-1-0003), and the Red guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (Grant FA/OF 422/2022), and “la Caixa” Foundation (Grant 100010434 under Agreement HR18-00178-DYSTHAL). The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) acknowledges funding from the Basque Government through the BERC 2022-2025 program and by the Spanish State Research Agency through BCBL Severo Ochoa Excellence Accreditation CEX2020-001010-S

Reproducible protocol to obtain and measure first-order relay human thalamic white-matter tracts

Available online 13 August 2022The “primary ”or “first-order relay ”nuclei of the thalamus feed the cerebral cortex with information about on- going activity in the environment or the subcortical motor systems. Because of the small size of these nuclei and the high specificity of their input and output pathways, new imaging protocols are required to investigate thala- mocortical interactions in human perception, cognition and language. The goal of the present study was twofold: I) to develop a reconstruction protocol based on in vivo diffusion MRI to extract and measure the axonal fiber tracts that originate or terminate specifically in individual first-order relay nuclei; and, II) to test the reliability of this reconstruction protocol. In left and right hemispheres, we investigated the thalamocortical/corticothalamic axon bundles linking each of the first-order relay nuclei and their main cortical target areas, namely, the lateral geniculate nucleus (optic radiation), the medial geniculate nucleus (acoustic radiation), the ventral posterior nu- cleus (somatosensory radiation) and the ventral lateral nucleus (motor radiation). In addition, we examined the main subcortical input pathway to the ventral lateral posterior nucleus, which originates in the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum. Our protocol comprised three components: defining regions-of-interest; preprocessing diffu- sion data; and modeling white-matter tracts and tractometry. We then used computation and test-retest methods to check whether our protocol could reliably reconstruct these tracts of interest and their profiles. Our results demonstrated that the protocol had nearly perfect computational reproducibility and good-to-excellent test-retest reproducibility. This new protocol may be of interest for both basic human brain neuroscience and clinical studies and has been made publicly available to the scientific community.This work was supported by grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (grant agreement No. 713673 ), and from “la Caixa ”Foundation (grant No. 11660016 ) to M.L.; grants from the Span- ish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación ( IJC2020-042887-I ; PID2021- 123577NA-I00 ) to G.L.-U.; grants from the European Union ’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program, European Commission (grant agreement No. 945539 - HBP SGA3 ) and from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación FLAG-ERA grant NeuronsReunited ( MICINN-AEI PCI2019-111900-2 ) to F.C.; and grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación ( PGC2018-093408-B-I00 ; PID2021-123574NB-I00 ), Neuro- science projects from the Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno , Basque Government ( PIBA-2021-1-0003 ), and a grant from “la Caixa ”Banking Foundation under the project code LCF/PR/HR19/52160002 to P.M.P.-A. BCBL acknowledges support by the Basque Government through the BERC 2022-2025 program and by the S panish State Re- search Agency through BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation CEX2020-001010-S

Reproducible Tract Profiles 2 (RTP2) suite, from diffusion MRI acquisition to clinical practice and research

Published: 2023 Apr 12Diffusion MRI is a complex technique, where new discoveries and implementations occur at a fast pace. The expertise needed for data analyses and accurate and reproducible results is increasingly demanding and requires multidisciplinary collaborations. In the present work we introduce Reproducible Tract Profiles 2 (RTP2), a set of flexible and automated methods to analyze anatomical MRI and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) data for reproducible tractography. RTP2 reads structural MRI data and processes them through a succession of serialized containerized analyses. We describe the DWI algorithms used to identify white-matter tracts and their summary metrics, the flexible architecture of the platform, and the tools to programmatically access and control the computations. The combination of these three components provides an easy-to-use automatized tool developed and tested over 20 years, to obtain usable and reliable state-of-the-art diffusion metrics at the individual and group levels for basic research and clinical practice.G. L-U. was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (IJC2020-042887-I and PID2021-123577NA-I00) and Basque Government (PIBA-2022-1-0014); M.L. was supported by grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (grant agreement No. 713673), and from “la Caixa” Foundation (grant No. 11660016); P.M.P.-A. was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2021-123574NB-I00), from the Basque Government (PIBA-2021-1-0003), from the Red guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (FA/OF 422/2022), from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) under the agreement HR18-00178-DYSTHAL. BCBL acknowledges support by the Basque Government through the BERC 2022–2025 program and by the Spanish State Research Agency through BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation CEX2020-001010-S

Electrocaloric effect in La-doped BNT-6BT relaxor ferroelectric ceramics

Relaxor [(Bi1/2Na1/2)0.94Ba0.06](1-1.5x)LaxTiO3 (x = 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09) ceramics (La-doped BNT-6BT) with composition close to the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) were successfully prepared by using the conventional solid state reaction method. All samples present almost a pure perovskite phase with the coexistence of tetragonal and rhombohedral. With the increase of La doping content, the degree of the dielectric relaxor dispersion around the dielectric peak which is close to the room temperature increases, and also the transition temperature of ferroelectric-to-relaxor (TF-R) shifts 120 K towards a lower temperature at x = 0.09. The maximum value of the temperature change (ΔT) of the electrocaloric (EC) effect decreases sharply from 1.1 K at x = 0–0.064 K at x = 0.09. A large positive EC effect (maximum ΔT ~ 0.44 K) in a broad temperature range (~ 90 K) close to room temperature is achieved at x = 0.03, indicating that it is a promising lead-free material for application in solid state cooling system. Moreover, it is found that the Maxwell relationship can be well used to assess the EC effects of the La-doped BNT-6BT ceramics when the operating temperature is higher than that of the TF-R, indicating that these relaxor ceramics would perform as an ergodic

The roles of serum vitamin D and tobacco smoke exposure in insomnia: a cross-sectional study of adults in the United States

AimTobacco smoke exposure and vitamin D (VD) status were both associated with insomnia. However, the combined effect of smoking and VD on insomnia has not been discussed. This study aimed to explore the role of VD in the association between tobacco smoke exposure and insomnia.MethodsData on adults were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) database in 2005–2008 for this cross-sectional study. Weighted univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore the associations between serum cotinine, serum VD, and insomnia. A surface diagram was drawn to reflect the effect of VD on the association between serum cotinine and insomnia. In addition, the potential regulating effect of VD in subgroups of smoking status was also performed. The evaluation index was odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsAmong the eligible participants, 1,766 had insomnia. After adjusting for covariates, we found that elevated serum cotinine levels were associated with higher odds of insomnia [OR = 1.55, 95% CI: (1.22, 1.97)]. However, the relationship between serum VD level and insomnia was not significant (P = 0.553). Higher serum cotinine levels were also associated with higher odds of insomnia [OR = 1.52, 95% CI: (1.17, 1.98)] when serum VD level was <75 nmol/L; however, this relationship became non-significant when serum VD concentration was elevated (P = 0.088). Additionally, the potential regulating effect of VD was also found in adults who were not smoking.ConclusionVD may play a potential regulative role in the association between tobacco smoke exposure and insomnia. Further studies are needed to clarify the causal relationships between VD, tobacco smoke exposure, and insomnia

Monocyte at diagnosis as a prognosis biomarker in tuberculosis patients with anemia

BackgroundAnemia leads to a lower cure rate and poor prognosis in tuberculosis patients. Effective predictors for the prognosis of tuberculosis with anemia (A-TB) are urgently needed. Monocyte has been proven to be a prognostic biomarker of many lung diseases. Whether monocyte that the predominant innate immune cell as early defense against tuberculosis can predict A-TB is not known.MethodsData for A-TB patients with initial treatment in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Logistics regression analysis was used to study the correlation between peripheral blood cells and treatment outcomes. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the cut-off value. We estimated a 12-month prognosis using Kaplan–Meier techniques. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for the univariate and multivariate analyses to analyze the predictors of poor prognosis of A-TB.ResultsOf 181 patients analyzed, 94 were cured and 87 non-cured. Logistic regression analysis identified monocyte as an independent immune-related risk factor for the prognosis of A-TB (OR: 7.881, 95% CI: 1.675–37.075, P = 0.009). The ROC curve analysis proved that the most discriminative cut-off value of monocyte was 0.535 × 10^9/L. K–M analysis demonstrated that the cumulative cure rates of A-TB were significantly higher in A-TB with monocyte < 0.535 × 10^9/L (69.62%) than that in those with monocyte ≥ 0.535 × 10^9/L (38.24%) (Log-rank, χ2 = 16.530, P < 0.0001). On univariate and multivariable analysis, monocyte was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in A-TB. Similarly, monocyte was also an independent predictor of poor pulmonary cavity closure in A-TB (HR: 3.614, 95% CI: 1.335–9.787, P = 0.011).ConclusionIn A-TB patients, elevated monocyte was associated with poor prognosis and poor cavity pulmonary closure. Monocyte may provide a simple and inexpensive prognostic biomarker in A-TB

Computational cytometer based on magnetically modulated coherent imaging and deep learning.

Detecting rare cells within blood has numerous applications in disease diagnostics. Existing rare cell detection techniques are typically hindered by their high cost and low throughput. Here, we present a computational cytometer based on magnetically modulated lensless speckle imaging, which introduces oscillatory motion to the magnetic-bead-conjugated rare cells of interest through a periodic magnetic force and uses lensless time-resolved holographic speckle imaging to rapidly detect the target cells in three dimensions (3D). In addition to using cell-specific antibodies to magnetically label target cells, detection specificity is further enhanced through a deep-learning-based classifier that is based on a densely connected pseudo-3D convolutional neural network (P3D CNN), which automatically detects rare cells of interest based on their spatio-temporal features under a controlled magnetic force. To demonstrate the performance of this technique, we built a high-throughput, compact and cost-effective prototype for detecting MCF7 cancer cells spiked in whole blood samples. Through serial dilution experiments, we quantified the limit of detection (LoD) as 10 cells per millilitre of whole blood, which could be further improved through multiplexing parallel imaging channels within the same instrument. This compact, cost-effective and high-throughput computational cytometer can potentially be used for rare cell detection and quantification in bodily fluids for a variety of biomedical applications

Robust watermarking algorithm for medical volume data in internet of medical things

The advancement of 5G technology, big data and cloud storage has promoted the rapid development of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Based on the strict security requirements and high level of accuracy required for disease diagnosis and pathological analysis, 3D medical volume data have been created in large numbers. The IoMT facilitates the rapid transfer of medical information and also makes the protection of pathological information and privacy information of patients increasingly prominent. To solve the security problem, a robust zero-watermarking algorithm based on 3D hyperchaos and 3D dual-tree complex wavelet transform is proposed according to the selected feature of medical volume data. The feature combines human visual features with improved perceptual hashing techniques. It is a robust and efficient binary sequence. When implementing the proposed algorithm, the watermark is first scrambled with 3D hyperchaos to enhance security. Then, 3D DTCWT-DCT transformation is applied to medical volume data, and the low-frequency coefficients that can represent the features are selected and binarized to generate the secret key to complete the watermark embedding and extraction. Zero embedding and blind extraction ensure that the original medical volume data is not altered in any form, which meets the special requirements for diagnosis. Simulation results show that the algorithm is robust and can effectively resist common attacks and geometric attacks. It used fewer robust features to effectively bound medical volume data and watermark information, saved bandwidth, and satisfied the security of transmission and storage of medical volume data in the Internet of medical things. In particular, compared with state-of-the-art technology, the proposed algorithm improves the average NC value by 46.67% under geometric attacks