Publications by Year: 2015

IMPORTANCE: Airflow obstruction on spirometry is universally used to define chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and current or former smokers without airflow obstruction may assume that they are disease free. OBJECTIVE: To identify clinical and radiologic evidence of smoking-related disease in a cohort of current and former smokers who did not meet spirometric criteria for COPD, for whom we adopted the discarded label of Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 0.

The 1D coordination polymer (CP) [(Me2S)3Cu2(μ-I)2]n (1) is formed when CuI reacts with SMe2 in n-heptane, whereas in acetonitrile (MeCN), the reaction forms exclusively the 2D CP [(Me2S)3Cu4(μ-I)4]n (2) containing "flower-basket" Cu4I4 units. The reaction product of CuI with MeSEt is also solvent-dependent, where the 1D polymer [(MeSEt)2Cu4(μ3-I)2(μ2-I)2(MeCN)2]n (3) containing "stepped-cubane" Cu4I4 units is isolated in MeCN. In contrast, the reaction in n-heptane affords the 1D CP [(MeSEt)3Cu4(μ3-I)4]n (4) containing "closed-cubane" Cu4I4 clusters. The reaction of MeSPr with CuI provides the structurally related 1D CP [(MeSPr)3Cu4(μ3-I)4]n (5), for which the X-ray structure has been determined at 115, 155, 195, 235, and 275 K, addressing the evolution of the metric parameters. Similarly to 4 and the previously reported CP [(Et2S)3Cu4(μ3-I)4]n (Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 5834), the 1D chain is built upon closed cubanes Cu4(μ3-I)4 as secondary building units (SBUs) interconnected via μ-MeSPr ligands. The 0D tetranuclear clusters [(L)4Cu4(μ3-I)4] [L = EtSPr (6), Pr2S (7)] respectively result from the reaction of CuI with EtSPr and n-Pr2S. With i-Pr2S, the octanuclear cluster [(i-Pr2S)6Cu8(μ3-I)3(μ4-I)2] (8) is formed. An X-ray study has also been performed at five different temperatures for the 2D polymer [(Cu3Br3)(MeSEt)3]n (9) formed from the reaction between CuBr and MeSEt in heptane. The unprecedented framework of 9 consists of layers with alternating Cu(μ2-Br)2Cu rhomboids, which are connected through two μ-MeSEt ligands to tetranuclear open-cubane Cu4Br4 SBUs. MeSPr forms with CuBr in heptane the 1D CP [(Cu3Br3)(MeSPr)3]n (10), which is converted to a 2D metal-organic framework [(Cu5Br5)(μ2-MeSPr)3]n (11) incorporating pentanuclear [(Cu5(μ4-Br)(μ2-Br)] SBUs when recrystallized in MeCN. The thermal stability and photophysical properties of these materials are also reported.

BACKGROUND: Iliosacral screw fixation has become a common method for surgical stabilization of acute disruptions of the pelvic ring. Placement of iliosacral screws into the first sacral (S1) body is the preferred method of fixation, but size limitations and sacral dysmorphism may preclude S1 fixation. In these clinical situations, fixation into the second sacral (S2) body has been recommended. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bone quality of the S1 compared to S2 in the described "safe zone" of iliosacral screw fixation in trauma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The pelvic computed tomography scans of 25 consecutive trauma patients, ages 18-49, at a level 1 trauma center were prospectively analyzed. Hounsfield units, a standardized computed tomography attenuation coefficient, was utilized to measure regional cancellous bone mineral density of the S1 and S2. No change in the clinical protocol or treatment occurred as a consequence of inclusion in this study.

Computational modeling and simulations are increasingly being used to complement experimental testing for analysis of safety and efficacy of medical devices. Multiple voxel- and surface-based whole- and partial-body models have been proposed in the literature, typically with spatial resolution in the range of 1-2 mm and with 10-50 different tissue types resolved. We have developed a multimodal imaging-based detailed anatomical model of the human head and neck, named "MIDA". The model was obtained by integrating three different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities, the parameters of which were tailored to enhance the signals of specific tissues: i) structural T1- and T2-weighted MRIs; a specific heavily T2-weighted MRI slab with high nerve contrast optimized to enhance the structures of the ear and eye; ii) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) data to image the vasculature, and iii) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to obtain information on anisotropy and fiber orientation. The unique multimodal high-resolution approach allowed resolving 153 structures, including several distinct muscles, bones and skull layers, arteries and veins, nerves, as well as salivary glands. The model offers also a detailed characterization of eyes, ears, and deep brain structures. A special automatic atlas-based segmentation procedure was adopted to include a detailed map of the nuclei of the thalamus and midbrain into the head model. The suitability of the model to simulations involving different numerical methods, discretization approaches, as well as DTI-based tensorial electrical conductivity, was examined in a case-study, in which the electric field was generated by transcranial alternating current stimulation. The voxel- and the surface-based versions of the models are freely available to the scientific community.

We address the problem of identifying linear relations among variables based on noisy measurements. This is a central question in the search for structure in large data sets. Often a key assumption is that measurement errors in each variable are independent. This basic formulation has its roots in the work of Charles Spearman in 1904 and of Ragnar Frisch in the 1930s. Various topics such as errors-in-variables, factor analysis, and instrumental variables all refer to alternative viewpoints on this problem and on ways to account for the anticipated way that noise enters the data. In the present paper we begin by describing certain fundamental contributions by the founders of the field and provide alternative modern proofs to certain key results. We then go on to consider a modern viewpoint and novel numerical techniques to the problem. The central theme is expressed by the Frisch-Kalman dictum, which calls for identifying a noise contribution that allows a maximal number of simultaneous linear relations among the noise-free variables-a rank minimization problem. In the years since Frisch’s original formulation, there have been several insights, including trace minimization as a convenient heuristic to replace rank minimization. We discuss convex relaxations and theoretical bounds on the rank that, when met, provide guarantees for global optimality. A complementary point of view to this minimum-rank dictum is presented in which models are sought leading to a uniformly optimal quadratic estimation error for the error-free variables. Points of contact between these formalisms are discussed, and alternative regularization schemes are presented.

The title compound, [FePt(C12H10P)(C13H13Si)(C18H15P)2(CO)3]·0.5CH2Cl2, represents an example of a phosphido-bridged heterobimetallic silyl complex; these are inter-esting precursors for the coordination and activation of small unsaturated organic mol-ecules. The μ2-PPh2 ligand spans the iron and platinum atoms, which are connected via a metal-metal bond of 2.7738 (4) Å. In contrast to most other complexes of the [(OC)3Fe(SiR 3)(μ-PR 2)PtL 2] family, where the iron-bound SiR 3 group is trans-arranged with respect to the μ2-PPh2 ligand, the SiPh2Me ligand is roughly collinear with the Fe-Pt vector [Si-Fe-Pt = 169.07 (3)°].

Many regions within stress neurocircuitry, including the anterior hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex, are densely populated with sex steroid receptors. Substantial evidence from animal studies indicates that the gonadal hormone 17β-estradiol (E$_2$) impacts the structure and function of these regions, but human studies are limited. Characterizing estradiol’s role in stress circuitry in vivo in humans may have important clinical implications given the comorbidity between major depressive disorder (MDD), stress circuitry dysfunction and endocrine dysregulation. In this study, we determined estradiol’s role in modulating activity within cortical and subcortical stress circuitry regions in healthy and MDD women. Subjects were part of a population-based birth cohort, the New England Family Study. Capitalizing on the endogenous fluctuation in E$_2$ during the menstrual cycle, we conducted a within-person repeated-measures functional neuroimaging study in which 15 women with recurrent MDD, in remission, and 15 healthy control women underwent hormonal evaluations, behavioral testing, and fMRI scanning on two occasions, under low and high E$_2$ conditions. Subjects completed an fMRI scan while undergoing a mild visual stress challenge that reliably activated stress neural circuitry. Results demonstrate that E$_2$ modulates activity across key stress circuitry regions, including bilateral amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. In healthy women, robust task-evoked BOLD signal changes observed under low E$_2$ conditions were attenuated under high E$_2$ conditions. This hormonal capacity to regulate activity in stress circuitry was not observed in MDD women, despite their remitted status, suggesting that dysregulation of gonadal hormone function may be a characteristic trait of the disease. These findings serve to deepen our understanding of estradiol’s actions in the healthy brain and the neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie the pronounced sex difference in MDD risk.

Ultrasound (US) imaging exhibits considerable difficulties for medical visual inspection and for development of automatic analysis methods due to speckle, which negatively affects the perception of tissue boundaries and the performance of automatic segmentation methods. With the aim of alleviating the effect of speckle, many filtering techniques are usually considered as a preprocessing step prior to automatic analysis methods or visual inspection. Most of the state-of-the-art filters try to reduce the speckle effect without considering its relevance for the characterization of tissue nature. However, the speckle phenomenon is the inherent response of echo signals in tissues and can provide important features for clinical purposes. This loss of information is even magnified due to the iterative process of some speckle filters, e.g., diffusion filters, which tend to produce over-filtering because of the progressive loss of relevant information for diagnostic purposes during the diffusion process. In this paper, we propose an anisotropic diffusion filter with a probabilistic-driven memory mechanism to overcome the over-filtering problem by following a tissue selective philosophy. In particular, we formulate the memory mechanism as a delay differential equation for the diffusion tensor whose behavior depends on the statistics of the tissues, by accelerating the diffusion process in meaningless regions and including the memory effect in regions where relevant details should be preserved. Results both in synthetic and real US images support the inclusion of the probabilistic memory mechanism for maintaining clinical relevant structures, which are removed by the state-of-the-art filters.

Radiotherapy planning and attenuation correction of PET images require simulation of radiation transport. The necessary physical properties are typically derived from computed tomography (CT) images, but in some cases, including stereotactic neurosurgery and combined PET/MR imaging, only magnetic resonance (MR) images are available. With these applications in mind, we describe how a realistic, patient-specific, pseudo-CT of the head can be derived from anatomical MR images. We refer to the method as atlas-based regression, because of its similarity to atlas-based segmentation. Given a target MR and an atlas database comprising MR and CT pairs, atlas-based regression works by registering each atlas MR to the target MR, applying the resulting displacement fields to the corresponding atlas CTs and, finally, fusing the deformed atlas CTs into a single pseudo-CT. We use a deformable registration algorithm known as the Morphon and augment it with a certainty mask that allows a tailoring of the influence certain regions are allowed to have on the registration. Moreover, we propose a novel method of fusion, wherein the collection of deformed CTs is iteratively registered to their joint mean and find that the resulting mean CT becomes more similar to the target CT. However, the voxelwise median provided even better results; at least as good as earlier work that required special MR imaging techniques. This makes atlas-based regression a good candidate for clinical use.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the neural correlates of adult ADHD in treatment-na ıve participants, an approach necessary for identifying neural substrates unconfounded by medication effects. METHOD: The sample consisted of 24 medication-na ıve adults with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) diagnosed ADHD and 24 healthy controls, comparable on age, sex, handedness, reading achievement, IQ, and psychiatric comorbidity. All participants were assessed with structured diagnostic interviews. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based regional voxel-based morphometry (r-VBM) was used to assess volumetric differences in a priori defined brain regions of interest. RESULTS: VBM analysis revealed group differences in the hypothesized cortical and subcortical areas; however, only cerebellar volume reductions in ADHD retained significance (p .05) after corrections for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSION: These results support the notion that medication-na ıve ADHD as expressed in adulthood, manifests subtle brain volume reductions from normal in the cerebellum, and possibly in other syndrome-congruent gray-matter structures. Larger samples are required to confirm these findings.