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Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), but it can also disrupt verbal fluency with significant costs to quality of life. The current study investigated how variability of bilateral active electrode coordinates along the superior/inferior, anterior/posterior, and lateral/medial axes in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or the globus pallidus interna (GPi) contribute to changes in verbal fluency. We predicted that electrode location in the left hemisphere would be linked to changes in fluency, especially in the STN., Methods: Forty PD participants treated with bilateral DBS targeting STN (n = 23) or GPi (n = 17) completed verbal fluency testing in their optimally treated state before and after DBS therapy. Normalized atlas coordinates from left and right active electrode positions along superior/inferior, anterior/posterior, and lateral/medial axes were used to predict changes in fluency postoperatively, separately for patients with STN and GPi targets., Results: Consistent with prior studies, fluency significantly declined pre- to postsurgery (in both DBS targets). In STN-DBS patients, electrode position along the inferior to superior axis in the left STN was a significant predictor of fluency changes; relatively more superior left active electrode was associated with the largest fluency declines in STN. Electrode coordinates in right STN or GPi (left or right) did not predict fluency changes., Interpretation: We discuss these findings in light of putative mechanisms and potential clinical impact., (© 2021 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association.)

Stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and mechanical thrombectomy comprise the two major treatments for acute ischemic stroke. Tissue plasminogen activator has been used for more than two decades and guidelines for hemodynamic management following tissue plasminogen activator administration are well established. However, mechanical thrombectomy is a relatively newer therapy and there is a paucity of evidence regarding hemodynamic management following large vessel occlusion strokes. The important tenets guiding the pathophysiology of large vessel occlusion strokes include understanding of cerebral autoregulation, collateral circulation, and blood pressure variability. In this narrative review, we discuss the current American Heart Association-American Stroke Association guidelines for the early management of acute ischemic stroke during different phases of the illness, encountered at different sections of a hospital including the emergency room, the neuro-interventional suite, and the intensive care unit. There is emerging evidence with regard to post-recanalization blood pressure management following large vessel occlusion strokes. Future research directions will include rea-ltime blood pressure variability assessments, identifying the extent of impaired autoregulation, and providing guidelines related to range and personalized blood pressure trajectories for patients following large vessel occlusion strokes.

American football is played in a chaotic visual environment filled with relevant and distracting information. We investigated the hypothesis that collegiate football players show exceptional skill at shielding their response execution from the interfering effects of distraction ( interference control ). The performances of 280 football players from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football programs were compared to age-matched controls in a variant of the Eriksen flanker task (Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974). This task quantifies the magnitude of interference produced by visual distraction on split-second response execution. Overall, football athletes and age controls showed similar mean reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates. However, football athletes were more proficient at shielding their response execution speed from the interfering effects of distraction (i.e., smaller flanker effect costs on RT). Offensive and defensive players showed smaller interference costs compared to controls, but defensive players showed the smallest costs. All defensive positions and one offensive position showed statistically smaller interference effects when compared directly to age controls. These data reveal a clear cognitive advantage among football athletes at executing motor responses in the face of distraction, the existence and magnitude of which vary by position. Individual differences in cognitive control may have important implications for both player selection and development to improve interference control capabilities during play.

Ruthenium-103 is the parent isotope of 103mRh (t1/2 56.1 min), an isotope of interest for Auger electron therapy. During the proton irradiation of thorium targets, large amounts of 103Ru are generated through proton induced fission. The development of a two part chemical separation process to isolate 103Ru in high yield and purity from a proton irradiated thorium matrix on an analytical scale is described herein. The first part employed an anion exchange column to remove cationic actinide/lanthanide impurities along with the majority of the transition metal fission products. Secondly, an extraction chromatographic column utilizing diglycolamide functional groups was used to decontaminate 103Ru from the remaining impurities. This method resulted in a final radiochemical yield of 83 ± 5% of 103Ru with a purity of 99.9%. Additionally, measured nuclear reaction cross sections for the formation of 103Ru and 106Ru via the 232Th(p,f)103,106Ru reactions are reported within.

A new method has been developed for the isolation of 223,224,225 Ra, in high yield and purity, from a proton irradiated 232 Th matrix. Herein we report an all-aqueous process using multiple solid-supported adsorption steps including a citrate chelation method developed to remove >99.9% of the barium contaminants by activity from the final radium product. A procedure involving the use of three columns in succession was developed, and the separation of 223,224,225 Ra from the thorium matrix was obtained with an overall recovery yield of 91 ± 3%, average radiochemical purity of 99.9%, and production yields that correspond to physical yields based on previously measured excitation functions.

Metal aquo ions occupy central roles in all equilibria that define metal complexation in natural environments. These complexes are used to establish thermodynamic metrics (i.e., stability constants) for predicting metal binding, which are essential for defining critical parameters associated with aqueous speciation, metal chelation, in vivo transport, and so on. As such, establishing the fundamental chemistry of the actinium(III) aquo ion (Ac-aquo ion, Ac(H 2 O) x 3+ ) is critical for current efforts to develop 225 Ac [ t 1/2 = 10.0(1) d] as a targeted anticancer therapeutic agent. However, given the limited amount of actinium available for study and its high radioactivity, many aspects of actinium chemistry remain poorly defined. We overcame these challenges using the longer-lived 227 Ac [ t 1/2 = 21.772(3) y] isotope and report the first characterization of this fundamentally important Ac-aquo coordination complex. Our X-ray absorption fine structure study revealed 10.9 ± 0.5 water molecules directly coordinated to the Ac III cation with an Ac-O H2O distance of 2.63(1) Å. This experimentally determined distance was consistent with molecular dynamics density functional theory results that showed (over the course of 8 ps) that Ac III was coordinated by 9 water molecules with Ac-O H2O distances ranging from 2.61 to 2.76 Å. The data is presented in the context of other actinide(III) and lanthanide(III) aquo ions characterized by XAFS and highlights the uniqueness of the large Ac III coordination numbers and long Ac-O H2O bond distances.

Structure analysis of the title compound, C(9)H(6)BrNO, has established that bromination of an 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative occurred in the 7-position. Intermolecular and weak intramolecular O-H.N hydrogen bonds are present, the former causing the molecules to pack as hydrogen-bonded dimers in the solid state.

This is a report of a 2-year experience with the management of penetrating injury of the cervical trachea. There were 29 cases. The respiratory status of the patient on admission dominated the initial management: 12 patients required emergency intubation and were immediately taken to operation, while 17 patients were more stable and could be subjected to the preoperative assessment of the oesophagus. Associated injuries were significant and dominated the postoperative morbidity and mortality. Primary repair of the trachea, without tracheostomy, was successful in a relatively high proportion of patients (55%).