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Track formation and electron emission in swift ion collisions with condensed matter.

Electron ejection from target atoms is one of the basic processes when ionizing radiation interacts with matter. The primary electrons and their subsequent secondary interactions lead to the deposition of energy around the ion trajectory. The detailed knowledge of the structure of these ion tracks is a key issue for our understanding of radiation effects in condensed matter, an important example being calculations of the RBE of heavy particles, where doubly differential electron ejection cross sections are a key input parameter. Usually, data obtained from single collisions, i.e. with gas targets, are used, but condensed matter effects may considerably alter the emission patterns. Therefore, we will focus on the primary ionization (binary encounter and soft electron emission), which is common to single atoms (gas targets) and condensed matter. Then, special emphasis will be given to discuss effects, which are only seen in condensed matter (electron transport and multiple scattering effects, jet-like structures, wake effects due to collective excitation of plasmons), but not in gaseous targets (single collisions).

Electrons↗

Differential effect of dark rearing on long-term potentiation induced by layer IV and white matter stimulation in rat visual cortex.

In the earlier work, we showed that primed-burst stimulation (PBs) is an effective protocol to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) in layer II/III of adult rat visual cortex in vitro. In the present study, we investigated effects of dark rearing on potentiation of layer II/III responses to stimulation of layer IV or the underlying white matter in the visual cortex in vitro. Long-term potentiation was induced by PBs applied to white matter or layer IV of the cortex in light and dark reared rats. Regardless of the stimulation site, layer II/III field potentials consisted of two components. In general, the latency of responses in dark reared rats was shorter than that in light reared ones. Whereas PBs of layer IV produced LTP of two components in both the groups, that of white matter induced an appreciable potentiation of the second component in both groups and the first component only in dark reared rats. These results indicate that PBs of either white matter or layer IV can gain access to the modifiable synapses that are related to the second component of layer II/III responses in light and dark reared visual cortex, but accessibility of the modifiable synapses that are related to first component depends on the tetanization site. The dark rearing enhances accessibility of the modifiable synapses that are related to the first component following PBs of the white matter. It is suggested that the immaturity of inhibitory circuits and/or better function of excitatory ones in the visual cortex of dark reared rats may contribute to the enhanced accessibility of the first component.

Animals↗

Possible role of organic matter in radiocaesium adsorption in soils.

The aim of this review is to examine the hypothesis that organic matter decreases the adsorption of radiocaesium on clay minerals. The factors that determine radiocaesium mobility and bioavailability in soil are briefly outlined to show why a relationship between soil organic matter content and enhanced Cs bioavailability is paradoxical. In all the investigations reviewed the ionic compositions of both the solid and the solution phases have been strictly controlled. We show that the addition of organic matter to reference clay minerals causes decreases of up to an order of magnitude in the distribution coefficient of radiocaesium. Similarly, the chemical removal of organic matter from the clay-sized fraction of soil usually leads to an increase in Cs adsorption. We suggest that the nature of the organic matter and its interaction with mineral surfaces are as important as the amount present.

Adsorption↗

Mind and matter as asymptotically disjoint, inequivalent representations with broken time-reversal symmetry.

Many philosophical and scientific discussions of topics of mind-matter research make implicit assumptions, in various guises, about the distinction between mind and matter. Currently predominant positions are based on either reduction or emergence, providing either monistic or dualistic scenarios. A more-involved framework of thinking, which can be traced back to Spinoza and Leibniz, combines the two scenarios, dualistic (with mind and matter separated) and monistic (with mind and matter unseparated), in one single picture. Based on such a picture, the transition from a domain with mind and matter unseparated to separate mental and material domains can be viewed as a result of a general kind of symmetry breaking, which can be described formally in terms of inequivalent representations. The possibility of whether this symmetry breaking might be connected to the emergence of temporal directions from temporally non-directed or even non-temporal levels of reality will be discussed. Correlations between mental and material aspects of reality could then be imagined as remnants of such primordial levels. Different conceivable types of inequivalent representations would lead to correlations with different characteristics.

Humans↗

Doxapram accentuates white matter injury in neonatal rats following bilateral carotid artery occlusion.

The effect of the respiratory stimulant, doxapram, on white matter damage was investigated in neonatal rats under cerebral ischemia. Five-day-old rats underwent bilateral carotid artery occlusion with or without 50 mg/kg i.p. of doxapram. Their brains were neuropathologically examined 48 h later. Doxapram induced about a 20% decrease of PCO(2) for 90 min, but did not cause any neuropathological abnormalities. Bilateral carotid artery occlusion resulted in mild cerebrocortical lesions in 67% of pups, and white matter lesions in the internal capsule in 44%. Doxapram, in addition to bilateral carotid artery occlusion, produced more severe white matter injury in the internal capsule (injury score; 0.67+/-0.87 vs. 1.70+/-0.48, P<0.05) and in the subcortical white matter (0.33+/-0. 67 vs. 1.10+/-0.54, P<0.05). These results demonstrated that the use of doxapram under an ischemic condition accentuates white matter damage in neonatal rats.

Animals↗

Increased gray matter volume in lithium-treated bipolar disorder patients.

Lithium's neurotrophic effects have been reported in several in vitro and ex vivo studies. Preliminary human studies with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy have recently provided evidence of lithium-induced increases in gray matter volumes and N-acetyl-aspartate levels. In order to further examine the hypothesis that lithium treatment would relate to detectable increases in gray matter brain content, we blindly measured gray and white matter volumes in MRI images of 12 untreated and 17 lithium-treated bipolar patients and 46 healthy controls. Using multivariate analysis of covariance with age and gender as covariates, we found that total gray matter volumes were significantly increased in lithium-treated (747.9 +/- 69.8 cm(3)) compared with untreated patients (639.2 +/- 91.2 cm(3); F = 10.6; d.f. = 1, 25; P = 0.003) and healthy individuals (675.8 +/- 61.8 cm(3); F = 17.4; d.f. = 1, 59; P < 0.001), suggesting in vivo effects of lithium on gray matter, which could possibly reflect lithium's neurotrophic effects.

Analysis of Variance↗

Asymptomatic self-limiting white matter lesions in the chronic phase of herpes simplex encephalitis.

We report a 9-month-old girl with herpes simplex encephalitis. T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the 8th day of illness showed increased signal intensity in the gray and white matter of the bilateral lobes, especially the right temporo-parietal lobe. High voltage slow waves were recorded in the right parieto-occipital region on electroencephalography. She was discharged on the 34th day of illness without sequelae. On discharge, the high signal intensity on MRI had improved and the abnormal slow waves on electroencephalography had disappeared. At 4 months after the onset of illness, MRI revealed decreased signal intensities in T(1)-weighted images and increased signal intensities in T(2)-weighted images in the periventricular white matter adjacent to the posterior horns of the lateral ventricles. The white matter lesions had expanded at 9 months after the onset of illness. At 14 months after the onset of illness, the white matter lesions were reduced in size, and at 2 years after the onset of illness, they had completely disappeared. During 2 years follow-up after discharge, however, there were no neurological abnormalities corresponding to the lesions and her psychomotor development was normal. Although the mechanism underlying these white matter lesions had not been elucidated, an immune-mediated complication such as edema or demyelination is suspected. Repeat MRI studies over a long period are necessary to follow up a patient with herpes simplex encephalitis.

Axons↗

Synaptophysin immunoreactivity in spinal white matter of young adult rats.

Patterns of synaptophysin immunoreactivity were examined in the ventral and lateral funiculi of rat lumbosacral spinal cords. In normal young adults, dendrites from neurons in the spinal gray matter extended into the ventral and lateral white matter as finger-like projections, immunopositive for synaptophysin. These projections appeared to diminish in size as they extended peripherally and, in general, did not reach the surface of the spinal cord, so that the outer one-third to one-fourth of the funiculi contained little or no immunoreactivity. The spinal cords of some of the animals studied were X-irradiated on the third postnatal day. When examined 6 weeks to 5 months later, the pattern of synaptophysin immunoreactivity was found to be markedly altered in these animals. In general, the synaptophysin immunoreactivity in the white matter was less organized than in the non-irradiated rat. As a result, the finger-like projections, particularly into the lateral funiculi, were not as distinct, and the immunoreactivity appeared to be more diffusely distributed in the white matter. Further, the immunoreactivity was present throughout the thickness of the white matter in the irradiated animals and subpial concentrations were evident, especially along the lateral aspect of the spinal cord. Ultrastructural evaluation of the synaptic profiles revealed no differences between irradiated and non-irradiated animals. The synapses occurred on both the shafts of the dendrites and on the spines. In general, both dendrites and axon terminals were covered by astrocyte processes except at synaptic sites, and the synaptic complexes were surrounded by astrocyte processes. Although the mechanisms underlying the altered pattern of synaptophysin immunoreactivity are not yet understood, they may be related to radiation-induced effects on the glial populations previously reported by the investigators and/or to radiation-induced alterations in reorganization or maturation of dendritic trees.

Animals↗

Deficits in gray matter volume are present in schizophrenia but not bipolar disorder.

Studies using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging have provided strong evidence that patients with schizophrenia as a group have structural brain abnormalities, including enlarged ventricles and sulci as well as smaller cortical gray matter volumes. This study was undertaken to investigate whether the brain abnormalities found in schizophrenia could be distinguished from those seen in bipolar disorder. The MR scans of 23 patients with schizophrenia were compared to those of 17 healthy community volunteers and 14 patients with bipolar disorder. Images were processed using computer-based image processing techniques to generate quantitative measures of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), gray matter and white matter volumes. Compared to the community volunteers, the schizophrenia group had larger total CSF volumes while the bipolar group had larger ventricles. Smaller cortical gray matter volumes were found in the schizophrenia group, but not in the bipolar group. The schizophrenia group had regional deficits in gray matter volumes in comparison with both the community volunteers and the bipolar group. These findings suggest that the brain tissue abnormalities found in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may be distinguishable using MR imaging.

Adult↗

White matter abnormalities in HIV-1 infection: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Diffuse white matter pallor is the most frequent neuropathological feature of HIV-1 infection and has been found to be particularly prominent in the advanced stages of the disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether subtle white matter abnormalities can be detected in medically stable, ambulatory HIV-1 patients, in vivo, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DTI is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that is uniquely suited for the study of subtle white matter abnormalities. DTI was performed in six HIV-1 patients and nine controls. The two groups were similar in age. Abnormal fractional anisotropy was found in the white matter of the frontal lobes and internal capsules of the HIV-1 patients, in the absence of group differences in mean diffusivity, computed proton density, and computed T2. DTI may be more sensitive than conventional MRI methods for detecting subtle white matter disruptions in HIV-1 disease.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Topographical and quantitative assessment of white matter injury following a focal ischaemic lesion in the rat brain.

Axonal injury following cerebral ischaemia has attracted less attention than damage in grey matter. However, it is becoming increasingly recognised that axons are highly vulnerable to focal ischaemia [D. Dewar, D.A. Dawson, Changes of cytoskeletal protein immunostaining in myelinated fibre tracts after focal cerebral ischaemia in the rat, Acta. Neuropathol., 93 (1997) 71-77] [2]; [L. Pantoni, J.H. Garcia, J.A. Gutierrez, Cerebral white matter is highly vulnerable to ischemia, Stroke, 27 (1996) 1641-1647] [10]; [P. S. Yam, T. Takasago, D. Dewar, D.I. Graham, J. McCulloch, Amyloid precursor protein accumulates in white matter at the margin of a focal ischaemic lesion, Brain Res., 760 (1997) 150-157] [15]. Since white matter does not contain neuronal cell bodies or synapses it is likely that the mechanisms of injury and strategies for its protection are different from those in grey matter. In order that the effect of therapeutic intervention on the protection of axons can be assessed, a method by which axonal injury can be mapped and quantified is required. For this purpose, we investigated immunocytochemical methods using amyloid precursor protein (APP) following permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat. APP is transported by fast anterograde axonal transport [E.H. Koo, S.S. Sisodia, D.R. Archer, L.J. Martin, A. Weidemann, K. Beyreuther, P. Fischer, C.L. Masters, D.L. Price, Precursor of amyloid protein in Alzheimer disease undergoes fast anterograde axonal transport, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87 (1990) 1561-1565] [7] and has been shown to accumulate following a variety of insults to axons, indicative of dysfunction of axonal transport [R.N. Kalaria, S.U. Bhatti, E.A. Palatinsky, D.H. Pennington, E.R. Shelton, H.W. Chan, G. Perry, W.D. Lust, Accumulation of the beta amyloid precursor protein at sites of ischemic injury in rat brain, Neuroreport, 4 (1993) 211-214] [4]; [T. Kawarabayashi, M. Shoji, Y. Harigaya, H. Yamaguchi, S. Hirai, Expression of APP in the early stage of brain damage, Brain Res., 563 (1991) 334-338] [5]; [N. Otsuka, M. Tomonaga, K. Ikeda, Rapid appearance of beta-amyloid precursor protein immunoreactivity in damaged axons and reactive glial cells in rat brain following needle stab injury, Brain Res., 568 (1991) 335-338] [9]; [K. Shigematsu, P. L. McGeer, Accumulation of amyloid precursor protein in neurons after intraventricular injection of colchicine, Am. J. Pathol., 140 (1992) 787-794] [12]. We have been able to map the topographical relationship between APP accumulation and region of infarction using immunocytochemistry and image analysis techniques. Additionally, using a semi-quantitative scoring system, we have demonstrated that there is a relationship between the amount of APP accumulation and the volume of infarction following middle cerebral artery occlusion. These methods will be useful in the future for the assessment of therapeutic interventions on the protection of axons following ischaemic injury.

Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor↗

Increased gray-matter volume in medication-naive high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: To establish whether high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have enlarged brains in later childhood, and if so, whether this enlargement is confined to the gray and/or to the white matter and whether it is global or more prominent in specific brain regions. METHOD: Brain MRI scans were acquired from 21 medication-naive, high-functioning children with ASD between 7 and 15 years of age and 21 comparison subjects matched for gender, age, IQ, height, weight, handedness, and parental education, but not pubertal status. RESULTS: Patients showed a significant increase of 6% in intracranium, total brain, cerebral gray matter, cerebellum, and of more than 40% in lateral and third ventricles compared to controls. The cortical gray-matter volume was evenly affected in all lobes. After correction for brain volume, ventricular volumes remained significantly larger in patients. CONCLUSIONS: High-functioning children with ASD showed a global increase in gray-matter, but not white-matter and cerebellar volume, proportional to the increase in brain volume, and a disproportional increase in ventricular volumes, still present after correction for brain volume. Advanced pubertal development in the patients compared to the age-matched controls may have contributed to the findings reported in the present study.

Adolescent↗

Decreased frontal white-matter volume in chronic substance abuse.

There is quite a body of work assessing functional brain changes in chronic substance abuse, much less is known about structural brain abnormalities in this patient population. In this study we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine if structural brain differences exist in patients abusing illicit drugs compared to healthy controls. Sixteen substance abusers who abused heroin, cocaine and cannabis but not alcohol and 16 age-, sex- and race-matched controls were imaged on a MRI scanner. Contiguous, 5-mm-thick axial slices were acquired with simultaneous T2 and proton density sequences. Volumes were estimated for total grey and white matter, frontal grey and white matter, ventricles, and CSF using two different methods: a conventional segmentation and a stereological method based on the Cavalieri principle. Overall brain volume differences were corrected for by expressing the volumes of interest as a percentage of total brain volume. Volume measures obtained with the two methods were highly correlated (r=0.65, p<0.001). Substance abusers had significantly less frontal white-matter volume percentage than controls. There were no significant differences in any of the other brain volumes measured. This difference in frontal lobe white matter might be explained by a direct neurotoxic effect of drug use on white matter, a pre-existing abnormality in the development of the frontal lobe or a combination of both effects. This last explanation might be compelling based on the fact that newer concepts on shared aspects of some neuropsychiatric disorders focus on the promotion and inhibition of the process of myelination throughout brain development and subsequent degeneration.

Adult↗

Natural abundance carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of bovine white matter and myelin.

Whole bovine white matter yields a poorly resolved natural abundance 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum. The spectrum principally reflects carbon atoms of the constituent membrane lipids: several resonances could be specifically assigned but no resonances attributable to cholesterol are detectable. Except for the methyl group at the terminus of fatty acyl chains, lipid carbons giving rise to the 13C NMR spectrum have values of spin-lattice relaxation time between 140 and 500 ms, indicating significant restrictions on segmental and rotational mibolities but consistent with a generally fluid structural organization. The 13C NMR spectrum of myelin isolated from bovine white matter is similar to that for the whole white matter itself. In both white matter and isolated meylin, the integrated intensities for several carbon atoms are considerably less than those for the same carbon atoms in total lipid extracts. The data for white matter and myelin are consistent with a model in which observed line broadening is due to restrictions in the amplitude of chain flexing rather than to severe restrictions on chain segmental motion. Failure to detect resonances of cholesterol ring system carbon atoms may reflect marked anisotropy of rotational reorientation.

Animals↗

A distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments 13. Simulated diagenesis of natural sediment organic matter and its impact on sorption/desorption equilibria.

Subcritical water treatment was used to effect rapid compositional and functional changes to peat organic matter that mimic those of the natural diagenesis process. Elemental, solid state 13C NMR, FTIR, and calorimetry analyses all indicated that the organic matter of the artificially aged peat was chemically similar to that of geologically mature coal kerogens. This paper extends the work of the previous paper in this series, which investigated the effects of subcritical water treatment of humic topsoil on subsequent phenanthrene sorption and desorption equilibria. As opposed to the previous study, however, changes in sorptive reactivity herein were unequivocally related to changes in organic matter rather than other soil constituents, and organic matter functional changes due to the simulated diagenesis were more accurately characterized. Phenanthrene sorption capacity and isotherm nonlinearity both increased with increasing degrees of artificial aging, supporting the viewpoint that hydrophobic organic contaminant sorption equilibrium properties can be directly related to the degree of diagenesis of geosorbent organic matter. In addition, this work investigated effects of subcritical water treatment of a geologically mature, kerogen-containing shale sample. In contrast to the peat, the functional characteristics of the shale were unchanged by this treatment, and subsequent phenanthrene sorption equilibria were altered far less.

Adsorption↗

Impact of vegetation on sedimentary organic matter composition and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon attenuation.

Results from natural and engineered phytoremediation systems provide strong evidencethatvegetated soils mitigate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination. However, the mechanisms by which PAH mitigation occurs and the impact of plant organic matter on PAH attenuation remain unclear. This study assessed the impact of plant organic matter on PAH attenuation in labile and refractory sediments fractions from a petroleum distillate waste pit that has naturally revegetated. Samples were collected in distinct zones of barren and vegetated areas to assess changes to organic matter composition and PAH content as vegetation colonized and became established in the waste pit. Sediments were fractionated into bulk sediment and humin fractions and analyzed for organic matter composition by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (delta (13)C), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR), delta 14C AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry), and percent organic carbon (%TOC). Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/ MS) of lipid extracts of SOM fractions provided data for PAH distribution histograms, compound weathering ratios, and alkylated and nonalkylated PAH concentrations. Inputs of biogenic plant carbon, PAH weathering, and declines in PAH concentrations are most evidentfor vegetated SOM fractions, particularly humin fractions. Sequestered PAH metabolites were also observed in vegetated humin. These results show that plant organic matter does impact PAH attenuation in both labile and refractory fractions of petroleum distillate waste.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Multiple cysts in the cerebral white matter: a rare complication of whole brain radiation therapy.

We describe a patient with multiple cysts in the cerebral white matter, several years after whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for a solitary cerebellar metastasis of a lung carcinoma. MR images of the brain show diffuse white matter changes, 1 year after radiation, and cyst formation in the white matter, starting 3.5 years later. We conclude that cysts in the cerebral white matter can be a late stage of white matter damage after whole brain radiation therapy in long-term survivors with brain metastases.

Adenocarcinoma↗

The cognitive correlates of white matter abnormalities in normal aging: a quantitative review.

Cerebral white matter of asymptomatic people frequently exhibits circumscribed areas of hyperintensity on magnetic resonance (MR) images and hypodensity on computed tomography scans. However, behavioral implications of this phenomenon remain unclear. In this meta-analysis, the authors examine cumulative evidence regarding the cognitive sequelae of white matter abnormalities in adults without dementia. The influence of potential moderator variables, such as neuroimaging technique, location of the lesions, rating scale, and demographic characteristics of the sample on the association between the burden of white matter hyperintensities and cognitive performance was also examined. Results indicate that white matter abnormalities observed on MR images are associated with attenuated performance on tasks of processing speed, immediate and delayed memory, executive functions, and indices of global cognitive functioning. There was no significant link between the white matter hyperintensities and psychometric indices of intelligence or fine motor performance.

Adult↗