Because of the significant perioperative risk, the demanding operative management and the rarity of this tumor, patients with HC should be referred to tertiary surgical centers.”
“Brain tumors are the leading cause of death and disability from childhood disease in developed countries. Pediatric posterior fossa tumors are often effectively controlled with a combination

of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, depending on tumor type. White matter injury following resection of tumor and radiation treatment is associated with cognitive declines, including working memory deficits. We investigated how brain injury following treatment for posterior fossa tumors results in deficits in working memory. We used diffusion tensor imaging and probabilistic tractography to examine the structural integrity of cerebello-thalamo-cerebral tracts in patients and healthy children. We also compared working memory outcome in patients versus controls, and related GSK J4 ic50 this function to integrity of cerebello-thalamo-cerebral tracts. Bilateral cerebello-thalamo-cerebral tracts were delineated in all participants. Patients treated with a combination of surgery and radiation had selleck compound lower mean anisotropy and higher mean radial diffusivity within the cerebellar regions of the cerebello-thalamo-cerebral tract compared to patients treated with surgery

only and healthy controls. Poorer working memory scores were observed for the cranial radiation group

relative to controls. Reduced anisotropy and higher radial diffusivity within the entire cerebello-thalamo-cerebral pathway predicted lower working memory. Our finding that working memory function is related to the integrity of cerebello-thalamo-cerebral connections is a novel contribution to the understanding of cerebral-cerebellar communication. Identifying differences in the structural integrity of white matter for specific pathways is an essential step in attempting to learn more localize the effects of posterior fossa tumors and their treatment methods. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Topographic modulation of tissue response is an important consideration in the design and manufacture of a biomaterial. In developing new tissue therapies for skin, all levels of architecture, including the nanoscale need to be considered. Here we show that keratinocyte phenotype is affected by nanoscale changes in topography with cell morphology, proliferation, and migration influenced by the pore size in anodic aluminum oxide membranes. A membrane with a pore size of 300 nm, which enhanced cell phenotype in vitro, was used as a dressing to cover a partial thickness burn injury in the pig. Wounds dressed with the membrane showed evidence of advanced healing with significantly less organizing granulation tissue and more mature epidermal layers than control wounds dressed with a standard burns dressing.