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PubMedDate not supplied

The Asheville Project: participants' perceptions of factors contributing to the success of a patient self-management diabetes program.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain patients', providers', and managers' perceptions of the factors that contributed to the success of the Asheville Project. DESIGN: One-time focus groups of patients and diabetes care providers and individual interviews with managers involved in the project. SETTING: The City of Asheville and Mission-St. Joseph's Health System (MSJ), Asheville, N.C. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-one patients with diabetes who were employees of the two self-insured employers participating in the Asheville Project; four specially trained pharmacists who provided diabetes-related pharmaceutical care and one diabetes educator, all of whom received reimbursement for their services; six managers employed by the City of Asheville or MSJ who were involved in the project. INTERVENTION: A trained facilitator conducted four focus groups and six manager interviews in September 2001. Each session lasted 60 to 90 minutes, and the facilitator used a standard list of open-ended questions. The focus group sessions were recorded for subsequent analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceptions of focus group participants and managers of how the Asheville Project enabled patients with diabetes to become more responsible and successful in self-managing their condition. RESULTS: Focus group participants and managers were enthusiastic about their experiences with the project. Patients valued the relationships they established with their pharmacist or diabetes educator; as a result of these providers' support, patients felt more in control of their lives and were healthier. The waived co-payments for diabetes medications and related supplies was the decisive incentive for getting many patients to enroll in the project. For the providers, the project was a source of professional growth and satisfaction. Managers felt the project helped them fulfill their health care responsibilities to their employees, reduced overall costs, enhanced their organizations' reputations in health care delivery, and resulted in less absenteeism. CONCLUSION: Patients, providers, and managers in the Asheville Project believed that aligned incentives and community-based resources that provide health care services to patients with diabetes offer a practical, patient-empowering, and cost-effective solution to escalating health care costs.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

Feedforward inhibition of projection neurons by fast-spiking GABA interneurons in the rat striatum in vivo.

Discharge activities and local field potentials were recorded in the orofacial motor cortex and in the corresponding rostrolateral striatum of urethane-anesthetized rats. Striatal projection neurons were identified by antidromic activation and fast-spiking GABAergic interneurons (FSIs) by their unique characteristics: briefer spike and burst responses. Juxtacellular injection of neurobiotin combined with parvalbumin immunohistochemistry validated this identification. Spontaneous activities and spike responses to cortical stimulation were recorded during both states of cortical activity: slow waves and desynchronization. Both FSI and projection neurons spontaneously discharged synchronously with slow waves at the maximum of cortical activity, but, on average, FSIs were much more active. Cortical desynchronization enhanced FSI activity and facilitated their spike responses to cortical stimulation, whereas opposite effects were observed regarding projection neurons. Experimental conditions favoring FSI discharge were always associated with a decrease in the firing activity of projection neurons. Spike responses to cortical stimulation occurred earlier (latency difference, 4.6 ms) and with a lower stimulation current for FSIs than for projection neurons. Moreover, blocking GABA(A) receptors by local picrotoxin injection enhanced the spike response of projection neurons, and this increase was larger in experimental conditions favoring FSI responses. Therefore, on average, FSIs exert in vivo a powerful feedforward inhibition on projection neurons. However, a few projection neurons were actually more sensitive to cortical stimulation than FSIs. Moreover, picrotoxin, which revealed FSI inhibition, preferentially affected projection neurons exhibiting the weakest sensitivity to cortical stimulation. Thus, feedforward inhibition by FSIs filters cortical information effectively transmitted by striatal projection neurons.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1991

In vivo determination of radiographic projection errors produced by a novel filmholder and an x-ray beam manipulator.

Subtraction radiography requires radiographs made with identical projection geometry. The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and evaluate a new in vivo method to measure angular radiographic projection error. This included the development of a system for accurate control of the x-ray beam angulation relative to the intraoral film and the evaluation of the in vivo projection errors (equivalent to the "angular difference" between repeated exposures) produced by the new system. A filmholder, an x-ray beam manipulator, and an aiming device were newly constructed. Reference wires were attached for measuring the projection error on the filmholder and on the 22 bicuspids at the sites of investigation in 16 patients. Two exposures using standardized projection conditions were made of each site. The relative position of the reference wires on the duplicate radiographs was used to calculate the angular difference in the direction of the x-ray beam which occurred between the 2 exposures. Triplicate measurements allowed the determination of measurement error. The angular projection errors were measured in a horizontal and vertical direction. The reference wires allowed determination of the angular projection errors relative to the filmholder, relative to the dentition and the angular error due to the repositioning of the filmholder in the patient's mouth. The average projection errors deviated only slightly from zero. The largest deviation registered was -0.11 degrees. This applies to the horizontal and vertical direction and all relationships. The standard deviations varied between 0.403 degrees and 0.697 degrees. This applies to the standard deviation for all relationships in the horizontal, the vertical, and the oblique directions. The measuring error found from the triplicate measurements had a standard deviation of 0.08 degrees to 0.19 degrees depending on the distance between the reference wires. This new system for controlling in vivo projection errors seems to provide highly standardized radiographs in vivo. The new measuring system proved to be accurate enough to measure the in vivo projection errors between repeated radiographs produced with the new filmholder and x-ray beam manipulator. The in vivo errors produced by the new system are markedly smaller than all in vivo and in vitro errors previously reported in the literature.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

In vitro and clinical studies of image acquisition in breath-hold MR cholangiopancreatography: single-shot projection technique versus multislice technique.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to compare the in vitro and clinical value of two-dimensional multislice breath-hold MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) with a single-shot projection technique using a half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo sequence. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We examined 108 patients with pancreaticobiliary diseases, using breath-hold MRCP and a half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo sequence on a 1.5-T MR unit with a body phased-array coil. Two data acquisition techniques were employed: multislice acquisition postprocessed by maximum intensity projection (MIP) (multislice technique) and single-shot projection with a thick slice (projection technique). In the multislice technique, nine contiguous slices were obtained with a thickness of 5 mm (acquisition time. 18 sec). In the projection technique, a single slice was obtained with a thickness of 30, 50, or 70 mm (acquisition time. 2 sec). Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between the common bile duct and the liver as well as detectability of normal structures and diseases were compared for these two acquisition techniques. In the multislice technique, source images were also evaluated. ERCP or percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography images were used as the gold standard. RESULTS: Most of the pancreatic duct and common bile duct was revealed on 54% and 100% of the projection images, respectively, and on 35% and 98% of the MIP images, respectively, CNR was significantly higher with the multislice technique than with the projection technique (p < .01). With the projection technique, CNR decreased as slice thickness increased. Dilatation and occlusion of the pancreaticobiliary tree were equally well revealed by the two imaging techniques. However, abnormalities in the periampullary region and anomalies in the pancreaticobiliary tree were more clearly seen on projection images than on MIP images (p < .05). Stones in the common bile duct, gallbladder, or intrahepatic bile duct were best seen on source images acquired by the multislice technique (83% sensitivity). CONCLUSION: Because of the absence of misregistration and the speed of image acquisition, breath-hold single-shot MRCP using the projection technique with a slice thickness of 30 or 50 mm consistently revealed the pancreaticobiliary tree and periampullary region with an acceptable CNR. Stones in the bile duct were best seen on the source images acquired by the MIP technique.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗
PubMed1984

Differences in the neurons that project from the dorsal column nuclei to the diencephalon, pretectum, and tectum in the cat.

The dorsal column nuclei (DCN) project to a number of targets in the nervous system besides the ventroposterolateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus. Recent evidence obtained using double-labeling techniques indicates that DCN's diencephalic-projecting neurons differ in their location and morphology from those that project to some of its other targets, such as the cerebellum and tectum. The purpose of the present study was to characterize anatomically the DCN neurons that project another of DCN's targets, the pretectum, and to determine if any of these neurons have collateral projections to the tectum or diencephalon. The projections were studied using two double-labeling methods. One method made use of either tritiated inactivated horseradish peroxidase ([3H]apoHRP) or tritiated N-acetyl wheatgerm agglutinin ([3H]WGA) as a marker and HRP or WGA conjugated to HRP. The other method made use of the dyes Fast Blue and Nuclear Yellow. In each cat, one marker was injected into the DCN-recipient portions of the pretectum, tectum, or diencephalon, and the other marker was injected into another of these three targets. Neurons labeled by pretectal or tectal injections were of all sizes, fusiform and multipolar in shape, and similarly located. They were scattered through the rostral zone of DCN, but were distributed at the periphery of and at the junction between the gracile and cuneate nuclei in DCN's middle and caudal zones. In contrast to the pretectal- and tectal-labeled neurons, neurons labeled by diencephalic injections were round and large. They were found throughout the DCN complex, but were concentrated in DCN's middle and caudal zones. When both the pretectum and diencephalon were injected in the same cat, the two groups of neurons occupied similar locations in the rostral zone, but were distinct in the middle and caudal zones, with the pretectal-projecting neurons surrounding the clusters of diencephalic-projecting neurons. Very few neurons were double-labeled. These results demonstrate that the projections to the pretectum, tectum, and diencephalon originate from different populations of neurons within specific domains in DCN. When these results are compared with the results of electrophysiological and other anatomical studies, it appears that the pretectal- and tectal-projecting neurons may be part of a previously unrecognized system originating in DCN.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1994

A demonstration project of interdisciplinary dairy herd extension advising funded by industry and users. 2. Impact on herd performance.

The objectives of this 24-herd, demonstration project of extension advising were to measure the impact of integrated problem solving on measures of DHI performance for 2 yr during and 2 yr after the project. During project advising, increases in rolling herd average milk and fat yields and 3.5% FCM were similar for project and state herds. When rolling herd average for milk yield for state herds was adjusted for two USDA milk reduction programs, milk yield of project herds was estimated to have increased 434 lb more per cow than that of DHI state herds. Compared with state DHI trends, project producers significantly improved in percentage of low SCC, days open, and age at first calving. Two years postproject, DHI milk yield declined for project and state herds, probably because of drought. Demonstration herds did not outperform state DHI herd average in milk yield or in other efficiency parameters during the 2-yr postproject. The extension advising in the demonstration project had the most positive impact on management of low ranking herds. Only low ranking herds had an advantage in rate of improvement, compared with high ranking herds, in rolling herd average for milk yield during and after the project and in SCC and days open during the project. Gains by managers of herds ranking low and in the middle in DHI parameters were generally lost or declining postproject.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Immunisation initiatives in general practice. Important lessons from division projects.

AIM: To examine immunisation projects undertaken by divisions of general practice through the Divisions and Project Grants Program in the period from 1993 to mid 1997. METHOD: A simple descriptive frequency analysis was conducted of information from the National Information Service Divisions Project database and evaluation reports of the project characteristics and methodology such as: year commenced; duration; location; funding; target groups; intervention; needs assessment; aim(s); study design; measurement (assessment) and outcome(s). RESULTS: Forty-four funded immunisation projects were identified and of these, 12 projects with completed evaluation reports were analysed. Most projects were of 12-14 months duration, and were funded for a mean of $56,349 and median of $46,348 for the 44 funded projects and a mean $44,348 and median $40,318 for the 12 with evaluation reports. Most projects included a needs assessment. The main target groups were general practitioners, the general community, and children. Of the wide spectrum of interventions used, education and/or promotion and register and/or reminder systems were the most common. Study designs, the quality of measurement and outcomes were variable. CONCLUSION: In the future with the move to outcome based block funding, it will be important for projects to adopt broader target groups, refine and develop interventions and develop greater sustainability through responding to local needs, improving design and evaluation and ongoing funding.

Australia↗
PubMed2000

Experiences in the realisation of a research project on anthroposophical medicine in patients with advanced cancer.

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: To date most of the published studies on the effectiveness of complementary therapies in cancer patients have yielded controversial results because of questionable methodology. Research strategies and methodologies acceptable to both conventional and unconventional medicine are difficult to find due to different belief systems. In this publication we describe the development and implementation of a project conducted as part of National Research Programme 34 (NFP 34). Detailed analysis of our experiences might provide some information on how to deal with practical difficulties in the planning and conduct of further research projects in this field. The project involved the anthroposophical Lukas Clinic in Arlesheim and the Institute of Medical Oncology of the University Hospital, Berne. This interdisciplinary research project was devised to study the relative merits of these two schools of medicine in the care of advanced cancer patients. The project was made up of three components: (1) a registration study aimed at comparing the case mix at the two institutions; (2) a three armed randomised study on the effectiveness of supportive therapy, comparing anthroposophy to psychosocial group therapy, and (3) a longitudinal study to monitor the evaluation of quality of life of patients at the anthroposophical clinic. METHODS: After a brief review of the study protocol, which presents the theoretical framework of the project, problems of its implementation are described. Aspects of accrual, acceptance of randomisation and data availability are presented using simple descriptive statistics and logistic regression. RESULTS: The registration study was duly completed with a total of 567 patients. For several reasons (not meeting inclusion requirements, high refusal rate) the accrual into the randomised study was slower than expected and required modification of the original design specifications with regard to inclusion criteria and data collection schedule. Additionally, a high dropout rate contributed to premature closure of this part of the project. The longitudinal study also suffered from low data availability at follow up. CONCLUSIONS: The study protocol constituted a major effort at compromise without loss of scientific rigour, and this effort demonstrates that it is possible to allow for different views on patients, on clinical interventions and on research strategies when establishing collaboration between different schools of medicine. Despite a theoretically sound framework, the randomised part of the project proved difficult in its practical execution. Some unexpected logistical constraints and some unmet expectations influenced the feasibility of this part of the project. Therefore, careful planning of research projects in this field of medicine should always include an extended analysis of various practical aspects of study implementation.

Anthroposophy↗
PubMed2000

Olfactory projections in a chondrostean fish, Acipenser baeri: an experimental study.

The presence of extrabulbar primary olfactory projections has been well established in teleosts. In order to investigate the phylogeny of these projections and to compare their targets with those of the secondary olfactory projections, the connections of the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb were studied by means of tract-tracing methods in a chondrostean, Acipenser baeri. Primary olfactory projections mainly extend to the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb, but a significant number of extrabulbar efferent fibers course to various telencephalic and diencephalic regions. Both extrabulbar primary and olfactory bulb projections course in diffuse pathways. Extensive overlap was observed between the targets of these extrabulbar primary olfactory fibers and those of the secondary efferent projections of the olfactory bulb, though the latter were more numerous and reached additional targets. Tracer application to the olfactory bulb also revealed a number of bulbopetal neurons in the ipsilateral and contralateral telencephalic areas, as well as crossed interbulbar projections. The presence in a chondrostean of important extrabulbar primary projections and their extensive overlap with secondary olfactory projections suggest that such projections are a derived characteristic of bony fishes.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Distributed but convergent ordering of corticostriatal projections: analysis of the frontal eye field and the supplementary eye field in the macaque monkey.

The degree of parallel processing in frontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits is a central and debated issue in research on the basal ganglia. To approach this issue directly, we analyzed and compared the corticostriatal projections of two principal oculomotor areas of the frontal lobes, the frontal eye field (FEF) and the supplementary eye field (SEF). We first identified cortical regions within or adjacent to each eye field by microstimulation in macaque monkeys and then injected each site with either 35S-methionine or WGA-HRP conjugate. We analyzed the corticostriatal projections and also the interconnections of the pairs of cortical areas. We observed major convergence of the projections of the FEF and the SEF within the striatum, principally in the caudate nucleus. In cross sections through the striatum, both projections were broken into a series of discontinuous input zones that seemed to be part of complex three-dimensional labyrinths. Where the FEF and SEF projection fields were both present, they overlapped patch for patch. Thus, both inputs were dispersed within the striatum but converged with one another. Striatal afferents from cortex adjacent to the FEF and the SEF did not show convergence with SEF and FEF inputs, but did, in part, converge with one another. For all pairs of cortical areas tested, the degree of overlap in the corticostriatal projections appeared to be directly correlated with the degree of cortical interconnectivity of the areas injected. All of the corticostriatal fiber projections observed primarily avoided immunohistochemically identified striosomes. We conclude that there is convergence of oculomotor information from two distinct regions of the frontal cortex to the striatal matrix, which is known to project into pallidonigral circuits including the striatonigrocollicular pathway of the saccadic eye movement system. Furthermore, functionally distinct premotor areas near the oculomotor fields often systematically projected to striatal zones adjacent to oculomotor field projections, suggesting an anatomical basis for potential interaction of these inputs within the striatum. We propose that parallel processing is not the exclusive principle of organization of forebrain circuits associated with the basal ganglia. Rather, patterns of both convergence and divergence are present and are likely to depend on multiple functional and developmental constraints.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Diverging projection of the trigeminocerebellar fibers in the rabbit paramedian lobule.

The present study has been attempted to investigate the issue of intralobular branching of cerebellar afferent axons arising from neurons in TSN and terminating in rPML and cPML sublobules, known to be the face-forelimb and hindlimb receiving areas, respectively. In this aim the double fluorescent retrograde technique was employed in the rabbit. No other reports have addressed this question. Non-overlapping unilateral injections of the cytoplasmic tracers FB and the nuclear dye DY into rPML and cPML, respectively, resulted in numerous single FB or DY labeled neurons and small number of double FB + DY ones in Vp, Vo, Vir and Vic bilaterally, with a very clear ipsilateral predominance. No evidence has been disclosed for projection from Vmes and Vc. Distribution pattern of single labeling allows to assume that projection exhibits some degree of topographical organization. Thus, there are populations of TSN neurons projecting independently to rPML and cPML and, to a larger extent, populations of neurons whose projection areas more or less overlap. Profuse projection arises from Vir and less numerous fibers originate from Vp and the rostral part of Vic. Neurons in Vo, mainly in the caudal regions, participate in a relatively moderate degree to this projection. Double labeled neurons recognized herein indicate that TSN projections reaching the two non-homologous PML regions may be collaterals of the same axons. The cells of origin for such projections are distributed in defined regions of Vir (n = 214), Vic (n = 107), Vp (n = 73) and Vo (n = 25). Considering small percent of neurons with divergent axons (about 3% in Vic and Vo, and 2% in Vir and Vp) it can be concluded that trigeminal inputs to rPML and cPML correspond to a larger extent to separate rather than collateral projection. In spite of this the findings indicate that functionally different PML regions are linked. The present results are discussed with those of earlier studies and commented on possible functional meaning of the projection by way of axonal branchings.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

A cost-benefit analysis of an advocacy project to fluoridate toothpastes in Nepal.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to provide a limited cost-benefit analysis of a health promotion project based on advocacy to increase the availability and consumption of fluoride toothpaste. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: The cost-benefit analysis method uses the cost-of-illness approach to analyse the costs and benefits of the health promotion project. SETTING: The setting for the health promotion project was the country of Nepal. PARTICIPANTS: A sub-set of the population (6-18 year-olds) was used to compute the financial burden of treating projected caries in the permanent dentition. INTERVENTIONS: The paper compares the projected effect of fluoride toothpaste versus non-fluoride toothpaste on the financial burden of dental caries for a sub-set of the Nepali population over a period of 6 years. OUTCOME MEASURES: The net present value (NPV) and the benefit-cost ratio are the main outcome measures. RESULTS: Over a period of 6 years the NPV was US dollar 594,466 for a projected 10% reduction in dental caries of this population group as a result of fluoridation of toothpastes: US dollar 1,035,640 for a projected 20% reduction; and US dollar 2,442,333 for a projected 40% reduction in caries increment. For every US dollar 1 spent on the advocacy project to increase the availability and consumption of fluoride toothpaste, there is a potential saving in the direct cost of treating caries ranging from US dollar 87 to US dollar 356. CONCLUSIONS: The cost benefit analysis presented shows the project was efficient. Tangible benefits resulting from the intervention of fluoride toothpaste were quantified as well as the risks from having no intervention.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sustainability: the elusive dimension of international health projects.

OBJECTIVE: The Canada-China Yunnan Maternal and Child Health Project (1997-2003) sought to improve the quality of village life and promote development of productivity and social prosperity in Yunnan province, China. PARTICIPANTS: The project targeted grassroots maternal and child health workers: new and in-service village doctors; traditional village midwives; doctors at township health centres; doctors at county maternal and child health hospitals; and provincial health staff. SETTING: Ten impoverished counties (population 2.2 million) in Yunnan province with high proportions of ethnic minority populations. INTERVENTION: There were three major innovations: training grassroots maternal and child health workers in participatory and community-based approaches and clinical skills; designing a model comprehensive referral system including provision of basic equipment; and introducing participatory monitoring and evaluation methods. Strategies to support sustainability were built into the project from the outset. OUTCOMES: Over 4,000 village, township, and county health workers received training. Maternal, infant, and under-five mortality rates declined over 30% in project counties. Project innovations were disseminated throughout the province, into other donor-funded initiatives, and integrated into national health projects by local partners. CONCLUSION: Maintaining the long-term benefits of international health interventions depends on sustaining innovations beyond short project timelines. Achieving sustainability poses a conundrum to implementing agencies. Three mechanisms influenced uptake in the Yunnan project: maintaining a good fit between core project elements and the existing health system; developing adequate organizational supports; and creating a handover plan from the outset. This project highlights some of the ways in which sustainability can be operationalized.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Projections of HIV infections and AIDS cases to the year 2000.

After the recognition of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in the early 1980s, uncertainty about the present and future dimensions of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection led to the development of many models to estimate current and future numbers of HIV infections and AIDS cases. The Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed an AIDS projection model which relies on available HIV seroprevalence data and on the annual rate of progression from HIV infection to AIDS for use in areas where reporting of AIDS cases is incomplete, and where scant data are available to quantify biological and human behavioural variables. Virtually all models, including the WHO model, have projected large increases in the number of AIDS cases by the early 1990s. Such short-term projections are considered relatively reliable since most of the new AIDS cases will develop in persons already infected with HIV. Longer-term prediction (10 years or longer) is less reliable because HIV prevalence and future trends are determined by many variables, most of which are still not well understood. WHO has now applied the Delphi method to project HIV prevalence from the year 1988 to mid-2000. This method attempts to improve the quality of the judgements and estimates for relatively uncertain issues by the systematic use of knowledgeable "experts". The mean value of the Delphi projections for HIV prevalence in the year 2000 is between 3 and 4 times the 1988 base estimate of 5.1 million; these projections have been used to obtain annual estimates of adult AIDS cases up to the year 2000. Coordinated HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes are considered by the Delphi participants to be potentially capable of preventing almost half of the new HIV infections that would otherwise occur between 1988 and the year 2000. However, more than half of the approximately 5 million AIDS cases which are projected for the next decade will occur despite the most rigorous and effective HIV/AIDS prevention efforts since these AIDS cases will develop in persons whose HIV infection was acquired prior to 1989. The Delphi projections of HIV infection and AIDS cases derived from the WHO projection model need to be periodically reviewed and modified as additional data become available. These projections should be viewed as the first of many attempts to develop estimates for planning strategies to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1990s.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Financial planning for surgical research. Project portfolio as an instrument for research planning].

Planning of research funding should assure both volume and continuity of economic support. Funding of new research concepts usually depends largely on the internal budget of the research institution (primary economical resources). More mature projects can be funded by governmental and non-profit (secondary) or industrial sources (tertiary economical resources). In general, a balanced proportion of financial support will assure maximal research independence. The respective funding of a research project should be regarded as extrinsic to the quality of the said project. Portfolio analysis of research projects is introduced as a new means of planning and controlling academic and industrial research. In principle, research projects will be evaluated with regard to the inherent potential of development (e.g. potential impact on clinical or scientific concepts) and the current productivity (e.g. output of results and publications). The 2-dimensional portfolio-matrix will be used to analyse these factors, manifesting both the overall activity of a research unit and the development of new research and funding strategies. In addition, repetitive project-portfolio analyses will enable control of both spending and efficiency in research. The application of the current project-portfolio method is exemplified by an analysis of the research activities of the department of surgery at the university of Basel. To date, project-portfolio analysis is not a mature method: Development of more quantitative portfolio strategies and of multidimensional project-portfolios are proposed. However, project-portfolio analysis is a promising means of planning and controlling research. It should be used and developed further in institutions with a number of concurrent research activities.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Intrinsic connections of macaque striate cortex: axonal projections of cells outside lamina 4C.

We have exploited a technique for making small injections of horseradish peroxidase into single cortical laminae in order to study axonal projections in macaque striate cortex. In the preceding paper (Fitzpatrick, D., J. S. Lund, and G. G. Blasdel (1985) J. Neurosci. 5: 3329-3349) we examined the projections of cells in lamina 4C--cells that receive most of their input from the lateral geniculate nucleus. The present paper deals with the projections of neurons that lie outside of lamina 4C. Among our findings are several projections that previously had not been described in the monkey. These include: a strong and precise (point-to-point) projection from lamina 4B to lamina 2/3A, a reciprocal projection from 2/3A back to 4B, a definite projection from lamina 4B to 5B, as well as a prominent input to lamina 6 from 5B. In many cases, we find it possible to trace the flow of visual information through several "circuits" in striate cortex that have, as their output, projections to extrastriate cortex or to the brainstem. Our results offer additional insights in this regard since we are able, in many cases, to compare the lateral spreads of particular projections. These vary and can be separated into at least three categories: those that terminate in a precise, point-to-point, fashion, those that spread widely, and those that terminate in a laterally periodic fashion. In several cases we find evidence for a correlation between specific patterns of projection and known physiological differences between the topographies of laminae that are connected. In cases where two laminae possess similar topographies (for example, where both contain orderly maps for orientation) their interconnections appear precise, with little diffuse spread. In cases where two laminae are characterized by strikingly different topographies (where, for example, one contains an orderly map for orientation and the other a precise map for retinotopic position, but no specificity for orientation), the connections appear more diffuse.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Thalamic projections to areas 5a and 5b of the parietal cortex in the cat: a retrograde horseradish peroxidase study.

The cytoarchitecture of areas 5a and 5b of the cat's parietal cortex was re-examined and the afferent connections from the thalamus were investigated using the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) retrograde transport technique. Single or multiple small injections of the enzyme were made in different points of these areas in the rostral sectors of the lateral and middle suprasylvian gyri. The cytoarchitecture of the cortical region affected by the injections was carefully assessed in each case, and the labeled neurons found in the thalamus were plotted on projection drawings of each histological section. A prominent projection to area 5a arises from the posterior (Po) and ventral lateral (VL) complexes; less substantial projections originate in the ventral anterior nucleus (VA), the lateral intermediate complex (LI), and the central lateral nucleus (CL). Projections to area 5b (and to the laterally adjacent area suprasylviana anterior) mainly arise from LI, the dorsal part of VL, and the caudodorsal part of VA and CL; a moderate projection was also found from Po, the pulvinar, and the lateral dorsal complex. The main conclusions of this study are as follows. The shape and extent of areas 5a and 5b show notable variations when only their projection on the convoluted cortical surface is considered; however, they are relatively constant when plotted on unfolded cortical maps. The thalamic neurons projecting to areas 5a and 5b are organized according to a loose topographic plan, particularly noticeable in Po, VL and LI. In general, the rostral portion of this cortex (5a) receives projections from more ventral regions of the thalamus (mainly Po and VL), whereas the caudal part (5b) has connections from more dorsal regions (mainly LI and VA-VL). Moreover, the medial portions of these areas receive projections from lateral and ventral parts of the thalamic nuclei, whereas more dorsal and medial sectors of the thalamus project to the lateral portions of areas 5a and 5b. When labeled thalamic cell populations resulting from cases with single injections in neighboring cortical loci were compared, no abrupt changes of labeling were observed; rather, we generally observed gradual transitions and overlaps, even across nuclear boundaries. When only layers I and II of the cortex received the HRP, the number of labeled neurons and the intensity of their labeling decreased, their location in the thalamus was more restricted, and the mean size of the labeled cells was significantly smaller than that of the neurons labeled in the same regions after deep HRP injections.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Morphology and distribution of retinal ganglion cells projecting to different layers of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in normal and Siamese cats.

Electrophoretic injections of horseradish peroxidase were made into physiologically characterized sites within the different layers of the dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei (LGNd) of normal and Siamese cats. The histochemical procedures used stained the cell bodies, dendrites, and axons of retrogradely labeled ganglion cells. In both normal and Siamese cats, only alpha and beta ganglion cells are labeled by injections restricted to the A laminae. In normal cats, the alpha/beta ratios (number of labeled alpha cells/number of labeled alpha + beta cells) resulting from injections into lamina A increase from about 0.045 at 0.5 mm from the area centralis to about 0.12 in the far periphery. The alpha/beta ratios observed outside of the area centralis in normal cats following injections into different parts of lamina A1 were lower at each eccentricity than those resulting from injections into corresponding parts of lamina A. Also, the cell bodies and dendritic fields of alpha and beta cells projecting to lamina A1 are somewhat larger than those projecting to corresponding parts of lamina A. Outside of the area centralis, the relative numbers of alpha and beta cells projecting to Siamese lamina A are normal. However, alpha cells comprise an abnormally small proportion of ganglion cells projecting to the normal segments of Siamese lamina A1 and an abnormally large proportion of cells projecting to the abnormal segments of lamina A1. In Siamese cats, alpha and beta cells projecting to lamina A1 are distributed continuously throughout virtually all of the ipsilateral and contralateral temporal retinas. Since large parts of the ipsilateral and contralateral hemifields are not represented in Siamese lamina A1, it seems that some of the retinal afferents to this lamina are being suppressed. Injections into the C laminae of the LGNd show that the same morphological classes of ganglion cells project to these laminae in normal and Siamese cats. The classes projecting to the contralateral as C laminae (laminae C and C2) include alpha, beta, gamma, and epsilon as well as two other groups of cells referred to g1 and g2 cells, gamma, epsilon, g1, and g2 cells project to the ipsilateral C lamina (lamina C1). In siamese, but not in normal cats, examples of all of these types are found far into the contralateral temporal retina following injections involving lamina C1. This indicates that all classes projecting to the ipsilateral C lamina misproject in Siamese cats.

Animals↗