Abstract Motor imagery (MI) is a promising practice tool in neurorehabilitation. However, in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), impairments in MI accuracy and temporal organization were found ...during clinical assessment, which may limit the benefits of MI practice. Therefore, we investigated whether the MI quality of MS patients could be optimized by means of external cueing. Fourteen patients with MS and 14 healthy control patients physically executed and visually imagined a goal-directed upper limb task in the presence and absence of added visual and auditory cues. MI quality was assessed by means of eye-movement registration. As main results, it was found that MS patients had significant higher eye-movement times than controls during both execution and imagery, and overestimated the to-be-imagined movement amplitude when no external information was provided during imagery. External cues, however, decreased patients' MI duration and increased the spatial accuracy of their imagined movements. In sum, our results indicate that MS patients imagine movements in a better way when they are provided with external cues during MI. These findings are important for developing rehabilitation strategies based on MI in patients with MS.
Design characteristics and first experience concerning the new high-resolution powder diffractometer for thermal neutrons at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ are summarized. It is based on a ...linear position-sensitive
3
He
detector with 1600 wires and angular separation of 0.1°, permitting also real-time experiments.
BackgroundThe possible beneficial effects of stem cell-derived EV on ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in organ transplantation have been frequently investigated; however, the source of EV, as well ...as the methods of isolation and administration vary widely. We conducted a systematic review to summarize current pre-clinical evidence on stem cell-derived EV therapy for IRI of transplantable organs.MethodsPubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched from inception until August 19th, 2022, for studies on stem cell-derived EV therapy for IRI after heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, lung and intestine transplantation. The Systematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experiments (SYRCLE) guidelines were followed to assess potential risk of bias.ResultsThe search yielded 4153 unique articles, of which 96 were retained. We identified 32 studies on cardiac IRI, 38 studies on renal IRI, 21 studies on liver IRI, four studies on lung IRI and one study on intestinal IRI. Most studies used rodent models of transient ischemic injury followed by in situ reperfusion. In all studies, EV therapy was associated with improved outcome albeit to a variable degree. EV-therapy reduced organ injury and improved function while displaying anti-inflammatory-, immunomodulatory- and pro-regenerative properties.ConclusionA multitude of animal studies support the potential of stem cell-derived EV-therapy to alleviate IRI after solid organ transplantation but suffer from low reporting quality and wide methodological variability. Future studies should focus on determining optimal stem cell source, dosage, and timing of treatment, as well as long-term efficacy in transplant models.
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Abstract Purpose To perform a meta-analysis comparing ultrasonography (US), US guided fine needle aspiration cytology (USgFNAC), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the ...detection of lymph node metastases in head and neck cancer. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched (January 1990–January 2006) for studies reporting diagnostic performances of US, USgFNAC, CT, and MRI to detect cervical lymph node metastases. Two reviewers screened text and reference lists of potentially eligible articles. Criteria for study inclusion: (1) histopathology was the reference standard, (2) primary tumors and metastases were squamous cell carcinoma and (3) data were available to construct 2 × 2 contingency tables. Meta-analysis of pairs of sensitivity and specificity was performed using bivariate analysis. Summary estimates for diagnostic performance used were sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) (95% confidence intervals) and summary receiver operating characteristics (SROC) curves. Results From seventeen articles, 25 data sets could be retrieved. Eleven articles studied one modality: US ( n = 4); USgFNAC ( n = 1); CT ( n = 3); MRI ( n = 3). Six articles studied two or more modalities: US and CT ( n = 2); USgFNAC and CT ( n = 1); CT and MRI ( n = 1); MRI and MRI-USPIO (Sinerem® ) ( n = 2); US, USgFNAC, CT and MRI ( n = 1). USgFNAC (AUC = 0.98) and US (AUC = 0.95) showed the highest areas under the curve (AUC). MRI-USPIO (AUC = 0.89) and CT (AUC = 0.88) had similar results. MRI showed an AUC = 0.79. USgFNAC showed the highest DOR (DOR = 260) compared to US (DOR = 40), MRI-USPIO (DOR = 21), CT (DOR = 14) and MRI (DOR = 7). Conclusion USgFNAC showed to be the most accurate imaging modality to detect cervical lymph node metastases.
Book giveaway programs provide free books to families with infants to encourage caregivers to begin reading to their children during infancy. This meta-analysis of 44 studies retrieved from 43 ...articles tests the effects of three major book giveaway programs: Bookstart (n = 11), Reach Out and Read (n = 18), and Imagination Library (n = 15). Effect sizes were aggregated within two domains-home literacy environment and literacy-related behavior and skills-before being averaged across studies. The findings corroborate the assumption that book giveaway programs promote children's home literacy environment (d = 0.31, 95% CI 0.23, 0.38, k = 30), which subsequently results in more interest in reading and children scoring higher on measures of literacy-related skills prior to and during the early years of school (d = 0.29, 95% CI 0.23, 0.35, k = 23). Author abstract
Introduction
The aim was to determine the diagnostic accuracy and additional value of diffusion-weighted imaging for detection of malignant lymph nodes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
...Methods
Two hundred nineteen lymph nodes, predominantly smaller than 10 mm (95.4%), in 16 consecutive patients were evaluated at 1.5 T. Lymph nodes were evaluated for maximum short axial diameter, morphological criteria, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values (
b
= 0 and
b
= 1,000 s/mm
2
). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values as well as diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) and areas under the curves (AUCs) of ROC curves were calculated for the various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria individually and in combination. Histological examination of lymph nodes in the neck dissection specimen was the gold standard to determine malignant involvement.
Results
The optimal ADC threshold was 1.0 × 10
−3
mm
2
/s. Using this cutoff point, sensitivity and specificity were 92.3% and 83.9%, respectively. When used in combination with size and morphological criteria, ADC value <1.0 × 10
−3
mm
2
/s was the strongest predictor of presence of metastasis (DOR = 97.6). A model which added ADC values to the other MRI criteria performed significantly better than a model without ADC values: AUC = 0.98 versus AUC = 0.91 (
p
= 0.036).
Conclusion
In this study, with predominantly small lymph nodes, the ADC criterion is the strongest independent predictor of presence of metastasis. The use of ADC values in combination with the other MRI criteria significantly improves the discrimination between malignant and benign lymph nodes.
Forecasting housing investment Cañizares Martínez, Carlos; Bondt, Gabe J.; Gieseck, Arne
Journal of forecasting,
April 2023, Letnik:
42, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This study applies a model averaging approach to conditionally forecast housing investment in the largest Euro area countries and the Euro area. To account for substantial modeling uncertainty, it ...estimates a large and diverse number of vector error correction models using a wide set of long‐ and short‐run determinants and applies subset selection based on in‐sample and out‐of‐sample criteria. First, a pseudo out‐of‐sample forecast exercise shows that our model averaging approach consistently beats a battery of distinguished benchmark models, including BVARs, FAVARs, LASSO, and Ridge regressions. This evidences that model averaging provides more accurate forecasts also in the case of housing investment. Second, we find remarkable cross‐country heterogeneity in the drivers of housing investment. Overall, these findings guide forecasters and modelers on improving housing investment models and policymakers on implementing country‐specific housing market policies.
This paper develops Area-wide Leading Inflation CyclE (ALICE) indicators with the aim to provide early signals for turning points in the euro area headline and core inflation cycles. The headline ...(core) ALICE leads the reference cycle by three (four) months and the lead times extend to five (nine) months based on longer-leading series. Both ALICE indicators signalled turning points in the inflation cycles ex post and also performed well in a simulated real-time exercise. Moreover, in particular the headline ALICE also appeared to be useful for quantitative forecasting of the direction and level of inflation.
Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating and first-responding innate myeloid cells and have so far been underestimated in the context of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is the most frequent, ...immune-mediated, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. MS is treatable but not curable and its cause(s) and pathogenesis remain elusive. The involvement of neutrophils in MS pathogenesis has been suggested by the use of preclinical animal disease models, as well as on the basis of patient sample analysis. In this review, we provide an overview of the possible mechanisms and functions by which neutrophils may contribute to the development and pathology of MS. Neutrophils display a broad variety of effector functions enabling disease pathogenesis, including (1) the release of inflammatory mediators and enzymes, such as interleukin-1β, myeloperoxidase and various proteinases, (2) destruction and phagocytosis of myelin (as debris), (3) release of neutrophil extracellular traps, (4) production of reactive oxygen species, (5) breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and (6) generation and presentation of autoantigens. An important question relates to the issue of whether neutrophils exhibit a predominantly proinflammatory function or are also implicated in the resolution of chronic inflammatory responses in MS.
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