3%, and other HAI 1.4%. Microbiological investigations were only documented for 18.9% of all patients. A total of 558 patients (59.8%) were taking 902 courses of antibiotics; 92.1% of patients were prescribed antibiotics without a sensitivity test. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that HAI was significantly

associated with the admission source, the hospital, length of hospital stay, surgical and other invasive procedures, urinary catheters and other indwelling devices. The study results were comparable with reports from some other developing countries and confirm that official statistics underestimate the true frequency of HAI in Mongolia. (C) 2010 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Cyanobacteria Bucladesine datasheet and green algae present in biological click here soil crusts are able to colonize mineral substrates even under extreme environmental conditions. As pioneer organisms, they play a key role during the first phases of habitat colonization. A characteristic crust was sampled 3 years after installation of the artificial water catchment “Chicken creek”, thus representing an early

successional stage of ecosystem development. Mean annual rainfall and temperature were 559 mm and 9.3A degrees C, respectively. We combined scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX) and infrared (FTIR) microscopy to study the contact zone of algal and cyanobacterial mucilage with soil minerals in an undisturbed biological soil crust and in the subjacent sandy substrate. The crust was characterized by an approximately 50 mu m thick surface layer, where microorganisms resided and where mineral deposition was trapped, and by an approximately 2.5 mm thick lower

crust where mineral particles were stabilized by organo-mineral structures. SEM/EDX microscopy was used to determine the spatial distribution of elements, organic compounds and minerals were identified using FTIR microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The concentration of organic carbon in the GDC-0973 order crust was about twice as much as in the parent material. Depletion of Fe, Al and Mn in the lower crust and in the subjacent 5 mm compared to the geological substrate was observed. This could be interpreted as the initial phase of podzolization. Existence of bridging structures between mineral particles of the lower crust, containing phyllosilicates, Fe compounds and organic matter (OM), may indicate the formation of organo-mineral associations. pH decreased from 8.1 in the original substrate to 5.1 on the crust surface 3 years after construction, pointing to rapid weathering of carbonates. Weathering of silicates could not be detected.”
“Elaboration and validation of diagrammatic scale to evaluate gray mold severity in castor bean A diagrammatic scale was developed to standardize assessment of gray mold in castor bean bunches, caused by Amphobotrys ricini.

\n\nResults. The mean patient age was 62.3 (SD 16.1) years, and the incidence of pressure ulcers in this study was 11.2% during the observation period. Multivariate analysis showed that ‘emergency ICU/HCU patients’ and ‘infrequent turning’ were related to pressure ulcer development. Patients with pressure ulcers experienced significantly fewer turns and repositionings (OR = 0.452, 95% CI: 0.212-0.966], p < 0.05. Fewer pressure ulcers developed

in scheduled ICU/HCU patients than in emergency ICU/HCU patients (OR = 0.041 [95% CI: 0.004-0.470], p < 0.01).\n\nConclusion. There was no relationship between pressure ulcer development and APACHE II score, or any medication that affected skin integrity. The frequency of turning and repositioning and patients with an emergency admission to the ICU/HCU can be the prognostic SN-38 price indicators BLZ945 for developing scoring system in critical care settings.\n\nRelevance to clinical practice. These patients admitted directly to ICU or HCU were in a high risk group, further preventive strategies will be required.”
“Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of constipation in children with isolated overactive bladder (IOAB) and no micturition complaints.\n\nMaterials and methods: A questionnaire was used to evaluate constipation in 51 children with IOAB, as well as in a control group of 74 children between the ages of 4 and 14 years. The Rome III criteria for children were used to assess constipation.

IOAB was defined as the

presence of symptoms such as urgency with or without daytime incontinence or frequency, a bell-shaped uroflow, and no post-residual urine.\n\nResults: Mean patient ages were 7.94 (+/- 2.8) and 8.28 (+/- 3.4) years in the OAB and control group, respectively (p = 0.54). Twenty-eight (54.9%) of the OAB group were girls, and 34 (45.9%) were girls in the control group (p = 0.32). More of the children with IOAB had constipation than those without urinary symptoms (54.9% vs. 29.7%, p = 0.005; or 2.87, 95% CI: 1.3-6.0). The results were statistically significant regarding the following Rome III criteria: “history of stool retention”, “presence of painful or hard bowel movements”, “the www.selleckchem.com/products/gsk2126458.html presence of a large fecal mass in the rectum” and “large diameter stools which may obstruct the toilet”. Within the group with OAB, constipation was more common among males (p = 0.05). There was no association between the type of OAB symptoms and constipation. The average dysfunctional voiding symptom score was 9.76 (+/- 4.1). Eleven children (21.6%) presented alterations on ultrasound. Girls with OAB presented more frequently with UTI than boys (18 vs. 10, p = 0.13).\n\nConclusion: This was the first comparative study with respect to constipation in children with IOAB and without urinary symptoms. Children with IOAB have a greater risk of having constipation compared to those with no urinary symptoms. (C) 2013 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company.

This review covers the recent developments in the use of dendrimers for selleck products siRNA and DNA transfection in both neuronal and glial cells. Crossing the blood brain barrier crossing represents a challenge for the effective use of dendrimer-mediated delivery of therapeutic agents to the central nervous system. We will discuss the effectiveness, both in vitro and in

vivo, of various dendrimers in delivering genetic material to neural tissue and its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. In addition, the use of dendrimers as a potential new therapy in the treatment of glioblastoma will be presented.”
“PURPOSE. To investigate the antioxidative ability of a novel mitochondria-targeted peptide MTP-131 in immortalized human trabecular meshwork (iHTM) and glaucomatous human trabecular meshwork (GTM(3)) cell lines.\n\nMETHODS. Cultured iHTM and GTM(3) cells were pretreated with MTP-131 for 1 hour, and sustained

oxidative stress was induced by subjecting TM cells to 200 mu M hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) for 24 hours. Untreated cells and cells incubated with H(2)O(2) alone were used as controls. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay was used to determine cell viability. Autophagy Compound Library high throughput Changes of mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta Psi m) and generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were analyzed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Activation of caspase 3 was quantified by Western blotting, and apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. Release of cytochrome c and changes in cytoskeleton were analyzed by confocal microscopy. Data were analyzed with commercial data analysis software and P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically

significant.\n\nRESULTS. In both iHTM and GTM(3) cells, decrease of Delta Psi m and elevation of intracellular ROS were detected after sustained oxidative stress induced by H(2)O(2). When cells were pretreated with MTP-131, the H(2)O(2)-induced mitochondrial depolarization was prevented; intracellular ROS, LDH release, and apoptosis were significantly decreased; release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytoplasm and activation of caspase 3 were inhibited. In addition, cytoskeleton changes caused by H(2)O(2) were also alleviated by MTP-131.\n\nCONCLUSIONS. Mitochondria-targeted peptide MTP-131 could prevent both iHTM and GTM(3) cells from sustained oxidative stress SB273005 cost induced by H(2)O(2). (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011; 52: 7027-7037) DOI:10.1167/iovs.11-7524″
“Macrophages represent an important therapeutic target, because their activity has been implicated in the progression of debilitating diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis. In this work, we designed and characterized pH-responsive polymeric micelles that were mannosylated using “click” chemistry to achieve CD206 (mannose receptor)-targeted siRNA delivery. CD206 is primarily expressed on macrophages and dendritic cells and upregulated in tumor-associated macrophages, a potentially useful target for cancer therapy.

Thus, Dicer and miRNA appeared to play an important role during oogenesis and were essential for meiotic completion.”
“Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the immune sensors for infections, triggering robust innate immune activation followed by protective adaptive immunity against various infectious diseases. Recent evidence, however, has suggested that TLRs are involved in AZD5582 the pathogenesis of many diseases, including not only infectious diseases but also autoimmune diseases, allergy and atherosclerosis. Therefore, prophylactic or therapeutic application of TLR-based immune interventions

should be potent, but their safety must be demonstrated using experimental animal models as well as human resources, including analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Here, we focus on recent advances in understanding of the protective and pathogenic roles of TLRs in human diseases.”
“PURPOSE\n\nWe aimed to evaluate the

role of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (F-18-FDG PET-CT) involving care-dose unenhanced CT to detect extranodal CT99021 nmr involvement in patients with non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma.\n\nMATERIALS AND METHODS\n\nLymphoma patients (35 Hodgkin lymphoma, 75 non-Hodgkin lymphoma) who were referred for F-18-FDG PET-CT imaging, following a diagnostic contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT) performed within the last month, were included in our study. A total of 129 PET-CT images, and all radiologic, clinical, and pathological records of these patients were retrospectively reviewed.\n\nRESULTS\n\nIn selleck compound total, 137 hypermetabolic extranodal infiltration sites were detected

by F-18-FDG PET-CT in 62 of 110 patients. There were no positive findings by CE-CT that reflected organ involvement in 40 of 137 F-18-FDG-positive sites. The. statistics revealed fair agreement between PET-CT and CE-CT for the detection of extranodal involvement (kappa=0.60). The organs showing a disagreement between the two modalities were the spleen, bone marrow, bone, and thyroid and prostate glands. In all lesions that were negative at CE-CT, there was a diffuse F-18-FDG uptake pattern in the PET-CT images. The frequency of extranodal involvement was 51% and 58% in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, respectively. There was a high positive correlation between the maximum standardized uptake values of the highest F-18-FDG-accumulating lymph nodes and extranodal sites (r=0.67) in patients with nodal and extranodal involvement.\n\nCONCLUSION\n\nF-18-FDG PET-CT is a more effective technique than CE-CT for the evaluation of extranodal involvement in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. PET-CT has a significant advantage for the diagnosis of diffusely infiltrating organs without mass lesions or contrast enhancement compared to CE-CT.”
“Inhibition of human histone deacetylases (HDACs) has emerged as a novel concept in the chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer.

10% +/- 4.04%. Temperature data showed a difference between theory and imaging performance

of -0.28% +/- 0.22%. Images of polyacrylamide test objects showed detectability of an approximately 1% sound speed difference in a 2.4-mm cylindrical inclusion with a contrast to noise ratio of 7.9 dB.\n\nConclusions-An automated breast scanner offers the potential to make consistent automated tomographic images of breast backscatter, sound speed, and attenuation, potentially improving diagnosis, particularly in dense breasts.”
“Background: Most previous studies on hallux valgus focused on the possible relationship between this deformity and muscles and/or ligaments in the foot and lower leg. Very little is known about the relationship between hallux valgus and alignment of the proximal joints. The aims of the present study were to determine the check details extent to which lower extremity alignment characteristics of the hip, knee, ankle, Evofosfamide and foot were

related to the manifestation of hallux valgus and to identify variables predicting its development in women.\n\nMethods: A group of 25 women with hallux valgus and 24 control women, age 51 to 80 years, were interviewed and screened for the current study. Measurements recorded were hallux valgus angle; intermetatarsal angle; a set of body physique measures (eg, height); range of motion at the hip, knee, ankle, and foot joints; general hypermobility; lower extremity alignment (eg, tibiofemoral angle); and 9 anatomical anomalies (eg, knee valgus/varum).\n\nResults: Women with hallux valgus manifested notably higher range of motion at their joints, different lower extremity alignment, higher prevalence of general joint hypermobility, and higher prevalence of anatomical anomalies compared with controls. Estimated marginal means for most joint range of motion and lower extremity

alignment measurements were notably higher for the hallux valgus group.\n\nConclusion: Lower extremity alignment and joint range of motion were correlated with hallux valgus. Future studies could possibly identify anatomic risk factors for the development of hallux valgus, nonsurgical methods of prevention and adjunctive surgical methods of treatment.”
“Eu-doped (Bi0.5Na0.5)(0.94)Ba0.06TiO3 (BNBT6-xEu, x=0.00-2.00 at%) Fer-1 research buy lead-free piezoelectric ceramics have been synthesized by the solution combustion method. The effect of Eu doping concentration on the phase structure, microstructure and electrical properties of BNBT6 ceramics has been investigated. The XRD analysis confirms that the europium additive incorporates into the BNBT6 lattice and results in a phase transition from the coexistence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases to a more symmetric pseudocubic phase. The SEM images indicate that the europium additive has little effect on the ceramic microstructure and the average grain size is about 2.0 mu m. The electrical properties of BNBT6 ceramics can be improved by appropriate Eu doping.

Thus, luteolin functions by neuroprotection possibly through a rebalancing of pro-oxidant-antioxidant status. This agent points to possible interventions for preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as cerebral ischemia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for improving brain aging. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Background: Determining the proportion of blood meals on humans by outdoor-feeding and resting mosquitoes is challenging. This is largely due to the difficulty

of finding an adequate and unbiased sample of resting, engorged mosquitoes to enable the identification of host blood meal sources. This is particularly difficult in the south-west Pacific countries of Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea where thick vegetation constitutes the primary resting sites for

selleck kinase inhibitor the exophilic mosquitoes that are the primary malaria and filariasis vectors.\n\nMethods: Barrier screens of shade-cloth netting attached to bamboo poles were constructed between villages and likely areas where mosquitoes might seek blood meals or rest. Flying mosquitoes, obstructed by the barrier screens, would temporarily stop and could then be captured by aspiration at hourly intervals throughout the night.\n\nResults: In the three countries where this method was evaluated, blood-fed females of Anopheles farauti, Anopheles selleck chemicals bancroftii, Anopheles longirostris, see more Anopheles sundaicus, Anopheles vagus, Anopheles kochi, Anopheles annularis, Anopheles tessellatus, Culex vishnui, Culex quinquefasciatus and Mansonia spp were collected while resting on the barrier screens. In addition, female Anopheles punctulatus and Armigeres spp as well as male An. farauti, Cx. vishnui, Cx. quinquefasciatus and Aedes species were similarly captured.\n\nConclusions:

Building barrier screens as temporary resting sites in areas where mosquitoes were likely to fly was an extremely time-effective method for collecting an unbiased representative sample of engorged mosquitoes for determining the human blood index.”
“Soil organic carbon (SOC) content and radiocarbon concentration were measured in three particle-size fractions and charcoal fragments at four depths to bedrock in a sandy soil from SE Australia. SOC content declined with depth for all fractions. The enrichment factors of SOC showed that the finest particles are most important for SOC storage throughout the soil profile, and their importance for SOC storage increased with depth. In the topsoil, all particle-size fractions contained modern SOC. In contrast, charcoal from this depth gave radiocarbon ages of 85-165 years Before Present (BP). This difference was more pronounced at 30-60 cm, where the charcoal was dated at 2,540 years BP, over 12 times as old as the youngest fraction at that depth.

We have sequenced the COMT gene in 259 PD patients and 257 healthy controls. Our results demonstrated that Met/Met

homozygosity of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism was related to a decreased risk of developing wearing-off. This finding suggests that COMT Val158Met may affect susceptibility to wearing-off in PD. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The detection of proteinaceous PR-171 nmr antigens generally relies on traditional immunoassays and, more recently, on immuno-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) assays and their derivatives, which do not take advantage of the intrinsic function or binding property of a protein. The RNA-binding nucleoprotein has been shown to be an excellent target for the development of various influenza A diagnostics due to its high antigenicity and the presence of large numbers in the virus. It binds nonspecifically to the sugar-phosphate backbone of RNA as well as to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)

in vitro. We decided to take advantage of this property to develop an ssDNA probe for the detection of nucleoprotein by quantitative PCR (qPCR). We found that recombinant influenza A nucleoprotein from avian H5N1 subtype binds strongest to a 74-base-long ssDNA. Two systems, one comprising an antibody-based nucleoprotein capture surface and the other based on direct nucleoprotein adsorption under denaturing conditions, were developed combining the replacement of RNA bound to nucleoprotein by a discrete selleck compound ssDNA probe and a qPCR for the detection of nucleoprotein in the low picomolar (pM) range. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Pregnant women with influenza are at increased risk of morbidity, particularly due to respiratory

complications. A high excess mortality rate among pregnant women has been observed in previous PKC412 supplier influenza pandemics and healthcare agencies have provided recommendations on the use of oseltamivir to treat pregnant women who are infected with the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus. This article reviews pre-clinical and clinical data to assess the safety of oseltamivir administered during pregnancy, in the context of the effects of influenza on adverse pregnancy outcomes and fetal malformations.\n\nThe effects of influenza during pregnancy, whether mediated directly by the virus or by fever or other events secondary to the underlying infection, are not yet well understood, but some data indicate an increased risk of birth defects in women infected with influenza during the first trimester. Animal and toxicology studies do not suggest that clinically effective dosages of oseltamivir have the potential to produce adverse effects on fetal development. Additionally, transplacental transfer of the drug and its active metabolite was very limited and not detectable at normal therapeutic doses in an ex vivo human placenta model.

CD226, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, is expressed in the majority of NK cells, T cells, monocytes, and platelets, E7438 and can be served as a co-stimulator that contributes to multiple innate and adaptive responses. However, there has been no study where either CD226 protein or DNA has been used as an adjuvant for vaccine development

The aim of this study was to develop a novel Ag85A DNA vaccine with CD226 as the genetic adjuvant to increase the immune efficacy induced by Ag85A. Oral vaccination with pcDNA3.1-Ag85A-CD226 DNA induced potent immune responses in mice. CD226 was an effective genetic adjuvant that improved the immune efficacy induced by Ag85A and enhanced the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and NK cells in mice. Th1 dominant cytokines (i.e. IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha), cellular immunity (i.e. CD4(+)IFN-gamma T+ cells and CD8(+)IFN-gamma T+ cells in splenocytes) and MLNs were also significantly elevated by pcDNA3.1-Ag85A-CD226 DNA vaccination. Our results suggest that CD226 is an effective adjuvant to enhance the immune efficacy induced by Ag85A. Our findings provide EVP4593 inhibitor a new strategy for the development of a DNA vaccine co-expressing Ag85A and CD226. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“This paper studies the problem of finite-time synchronization control for semi-Markov jump delayed neural networks with

randomly occurring uncertainties. The randomly occurring parameter uncertainties

follow certain mutually uncorrelated Bernoulli distributed white noise sequences. By employing a Markov switching Lyapunov functional and a weak infinitesimal operator, a criterion find more is obtained to ensure that the resulting error system is stochastically finite-time stable and master system synchronizes with the slave system over a finite-time interval accordingly. Based on this, a clear expression for the desired controller is given by using a simple matrix decoupling. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by employing a simulation example. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Similarities between New World and Old World vultures have been interpreted to reflect a close relationship and to suggest the inclusion of both in Accipitridae (Falconiformes). However, deeper analyses indicated that the placement of the New World vultures (cathartids) in this Order is uncertain. Chromosome analysis has shown that cathartids retained a karyotype similar to the putative avian ancestor. In order to verify the occurrence of intrachromosomal rearrangements in cathartids, we hybridized whole chromosome probes of two species (Gallus gallus and Leucopternis albicollis) onto metaphases of Cathartes aura. The results showed that not only were the syntenic groups conserved between Gallus and C.

(c) 2008 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Connexin26 (Cx26) mutation is the most common cause for non-syndromic hereditary deafness. Different congenital Cx26 null mouse models revealed

a profound hearing loss pattern and developmental defect in the cochlea. Our study aimed at establishing a Cx26 knocking down mouse model at different postnatal time points and to investigate the time course and pattern of the hearing loss and cell degeneration in these models. Morphologic changes were observed for 5 months to detect long-term diversities among these models. Depending on the time point when Cx26 expression was reduced, mild to profound hearing loss patterns were found in different groups. Malformed organ of Corti with distinct AZD6738 cell loss in middle turn was observed only in early Cx26 reduction group while mice in late Cx26 reduction group developed normal organ of Corti and only suffered a few hair loss in the basal turn. These results indicated that Cx26 may play essential roles in the postnatal maturation of the cochlea, and its role in normal hearing at more mature stage may be replaceable. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Very late antigen-4 (VLA-4), a member of integrin superfamily, interacts

with its major counter ligand vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and PARP activity plays an important role in leukocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium and immunological synapse formation. However, irregular

expressions of these proteins may also lead to several autoimmune diseases and metastasis cancer. Thus, quantifying the interaction affinity of the VCAM-1/VLA-4 interaction is of fundamental importance in further understanding the nature of this interaction and drug discovery. In this study, we report an ‘in solution’ steady state organic fluorophore based quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay to quantify this interaction in terms of the dissociation constant (K-d). We have used, in our FRET assay, the Alexa Fluor 488-VLA-4 conjugate as the donor, and Alexa Fluor 546-VCAM-1 as the acceptor. From the FRET signal analysis, K-d of this interaction was determined to be 41.82 +/- 2.36 nM. To further confirm our estimation, we have AZD1152 nmr employed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique to obtain K-d = 39.60 +/- 1.78 nM, which is in good agreement with the result obtained by FRET. This is the first reported work which applies organic fluorophore based ‘in solution’ simple quantitative FRET assay to obtain the dissociation constant of the VCAM-1/VLA-4 interaction, and is also the first quantification of this interaction. Moreover, the value of K-d can serve as an indicator of abnormal protein-protein interactions; hence, this assay can potentially be further developed into a drug screening platform of VLA-4/VCAM-1 as well as other protein-ligand interactions.

Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we undertook a comparative analysis of the buy SNX-5422 concentrations of cholesterol, its precursors and metabolites, as well as dietary-derived phytosterols. During aging, the concentrations of

the three cholesterol precursors examined (lanosterol, lathosterol and desmosterol) were unchanged in the cortex, except for desmosterol which decreased (44 %) in 18-month-old rats. In the hippocampus, aging was associated with a significant reduction in lanosterol and lathosterol concentrations at 24 months (28 and 25 %, respectively), as well as by a significant decrease of desmosterol concentration at 18 and 24 months (36 and 51 %, respectively). In contrast, in the liver we detected age-induced increases in lanosterol

and lathosterol concentrations, and no change in desmosterol concentration. The amounts of these sterols were lower than in the brain regions. In the cortex and hippocampus, desmosterol was the predominant cholesterol precursor. In the liver, lathosterol was the most abundant precursor. This ratio remained stable during aging. The most striking effect of aging observed in our study was a significant decrease in desmosterol concentration in the hippocampus which could reflect age-related reduced synaptic plasticity, thus representing one of the detrimental effects of advanced age.”
“Objectives: BTSA1 ic50 The aim of the study is to evaluate tools that can improve surgical precision and minimize surgical trauma for removal of cavernomas in the paracentral area. Moreover, the surgical strategies for the treatment of symptomatic epilepsy in cavernoma patients are discussed.\n\nPatients and methods: Between June 2000 and July 2007, 17 patients suffering from paracentral cavernoma underwent surgery via a transsulcal approach BI 6727 order with the aid of neuronavigation, functional mapping and neurophysiological intraoperative monitoring. To optimize outcome for procedures

in the paracentral area, the hemosiderin-stained tissue was removed entirely except for a small proportion on the side of precentral gyrus.\n\nResults: All cavernomas and their adjacent sulci could be precisely located with the aid of ultrasonography-assisted neuronavigation. By combining preoperative fMRI and intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, including SEP, MEP and cortical mapping, the motor cortex could be defined in all cases. Thus damage to the primary motor area could be avoided during resection of cavernomas. All the lesions located in the paracentral area were removed completely via transsulcal microsurgical approach without neurological deficits. No significant seizures were induced during surgery.