Explore the vast range of titles available.

We previously showed that proprioceptive sensory input from the hindlimbs to the anterior cerebellar cortex of the cat may not be simply organized with respect to a body map, but it may also be distributed to multiple discrete functional areas extending beyond classical body map boundaries. With passive hindlimb stepping movements, cerebellar activity was shown to relate to whole limb kinematics as does the activity of dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) neurons. For DSCT activity, whole limb kinematics provides a solid functional framework within which information about limb forces, such as those generated during active stepping, may also be embedded. In this study, we investigated this idea for the spinocerebellar cortex activity by examining the activity of cerebellar cortical neurons during both passive bipedal hindlimb stepping and active stepping on a treadmill. Our results showed a functional compartmentalization of cerebellar responses to hindlimb stepping movements depending on the two types of stepping and strong relationships between neural activities and limb axis kinematics during both. In fact, responses to passive and active stepping were generally different, but in both cases their waveforms were related strongly to the limb axis kinematics. That is, the different stepping conditions modified the kinematics representation without producing different components in the response waveforms. In sum, cerebellar activity was consistent with a global kinematics framework serving as a basis upon which detailed information about limb mechanics and/or about individual limb segments might be imposed.

We recorded from over 280 single cortical neurons throughout the medial anterior lobe of the cat cerebellum during passive movements of the hindlimbs resembling stepping on a moving treadmill. We used three stepping patterns, unilateral stepping of either the ipsilateral or contralateral leg and bipedal stepping in an alternating gait pattern. We found that over 60% of the neurons, mostly Purkinje cells, responded to stepping of one or both legs, and over 40% to more than one type of stepping pattern. Responsive cells were distributed throughout the five anterior lobules, and the highest concentration was found in traditional hindlimb areas in lobules 2 and 3. A comparison of response waveforms showed that they are similar for neighboring cells in many parts of the cerebellar cortex, and they tend to form local blob-like groupings. Response patterns, i.e., relationship among responses to each stepping type, tended to be similar within a local group. The groupings extend further in the parasagittal dimension (up to about a third of a lobule) than in the transverse dimension (about 1 mm), and they may form functional modules. A principal component analysis also showed that the responses were composed of a four basis waveforms (principal components) that explained about 80% of the response waveform variance that were nearly identical to those derived from dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) responses to similar stepping movements. We reconstructed the locations of the recorded neurons on a 2D map of the cerebellar cortex showing the spatial distribution of responsive cells according to their response characteristics. We propose, on the basis of these results, that the sensory input to the cerebellum from the hindlimbs is distributed to multiple zones that may each contribute to a different component of cerebellar function.

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.

We recorded from over 250 single cortical neurons throughout the medial anterior lobe of the cat cerebellum during passive movements of the ipsilateral hindlimb resembling stepping on a moving treadmill. We applied three different quantitative analysis techniques to determine the extent of neuronal modulation that could be accounted for by the stepping movements. The analyses all indicated that up to half the recorded neurons in all five lobules responded to these passive hindlimb movements. We reconstructed the locations of the recorded neurons on a 2-D map of the cerebellar cortex in order to determine the spatial distribution of responsive cells. Cells that were located in the classical hindlimb projection areas of the anterior lobe (in lobules 2 and 3) were generally most responsive to the limb movement with activity patterns that generally had a linear relationship to hindlimb kinematics. Cells in lobules 4 and 5, considered as classical forelimb areas of the cerebellum, were also responsive. Although these cells tended to have noisier firing patterns, many were found to be modulated nevertheless by the hindlimb movements. We also found a clear demarcation between zones b and c, with a higher fraction of responsive cells in all lobules located in zone b.

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.

Two new endopeptidases were purified to homogeneity from the latex of Araujia hortorum fruits by a simple purification procedure involving ultracentrifugation and ion exchange chromatography. Molecular weights of araujiain h II and araujiain h III were 23,718 and 23546 (mass spectrometry), respectively. The isoelectric point of araujiain h II was 8.9, whereas araujiain h III had a pI higher than 9.3. Maximum proteolytic activity on caseine was reached at pH 8.0-9.0 for both endopeptidases, which were irreversibly inhibited by iodoacetate and E-64, suggesting they belong to the cysteine protease family. Esterolytic activity was determined on N-alpha-CBZ-amino acid-p-nitrophenyl esters, and the highest kcat/Km values for the both enzymes were obtained with the glutamine derivative. The N-terminal sequences of araujiain h II and araujiain h III showed a high degree of homology with other plant cysteine endopeptidases.

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.

A new protease (araujiain h I) was purified to mass spectroscopy homogeneity from the latex of Araujia hortorum Fourn. (Asclepiadaceae) fruits by ultracentrifugation and ion exchange chromatography. The enzyme has a molecular mass of 24,031 (mass spectrometry) and an iso-electric point higher than 9.3. The optimum pH range for casein hydrolysis was 8.0-9.5. The enzyme showed remarkable caseinolytic activity at high temperatures, although its thermal stability decayed rapidly. The proteinase was activated by thiol compounds and inhibited by common thiol-blocking reagents, particularly E-64 and HgCl2, suggesting the enzyme belongs to the cysteine protease family. The concentration of active sites as determined by titration with E-64 was 3.3 microM. When assayed on N-alpha-CBZ-amino acid-p-nitrophenyl esters, the enzyme showed higher preference for the glutamine derivative, followed by those of alanine, asparagine, glycine, and leucine, in decreasing order. Partial homology (36-48%) with other plant cysteine proteinases was observed in an internal fragment obtained by Protease V8 treatment.

In this paper, we review single and multijoint studies that, over the years, have provided insight on the cerebellar encoding of limb spatial position. In particular, we present support to the idea that the cerebellum integrates signals from multiple sources to encode global limb parameters. Then, we highlight the result of recent studies that analyzed quantitatively the relationships between limb end-point position and cerebellar activity. These findings suggest that the cerebellum may share with other central sensory-motor structures an anisotropic representation of limb position characterized by a strong bias along the anteroposterior axis. Finally, we speculate that this anisotropy may also subtend an internal representation of limb mechanics.