BOLD fMRI has provided a wealth of information about the aging brain. A common finding is that posterior regions of the brain manifest an age-related decrease in activation while the anterior regions show an age-related increase. Several neurocognitive models have been proposed to interpret these findings. However, one issue that has not been sufficiently considered to date is that the BOLD signal is based on vascular responses secondary to neural activity. Thus the above findings could be in part due to a vascular change, especially in view of the expected decline of vascular health with age. In the present study, we aim to examine age-related differences in memory-encoding fMRI response in the context of vascular aging. One hundred and thirty healthy subjects ranging from 20 to 89 years old underwent a scene-viewing fMRI task and, in the same session, cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) was measured in each subject using a CO2-inhalation task. Without accounting for the influence of vascular changes, the task-activated fMRI signal showed the typical age-related decrease in visual cortex and medial temporal lobe (MTL), but manifested an increase in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In the same individuals, an age-related CVR reduction was observed in all of these regions. We then used a previously proposed normalization approach to calculate a CVR-corrected fMRI signal, which was defined as the uncorrected signal divided by CVR. Based on the CVR-corrected fMRI signal, an age-related increase is now seen in both the left and right side of IFG; and no brain regions showed a signal decrease with age. We additionally used a model-based approach to examine the fMRI data in the context of CVR, which again suggested an age-related change in the two frontal regions, but not in the visual and MTL regions.

Our findings suggest that anaerobic, fungal, and AFB cultures should not be routinely performed during the initial evaluation of children with hematogenous musculoskeletal infection. These cultures should be performed for children with immunocompromise, clinical suspicion of penetrating inoculation, or failed primary treatment.

Utilization of MALDI-MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry) for tissue imaging is a relatively new proteomic technique that simultaneously maps the spatial distribution of multiple proteins directly within a single frozen tissue section. Here we report the development of a methodology to apply MALDI tissue imaging to chick heart tissue sections acquired from fixed and paraffin-embedded samples. This protocol produces molecular images that can be related to the high quality histological tissue sections. Perfused term chick hearts were fixed in acidic ethanol and embedded in paraffin wax. Tissue sections (15 μm) were collected onto conductive slides, deparaffinized with xylene and transitioned into water with graded ethanol washes and allowed to air dry. In separate experiments three different MALDI matrices were applied to chick heart tissue sections through repeated cycles from a glass nebulizer. Tissue sections were then analyzed by MALDI mass spectrometry using a raster step-size of 75–100 μm, and molecular images for specific m/z ratios reconstituted. MALDI tissue imaging revealed spatially-resolved protein signals within single heart sections that are specific to structures or regions of the heart, e.g., vessels, valves, endocardium, myocardium, or septa. Moreover, no prior knowledge of protein expression is required as is the case for immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization methodologies. The ability to simultaneously localize a large number of unique protein signals within a single tissue section, with good preservation of histological features, provides cardiovascular researchers a new tool to give insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying normal and pathological conditions.

Background: Harrington instrumentation for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) was revolutionary and allowed patients to mobilize faster as compared with patients treated with uninstrumented fusion. However, Harrington instrumentation provided correction of the deformity in 1 plane, resulting in limited sagittal plane control. Patients who received these 2 surgeries are aging, and to date, ultralong follow-up of these patients has not been reported.Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term patient-reported outcomes and radiographic parameters after Harrington nonsegmental distraction instrumentation vs uninstrumented fusion in the treatment of AIS.Methods: Fourteen adult patients with AIS who were previously instrumented (n = 7) or uninstrumented (n = 7) were identified. Recent x-ray image measurements such as pelvic incidence (PI), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), pelvic tilt (PT), lumbar lordosis (LL), and pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) were used to analyze deformities. Scoliosis Research Society-7 (SRS-7), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to evaluate patient-reported outcomes. Complications and rates of revision surgery were also evaluated.Results: The mean age was 67.1 ± 5 years in the instrumented group and 64.1 ± 9 years in the uninstrumented group. There were no significant differences between instrumented and uninstrumented in SRS-7 (23.4 ± 2.9 vs 23.6 ± 2.6, P = 0.93),