BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and MR spectroscopy are noninvasive, quantitative tools for the preoperative assessment of gliomas with which the quantitative parameter fractional anisotropy (FA) and the concentration of neurometabolites N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr) of the brain can be determined. Measurements of FA and NAA reflect the integrity of...

PURPOSE To study the value of different parameters derived from single-voxel proton MR spectroscopy of the mesial temporal lobes in the lateralization of the epileptogenic zone in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. METHODS We studied 12 healthy volunteers and 21 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy refractory to medical treatment, which was clearly lateralized with electroencephalography (...

BACKGROUND N -acetylaspartate (NAA) level is a biomarker of functional integrity and vitality in neurons. In vivo multisection proton ((1)H)-magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies indicate that NAA level decreases in specific cortical brain areas of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). OBJECTIVE To study NAA level in serum samples as a possible biomarker of ALS. DESIGN Serum ...

In this proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) study, the authors correlated cognitive improvement after 3 months of treatment with donepezil with changes of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) level and NAA/Creatine (Cr) ratio in the medial temporal and parietal lobe of 17 patients with Alzheimer disease. Treatment response was associated with an increase of NAA and NAA/Cr in the parietal lobe....

Background: Smear is insensitive and culture is slow, but both methods are essential in tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics. The nucleic acid amplification (NAA) assay is sensitive and rapid, but its role as an additive test in the diagnosis of TB has remained undefined. Aims: The objective was to estimate the specimenand patient-based performance of the NAA assay in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculo...

Polar auxin transport is essential for the formation of continuous vascular strands in the plant body. To understand its mechanism, polar auxin transport inhibitors have often been used. However, the role of auxin in vascular differentiation at the unicellular level has remained elusive. Using a Zinnia elegans cell culture system, in which single mesophyll cells transdifferentiate into trachear...