Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Dec 2005
ReviewAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis and primary lateral sclerosis: The role of diffusion tensor imaging and other advanced MR-based techniques as objective upper motor neuron markers.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a motor neuron disease characterized by progressive degeneration of upper motor neuron (UMN) and lower motor neuron (LMN), while primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is defined by pure UMN involvement. A reliable objective marker of UMN involvement is critical for the early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression in patients with ALS and PLS. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which provide insight into the pathophysiological process of ALS and PLS, show great promise in this regard. Further investigation is needed to determine and to compare the utility of various neuroimaging markers.
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the perceptual, motor, and cognitive capacities in humans is of increasing importance for basic and clinical neurosciences. The explanatory power of current fMRI techniques could be greatly expanded, however, if the pattern of the neuronal connections between the active cortical areas could likewise be visualized. ⋯ Subsequently, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from the same subjects were obtained, and the activation areas identified through fMRI were utilized as seeding points for 3D DTI fiber reconstruction algorithms. The methods developed in this study have the potential to lay a foundation for in vivo neuroanatomy and the ability for noninvasive longitudinal studies of brain development.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Dec 2005
TLR1 and TLR6 polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to invasive aspergillosis after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) transmit signals in response to Aspergillus fumigatus conidia and hyphae. In this preliminary study, we examined the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR1, TLR4, and TLR6 genes and development of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in 127 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients consisting of 22 patients with IA and 105 unaffected control subjects. ⋯ Analysis of recipient SNP data showed that the presence of TLR1 239G > C (Arg80 > Thr) or the presence of both TLR1 743A > G (Asn248 > Ser) and TLR6 745C > T (Ser249 > Pro) is associated with IA (odds ratio = 1.30, 95% confidence interval = 1.13 to 1.50; P < .001). Further analyses using a prospective cohort may enable us to identify TLR polymorphisms associated with the susceptibility to IA within a defined interval among immunocompromised patients.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Dec 2005
Case ReportsEffects of prior exposure on music liking and recognition in patients with temporal lobe lesions.
Prior exposure to music typically increases liking. This manifestation of implicit memory can be dissociated from explicit memory recognition. To examine the contribution of the medial temporal lobe to musical preference and recognition, we tested patients with either left (LTL) or right (RTL) temporal lobe lesions as well as normal control (NC) participants using the procedure of Peretz et al. ⋯ In this case, the exposure effect on liking was also absent. However, repeated exposure to melodies was found to enhance both liking and recognition judgments. This remarkable sparing of memory observed through melody repetition suggests that extensive exposure may assist both implicit and explicit memory in the presence of global amnesia.
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Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes a worldwide zoonosis, Q fever, and can be misused as a biological warfare agent. Infection in animals (coxiellosis) is mostly persistent. Infection in humans is often asymptomatic, but it can manifest as an acute disease (usually a self-limited flu-like illness, pneumonia, or hepatitis) or as a chronic form (mainly endocarditis, but also hepatitis and chronic fatigue syndrome). ⋯ Its intracellular large cell variant, adapted to survive under harsh conditions of phagolysosomes, enables long-term survival and persistence of C. burnetii, namely in monocytes/macrophages. Host factors such as underlying disease and cell-mediated immunity play a decisive role in the clinical expression of C. burnetii infection. Complete genome analysis of C. burnetii will certainly contribute to better understanding of the pathogenesis of C. burnetii infection and will improve Q fever diagnosis and immunoprophylaxis.