Genome-wide autozygosity is associated with lower general cognitive ability.

Inbreeding depression refers to lower fitness among offspring of genetic relatives. This reduced fitness is caused by the inheritance of two identical chromosomal segments (autozygosity) across the genome, which may expose the effects of (partially) recessive deleterious mutations. Even among outbred populations, autozygosity can occur to varying degrees due to cryptic relatedness between parents.

The standardized histogram shift of t2 magnetic resonance image (MRI) signal intensities of nephroblastoma does not predict histopathological diagnostic information.

The objective of this study is to assess standardized histograms of signal intensities of T2-weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI) modality before and after preoperative chemotherapy for nephroblastoma (Wilms' tumor). All analyzed patients are enrolled in the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) 2001/GPOH trial.1 The question to be answered is whether the comparison of the histograms can add new knowledge by comparing them with the histology of the tumor after preoperative chemotherapy.

The relationship between dopamine receptor D1 and cognitive performance.

Background: Cognitive impairment cuts across traditional diagnostic boundaries and is one of the most typical symptoms in various psychiatric and neurobiological disorders.

Aims: The objective of this study was to examine the genetic association between 94 candidate genes, including receptors and enzymes that participate in neurotransmission, with measures of cognition.

Methods: The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), a global measure of cognition, and genotypes derived from a custom array of 1,536 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 94 genes were available for a large postmortem cohort of Caucasian cases with Alzheimer's disease (AD), schizophrenia and controls (n=727).

An architecture for integrating cancer model repositories.

The TUMOR project aims at developing a European clinically oriented semantic-layered cancer digital model repository from existing EU projects that will be interoperable with the US grid-enabled semantic-layered digital model repository platform at CViT.org (Center for the Development of a Virtual Tumor, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, USA) which is NIH/NCI-caGRID compatible. In this paper we describe the modular and federated architecture of TUMOR that effectively addresses model integration, interoperability, and security related issues.

A software prototype for the assessment of tumor treatment response using diffusion and perfusion MR imaging.

Advanced MRI techniques including diffusion and perfusion weighted imaging, has the potential to provide early surrogate biomarkers to detect, characterize and assess treatment response of tumors. However, the widely accepted Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) are still considered as the gold standard for the evaluation of treatment response in solid tumors, even if according to recent studies RECIST seem to disregard the extent of necrosis, which is the target of all effective locoregional therapies. This is partly due to the fact that measurements of tumor size aren't the best criterion for assessing actual early response.

Clinically driven design of multi-scale cancer models: the ContraCancrum project paradigm.

The challenge of modelling cancer presents a major opportunity to improve our ability to reduce mortality from malignant neoplasms, improve treatments and meet the demands associated with the individualization of care needs. This is the central motivation behind the ContraCancrum project. By developing integrated multi-scale cancer models, ContraCancrum is expected to contribute to the advancement of in silico oncology through the optimization of cancer treatment in the patient-individualized context by simulating the response to various therapeutic regimens.

Evaluation framework for the multilevel macroscopic models of solid tumor growth in the glioma case.

This paper investigates the applicability of multilevel macroscopic models for simulating solid tumor growth in the invasive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) case. The continuum case approach tumor model based on the diffusion reaction equation is evaluated on a pre-segmented tomographic atlas where all tissue properties are known a priori. The atlas is further registered on a real clinical case where the tumor invasion status is gauged in two successive points in time.

DoctorEye: A multifunctional open platform for fast annotation and visualization of tumors in medical images.

This paper describes a flexible and easy-to-use annotation platform (GUI) for quick and precise identification and delineation of tumors in medical images. The design of the platform is clinically driven in order to ensure that the clinician can efficiently and intuitively annotate large number of 3D tomographic datasets. Both manual and well-known semiautomatic segmentation techniques are available in the platform allowing clinician to annotate multiple regions of interest at the same session.