According to the social brain hypothesis, the human brain includes a network designed for the processing of social information. This network includes several brain regions that elaborate social cues, interactions and contexts, i.e. prefrontal paracingulate and parietal cortices, amygdala, temporal lobes and the posterior superior temporal sulcus. While current literature suggests the importance of this network from both a psychological and evolutionary perspective, little is known about its neurobiological bases. Specifically, only a paucity of studies explored the neural underpinnings of constructs that are ascribed to the social brain network functioning, i.e. objective social isolation and perceived loneliness. As such, this review aimed to overview neuroimaging studies that investigated social isolation in healthy subjects. Social isolation correlated with both structural and functional alterations within the social brain network and in other regions that seem to support mentalising and social processes (i.e. hippocampus, insula, ventral striatum and cerebellum). However, results are mixed possibly due to the heterogeneity of methods and study design. Future neuroimaging studies with longitudinal designs are needed to measure the effect of social isolation in experimental v. control groups and to explore its relationship with perceived loneliness, ultimately helping to clarify the neural correlates of the social brain.

This review outlines the current use of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques to study digestion and highlights their potential for providing markers of digestive processes such as texture changes and nutrient breakdown. In vivo digestion research can be challenging due to practical constraints and biological complexity. Therefore, digestion is primarily studied using in vitro models. These would benefit from further in vivo validation. NMR is widely used to characterise food systems. MRI is a related technique that can be used to study both in vitro model systems and in vivo gastro-intestinal processes. MRI allows visualisation and quantification of gastric processes such as gastric emptying and coagulation. Both MRI and NMR scan sequences can be configured to be sensitive to different aspects of gastric or intestinal contents. For example, magnetisation transfer and chemical exchange saturation transfer can detect proton (1H) exchange between water and proteins. MRI techniques have the potential to provide molecular-level and quantitative information on in vivo gastric (protein) digestion. This requires careful validation in order to understand what these MR markers of digestion mean in a specific digestion context. Combined with other measures they can be used to validate and inform in vitro digestion models. This may bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo digestion research and can aid the optimisation of food properties for different applications in health and disease.

The performance of wireless power transfer (WPT) systems is a function of many parameters such as resonance matching, coil quality factor, system impedance match, and others. When designing and testing WPT systems, reliable measurement of system performance is essential. In our application, we use WPT to power biomedical implants for telemetry acquisition from small rodents, where rodent behavior data is used to study disease models. Such an application employs a large primary coil and a much smaller moving secondary coil, which can be defined as a loosely coupled WPT (LCWPT) system. This paper presents a novel wireless measurement system (WMS) that is used to collect real-time performance data from the secondary circuit (implant), while testing LCWPT systems. Presently, measuring the performance of the secondary side of LCWPT systems while they are in operation can be problematic. The literature reports various measurement errors when using voltage/current probes, or coaxial cables placed directly into the primary magnetic field. We have designed the WMS to greatly reduce such measurement errors, where the WMS measures the induced voltage (and hence received power) and relays this information by radio. Experiments were done to test the WMS, as well as comparison with cable-based measurements.

We report two cases with levoatriocardinal vein and partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage in left-sided obstructive lesions. This association may be difficult to recognise by echocardiography. Cardiac CT and MRI were crucial to define the diagnosis and to tailor the best therapeutic option.

This article describes the use of non-invasive magnetic resonance (MR) methods for the characterization and monitoring of the pathophysiology of experimental brain injury in laboratory animals as a function of time and treatment. The impact of MR in brain research is primarily due to its non-invasive nature, thereby enabling repeated measurements in long-term studies, and due to the type of information that it provides. MR imaging (MRI) enables the measurement of the morphology/anatomy as well as the functional status of tissues under in vivo conditions. Compared to other in vivo imaging modalities, MRI has a high spatial resolution and allows for a remarkable soft tissue differentiation. MR spectroscopy (MRS) provides information on the biochemical/metabolic status of tissues. MR methods which have proven valuable in animal studies, can be readily translated to the clinical situation where MR-based diagnosis and treatment planning play a rapidly increasing role.

After a short introduction into the principles of MR, we will illustrate the remarkable versatility of MR in research on brain injury from recent animal studies. Examples will be mainly drawn from experiments on early injury in focal cerebral ischemia and from research on mechanical brain trauma and excitotoxic lesions. The article ends with a brief description of the perspectives of MR in neuropsychiatry.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more popular due to concerns about the environment and rising gasoline prices. However, the charging infrastructure is lacking, and most people can only charge their EVs at home if they remember to plug in their cars. Using the principles of magnetic inductance and magnetic resonance, wireless charging (WC) could help significantly with these infrastructure problems by making charging secure and convenient. WC systems also have the potential to provide dynamic charging, making long road trips with EVs feasible and eliminating range anxiety. In this paper, we review the companies available in the literature that have developed electric vehicle wireless charging systems, automobile manufacturers interested in such technology, and research from universities and laboratories on the topic. While the field is still very young, there are many promising technologies available today. Some systems have already been in use for years, recharging public transit buses at bus stops. Safety and regulations are also discussed.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is blood disorder with a high risk for cerebral vascular morbidities that impact neurocognitive functioning. Specific cognitive abilities are known to be more sensitive to neurologic effects of SCD than IQ scores, yet there is little consensus about which measures to use to assess neurocognitive functioning. We evaluated the ability of the Executive Abilities: Methods and Instruments for Neurobehavioral Evaluation and Research (EXAMINER) Battery to detect neurologic effects in SCD. Thirty-two youth with SCD and sixty demographically-matched comparison youth completed the EXAMINER Battery and selected tests from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability, 3rd edition (WJ-III). Neurologic severity was examined via clinical history for morbidities and midsagittal corpus callosum (CC) area. Results indicated cognitive performance decreased with increasing neurologic morbidity across all cognitive measures; two of four EXAMINER factors were related to CC area. The association with clinical history and midsagittal CC area appeared at least as large for the Examiner Battery scores as for the WJ-III measures. The Examiner Battery showed sensitivity to neurologic history and white matter effects in SCD; this new measure compares favorably to established measures of disease-related neurocognitive effects, but would benefit from further development. (JINS, 2014, 1, 1–12)