Tumors display a greater reliance on glycolysis for energy production than normal tissues. We have developed a non-invasive method for imaging glucose uptake in vivo, which is based on magnetic resonance imaging, and allows the uptake of non-labeled glucose to be measured via the chemical exchange of protons between hydroxyl groups and water. This method differs from existing molecular imaging methods, as it permits detection of the delivery and uptake of a metabolically active compound at physiological quantities. We show that our technique, named glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST), is sensitive to tumor glucose accumulation in colorectal tumor models, and can distinguish tumor types with differing metabolic characteristics and pathophysiology. The results of this study suggest that glucoCEST has potential as a useful and cost-effective method for characterizing disease and assessing response to therapy in the clinic.

The generation of spikes by neurons is energetically a costly process and the evaluation of the metabolic energy required to maintain the signaling activity of neurons a challenge of practical interest. Neuron models are frequently used to represent the dynamics of real neurons but hardly ever to evaluate the electrochemical energy required to maintain that dynamics. This paper discusses the interpretation of a Hodgkin-Huxley circuit as an energy model for real biological neurons and uses it to evaluate the consumption of metabolic energy in the transmission of information between neurons coupled by electrical synapses, i.e., gap junctions. We show that for a single postsynaptic neuron maximum energy efficiency, measured in bits of mutual information per molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) consumed, requires maximum energy consumption. For groups of parallel postsynaptic neurons we determine values of the synaptic conductance at which the energy efficiency of the transmission presents clear maxima at relatively very low values of metabolic energy consumption. Contrary to what could be expected, the best performance occurs at a low energy cost.

As the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) reaches epidemic proportions, there is an urgent need to develop effective treatment strategies to tackle the social and economic costs of this fatal condition. Dozens of candidate therapeutics are currently being tested in clinical trials, and compounds targeting the aberrant accumulation of tau proteins into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are the focus of substantial current interest. Reliable, translatable biomarkers sensitive to both tau pathology and its modulation by treatment along with animal models that faithfully reflect aspects of the human disease are urgently required. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is well established as a valuable tool for monitoring the structural brain changes that accompany AD progression. However the descent into dementia is not defined by macroscopic brain matter loss alone: non-invasive imaging measurements sensitive to protein accumulation, white matter integrity and cerebral haemodynamics probe distinct aspects of AD pathophysiology and may serve as superior biomarkers for assessing drug efficacy. Here we employ a multi-parametric array of five translatable MRI techniques to characterise the in vivo pathophysiological phenotype of the rTg4510 mouse model of tauopathy (structural imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), arterial spin labelling (ASL), chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) and glucose CEST). Tau-induced pathological changes included grey matter atrophy, increased radial diffusivity in the white matter, decreased amide proton transfer and hyperperfusion. We demonstrate that the above markers unambiguously discriminate between the transgenic group and age-matched controls and provide a comprehensive profile of the multifaceted neuropathological processes underlying the rTg4510 model. Furthermore, we show that ASL and DTI techniques offer heightened sensitivity to processes believed to precede detectable structural changes and, as such, provides a platform for the study of disease mechanisms and therapeutic intervention.

In this paper we present a method based on a generalized Hamiltonian formalism to associate to a chaotic system of known dynamics a function of the phase space variables with the characteristics of an energy. Using this formalism we have found energy functions for the Lorenz, Rössler, and Chua families of chaotic oscillators. We have theoretically analyzed the flow of energy in the process of synchronizing two chaotic systems via feedback coupling and used the previously found energy functions for computing the required energy to maintain a synchronized regime between systems of these families. We have calculated the flows of energy at different coupling strengths covering cases of both identical as well as nonidentical synchronization. The energy dissipated by the guided system seems to be sensitive to the transitions in the stability of its equilibrium points induced by the coupling.

Background: The aim of this study was to translate dynamic glucose enhancement (DGE) body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST) signal to a 3 T clinical field strength. Methods: An infusion protocol for intravenous (i.v.) glucose was optimised using a hyperglycaemic clamp to maximise the chances of detecting exchange-sensitive MRI signal. Numerical simulations were performed to define the optimum parameters for glucoCEST measurements with consideration to physiological conditions. DGE images were acquired for patients with lymphomas and prostate cancer injected i.v. with 20% glucose. Results: The optimised hyperglycaemic clamp infusion based on the DeFronzo method demonstrated higher efficiency and stability of glucose delivery as compared to manual determination of glucose infusion rates. DGE signal sensitivity was found to be dependent on T 2 , B 1 saturation power and integration range. Our results show that motion correction and B 0 field inhomogeneity correction are crucial to avoid mistaking signal changes for a glucose response while field drift is a substantial contributor. However, after B 0 field drift correction, no significant glucoCEST signal enhancement was observed in tumour regions of all patients in vivo. Conclusions: Based on our simulated and experimental results, we conclude that glucose-related signal remains elusive at 3 T in body regions, where physiological movements and strong effects of B 1 + and B 0 render the originally small glucoCEST signal difficult to detect.

As therapeutic hypothermia is only partially protective for neonatal encephalopathy, safe and effective adjunct therapies are urgently needed. Melatonin and erythropoietin show promise as safe and effective neuroprotective therapies. We hypothesized that melatonin and erythropoietin individually augment 12-hour hypothermia (double therapies) and hypothermia + melatonin + erythropoietin (triple therapy) leads to optimal brain protection. Following carotid artery occlusion and hypoxia, 49 male piglets (<48 hours old) were randomized to: (i) hypothermia + vehicle (n = 12), (ii) hypothermia + melatonin (20 mg/kg over 2 hours) (n = 12), (iii) hypothermia + erythropoietin (3000 U/kg bolus) (n = 13) or (iv) triple therapy (n = 12). Melatonin, erythropoietin or vehicle were given at 1, 24 and 48 hours after hypoxia-ischemia. Hypoxia-ischemia severity was similar across groups. Therapeutic levels were achieved 3 hours after hypoxia-ischemia for melatonin (15-30mg/L) and within 30 minutes of erythropoietin administration (maximum concentration 10,000 mU/mL). Compared to hypothermia + vehicle, we observed faster amplitude integrated EEG recovery from 25-30 hours with hypothermia + melatonin (p = 0.02) and hypothermia + erythropoietin (p = 0.033) and from 55-60 hours with triple therapy (p = 0.042). Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Lactate/N-acetyl aspartate peak ratio was lower at 66 hours in hypothermia + melatonin (p = 0.012) and triple therapy (p = 0.032). With hypothermia + melatonin, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labelled-positive cells were reduced in sensorimotor cortex (p = 0.017) and oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 labelled-positive counts increased in hippocampus (p = 0.014) and periventricular white matter (p = 0.039). There was no reduction in terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labelled-positive cells with hypothermia + erythropoietin, but increased oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 labelled-positive cells in 5 of 8 brain regions (p < 0.05). Overall, melatonin and erythropoietin were safe and effective adjunct therapies to hypothermia. Hypothermia + melatonin double therapy led to faster amplitude integrated EEG recovery, amelioration of Lactate/N-acetyl aspartate rise and reduction in terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labelled-positive cells in the sensorimotor cortex. Hypothermia + erythropoietin double therapy was association with EEG recovery and was most effective in promoting oligodendrocyte survival. Triple therapy provided no added benefit over the double therapies in this 72-hour study. Melatonin and erythropoietin influenced cell death and oligodendrocyte survival differently, reflecting distinct neuroprotective mechanisms which may become more visible with longer term studies. Staggering the administration of therapies with early melatonin and later erythropoietin (after hypothermia) may provide better protection; each therapy has complementary actions which may be time critical during the neurotoxic cascade after hypoxia-ischemia.

Feedback coupling through an interaction term proportional to the difference in the value of some behavioral characteristics of two systems is a very common structural setting that leads to synchronization of the behavior of both systems. The degree of synchronization attained depends on the strength of the interaction term and on the mutual interdependency of the structures of both systems. In this paper, we show that two chaotic systems linked through a feedback coupling interaction term of gain parameter k reach a synchronized regime characterized by a vector of variable errors which tends towards zero with parameter k while the interaction term tends towards a finite nonzero permanent regime. This means that maintaining a certain degree of synchronization has a cost. In the limit, complete synchronization occurs at a finite limit cost. We show that feedback coupling in itself brings about conditions permitting that systems with a degree of structural parameter flexibility evolve close towards each other structures in order to facilitate the maintenance of the synchronized regime. In this paper, we deduce parameter adaptive laws for any family of homochaotic systems provided they are previously forced to work, via feedback coupling, within an appropriate degree of synchronization. The laws are global in the space of parameters and lead eventually to identical synchronization at no interaction cost. We illustrate this point with homochaotic systems from the Lorenz, Rössler and Chua families.

Background Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) can potentially support cancer imaging with metabolically derived information. Multiparametric prostate MRI has improved diagnosis but may benefit from additional information to reduce the need for biopsies. Purpose To optimize an acquisition and postprocessing protocol for 3.0 T multipool CEST analysis of prostate data and evaluate the repeatability of the technique. Study Type Prospective. Subjects Five healthy volunteers (age range: 24–47 years; median age: 28 years) underwent two sessions (interval range: 7–27 days; median interval: 20 days) and two biopsy‐proven prostate cancer patients were evaluated once. Patient 1 (71 years) had a Gleason 3 + 4 transition zone (TZ) tumor and patient 2 (55 years) had a Gleason 4 + 3 peripheral zone (PZ) tumor. Field Strength 3.0 T. Sequences run: T2‐weighted turbo‐spin‐echo (TSE); diffusion‐weighted imaging; CEST; WASABI (for B0 determination). Assessment Saturation, readout, and fit‐model parameters were optimized to maximize in vivo amide and nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) signals. Repeatability (intrasession and intersession) was evaluated in healthy volunteers. Subsequently, preliminary evaluation of signal differences was made in patients. Regions of interest were drawn by two post‐FRCR board‐certified readers, both with over 5 years of experience in multiparametric prostate MRI. Statistical Tests Repeatability was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis, coefficient of variation (CV), and 95% limits of agreement (LOA). Statistical significance of CEST contrast was calculated using a nonparametric Mann–Whitney U‐test. Results The optimized saturation scheme was found to be 60 sinc‐Gaussian pulses with 40 msec pulse duration, at 50% duty‐cycle with continuous‐wave pulse equivalent B1 power (B1CWPE) of 0.92 μT. The magnetization transfer (MT) contribution to the fit‐model was centered at –1.27 ppm. Intersession coefficients of variation (CVs) of the amide, NOE, and magnetization transfer (MT) and asymmetric magnetization transfer ratio (MTRasym) signals of 25%, 23%, 18%, and 200%, respectively, were observed. Fit‐metric and MTRasym CVs agreed between readers to within 4 and 10 percentage points, respectively. Data Conclusion Signal differences of 0.03–0.10 (17–43%) detectable depending upon pool, with MT the most repeatable (signal difference of 17–22% detectable). Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1238–1250.