I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(11)60243-2.pdf

Osteoarthritis: an update with relevance for clinical practice

Molecular imaging is revolutionizing the way we study the inner workings of the human body, diagnose diseases, approach drug design, and assess therapies. The field as a whole is making possible the visualization of complex biochemical processes involved in normal physiology and disease states, in real time, in living cells, tissues, and intact subjects. In this review, we focus specifically on molecular imaging of intact living subjects. We provide a basic primer for those who are new to molecular imaging, and a resource for those involved in the field. We begin by describing classical molecular imaging techniques together with their key strengths and limitations, after which we introduce some of the latest emerging imaging modalities. We provide an overview of the main classes of molecular imaging agents (i.e., small molecules, peptides, aptamers, engineered proteins, and nanoparticles) and cite examples of how molecular imaging is being applied in oncology, neuroscience, cardiology, gene therapy, cell tracking, and theranostics (therapy combined with diagnostics). A step-by-step guide to answering biological and/or clinical questions using the tools of molecular imaging is also provided. We conclude by discussing the grand challenges of the field, its future directions, and enormous potential for further impacting how we approach research and medicine.

A Molecular Imaging Primer: Modalities, Imaging Agents, and Applications

Metabolomics, an omic science in systems biology, is the global quantitative assessment of endogenous metabolites within a biological system. Either individually or grouped as a metabolomic profile, detection of metabolites is carried out in cells, tissues, or biofluids by either nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. There is potential for the metabolome to have a multitude of uses in oncology, including the early detection and diagnosis of cancer and as both a predictive and pharmacodynamic marker of drug effect. Despite this, there is lack of knowledge in the oncology community regarding metabolomics and confusion about its methodologic processes, technical challenges, and clinical applications. Metabolomics, when used as a translational research tool, can provide a link between the laboratory and clinic, particularly because metabolic and molecular imaging technologies, such as positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, enable the discrimination of metabolic markers noninvasively in vivo. Here, we review the current and potential applications of metabolomics, focusing on its use as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic evaluation.

https://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/clincanres/15/2/431.full.pdf

Clinical Applications of Metabolomics in Oncology: A Review

Analysis of Cancer Metabolism by Imaging Hyperpolarized Nuclei: Prospects for Translation to Clinical Research

Obesity is a global issue and it has been suggested that an addiction to certain foods could be a factor contributing to overeating and subsequent obesity. Only one tool, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been developed to specifically assess food addiction. This review aimed to determine the prevalence of food addiction diagnosis and symptom scores, as assessed by the YFAS. Published studies to July 2014 were included if they reported the YFAS diagnosis or symptom score and were published in the English language. Twenty-five studies were identified including a total of 196,211 predominantly female, overweight/obese participants (60%). Using meta-analysis, the weighted mean prevalence of YFAS food addiction diagnosis was 19.9%. Food addiction (FA) diagnosis was found to be higher in adults aged >35 years, females, and overweight/obese participants. Additionally, YFAS diagnosis and symptom score was higher in clinical samples compared to non-clinical counterparts. YFAS outcomes were related to a range of other eating behavior measures and anthropometrics. Further research is required to explore YFAS outcomes across a broader spectrum of ages, other types of eating disorders and in conjunction with weight loss interventions to confirm the efficacy of the tool to assess for the presence of FA.

/pdf/the-prevalence-of-food-addiction-as-assessed-by-the-yale-q8tuign2yk.pdf

The Prevalence of Food Addiction as Assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale: A Systematic Review

Background: Web-based approaches are an effective and convenient medium to deliver eHealth interventions. However, few studies have attempted to evaluate the accuracy of online self-reported weight, and only one has assessed the accuracy of online self-reported height and body mass index (BMI). Objective: This study aimed to validate online self-reported height, weight, and calculated BMI against objectively measured data in young Australian adults. Methods: Participants aged 18-35 years were recruited via advertisements on social media sites and reported their current height and weight as part of an online survey. They then subsequently had the same measures objectively assessed by a trained researcher. Results: Self-reported height was significantly overestimated by a mean of 1.36 cm (SD 1.93; P <.001), while self-reported weight was significantly underestimated by –0.55 kg (SD 2.03; P <.001). Calculated BMI was also underestimated by –0.56 kg/m 2 (SD 0.08; P <.001). The discrepancy in reporting resulted in the misclassification of the BMI category of three participants. Measured and self-reported data were strongly positively correlated (height: r =.98, weight: r =.99, BMI: r =.99; P <.001). When accuracy was evaluated by BMI category and gender, weight remained significantly underreported by females ( P =.002) and overweight/obese participants ( P =.02). Conclusions: There was moderate to high agreement between self-reported and measured anthropometric data. Findings suggest that online self-reported height and weight can be a valid method of collecting anthropometric data. [J Med Internet Res 2014;16(1):e4]

How Accurate is Web-Based Self-Reported Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index in Young Adults?

Our understanding of the roles that the amino acids glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln) play in the mammalian central nervous system has increased rapidly in recent times Many conditions are known to exhibit a disturbance in Glu-Gln equilibrium, and the exact relationships between these changed conditions and these amino acids are not fully understood This has led to increased interest in Glu/Gln quantitation in the human brain in an array of conditions (eg mental illness, tumor, neuro-degeneration) as well as in normal brain function Accordingly, this review has been undertaken to describe the increasing number of in vivo techniques available to study Glu and Gln separately, or pooled as 'Glx' The present MRS methods used to assess Glu and Gln vary in approach, complexity, and outcome, thus the focus of this review is on a description of MRS acquisition approaches, and an indication of relative utility of each technique rather than brain pathologies associated with Glu and/or Gln perturbation Consequently, this review focuses particularly on (1) one-dimensional (1)H MRS, (2) two-dimensional (1)H MRS, and (3) one-dimensional (13)C MRS techniques

/pdf/glutamate-and-glutamine-a-review-of-in-vivo-mrs-in-the-human-2za53a3bld.pdf

Glutamate and Glutamine: A Review of In Vivo MRS in the Human Brain

Diffusion-weighted imaging provides a novel contrast mechanism in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and has a high sensitivity in the detection of changes in the local biologic environment. A significant advantage of diffusion-weighted MR imaging over conventional contrast material-enhanced MR imaging is its high sensitivity to change in the microscopic cellular environment without the need for intravenous contrast material injection. Approaches to the assessment of diffusion-weighted breast imaging findings include assessment of these data alone and interpretation of the data in conjunction with T2-weighted imaging findings. In addition, the analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value can be undertaken either in isolation or in combination with diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted imaging. Most previous studies have evaluated ADC value alone; however, overlap in the ADC values of malignant and benign disease has been observed. This overlap may be partly due to selection of b value, which can influence the concomitant effect of perfusion and emphasize the contribution of multicomponent model influences. The simultaneous assessment of diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted imaging data and ADC value has the potential to improve specificity. In addition, the use of diffusion-weighted imaging in a standard breast MR imaging protocol may heighten sensitivity and thereby improve diagnostic accuracy. Standardization of diffusion-weighted imaging parameters is needed to allow comparison of multicenter studies and assessment of the clinical utility of diffusion-weighted imaging and ADC values in breast evaluation.

https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/rg.314105160

Diffusion-weighted Imaging of the Breast: Principles and Clinical Applications

Emerging evidence from recent neuroimaging studies suggests specific food related behaviours contribute to the development of obesity. The aim of this review was to report the neural responses to visual food cues, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in humans of differing weight status. Published studies to 2014 were retrieved and included if they: used visual food cues, studied humans >18 years old, reported weight status, and included fMRI outcomes. Sixty studies were identified that investigated the neural responses of healthy weight participants (n=26), healthy weight compared to obese participants (n=17), and weight loss interventions (n=12). High calorie food images were used in the majority of studies (n=36), however, image selection justification was only provided in 19 studies. Obese individuals had increased activation of reward-related brain areas including the insula and orbitofrontal cortex in response to visual food cues compared to healthy weight individuals, and this was particularly evident in response to energy dense cues. Additionally, obese individuals were more responsive to food images when satiated. Meta-analysis of changes in neural activation post- weight loss revealed small areas of convergence of activation across studies in brain areas related to emotion, memory and learning such as the cingulate gyrus, lentiform nucleus and precuneus. Differential activation patterns to visual food cues were observed between obese, healthy weight and weight loss populations. Future studies require standardisation of dietetic variables and fMRI outcomes to enable more direct comparisons between studies.

/pdf/neural-responses-to-visual-food-cues-according-to-weight-4kpbqnqczf.pdf

Peter Stanwell

Papers

The Prevalence of Food Addiction as Assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale: A Systematic Review

How Accurate is Web-Based Self-Reported Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index in Young Adults?

Glutamate and Glutamine: A Review of In Vivo MRS in the Human Brain

Diffusion-weighted Imaging of the Breast: Principles and Clinical Applications

Neural Responses to Visual Food Cues According to Weight Status: A Systematic Review of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies