Nasu-Hakola disease (PLOSL) : report of five cases and review of the literature

The combination of bilateral lytic lesions in the bones of the lower and upper extremities and presenile dementia is characteristic of polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy, also known as Nasu-Hakola disease. The clinical course of this rare and fatal disorder is characterized by pathologic fractures of these often painful lesions, rapid progression of dementia, and death in the fifth decade of life. The radiographic changes may be confused with cystic angiomatosis, focal metastasizing hemangioendothelioma, or Langerhans\u27; cell histiocytosis. We report five patients to illustrate the clinical presentation, radiographic images, psychiatric abnormalities, and new genetic findings. Three of the patients were siblings. A biopsy is not needed to confirm the diagnosis of polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy because of the unique combination of radiographic and neurologic features

Diffusion tensor MRI of the corpus callosum in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106143/1/jmri24218.pd

Strategic Alliances - a differentiated view

The common literature about strategic alliances offers a very fragmented picture. This thesis gives a theoretical overview on strategic alliances and builds the basis for the following examination of the different dimensions most strategic alliances have. The examination of the different dimensions is the crucial point of this thesis. Here the reader gets a detailed insight into the different dimensions and the implications they have on the design of a particular strategic alliance. This examination leads in the end to a more differentiated view on strategic alliances and the insight that no simple models exist, which give a sufficient basis for decision-making and understanding strategic alliances, today. The thesis concludes with an outlook into the future and some prognoses what topics have to be examined more carefully

Facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy: new cases, cognitive changes and pathophysiology

Purpose of review To improve our clinical understanding of facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy (FOSMN). Recent findings We identified 29 new cases and 71 literature cases, resulting in a cohort of 100 patients with FOSMN. During follow-up, cognitive and behavioral changes became apparent in 8 patients, suggesting that changes within the spectrum of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are a part of the natural history of FOSMN. Another new finding was chorea, seen in 6 cases. Despite reports of autoantibodies, there is no consistent evidence to suggest an autoimmune pathogenesis. Four of 6 autopsies had TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP) 43 pathology. Seven cases had genetic mutations associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Summary FOSMN is a rare disease with a highly characteristic onset and pattern of disease progression involving initial sensory disturbances, followed by bulbar weakness with a cranial to caudal spread of pathology. Although not conclusive, the balance of evidence suggests that FOSMN is most likely to be a TDP-43 proteinopathy within the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis–FTD spectrum

Online counseling via e-mail for breast cancer patients on the German internet: preliminary results of a psychoeducational intervention

Objectives: The internet offers new possibilities in psychosocial patient care. However, empirical data are lacking for oncological patients. A field-experimental study was conducted to obtain initial data to enable evaluation of the effectiveness of online counseling via e-mail for breast cancer patients. A secondary objective was to explore how patients reached by the service can be characterized on psychosocial status and illness

Brinquedos e brincadeiras de antigamente : integração da mídia vídeo em projeto de educação física para alunos do Ensino Fundamental I

Orientador : Cris Betina SchlemmerArtigo (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica, Curso de Especialização em Mídias Integradas na Educação.Inclui referênciasResumo

Synapse loss in the prefrontal cortex is associated with cognitive decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

In addition to motor neurone degeneration, up to 50% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients present with cognitive decline. Understanding the neurobiological changes underlying these cognitive deficits is critical, as cognitively impaired patients exhibit a shorter survival time from symptom onset. Given the pathogenic role of synapse loss in other neurodegenerative diseases in which cognitive decline is apparent, such as Alzheimer's disease, we aimed to assess synaptic integrity in the ALS brain. Here, we have applied a unique combination of high-resolution imaging of post-mortem tissue with neuropathology, genetic screening and cognitive profiling of ALS cases. Analyses of more than 1 million synapses using two complimentary high-resolution techniques (electron microscopy and array tomography) revealed a loss of synapses from the prefrontal cortex of ALS patients. Importantly, synapse loss was significantly greater in cognitively impaired cases and was not due to cortical atrophy, nor associated with dementia-associated neuropathology. Interestingly, we found a trend between pTDP-43 pathology and synapse loss in the frontal cortex and discovered pTDP-43 puncta at a subset of synapses in the ALS brains. From these data, we postulate that synapse loss in the prefrontal cortex represents an underlying neurobiological substrate of cognitive decline in ALS

DAP12/TREM2 Deficiency Results in Impaired Osteoclast Differentiation and Osteoporotic Features

Polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy (PLOSL), Nasu-Hakola disease, is a globally distributed recessively inherited disease. PLOSL is characterized by cystic bone lesions, osteoporotic features, and loss of white matter in the brain leading to spontaneous bone fractures and profound presenile dementia. We have earlier characterized the molecular genetic background of PLOSL by identifying mutations in two genes, DAP12 and TREM2. DAP12 is a transmembrane adaptor protein that associates with the cell surface receptor TREM2. The DAP12–TREM2 complex is involved in the maturation of dendritic cells. To test a hypothesis that osteoclasts would be the cell type responsible for the bone pathogenesis in PLOSL, we analyzed the differentiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from DAP12- and TREM2-deficient PLOSL patients into osteoclasts. Here we show that loss of function mutations in DAP12 and TREM2 result in an inefficient and delayed differentiation of osteoclasts with a remarkably reduced bone resorption capability in vitro. These results indicate an important role for DAP12–TREM2 signaling complex in the differentiation and function of osteoclasts

TDP-43 induces p53-mediated cell death of cortical progenitors and immature neurons

TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a key player in neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Accumulation of TDP-43 is associated with neuronal death in the brain. How increased and disease-causing mutant forms of TDP-43 induce cell death remains unclear. Here we addressed the role of TDP-43 during neural development and show that reduced TDP-43 causes defects in neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation but not cell death. However, overexpression of wild type and TDP-43A315T proteins induce p53-dependent apoptosis of neural stem/progenitors and human induced pluripotent cell (iPS)-derived immature cortical neurons. We show that TDP-43 induces expression of the proapoptotic BH3-only genes Bbc3 and Bax, and that p53 inhibition rescues TDP-43 induced cell death of embryonic mouse, and human cortical neurons, including those derived from TDP-43G298S ALS patient iPS cells. Hence, an increase in wild type and mutant TDP-43 induces p53-dependent cell death in neural progenitors developing neurons and this can be rescued. These findings may have important implications for accumulated or mutant TDP-43 induced neurodegenerative diseases