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Diffusion tensor imaging along perivascular spaces (DTI-ALPS) is a novel MRI method for assessing brain interstitial fluid dynamics, potentially indexing glymphatic function. Failed glymphatic clearance is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology. We assessed the contribution of age and female sex (strong AD risk factors) to DTI-ALPS index in healthy subjects. We also for the first time assessed the effect of head size. In accord with prior studies, we show reduced DTI-ALPS index with aging, and in men compared to women. However, head size may be a major contributing factor to this counterintuitive sex difference.

Purpose: Takayasu arteritis is a large-vessel vasculitis in women of childbearing age that affects large vessels including the aorta and its main branches. Inflammation of arteries can produce lesions that lead to occlusion, stenosis, or aneurysms which can lead to complications. If signs of organ dysfunction are present, vascular intervention may be necessary.Case Report: In this article, we present a case of Takayasu arteritis with high-grade stenosis of all the great vessels of the thoracic aorta treated with drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty and stenting requiring multiple follow-up interventions over a 1-year follow-up.Conclusion: The DCB angioplasty is a potential endovascular treatment for thoracic great artery stenosis in Takayasu arteritis that could be further explored.

Juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM) is a chronic pain condition affecting predominantly female adolescents. Although JFM pathophysiology has not been addressed, a study found reduced resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in the primary somatosensory system of children with chronic pain. This finding concurs with rs-FC reductions in somatosensory areas described in adults with fibromyalgia. In adults, such rs-FC alterations extended beyond the somatosensory domain and implicated other sensory modalities (3), which may suggest that fibromyalgia patients experience a weakening of sensory integration. Whether this phenomenon replicates in JFM remains to be elucidated. This research aimed to evaluate rs-FC alterations in adolescents with JFM for the first time. We evaluated 37 female adolescents with JFM and 43 matched controls. All participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging examination. Using an Intrinsic Connectivity Contrast approach, we computed whole-brain, voxel-wise rs-FC and assessed between-group differences via t-tests. Significant clusters were used as seeds of interest in post-hoc seed-to-voxel analyses. The statistical threshold of all analyses was set at family-wise error-corrected p<.05. Compared to controls, JFM patients had decreased whole-brain rs-FC in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) and the midcingulate cortex, involved in pain processing and response selection. Seed-to-voxel analyses revealed that JFM patients had reduced rs-FC within these regions and between the midcingulate cortex and the bilateral supplementary motor area, posterior insula and parietal operculum (SII), and auditory cortices, thus, areas mediating somatomotor and sensory processing. In contrast, JFM participants showed increased rs-FC between SI and the thalamus, potentially reflecting increased coupling between subcortical and cortical relays of nociceptive processing, and between SI and the ventral anterior insula, involved in affective and visceral processing. Our findings suggest an overall reduction of cortico-cortical integration of sensory signal and an augmented cross-talk between primary sensory and affective-visceral processing regions in adolescents with JFM. This work was funded by NIH/NIAMS Grants R01 AR074795 and P30 AR076316.

Introduction:Epidemiologic studies of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have consistently demonstrated variation in incidence, location, comorbidity burden, age-of-onset, and outcome by race and ethnicity, and genetic studies have identified differences in risk mediated by genetic risk factors such as Apolipoprotein E (APOE). We report the design and methods of the largest multi-ethnic genome-wide association study (GWAS) of ICH risk and outcome conducted to date.Methods:The Ethnic/Racial Variations of ICH Genetics (ERICH-GENE) study is an international, multi-center, genetic case-control study of ICH. Cases are individuals with confirmed primary ICH with biosample availability and consent compatible with shareable genome-wide genotyping or previous genotyping. Central neuroimaging phenotype harmonization of case status, hemorrhage location, and imaging characteristics of cerebral small vessel disease including leukoaraiosis, atrophy, microbleeds, intraventricular hemorrhage severity and volume of ICH measurements will be performed. Controls are ICH-free individuals of compatible age and race/ethnicity from existing studies and biorepositories.Results:As of August 2021, 2,002 ICH cases have been collected and genotyped, in addition to 2,558 already-genotyped ICH cases from the multi-ethnic ERICH study. 5,600 total new ICH cases will be genotyped under ERICH-GENE, with planned meta-analyses across existing ICH GWAS datasets and international biobanks totaling >20,000 cases. We are on schedule to meet our genotyping goal within the study period. Non-European ancestry cases are being prioritized for genotyping and ~66% of the previously genotyped ERICH cases are black or Hispanic. From available cases, a total of 10,621 neuroimaging studies have been uploaded for central adjudication to date with 6,278 having undergone harmonization.Conclusions:ERICH-GENE is a large, multi-ethnic, international, centrally harmonized GWAS of ICH risk and outcome that will identify genetic risk factors across diverse populations for biological discovery and population-specific risk stratification.

Objective:There is a high prevalence of progressive cognitive impairment in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) survivors. We sought to identify gene expression changes, in association with long-term neurodegeneration, among patients 12-24 months post-ICH.Methods:The Recovery and Outcomes from StrokE (ROSE)study prospectively recruits patients with spontaneous, supratentorial ICH, collecting baseline peripheral blood samples and MRI with diffusion tract imaging (DTI). The Recovery of StrokE-Longitudinal Assessment with Neuroimaging (ROSE-LAWN)study performs long term follow-up at 12-24 months on cases enrolled in ROSE. We report on the first five cases enrolled in the ROSE-LAWN study from December 2020 to March 2021. Controls were matched to an overall ICH population by age, sex, and race. RNA-sequencing, aligned to human genome assembly GRCh38, was tested for differential gene expression. Canonical pathway enrichment and network analyses were computed for differentially expressed genes using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, STRING and MCODE.Results:RNA-seq analysis of 5 ICH cases [male, 80%; median age, 61 (45 - 73); black, 40%; ICH volume, 14.88cc ± 13.07] and 13 controls [male, 54%; median age, 74 (69 - 79); black, 15%] identified 554 differentially expressed genes (genomic control adjusted p < 0.01), of which 24 met the false discovery rate correction for multiple comparisons (FDR < 0.05). The most significant difference was observed in hypoxia up-regulated 1 (HYOU1),a heat shock protein related gene (p = 2.64E-11). Pathway analysis identified enrichment of dopamine and serotonin receptor signaling (p = 8.74E-03, 2.23E-02), cell cycle regulation (p = 1.75E-02) and agranulocyte adhesion pathways (p = 2.18E-02). Comparison of baseline and follow-up MRI DTI demonstrated extensive cortical tract degeneration, beyond the initial injury.Conclusion:These results provide novel evidence of significant gene expression changes occurring years after the initial ICH. Despite resolution of the ICH, persistent inflammation may correlate with progressive neurodegeneration and subsequent cognitive impairment in ICH survivors. Future studies with greater sample sizes are supported by this work.

Background:Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients may appear disabled despite intact cortical spinal tracts (CST). ICH lesions may also vary in volume and location relative to the CST with differential impacts on motor outcome. In this study, we evaluated whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) integrity of CST fiber tracking associates with mobility three months post ICH.Methods:The Recovery and Outcomes from StrokE (ROSE) Study is a prospective, multi-center study of ICH serially assessed with motor, cognitive, and functional outcomes and MRI/DTI. Outcome data were collected by hospital chart review and interview/exam. Acute MRI images were analyzed by a central neuroimaging core for ICH location, size, intraventricular hemorrhage, and fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from DTI of the CST. Mobility was assessed at 3-month follow-up using the Barthel Mobility Index. We computed single variable logistic regression analyses (outcome = Barthel mobility at 3 months). We also computed a stepwise logistic model, with and without age, sex, and race, including variables that met P<0.1 to best fit.Results:There were 76 ICH patients with DTI FA data available for analysis; 61 with complete data for the multivariate model. Poor mobility after ICH (N = 21; 27.6%) was associated with ICH volume, presence of IVH, Glasgow coma score, ipsilesional CST FA, ipsilesional CP FA and CP FA asymmetry index (Table 1). The multivariate model that adjusted for age, sex, and race identified ipsilesional CP FA, admission GCS and presence of IVH as associated with poor mobility at 3 months; notably, log ICH volume was not associated after controlling for CST injury (Table 1).Conclusions:The presence of IVH and the GCS score at baseline were associated with poor mobility. In addition, the CP FA asymmetry index was independently associated with poor mobility even after accounting for log ICH volume, suggesting that DTI is informative of outcome beyond classic ICH outcome predictors.

The pepC gene of Listeria monocytogenesencodes aminopeptidase C that is predicted to share 72% amino acid sequence similarity and 53% sequence identity with the cysteine aminopeptidase PepC from Lactococcus lactis. The gene product also shows strong similarity to aminopeptidase C from Streptococcus thermophilusand Lactobacillus helveticus,and to a cysteine proteinase/bleomycin hydrolase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The enzyme from L. monocytogenesdisplayed broad N-terminal hydrolytic activity, with a similar substrate specificity to its lactic acid bacterial counterpart. The inhibition spectrum shows a great deal of similarity with enzymes from the family of lactic acid bacteria. In addition, one of the clones studied contained DNA sequences that could encode a regulatory protein of the deoR helix-turn-helix DNA binding protein family. The organization of the locus, designated pep, is presented along with the characterization of the gene products of the peplocus.

Gluing is of tremendous importance to the wood industry. About 70% of all wood used today involves gluing. As an increasing amount of lower quality wood is used in the future, gluing will become even more important. Additional developments in harvesting previously unused species and forest residues and cleaning dirty material, and a means to reclaim urban waste wood, are needed to assure an adequate wood supply. New or improved economical adhesive systems will be important in accelerating the development of glued products. The future of the wood products industry lies with the use of glue, since the wood raw material will continue to be harvested in ever smaller sizes.

Background.Radiolabeled somatostatin analogs have gained popularity for tumor imaging and have recently been used for the treatment of somatostatin receptor-expressing tumors. We have developed a novel, N-terminally extended, multiply iodinated somatostatin analog,125I-WOC 4a, that we hypothesize will be a useful tool for the detection of and therapy for somatostatin receptor-positive tumors. To evaluate the therapeutic potential of this agent, we compared the cytotoxicity of125I-WOC 4a in a somatostatin receptor subtype-2 (sst 2)-expressing human neuroblastoma cell line to its cytotoxicity in a somatostatin receptor-negative human pancreatic carcinoma cell line.

An analysis is presented for the heat transfer characteristics of a falling liquid film flow over a fin by the conjugate convection-conduction theory. Numerical results are presented for the dimensionless heat transfer coefficients, local and overall heat fluxes and temperature distribution of the fin by a simultaneous solution of the convective boundary layer equations of the fluid and the energy equation of the fin.

This article discusses research at the R. A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center to investigate the cause of odor production by algae. Investigations carried out with Chlorococcum, a unicellular green alga, in pure culture indicate that the odoriferous material is, for the most part, retained within the cells until their death or disintegration. The odor produced by this algae increased notably under experimental conditions in the acidic pH range. Fractionation of disintegrated algal cells revealed that a number of chemical compounds are involved in the odoriferous material.

While pain has been identified as a major health issue for adolescents, brain mechanisms of pain processing in this population remain unclear. Previous findings from adult studies may not be applicable given that the adolescent brain, particularly prefrontal cortex (PFC), has not been fully developed. This study was conducted to characterize pain sensitivity, pain-evoked brain responses, and the brain regions mediating the relationship between the stimulus intensity and pain perception in adolescents. Thirty adolescents (ages 13-17) and thirty adults (ages 35-55) underwent functional MRI scans involving acute pain. They received 12 noxious pressure stimuli (2.5 or 4 kg/cm2, each lasting 10 seconds, applied to the left thumbnail) and rated pain intensity and unpleasantness on a 0-100 computerized visual analogue scale. Adolescents reported greater pain intensity (t=2.77, p=0.008) and unpleasantness (t=2.66, p=0.01) in response to stimulations at 2.5 kg/cm2. These differences disappeared at 4 kg/cm2 (pain intensity: t=0.39, p=0.700; pain unpleasantness: t=0.97, p=0.337). A significant group by stimulus intensity interaction effect (F=7.52, p=0.008) was found in pain intensity ratings using a mixed-design ANOVA. Adolescents had greater dorsolateral and dorsomedial PFC as well as supramarginal gyrus activations in response to stimuli at 2.5kg/cm2, and greater rostral anterior cingulate and dorsomedial PFC activations in response to stimuli at 4kg/cm2 (Z>3.1, p<0.05, cluster-corrected). Using whole-brain multilevel mediation analyses we found significantly greater dorsolateral, medial PFC, and superior/middle temporal gyrus responses in adolescents (p<0.05, FDR-corrected) as brain mediators for the observed group difference in the relationship between stimulus intensity and pain intensity ratings. These brain regions are consistent with part of default mode network and frontoparietal network, which are important for modulating pain responses. These findings provide preliminary evidence of augmented brain responses that account for increased pain sensitivity in adolescents. NIH/NIAMS R01 AR074795. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Trustee Grant Award.

The author reflects on his upcoming high school graduation and on the decision of his parents to let him stay at home and go to a community college in their area. The author reveals that he feels alone as his friends will be leaving New York City to go to college in other places. The author believes that once his friends leave for college their relationship will never be the same.