Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2013 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
A novel quantitative fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) imager for both macro and meso-scale animal\r\nexperiments is developed. The image reconstruction algorithms are implemented in the framework of finite element\r\nmethod, while the experimental system is constructed using a non-contact, multi-angle full 360 degree transmission\r\nscheme. Shape-from-silhouette based volume carving approach is used to render the 3D models of the actual\r\nsamples. With a free-space light propagation model, the readout from the CCD is converted into the photon density\r\nnormal to sample surface in order to match the model-based tomographic reconstruction. For meso-scale subjects, a\r\nradiative transfer equation (RTE) based FMT reconstruction algorithm is adopted. For macro-scale subjects, a diffusion\r\napproximation (DA) based FMT reconstruction algorithm is adopted. Imaging results for both macro-scale and mesoscale\r\nsubjects are presented to valid system performance....
Background: Brain imaging studies suggested that the functional connectivity of various limbic, prefrontal, and\r\ntemporal brain structures may play an important role in tinnitus.\r\nMethods: We evaluated in affective processing of tinnitus patients by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging\r\n(fMRI). Patients with tinnitus and healthy controls underwent fMRI (1.5 T scanner) during 4 blocks of auditory stimuli\r\nof different emotional quality: 1) unpleasant beep tones, 2) pleasant sounds of chimes, 3) neutral words, 4) words with\r\naffective valence, alternating with off-periods.\r\nResults: The comparison of activation patterns (Statistical Parametric Mapping SPM 99) revealed significant\r\ndifferences in the limbic system, in prefrontal regions, temporal association cortices and striatal regions independent\r\nof affective relevance of stimuli.\r\nConclusion: Our results underline a differing affective perception of acoustic stimuli in tinnitus patients....
Cigarette smoking represents a major health problem in the United States. Although most cigarette smokers\r\nexpress a desire to quit, only about 14 to 49% will be successful after 6 or more months of treatment. An improved\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\nand behavioral treatments for smoking dependence. Many research groups have utilized functional brain imaging to\r\nexamine the effects of tobacco exposure on brain activity. Acute administration of nicotine and cigarette smoking itself\r\nhave been found to increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and visual system; reduce global brain activity;\r\nand increase dopamine (DA) release in the ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens. Chronic tobacco exposure lead to an\r\noverall up-regulation of 42 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) across brain regions (other than thalamus), and\r\nreduced monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B levels in the basal ganglia. Functional brain imaging studies of cigarette\r\ncraving and withdrawal, too, demonstrate important changes in brain activity. Taken together, current research suggests\r\nthat smoking enhances neurotransmission through cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic circuits by either direct stimulation\r\nof nAChRs, indirect stimulation through DA release of MAO inhibition, or a combination of these, and perhaps, other\r\nfactors. The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of current functional brain imaging studies of tobacco use\r\nand dependence, and use this information to develop a greater understanding of brain function in smokers....
Lactoferrin (Lf) is a natural occurring iron binding protein present in many mammalian excretions and involved\r\nin various physiological processes. Lf is used in the transport of iron along with other molecules and ions from the\r\ndigestive system. However its the modulatory functions exhibited by Lf in connection to immune response, disease\r\nregression and diagnosis that has made this protein an attractive therapeutic against chronic diseases. Further,\r\nthe exciting potentials of employing nanotechnology in advancing drug delivery systems, active disease targeting\r\nand prognosis have also shown some encouraging outcomes. This review focuses on the role of Lf in diagnosing\r\ninfection, cancer, neurological and inflammatory diseases and the recent nanotechnology based strategies....
Ovarian cancer is a very aggressive disease that is mostly asymptomatic at early onset. Approximately 85%\r\nof patients are diagnosed at late-stage disease, which greatly compromises full recovery. Standard detection\r\nmethods include measurement of the ovarian cancer biomarker CA-125. However, CA-125 is associated with false\r\npositive diagnosis and is largely limited to late-stage disease. As a result, there is a great need to discover new\r\nbiomarkers and develop novel detection and imaging methods for ovarian cancer. Patients with ovarian cancer\r\noften respond to initial chemotherapy but most will succumb to recurrent disease. Such poor prognosis is associated\r\nwith a drug resistant subpopulation of cancer cells with stem-like properties known as cancer stem cells (CSC).\r\nTraditional chemotherapy fails to target CSC, and it is widely accepted that this process leads to the recurrence of\r\nmore aggressive tumors. Therefore, it is essential to discover new ovarian CSC biomarkers and develop therapies\r\nthat specifically target this subpopulation. Bacteriophage (phage) display technology allows identification of high\r\naffinity peptides by screening of peptide libraries against cellular targets. The large amount of unique peptides in\r\na library facilitates high throughput selections both in vivo and in vitro. Here we discuss how phage display can be\r\nutilized to discover novel peptides with high binding affinity for normal ovarian cancer cells and ovarian CSC. Such\r\npeptides may be radiolabeled and employed in SPECT and PET imaging as well as in therapeutic settings. Further,\r\nboth phage and phage display derived peptides can be employed in identification of targeted antigens and novel\r\novarian cancer biomarkers using mass spectrometry analysis. Such biomarkers may be utilized in diagnosis and in\r\nidentification and selection of ovarian cancer subpopulations....
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