Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Template‐based approach for detecting motor task activation‐related hyperperfusion in pulsed ASL data

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) permits the noninvasive measurement of quantitative values of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and is thus well adapted to study inter‐ and intrasubject perfusion variations whether at rest or during an fMRI task. In this study, a template approach to detect brain activation as a CBF difference between resting and activated groups was compared with a standard generalized linear model (GLM) analysis. A basal perfusion template of PICORE‐Q2TIPS ASL images acquired at 3T from a group of 25 healthy subjects (mean age 31.6 ± 8.3 years) was created. The second group of 12 healthy subjects (mean age 28.6 ± 2.7 years) performed a block‐design motor task. The template was compared with the mean activated image of the second group both at the individual and at the group level to extract activation maps. The results obtained using a GLM analysis of the whole sequence was used as ground truth for comparison. The influences of spatial normalization using DARTEL registration and of correction of partial volume effects (PVE) in the construction of the template were assessed. Results showed that a basal perfusion template can detect activation‐related hyperperfusion in motor areas. The true positive ratio was increased by 2.5% using PVE‐correction and by 3.2% using PVE‐correction with DARTEL registration. On average, the group comparison presented a 2.2% higher true positive ratio than the one‐to‐many comparison. Hum Brain Mapp 35:1179–1189, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Differences in cortical coding of heat evoked pain beyond the perceived intensity: An fMRI and EEG study

Imaging studies have identified a wide network of brain areas activated by nociceptive stimuli and revealed differences in somatotopic representation of highly distinct stimulation sites (foot vs. hand) in the primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortices. Somatotopic organization between adjacent dermatomes and differences in cortical coding of similarly perceived nociceptive stimulation are less well studied. Here, cortical processing following contact heat nociceptive stimulation of cervical (C4, C6, and C8) and trunk (T10) dermatomes were recorded in 20 healthy subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Stimulation of T10 compared with the C6 and C8 revealed significant higher response intensity in the left S1 (contralateral) and the right S2 (ipsilateral) even when the perceived pain was equal between stimulation sites. Accordingly, contact heat evoked potentials following stimulation of T10 showed significantly higher N2P2 amplitudes compared to C6 and C8. Adjacent dermatomes did not reveal a distinct somatotopical representation. Within the assessed cervical and trunk dermatomes, nociceptive cortical processing to heat differs significantly in magnitude even when controlling for pain perception. This study provides evidence that controlling for pain perception is not sufficient to compare directly the magnitude of cortical processing [blood oxygen level dependence (BOLD) response and amplitude of evoked potentials] between body sites. Hum Brain Mapp 35:1379–1389, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sex‐Based Disparities in Liver Transplant Rates in the United States

We sought to characterize sex‐based differences in access to deceased donor liver transplantation. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data were used to analyze n = 78 998 adult candidates listed before (8/1997–2/2002) or after (2/2002–2/2007) implementation of Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD)‐based liver allocation. The primary outcome was deceased donor liver transplantation. Cox regression was used to estimate covariate‐adjusted differences in transplant rates by sex. Females represented 38% of listed patients in the pre‐MELD era and 35% in the MELD era. Females had significantly lower covariate‐adjusted transplant rates in the pre‐MELD era (by 9%; p < 0.0001) and in the MELD era (by 14%; p < 0.0001). In the MELD era, the disparity in transplant rate for females increased as waiting list mortality risk increased, particularly for MELD scores ≥15. Substantial geographic variation in sex‐based differences in transplant rates was observed. Some areas of the United States had more than a 30% lower covariate‐adjusted transplant rate for females compared to males in the MELD era. In conclusion, the disparity in liver transplant rates between females and males has increased in the MELD era. It is especially troubling that the disparity is magnified among patients with high MELD scores and in certain regions of the United States.
Shape abnormalities of subcortical and ventricular structures in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Detecting, quantifying, and predicting

This article assesses the feasibility of using shape information to detect and quantify the subcortical and ventricular structural changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. We first demonstrate structural shape abnormalities in MCI and AD as compared with healthy controls (HC). Exploring the development to AD, we then divide the MCI participants into two subgroups based on longitudinal clinical information: (1) MCI patients who remained stable; (2) MCI patients who converted to AD over time. We focus on seven structures (amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and lateral ventricles) in 754 MR scans (210 HC, 369 MCI of which 151 converted to AD over time, and 175 AD). The hippocampus and amygdala were further subsegmented based on high field 0.8 mm isotropic 7.0T scans for finer exploration. For MCI and AD, prominent ventricular expansions were detected and we found that these patients had strongest hippocampal atrophy occurring at CA1 and strongest amygdala atrophy at the basolateral complex. Mild atrophy in basal ganglia structures was also detected in MCI and AD. Stronger atrophy in the amygdala and hippocampus, and greater expansion in ventricles was observed in MCI converters, relative to those MCI who remained stable. Furthermore, we performed principal component analysis on a linear shape space of each structure. A subsequent linear discriminant analysis on the principal component values of hippocampus, amygdala, and ventricle leads to correct classification of 88% HC subjects and 86% AD subjects. Hum Brain Mapp 35:3701–3725, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cytomegalovirus Incidence Between Everolimus Versus Mycophenolate in De Novo Renal Transplants: Pooled Analysis of Three Clinical Trials

Everolimus (EVR) in heart and renal transplant (RTx) recipients may be associated with a decreased incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV). A detailed analysis of the association between EVR versus mycophenolic acid (MPA) and CMV events has not been reported. CMV data from 2004 de novo RTx recipients from three‐randomized, prospective, EVR studies A2309 (N = 833), B201 (N = 588) and B251 (N = 583) were retrospectively analyzed to identify differences between two EVR dosing groups and MPA. EVR groups received 1.5 mg/day, or 3 mg/day with either standard (SD‐CsA) or reduced dose cyclosporine (RD‐CsA). Controls received MPA with SD‐CsA. CMV prophylaxis was as per center practice. CMV incidence (infection/syndrome, disease, viremia) was captured per local center evaluations. Kaplan–Meier analyses demonstrated that freedom from CMV viremia and infection/syndrome was significantly greater for EVR versus MPA for recipients without CMV prophylaxis. Among recipients who received prophylaxis, freedom from viremia was greater for EVR 3.0 mg; freedom from infection/syndrome was greater for EVR 3.0 and 1.5 mg. Although freedom from organ involvement was numerically greater for EVR, it was not statistically significant. This analysis documents significant reductions in the incidence of CMV infection/syndrome and viremia in EVR‐treated de novo RTx recipients, especially those who did not receive CMV prophylaxis versus MPA.
Enhanced phase regression with savitzky‐golay filtering for high‐resolution BOLD fMRI

Phase regression exploits the temporal evolution of phase in individual voxels to suppress blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal fluctuations caused by larger vessels and draining veins while preserving signal changes from microvascular effects. However, this process does not perform well when phase time series have low signal‐to‐noise ratios because of high levels of physiological noise. We demonstrate that Savitzky‐Golay filters may be used to recover the underlying change in phase and completely restore the efficacy of phase regression. We do not make a priori assumptions regarding phase evolution and perform a data‐driven exploration of parameter space to select the Savitzky‐Golay filter parameters that minimize temporal variance in each voxel after phase regression. This approach is shown to work well on data acquired with single‐shot and multi‐shot pulse sequences, and should therefore be useful for both human and animal gradient‐echo fMRI at high spatial resolutions at high fields. The ability to improve the spatial specificity of BOLD activation may be especially advantageous for clinical applications of fMRI that rely upon the accuracy of individual subject's activation maps to assist with presurgical planning and clinical decision‐making. Enhanced phase regression with Savitzky‐Golay filtering may also find other uses in analyses of resting state functional connectivity. Hum Brain Mapp 35:3832–3840, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PACES: a national leadership program in support of primary‐care reform in Portugal

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the training strategy developed to provide the leadership of a new coordination structure of health centers in Portugal, with managerial competencies adapted to the requirements of their function, in support of primary care reform.Design/methodology/approach – Pre and post‐program questionnaires were exploited. These focused on the perceptions of the new managers of their needs and of the benefits derived from their participation in learning activities during 2008 and 2009.Findings – The findings outline that although the program created opportunities for executive directors to identify and analyze planning and management problems and to share potential solutions with colleagues, a training program is not sufficient to create the conditions that facilitate change.Research limitations/implications – More research is required to better understand the impact of the program on executive directors' attitudes and behaviors. More research on measuring the impact of leadershi.
Th17 Alloimmunity Prevents Neonatal Establishment of Lymphoid Chimerism in IL‐4‐Deprived Mice

Immune responses in newborn mice are known to be biased toward the helper type 2 phenotype. This may account for their propensity to develop tolerance. Herein, we evaluated the effects of IL‐4 deprivation on CD4+ T‐cell activities elicited by neonatal exposure to allogeneic spleen cells. We showed that chimerism, Th2‐type polarization and pathology, as well as skin allograft acceptance were inhibited in BALB/c mice immunized at birth with (A/J x BALB/c) F1 spleen cells upon in vivo IL‐4 neutralization. While IL‐4 neutralization inhibited the development of Th2 cells in this model, it led to the accumulation of IL‐17A, IL‐17F, IL‐22, IL‐6 and RORγt mRNA in the spleen or graft tissues. Moreover, IL‐4 deprivation led to the differentiation of donor‐specific Th17 cells with a concomitant Th1 response characterized by IFN‐γ production. The Th17‐type response emerging in IL‐4‐deprived mice was found to mediate both intragraft neutrophil infiltration and the abrogation of B‐cell chimerism. Neutralization of this Th17 response failed however to restore functional skin graft acceptance. Collectively, our observations indicate that the neonatal Th2 response opposes the development of Th17 cells, and that Th17 cells are responsible for controlling lymphoid chimerism in mice neonatally injected with semiallogeneic cells.
Characterization of the Ileal Microbiota in Rejecting and Nonrejecting Recipients of Small Bowel Transplants

Small bowel transplantation can be a life‐preserving procedure for patients with irreversible intestinal failure. Allograft rejection remains a major source of morbidity and mortality and its accurate diagnosis and treatment are critical. In this study, we used pyrosequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene tags to compare the composition of the ileal microbiota present during nonrejection, prerejection and active rejection states in small bowel transplant patients. During episodes of rejection, the proportions of phylum Firmicutes (p < 0.001) and the order Lactobacillales (p < 0.01) were significantly decreased, while those of the phylum Proteobacteria, especially the family Enterobacteriaceae, were significantly increased (p < 0.005). Receiver‐operating characteristic analysis revealed that relative proportions of several bacterial taxa in ileal effluents and especially Firmicutes, could be used to discriminate between nonrejection and active rejection. In conclusion, the findings obtained during this study suggest that small bowel transplant rejection is associated with changes in the microbial populations in ileal effluents and support microbiota profiling as a potential diagnostic biomarker of rejection. Future studies should investigate if the dysbiosis that we observed is a cause or a consequence of the rejection process.
Spatiotemporal dynamics of affective picture processing revealed by intracranial high‐gamma modulations

Our comprehension of the neural mechanisms underlying emotional information processing has largely benefited from noninvasive electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging techniques in recent years. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of the neural events occurring during emotional processing remain imprecise due to the limited combination of spatial and temporal resolution provided by these techniques. This study examines the modulations of high‐frequency activity of intracranial electroencephalography recordings associated with affective picture valence, in epileptic patients awaiting neurosurgery. Recordings were obtained from subdural grids and depth electrodes in eight patients while they viewed a series of unpleasant, pleasant and neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System. Broadband high‐gamma (70–150 Hz) power was computed for separate 100‐ms time windows and compared according to ratings of emotional valence. Compared to emotionally neutral or pleasant pictures, unpleasant stimuli were associated with an early and long‐lasting (≈200–1,000 ms) bilateral increase in high‐gamma activity in visual areas of the occipital and temporal lobes, together with a late and transient (≈500–800 ms) decrease found bilaterally in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). Pleasant pictures were associated with increased gamma activity in the occipital cortex, compared to the emotionally neutral stimuli. Consistent with previous studies, our results provide direct evidence of emotion‐related modulations in the visual ventral pathway during picture processing. Results in the lateral PFC also shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying its role in negative emotions processing. This study demonstrates the utility of intracranial high‐gamma modulations to study emotional process with a high spatiotemporal precision. Hum Brain Mapp, 36:16–28, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Low income, high risk: the overlapping stigmas of food allergy and poverty

The aim of this study was to explore experiences and coping strategies of low-income families affected by food allergies. Of particular interest were experiences of allergy-related stigma within the context of poverty stigma. A secondary objective was to offer suggestions for refining a conceptual model of disease stigma. In-depth interviews with 23 individuals (10 key informants and 13 low-income adults affected by food allergies in southwestern Ontario, Canada) were conducted in 2012–2013. Participants reported feeling forced to adopt income-related stigmatized behaviors to obtain food and perceived difficulty in obtaining medication. Participants adopted cognitive distancing strategies to separate themselves from other low-income families affected by food allergies. Key informants frequently perceived low-income allergic individuals to be less vigilant than higher income individuals and attributed higher rates of allergy among higher income individuals to fewer unhygienic exposures and infections in early childhood. Both low-income participants and key informants perceived that inadequate education was a barrier to allergy management: key informants perceived a lack of education as an individual-level failure, while low-income participants perceived the lack of education as a system-level failure. Our findings revealed intersections between allergy stigma and poverty stigma. Results can be used to suggest additions to a conceptual model of disease stigma. Differing perspectives between key informants and low-income individuals have implications for strategies to improve access to education, safe food, and medication for low-income families affected by food allergies.
Truth and Consequences: The Challenge of Greater Transparency in Liver Distribution and Utilization

The system for distribution of deceased donor liver allografts has undergone relatively minor modifications over the past 15 years. The local-regional-national algorithm has been modified with small changes for discrete patient groups that impact a minor percentage of the total liver transplant volume. The proliferation of transplant centers has contributed to an entrenchment of the local donation service area as the primary distribution unit, with an amplified level of competition between centers. This has resulted in the relatively infrequent occurrence where a liver is placed nationally with a center outside the region of origin of the donor.
The mirror neuron system and the strange case of Broca's area

Mirror neurons, originally described in the monkey premotor area F5, are embedded in a frontoparietal network for action execution and observation. A similar Mirror Neuron System (MNS) exists in humans, including precentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and superior temporal sulcus. Controversial is the inclusion of Broca's area, as homologous to F5, a relevant issue in light of the mirror hypothesis of language evolution, which postulates a key role of Broca's area in action/speech perception/production. We assess “mirror” properties of this area by combining neuroimaging and intraoperative neurophysiological techniques. Our results show that Broca's area is minimally involved in action observation and has no motor output on hand or phonoarticulatory muscles, challenging its inclusion in the MNS. The presence of these functions in premotor BA6 makes this area the likely homologue of F5 suggesting that the MNS may be involved in the representation of articulatory rather than semantic components of speech. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1010–1027, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The acustico‐lateral centers and the cerebellum, with fiber connections, of fishes

Introduction . The area acustico-lateralis and the cerebellum . The cellular pattern . Area acustico-lateralis . Nudeus medialis . Nucleus dorsalia . Nucleus ventralis . Nucleus octavo-motorius anterior . Related periventricular gray . Nucleus tangentialis . Layer arrangement of the cerebellum . Stratum granulosum and stratum Purkinje . Nucleus vestibularis descendens .
5‐HTTLPR differentially predicts brain network responses to emotional faces

The effects of the 5‐HTTLPR polymorphism on neural responses to emotionally salient faces have been studied extensively, focusing on amygdala reactivity and amygdala‐prefrontal interactions. Despite compelling evidence that emotional face paradigms engage a distributed network of brain regions involved in emotion, cognitive and visual processing, less is known about 5‐HTTLPR effects on broader network responses. To address this, we evaluated 5‐HTTLPR differences in the whole‐brain response to an emotional faces paradigm including neutral, angry and fearful faces using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 76 healthy adults. We observed robust increased response to emotional faces in the amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, fusiform gyrus, superior temporal sulcus and lateral prefrontal and occipito‐parietal cortices. We observed dissociation between 5‐HTTLPR groups such that LALA individuals had increased response to only angry faces, relative to neutral ones, but S′ carriers had increased activity for both angry and fearful faces relative to neutral. Additionally, the response to angry faces was significantly greater in LALA individuals compared to S′ carriers and the response to fearful faces was significantly greater in S′ carriers compared to LALA individuals. These findings provide novel evidence for emotion‐specific 5‐HTTLPR effects on the response of a distributed set of brain regions including areas responsive to emotionally salient stimuli and critical components of the face‐processing network. These findings provide additional insight into neurobiological mechanisms through which 5‐HTTLPR genotype may affect personality and related risk for neuropsychiatric illness. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2842–2851, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Timed tests in parkinson's disease evaluation1

To the Editor: I enjoyed reading Quinn’s review (1) dealing with essential myoclonus and myoclonic dystonia. I agree entirely that the terminology is somewhat arbitrary or artificial and that the definition of the underlying molecular biologic basis of these disorders will be a critical step in furthering our understanding of their interrelation. I agree that although rapid or jerky movements are seen in some patients with dystonia, as described by Obeso et al. (2), the term “myoclonic dystonia” is appropriate, because the usual explanation for the myoclonus is the presence of faster or jerkier dystonic movements. On the other hand, in my experience, when dystonia is present in hereditary essential myoclonus or alcohol-responsive myoclonic dystonia (as Quinn argued, these may very well be the same disorder), dystonia and myoclonus are typically quite distinct. Therefore, using either term as an adjective of the other (i.e., myoclonic dystonia or dystonic myoclonus) would be inaccurate. I propose that we apply a similar convention to that used when dystonia and parkinsonism are combined either in childhood (usually idiopathic) or in the X-linked disorder found in Filipinos (lubag). In these situations, a hyphenated combination of the two nouns is used, emphasizing the more constant of the two features by the order of presentation (e.g., dystoniaparkinsonism or parkinsonism-dystonia). When the myoclonic syndromes discussed by Quinn are associated with dystonia, the more appropriate term might be myoclonus-dystonia, preceded by the descriptives idiopathic or hereditary. Unfortunately, I doubt, as does Quinn, whether this proposed change in terminology will catch on.