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Bakgrund: Behandlingen av Mediala collateral ligament (MCL) skador är debatterad. En skada på MCL kan leda till sämre medial stabilitet och nedsatt aktivitetsförmåga. Målet med den konservativa behandlingsformen är att minska svullnad och smärta för att på så vis få tillbaka full rörlighet och stabilitet. Behandlingen innebär ofta någon form av öppen eller låst ortos tillsammans med ett rehabiliteringsprogram. Syftet: Syftet med studien är att utifrån litteraturen analysera studiernas bevisvärde och beskriva konservativa behandlingsmetoder för MCL, med öppna och låsta ortoser tillsammans med träning. Metod: En litteraturstudie användes, då syftet var att göra en beskrivning av kunskapsläget. Artikelsökningen resulterade i 13 inkluderade studier. För att bestämma bevisvärde för studierna användes en granskningsmall av Carlsson och Eiman (2003) och Statens beredning för medicinsk utvärderings punkt om studiedesign. Resultat: Studierna fick bevisvärden från lågt - mycket lågt. Efter analys av de inkluderade studierna framkom att den mediala knästabiliteten uppvisade ett varierat resultat i båda grupperna med öppen och låst ortos. Dock återgick de flesta patienter till sin tidigare aktivitetsförmåga efter behandlingarnas slut. Slutsats: Av litteraturstudien kan inga slutsatser dras gällande i vilken utsträckning den mediala knästabiliteten och aktivitetsförmågan förändrats efter konservativ behandling med öppen respektive låst orts tillsammans med träning. Studiernas låga bevisvärde och varierade behandlingsmetoder inom låst respektive öppen ortos försvagar slutsatsen ytterligare.

In motion planning, high clearance paths are favorable due to their increased visibility and reduction of collision risk such as the safety of problems involving: human- robot cooperation. One popular approach to solving motion planning problems is the Probabilistic Roadman Method (PRM), which generates a graph of the free space of an environment referred to as a roadmap. In this work we describe a new approach to making high clearance paths when using PRM The medial axis is useful for this since it represents the set of points with maximal clearance and is well defined in higher dimensions. However it can only be computed exactly in workspace. Our goal is to generate roadmaps with paths following the medial axis of an environment without explicitly computing the medial axis. One of the major steps of PRM is local planning: the planning of motion between two nearby nodes PRMs have been used to build roadmaps that have nodes on the medial axis but so far there has been no local planner method proposed for connecting these nodes on the medial axis. These types of high clearance motions are desirable and needed in many robotics applications. This work proposes Medial Axis Local Planner (MALP), a local planner which attempts to connect medial axis configurations via the medial axis. The recursive method takes a simple path between two medial axis configurations and attempts to deform the path to fit the medial axis. This deformation creates paths with high clearance and visibility properties. We have implemented this local planner and have tested it in 2D and 3D rigid body and 8D and 16D fixed base articulated linkage environments. We compare MALP with a straight-line local planner (SL), a typical local planer used in motion planning that interpolated along a line in the planning space. Our results indicate that MALP generated higher clearance paths than SL local planning. As a result, MALP found more connections and generated fewer connected components as compared to connecting the same nodes using SL connections. Using MALP connects noes on the medial axis, increasing the overall clearance of the roadmap generated.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 84-94.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the magnitudes of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) measured during behavioral tasks requiring attention were different from OAE magnitudes measured during tasks that did not require attention. The implication of these results is that the cognitive and perceptual demands of a task can affect the first neural stage of auditory processing—the sensory receptors themselves. However, the directions of the reported attentional effects have been inconsistent, the magnitudes of the observed differences always have been small, and comparisons across studies have been made difficult by significant procedural differences. In this study, we used a nonlinear version of the stimulus-frequency OAE (SFOAE), called the nSFOAE, to measure cochlear responses from human subjects while they simultaneously performed behavioral tasks requiring selective auditory attention (dichotic or diotic listening), or relative inattention. The results indicated statistically significant systematic differences in nSFOAE magnitudes within subjects, but opposite directions of effect across subjects. Differences in the nSFOAEs measured during the dichotic- and diotic-listening conditions suggested that cochlear responses differed in these two types of selective-listening tasks. Time constants measured from functions fitted to the nSFOAE responses indicated faster efferent effects during selective listening than during inattentive listening for the majority of subjects. Furthermore, measurements in brief silent intervals after the nSFOAE stimuli indicated weaker residual nSFOAE magnitudes during selective listening than during inattentive listening for every subject. This collection of findings supports the hypothesis that auditory attentional demands can modulate cochlear processing, presumably to the benefit of the listener. / text

The hippocampal to medial prefrontal cortex (HPC-mPFC) pathway has a role in mnemonic processing. A key function of the hippocampus (HPC) is to organize contextual memories by how they were experienced, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) retrieves contextual memories by sorting and suppressing irrelevant memories for the task at hand. Studies have highlighted the HPC-mPFC connection in rodents, however, there is a relative paucity of primate studies. The present study addressed this issue by investigating the connection from the HPC to anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; areas 24a, 25 and 32) of the mPFC in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The distribution of hippocampal axons and terminals (boutons) was largest in area 25. Bouton diameter was largest in the deep layers of area 25, suggesting an efficient transmission system from the HPC. The robust projections from the HPC terminated most densely in the superficial layers of area 25. The HPC pathway also innervated some inhibitory neurons, labeled for the calcium binding proteins calbindin or calretinin in the superficial layers of the ACC, whereas axons innervated parvalbumin inhibitory neurons in the deep layers of the ACC. The findings suggest that area 25 may be a fundamental pathway from the HPC for memory processing and can be a focal point in therapeutic interventions in neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Submitted by Hiolanda Rêgo (hiolandar@gmail.com) on 2013-04-24T18:53:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Med_Daniel Almeida.pdf: 1358798 bytes, checksum: aa57dd6a5d2afc69caa74c52dbaed26c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Flávia Ferreira(flaviaccf@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-04-29T13:01:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Med_Daniel Almeida.pdf: 1358798 bytes, checksum: aa57dd6a5d2afc69caa74c52dbaed26c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-29T13:01:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Med_Daniel Almeida.pdf: 1358798 bytes, checksum: aa57dd6a5d2afc69caa74c52dbaed26c (MD5) / Situações de estresse repetido ou prolongado podem resultar em vários estados patológicos, como hipertensão arterial, arritmias cardíacas, infarto do miocárdio e até mesmo morte súbita. Embora se tenha muita informação sobre o controle cerebral da pressão arterial, as respostas cardiovasculares ao estresse não são totalmente compreendidas. Dados da literatura mostram a importância do núcleo medial da amigdala (MeA) e da neurotrasmissão histaminérgica no controle autonômico das funções cardiovasculares, no entanto, não há estudos evidanciando o papel das vias histaminérgicas no MeA nas adaptações cardiovasculares evocada pelo estresse emocional. Desta forma, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar a participação dos receptores H1 e H2 no MeA sobre as respostas cardiovasculares em ratos estressados e não-estressados. Ratos Wistar (280-320g) foram submetidos à cirurgia estereotáxica para canulação bilateral do MeA. Passado cinco dias da estereotaxia, os animais foram submetidos a cateterização da artéria carótida esquerda. Vinte e quatro horas após a inserção do cateter, foram iniciados os experimentos com a gravação do registro da pressão arterial pulsátil (PAP) dos animais em condições basais e em livre movimento em suas respectivas caixas de forma continuada. As drogas utilizadas para a microinjeção central foram a mepiramina (antagonista dos receptores H1) nos grupos experimentais I e III e a cimetidina (antagonista dos receptores H2) nos grupos experimentais II e IV. Nos grupos experimentais I e II, 15 min após microinjeção central bilateral de mepiramina ou cimetidina respectivamente, em diferentes doses, os animais foram submetidos a estresse de restrição de movimentos em tubos de polietileno, e a PAP foi registrada continuamente durante 45 min. Após o período de estresse, os animais foram realocados em suas caixas e a PAP foi registrada por mais 30 min. Nos grupos experimentais III e IV, após as microinjeções centrais bilaterais no MeA, a PAP continuou sendo registrada por 75 min em animais sob condições basais e em livre movimento (não estressados). Os animais controles de todos os grupos experimentais receberam microinjeções de salina 0,9%. Os experimentos foram realizados entre 7h00min às 13h00min e os animais não tiveram acesso à água ou ração durante o experimento. Os dados estão expressos como média±E.P.M das variações da PAM e FC. Microinjeções de mepiramina nas doses de 50, 100 e 200 nmol promoveu bloqueio dose-dependente da resposta hipertensiva evocada pelo estresse de restrição. A cimetidina (100 e 200 nmol) atenuou a resposta hipertensiva ao estresse apenas na maior dose utilizada. A resposta anti-hipertensiva ao estresse foi maior nos animais que receberam microinjeções de mepiramina do que de cimetidina nas mesmas doses. Nenhuma das drogas alterou a resposta taquicárdica típica do estresse. Mepiramina ou cimetidina foram incapazes de alterar a PAM ou a FC de animais não estressados. Os dados sugerem que as vias histaminérgicas presentes no MeA medeiam a resposta pressora sem alterar a taquicardia evocadas pelo estresse de restrição, ativando preferencialmente os receptores do tipo H1. Além disto, os dados confirmam a hipótese de que a via histaminérgica no MeA não exerce modulação tônica do sistema cardiovascular. A obtenção de dados adicionais relativos ao papel fisiológico dos receptores histaminérgicos centrais no controle das funções cardiovasculares se reveste de grande importância para as ciências biológicas e para a clínica médica, principalmente quando vinculada à variável estresse. Os resultados deste trabalho contribuem para o esclarecimento da participação destes receptores no controle das funções cardiovasculares. / Salvador

The Medial Axis Transform (MAT) is a powerful tool for shape analysis and manipulation. Traditional methods for working with shapes usually define shapes as boundaries between some “inside” and some “outside” region. While this definition is simple and intuitive, it does not lend itself well to the construction of algorithms for a number of seemingly simple tasks such as classification, deformation, and collision detection. The MAT is an alternative representation of shape that defines the “inside” region by its center and thickness. We present a method of constructing the MAT which overcomes a significant limitation of its use with real-world data: instability. As classically defined, the MAT is unstable with respect to the shape boundary that it represents. For data sources afflicted by noise this is a serious problem. We propose an algorithm, LSMAT, which constructs a stable least squares approximation to the MAT. / Graduate

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第20998号 / 医博第4344号 / 新制||医||1027(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 伊佐 正, 教授 渡邊 直樹, 教授 髙橋 良輔 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

The hippocampus of birds and mammals has been shown to play a crucial role in spatial memory and navigation. The hippocampus exhibits plasticity in adulthood in response to diverse environmental factors associated with spatial demands placed on an animal. The cortical telencephalon of squamate reptiles has been implicated as a functional homologue to the hippocampus. This study sought to experimentally manipulate the navigational demands placed on free-ranging northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus o. oreganus) to provide direct evidence of the relationship between spatial demands and neuroplasticity in the cortical telencephalon of the squamate brain. Adult male rattlesnakes were radio-tracked for two months, during which one of three treatments was imposed weekly: 225 meter translocation in a random direction, 225 meter walk and release at that day’s capture site (handling control), and undisturbed control. Snakes were then sacrificed and brains were removed and processed for histological analysis of cortical features. The volume of the medial cortex was significantly larger in the translocated group compared to undisturbed controls. No differences in dorsal or lateral cortical volume were detected among the groups. Numbers of 5-Bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) -labeled cells in the medial and dorsal cortices three weeks after BrdU injection were not affected by treatment. The activity range was larger in the translocated group compared to handled and undisturbed controls. A causal relationship between increased navigation in a free-ranging reptile and changes in brain morphology was established. The use of translocation as a conservation strategy for reptiles is a controversial topic revisited many times. Previous studies have demonstrated the aberrant movement patterns and mortality caused by translocation and have established that short-distance translocation within an animal’s home range is best for the animal. In conjunction with the neuroplasticity study, we examined the physiological impacts that repeated short-distance translocation and handling have on reptiles. This is essential knowledge if the efficacy of the technique is to be properly evaluated. Baseline and stressed concentrations of corticosterone and testosterone were assayed in blood taken immediately upon capture and following one hour of confinement in a bucket. Neither baseline nor stressed concentrations of either hormone were impacted by translocation or handling. Body condition and change in mass were not affected. Translocated animals had larger MCP activity ranges than handled and undisturbed animals at the 95%, but not 100% levels, while an interaction between time and treatment impacted other movement parameters.Treatment had no effect on a number of behaviors observed during visits to each animal. We suggest that rattlesnakes are quite resistant to potential impacts on their physiology and behavior enacted by frequent short-distance translocation or handling. Additionally, studies that require frequent handling of reptilian subjects are not likely to severely alter stress physiology.