We examined how mechanical damages to the skin and the infestation of the monogenean Benedenia seriolae on the skin affected Nocardia seriolae infection in Japanese amberjack Seriola quinqueradiata. ...After the skin was inflicted damages or after B. seriolae was dewormed with freshwater bathing, amberjacks were challenged with 1.0 × 103 CFU/mL N. seriolae by immersion. Survival rate was significantly lower in the skin-damaged group and the skin fluke-infested group than in their respective control groups. The present study suggests that skin injuries and B. seriolae infection contribute to the N. seriolae infection in Japanese amberjack.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients often suffer from spinal diseases requiring surgeries, although the risk of complications is high. There are few reports on outcomes after spinal surgery for PD ...patients with deep brain stimulation (DBS). The objective of this study was to explore the data on spinal surgery for PD patients with precedent DBS. We evaluated 24 consecutive PD patients with 28 spinal surgeries from 2007 to 2017 who received at least a 2-year follow-up. The characteristics and outcomes of PD patients after spinal surgery were compared to those of 156 non-PD patients with degenerative spinal diseases treated in 2013–2017. Then, the characteristics, outcomes, and spinal alignment of PD patients receiving DBS were analyzed in degenerative spinal/lumbar diseases. The mean age at the time of spinal surgery was 68 years. The Hoehn and Yahr score regarding PD was stage 1 for 8 patients, stage 2 for 2 patients, stage 3 for 8 patients, stage 4 for 10 patients, and stage 5 for 0 patient. The median preoperative L-DOPA equivalent daily dose was 410 mg. Thirteen patients (46%) received precedent subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS. Lumbar lesions with pain were common, and operation and anesthesia times were long in PD patients. Pain and functional improvement of PD patients persisted for 2 years after surgery with a higher complication rate than for non-PD patients. PD patients with STN DBS maintained better lumbar lordosis for 2 years after spinal surgery. STN DBS significantly maintained spinal alignment with subsequent pain and functional amelioration 2 years after surgery. The outcomes of spinal surgery for PD patients might be favorably affected by thorough treatment for PD including DBS.
Background
The purpose was to clarify diagnostic clues and pitfalls in cranio-cervical junction arteriovenous fistulas (CCJ AVFs) with congestive myelopathy.
Methods
In a multicenter observational ...study by the Neurospinal Society of Japan, we described the demographics, clinical courses, imaging findings, and outcomes of consecutive patients with CCJ AVFs presenting with congestive myelopathy between 2009 and 2019.
Results
Twenty-seven patients were included (mean age, 70 years; male, 96%). Progressive symptoms within one day to one month were more common (63%) than chronic symptoms. Myelopathic symptoms were characterized by ascending paralysis beginning from the legs, involving the trunk and arms, and sometimes ending in the brainstem. Fifteen patients (56%) received a misdiagnosis, including acute transverse myelitis. The most common MRI findings were venous congestive edema of the cervical cord (96%) and the brainstem (63%) and surrounding vascular flow voids (100%). The mean extension of congestive edema was 5.5 ± 2.9 vertebral segments. The most common angiographic findings were a dural AVF (78%) at the C1 level (81%) with descending venous drainage (85%). Seven patients (26%) were administered steroids, which resulted in neurological decline in 3. Neurosurgical obliteration of the AVF led to improvements in MRI findings in 75% and a functional status in 67%; however, 44% remained dependent.
Conclusions
The myelopathy of CCJ AVFs was characterized by acute ascending paralysis in elderly men. A misdiagnosis was common because of the acute presentation due to a longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesion. Dilated vessels on MRI were a key finding for the correct diagnosis.
What is already known on this topic?
Slowly progressive myelopathy is a well-known symptom that results from impaired spinal venous drainage due to thoracolumbar AVFs. Although cranio-cervical junction arteriovenous fistulas (CCJ AVFs) constitute a treatable cause of congestive myelopathy, detailed information is not currently available due to their rarity.
What does this study add?
CCJ AVFs often presented with acute ascending myelopathy in elderly men due to a longitudinally extending cervical cord lesion with surrounding flow voids. Steroid pulse therapy was not effective or even harmful to congestive myelopathy, while neurosurgical treatment effectively obliterated AVFs.
How might this study affect research, practice or policy?
The results obtained revealed diagnostic clues and pitfalls from the largest dataset of patients with CCJ AVFs in a multicenter cohort.
Objective: In recent years, the transradial artery approach has gained prominence and is increasingly employed in neurovascular angiography and therapy due to its safety, reduced complications, and ...minimal invasiveness. While various venous approaches, including the conventional transfemoral vein approach, exist for procedures such as transvenous embolization, recent reports have highlighted methods involving upper extremity cutaneous veins. However, the practicality and efficacy of these approaches remain unclear.Case Presentations: This study presents our experience with three cases of dural arteriovenous fistulas, where transvenous embolization was performed via upper limb cutaneous veins. In all instances, the arteriovenous approach was successfully executed using a single upper extremity, leading to the successful completion of treatment.Conclusion: This technique demonstrates significant advantages, not only in terms of its minimal invasiveness but also due to its simplicity and safety. Anticipating broader acceptance in the future, this approach offers a promising avenue for further exploration in neurovascular interventions.
Neuroprotective effects of electric stimulation have been recently shown in ischemic stroke, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Adult Wistar rats weighing 200 to 250 g received ...occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery for 90 minutes. At 1 hour after reperfusion, electrodes were implanted to rats on the right frontal epidural space. Electric stimulation, at preset current (0 to 200 microA) and frequency (0 to 50 Hz), was performed for 1 week. Stroke animals were subjected to behavioral tests at 3 days and 1 week postmiddle cerebral artery and then immediately euthanized for protein and immunohistochemical assays. After demonstration of behavioral and histological benefits, subsequent experiments pursued the mechanistic hypothesis that electric stimulation exerted antiapoptotic effects through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-dependent pathway; thus, cortical stimulation was performed in the presence or absence of specific inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (LY294002) in stroke rats.
Cortical stimulation abrogated the ischemia-associated increase in apoptotic cells in the injured cortex by activating antiapoptotic cascades, which was reversed by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 as reflected behaviorally and immunohistochemically. Furthermore, brain levels of neurotrophic factors (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor) were upregulated, which coincided with enhanced angiogenesis and suppressed proliferation of inflammatory cells in the ischemic cortex.
These results suggest that electric stimulation prevents apoptosis through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. Consequently, the ischemic brain might have been rendered as a nurturing microenvironment characterized by robust angiogenesis and diminished microglial/astrocytic proliferation, resulting in the reduction of infarct volumes and behavioral recovery. Electric stimulation is a novel and potent therapeutic tool for cerebral ischemia.
Abstract
Background
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from bone marrow with secretory functions of various neurotrophic factors. Stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) ...is also reported as one of chemokines released from MSCs. In this research, the therapeutic effects of MSCs through SDF-1α were explored. 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 20 μg) was injected into the right striatum of female SD rats with subsequent administration of GFP-labeled MSCs, fibroblasts, (i.v., 1 × 10
7
cells, respectively) or PBS at 2 hours after 6-OHDA injection. All rats were evaluated behaviorally with cylinder test and amphetamine-induced rotation test for 1 month with consequent euthanasia for immunohistochemical evaluations. Additionally, to explore the underlying mechanisms, neuroprotective effects of SDF-1α were explored using 6-OHDA-exposed PC12 cells by using dopamine (DA) assay and TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining.
Results
Rats receiving MSC transplantation significantly ameliorated behaviorally both in cylinder test and amphetamine-induced rotation test compared with the control groups. Correspondingly, rats with MSCs displayed significant preservation in the density of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive fibers in the striatum and the number of TH-positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) compared to that of control rats. In the
in vitro
study, SDF-1α treatment increased DA release and suppressed cell death induced by 6-OHDA administration compared with the control groups.
Conclusions
Consequently, MSC transplantation might exert neuroprotection on 6-OHDA-exposed dopaminergic neurons at least partly through anti-apoptotic effects of SDF-1α. The results demonstrate the potentials of intravenous MSC administration for clinical applications, although further explorations are required.
The technological development for a 3-T high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnet is underway. The 3-T HTS MRI magnet is imaged such that RE(= Rare Earth)Ba 2 Cu ...3 O 7-δ (REBCO) coils are installed and cooled using a cryocooler between 30 and 50 K without liquid helium refrigerant. REBCO MRI magnets are expected to maintain the magnetic field with stability better than 0.1 ppm/h with superconducting joints for a persistent-current mode. The resistance in a joint must be suppressed less than 1 × 10 -12 Ω to achieve the expected stability. The resistance of REBCO joint was estimated measuring the decay rate of trapped magnetic field in a REBCO single-turn loop including a joint. An external magnetic field of up to 1 T was applied to the joint in the STL at temperatures of 35 K and 50 K. The order of resistance in the REBCO joint was less than 1 × 10 -13 Ω.
We are developing a cryocooled (RE)Ba2Cu3O7 (REBCO; RE = rare earth) persistent-mode superconducting magnet system that generates 1 T with multiple superconducting joints. In parallel to the design ...of the system, we have investigated transport characteristics of the REBCO superconducting joints. Critical currents (Ic) were measured as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Two joint samples with Ic of 107 and 53 A at 77 K, self-field were measured. The first one showed Ic of 357 A at 50 K and 0.1 T (magnetic field is perpendicular to the tape surface). Ic of the REBCO joint samples showed remarkable hysteresis. The anisotropy of Ic changed with temperature. Ic at B perpendicular to the tape were higher than those at B parallel to the tape at temperatures below 20 K. The random pinning is possibly the dominant pinning mechanism in the whole temperatures for the REBCO superconducting joints in magnetic fields perpendicular to c-axis.
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