Use of geotextile tubes with chemical amendments to dewater dairy lagoon solids.

Three geo-textile filtration tubes were used to dewater lagoon solids from a first stage dairy lagoon using chemical amendments (aluminum sulfate and a polymer) to enhance the separation process. This experiment had previously been done without chemical amendment. The chemical amendments speeded the dewatering process so that filling could be accomplished sooner, and also increased the removal rate of nutrients, especially phosphorus into the solid phase. Chemically amended slurry was pumped from the lagoon into the tube with the filtered liquid seeping from the tube and returning to the lagoon. Each tube was filled five to six times at 2-5-day intervals, and then allowed to dewater for 2 weeks before sampling the solid fraction in the tube. Separation efficiency improved from 79% to 99% for phosphorous and from 92% to 100% for organic nitrogen with chemical amendment. Time required for dewatering was significantly reduced by chemical amendment. Cost for the tube was approximately $10/m(3) of recovered solids with no chemical amendment and cost including the chemicals was approximately $14/m(3) of recovered solids.

Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices as a measure of cognitive functioning in Cerebral Palsy.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction is frequent in Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP motor impairment and associated speech deficits often hinder cognitive assessment, with the result being that not all CP studies consider cognitive dysfunction. Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices is a simple, rapid test which can be used in persons with severe motor impairment and speech limitations. We studied whether this test can offer a reliable measure of cognitive functioning in CP. METHOD: Visuoperceptual, language, memory and frontal lobe functions were evaluated in 30 participants with severe motor impaired CP and a variety of speech difficulties. The relationship between Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices and a variety of tests was analysed. RESULTS: Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices performance was associated with visuoperceptual, language, visual and verbal memory but not with frontal functions. Receptive vocabulary and visuospatial measures were the best predictors of Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices raw scores. CONCLUSIONS: Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices is a fast, easy-to-administer test able to obtain a measure related with linguistic, visuoperceptual, and memory cognitive functioning in persons with CP despite their motor and speech disorders.

Reduction of the substantia nigra width and motor decline in aging and Parkinson's disease.

We studied the functional significance of the involutional and degenerative changes in the substantia nigra as seen on magnetic resonance imaging. The width of the pars compacta correlated with motor performance in both healthy elderly subjects and idiopathic Parkinson's disease groups. Patients exhibited significant reduction of the width of the pars compacta and the level of this reduction correlated strongly with the clinical status evaluated by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. These results suggest that pars compacta shrinkage may account for a substantial part of the structural substratum of motor decline in the elderly. Moreover, an analysis of the relationship of the midbrain damage with specific symptoms in Parkinson's disease could contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of this degenerative process.

Slowed information processing in multiple sclerosis.

Sixteen patients with a definitive diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and an equal number of matched controls were administered tests of memory and information processing speed. Results indicated a significant long-term verbal memory impairment in patients with MS, with spared short-term memory and memory scanning. Speed of information processing was evaluated with the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test. The results for the two highest rates of presentation revealed significantly impaired processing in the MS group. Performance at the higher rates and retrieval of information from long-term memory were significantly correlated. These results suggest that slowed information processing is a deficit that contributes to long-term memory impairment in patients with MS.

Effects of bilateral subthalamic stimulation on cognitive function in Parkinson disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is known to improve motor function in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). However, the possible effects of STN-DBS on neuropsychological functions have been studied less. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of STN-DBS on neuropsychological functions in PD. DESIGN: Before-after trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen consecutive patients were assessed before and 3 months after implantation of stimulators for STN-DBS (postsurgical assessment with the stimulators switched on). Both assessments were performed with patients in a drug-free condition. The neuropsychological battery consisted of tests measuring memory and visuospatial and frontal functions. RESULTS: The comparison between presurgical and postsurgical performance showed a moderate deterioration in verbal memory and prefrontal and visuospatial functions, and a moderate improvement in a prefrontal task and obsessive-compulsive traits. The motor state improved in all patients. CONCLUSION: Therapy with STN-DBS improves motor symptoms in PD without any clinically relevant neuropsychological deterioration.

Multiple memory deficits in patients with multiple sclerosis. Exploring the working memory system.

Some patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) demonstrate impaired memory. A group of 16 patients with MS who were mildly to moderately affected (Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale Score = 3.8) were studied, and they were compared with a matched control group on tests of "working memory." The working memory system was explored by evaluating the amount of information that can temporarily be held in a buffer system during encoding. Results indicated that patients with MS have difficulty in processing information at the level of a hypothesized articulatory loop in working memory. This deficit was correlated with their retrieval of verbal information from long-term memory, as well as how accurately they processed verbal information presented at a rapid rate. There was no significant relationship between ratings of MS severity or number of plaques visualized on magnetic resonance imaging scans and the degree of working memory deficit.

Leuko-araiosis on magnetic resonance imaging and speed of mental processing.

The clinical significance of white matter abnormalities seen in brain imaging studies, termed leuko-araiosis (LA), still remains uncertain. Leuko-araiosis has been associated with a global decline in cognitive performance, although little is known about the cognitive functions that LA may account for. We present the correlates between LA severity on magnetic resonance imaging and mental deterioration in a selected sample of 41 elderly patients with vascular risk factors. We found that LA was related to performance on tasks measuring the speed of information processing and, in particular, on those that involve complex processes. This impairment can be important in producing reduction in daily living activities as it is in the support to the relationship found with some commonly used behavioral rating scales. Leuko-araiosis is also related to the presence of some primitive reflexes, suggesting that their disinhibition may be due to diffuse corticofugal fibers damage.

Biological significance of iron-related magnetic resonance imaging changes in the brain.

Iron, an essential element for basic cellular metabolism, regularly accumulates in certain brain areas in normal subjects and in patients with certain diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging can depict iron deposition, offering a singular opportunity to correlate the regional iron content with the functional status of the human brain in vivo. We studied the relationship between age and the iron-related signal loss on T2-weighted images in basal ganglia, and observed a strongly significant signal decrease in the globus pallidus at the age of brain development (first two decades of life), but we found no such decrease in later years. Moreover, in healthy adults, subject-to-subject variability was relevant in changes due to iron deposition in magnetic resonance imaging. We found increased signal loss to be associated with poor performance on motor and specific cognitive tasks, suggesting that these image changes can provide functional information with respect to the brain in normal subjects.

Does reversed laterality really exist in dextrals? A case study.

We report a case of a right-handed patient who, after a massive left-hemisphere infarction, had neuropsychological disturbances compatible with a right-hemisphere lesion. This has been previously called 'reversed laterality'. Two new aspects of this pattern are described: the right hemisphere is as capable as the left in processing complex syntactic and higher psycholinguistic stimuli; reversed laterality is not complete, ideomotor praxis is the only function that does not follow an inverted representation. The existence of different forms of cerebral organization in dextrals is discussed.

Impaired estimation of word occurrence frequency in frontal lobe patients.

Neuroanatomical correlates of the estimation of occurrence frequency have received little attention. This study investigates the possible role of the frontal lobe in estimating word occurrence frequency. A sample of 27 patients with frontal lesions were matched with normal controls by sex, age and years of education. Significant differences between patients and controls were found for frequency estimation, but not for item recognition. Studying accuracy of estimation as a function of actual frequency, the frontal group performed worse, especially at high frequencies of occurrence. As far as lesion lateralization is concerned, the right frontal subgroup performed worse than the control group in the estimation of frequency. Our results suggest that the prefrontal cortex plays a role in estimating word occurrence and that there is a dissociation between frequency memory and recognition memory, pointing to the involvement of two different cerebral systems.

Effects of unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy on 'on-off' cognitive fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

In Parkinson's disease, cognitive performance can vary according to levodopa levels (on-off states). Both positive and negative effects of dopaminergic stimulation have been reported. Pallidotomy is also able to change cognitive performance, in addition to levodopa pharmacokinetics. The aim of this investigation was to study the effects of pallidotomy on cognitive on-off fluctuations in Parkinson's disease. A brief neuropsychological battery was administered to 15 PD patients during on and off states before and after surgery. Before pallidotomy, patients performed better in the on condition on Trail Making test B; after pallidotomy levodopa no longer improved performance, and the interaction between surgery and state was significant. In relation to the difference between preoperative and postoperative performance in Trail Making B test, there was a significant postsurgical improvement only in off state. Verbal fluency decreased after pallidotomy in both on and off conditions. Our results suggest that pallidotomy can change the effects of levodopa on neuropsychological functions.

Left-ear extinction in patients with MRI periventricular lesions.

A dichotic listening test was administered to 22 elderly vascular patients with periventricular white matter changes on magnetic resonance imaging. We found four patients with a moderate-to-severe extent of these changes who showed a pattern of left-ear extinction. These findings suggest that periventricular lesions in patients with vascular risk factors may be associated with a functional disconnection of the interhemispheric auditory pathways.

The role of prefrontal regions in the Stroop task.

The Stroop is a classical paradigm that presumably involves the inhibition of automatic responses and is frequently used to assess the frontal lobe functions. We investigated the effect of discrete prefrontal lesions in a Stroop task. A sample of 32 patients with frontal lesions were matched with normal controls by sex, age and years of education. Significant differences between patients and controls were found for errors but not for reaction time. Regression analysis showed that the region most related to errors was the right prefrontal lateral cortex. Left lobectomies did not impair the Stroop performance. Our results favour the role of the right prefrontal cortex in sustained attention, and disagree with the conception of the left prefrontal cortex having a role in the inhibition of verbal automatic responses.

Presurgical identification of the primary sensorimotor cortex by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The ability of functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to detect a selective sensorimotor cortex activation in healthy subjects and the feasibility of motor activation in patients with lesions around the central sulcus were investigated. Twenty-five healthy volunteers performed 100 motor activation trials, using a variety of motor tasks, which were monitored by several image analysis methods. The functional images were obtained using a 1.5-tesla standard MR imaging system magnet with blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast. Four patients were assessed using functional MR imaging and invasive cortical mapping. Rolandic cortex activation was observed in 98% of the trials performed on healthy subjects in which no head motion occurred. Nevertheless, the cortical response was not selective in a task-rest analysis due to concurrent activation of neighboring regions. Across-task comparison analyses were useful in cancelling nonrelevant activity in most cases (86%). In the patient group, the region identified as the sensorimotor cortex by invasive means corresponded accurately to the area that was activated in functional MR imaging. Present data support the feasibility of detecting selective activation of the rolandic cortex, even in the clinical setting, leading the authors to suggest the usefulness of this widely available technique in surgical planning.

Differential recovery in naming in bilingual aphasics.

Language performance in a sample of 30 Catalan-Spanish bilingual aphasics was studied using three nominal tasks (naming, pointing, and translation). We compared performance between the two languages before and after therapy and also compared the improvements made in each language. Therapy was carried out in only one language, namely Catalan. Significant differences between the two languages were initially seen in the naming and translation tasks while after treatment significant differences were observed in the naming and pointing tasks. Analysis of covariance was carried out to control the influence of the initial performance on improvements. Performance in the naming task improved more in the treated language (Catalan) than in the nontreated language. We conclude that both differential impairment and recovery of languages in bilingual aphasics is seen not only in rare cases but also in studies of larger samples.

[Study of cerebral activity with functional magnetic resonance]. / Estudio de la actividad cerebral con resonancia magnética funcional.

BACKGROUND: Functional magnetic resonance is a new imaging method which allows the incruent observation of human cerebral activity. The authors describe their method of functional magnetic resonance and the results of cerebral activation. METHODS: A total of 364 functional sequences were performed in 52 volunteers with a magnetic resonance system of 1.5 Tesla. A gradient echo sequence with a long echo time sensitive to the changes in oxygenation of venous blood was used. Different cortical areas were stimulated by visual, motor and language maneuvers and by complex mental operations. RESULTS: Different cerebral areas representative of different levels of cerebral functional complexity were consistently activated and reproduced. Experiments of activation of primary cerebral cortex (visual and motor), premotor regions, specific area of language and areas of cortical association for cognitive operations are described. CONCLUSIONS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging is a sensitive method for the observation of cerebral activity and provides functional images with great spatial and temporal resolution. This may be useful in both clinical and basic investigation.

[Functional magnetic resonance in the evaluation of the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex using Stroop's paradigm]. / Resonancia magnética funcional en la evaluación de la actividad del cingulado anterior mediante el paradigma de Stroop.

INTRODUCTION: Stroop s paradigm has been used to evaluate the anterior attention system which regulates the inhibitory capacity of automatic responses. Functional neuroimaging techniques have shown a preponderant role for the anterior cingulate cortex in carrying out this paradigm. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex in view of its clinical importance in the study of neurological and psychiatric disorders. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven healthy volunteers took part in the study. The functional images were analyzed using the software SPM99 and by second order individual and group analysis. RESULTS: Initial local analysis showed activation in the right anterior cingulated cortex (Brodmann s area 32) and left central (areas 31 and 23); caudate nucleus (right body and left tail) and thalamus (bilateral). Overall there was significant activation of the left hemisphere, in areas 44 (Broca s area), 7, 40 (supra marginal gyrus and insular cortex, and in the right hemisphere in area 19. In spite of this there was great individual variation. CONCLUSIONS: The overall results are concordant with complex functional connections for attention and the control of automatic responses. In our study the anterior cingulated cortex was not selectively activated. The activation of the thalamus and caudate nucleus may be explained by their involvement in the frontostriatal circuits. The lack of individual consistency may be due to different personal cognitive styles of resolving conflicts. According to our results, Stroop s paradigm would not be clinically useful for showing good or bad functioning of the anterior cingulated cortex.

[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Cerebral asymmetry observed on magnetic resonance]. / Trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad. Asimetrías cerebrales observadas en resonancia magnética.

INTRODUCTION: Anatomical and functional neuroimaging data from subjects with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have consistently implicated a reversal of cerebral asymmetry and suggested a fronto-striatal dysfunction in this disorder. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the brain asymmetries in a homogeneous and non-medicated sample of adolescents with ADHD who had been previously studied in our laboratory. PATIENTS AND METHODS: T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained for 11 adolescents with ADHD and 19 control subjects. Frontal and posterior brain regions, caudate nucleus, and ventricular system were quantitatively measured. RESULTS: A reversed pattern of asymmetry for the caudate nucleus (right > left) was found in ADHD when compared to the control group. We also found a reversed pattern of asymmetry for the frontal lobe (right < left) and a smaller right frontal volume (prefrontal specifically) in the ADHD subjects most severely impaired. Right caudate and frontal measures were inversely correlated. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD is associated with fronto-striatal abnormalities, which may be explicable via extant neurodevelopmental theories. Enlargement of the right caudate nucleus may suggest the failure of a process of synaptic 'pruning' by which attentional functions could be improperly transferred from the basal ganglia to frontal regions during development.

Structural MRI correlates of the MMSE and pentagon copying test in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) is common and recent studies have focused on addressing the most suitable screening tool for its assessment. MMSE is commonly used in clinical practice and longitudinal studies found a relationship between the MMSE pentagon copying item and progression to dementia, but its neuroanatomical correlates have been poorly investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the MRI structural correlates of the global MMSE and the pentagon item scores in PD patients in the absence of dementia. METHODS: We selected a sample of 92 PD patients and 36 controls. MMSE was used as a global measure of cognitive status, and the pentagon copying test as a measure of visuospatial performance. FreeSurfer software was used to assess intergroup differences in cortical thickness (CTh) and global atrophy measures, as well as their relationship with cognitive performance. RESULTS: Compared to controls, patients showed significant differences in measures of global atrophy, which correlated with performance on MMSE and the pentagon item. Regional differences in CTh were seen between PD patients and controls bilaterally in the temporo-parietal-occipital region. Patients with impaired performance compared with those of normal performance also showed CTh reductions in these regions. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest MMSE and the pentagon item reflect brain changes which at a regional level involve mainly posterior regions. Correlates of the pentagon item were seen in the same regions where PD patients exhibited significant thinning, and involved more areas and bigger cluster sizes than the correlates of MMSE global scores.

White matter integrity related to functional working memory networks in traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the functional and structural patterns of connectivity underlying working memory impairment after severe traumatic axonal injury. METHODS: We performed an fMRI n-back task and acquired diffusion tensor images (DTI) in a group of 19 chronic-stage patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and evidence of traumatic axonal injury and 19 matched healthy controls. We performed image analyses with FSL software and fMRI data were analyzed using probabilistic independent component analysis. Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps from DTI images were analyzed with FMRIB's Diffusion Toolbox. RESULTS: We identified working memory and default mode networks. Global FA values correlated with both networks and FA whole-brain analysis revealed correlations in several tracts associated with the functional activation. Furthermore, working memory performance in the patient group correlated with the functional activation patterns and with the FA values of the associative fasciculi. CONCLUSION: Combining structural and functional neuroimaging data, we were able to describe structural white matter changes related to functional network alterations and to lower performance in working memory in chronic TBI.