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neuro-specter2-triplets-multi-pool

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40498790
Upper Limb Apraxia Is Related to Role Participation Among Patients With Mild to Moderate Stroke.
Poststroke, patients often experience decreased role participation, partially because of cognitive impairment. However, the potential relationship between upper limb apraxia (ULA), a cognitive dysfunction, and role participation remains unclear.</AbstractText To evaluate whether ULA is related to role participation among patients with mild to moderate stroke.</AbstractText Cross-sectional study.</AbstractText Randomly selected Spanish public primary care centers.</AbstractText One hundred fifty-three patients with mild to moderate poststroke.</AbstractText Role participation was assessed with the Role Checklist; ULA, with the TULIA Apraxia test and the ADL Observations scale. ULA construct included the components of nonsymbolic imitation, intransitive imitation, transitive imitation, nonsymbolic pantomime, intransitive pantomime, transitive pantomime, and praxis function in daily life activities. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the potential relationship between ULA and role participation.</AbstractText Transitive pantomime explained 20.5% of the variance of the current level of role participation, R2&#x2009;=&#x2009;.205, F(3, 152) = 12.795, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;.001. Nonsymbolic imitation and transitive imitation explained 15.8% of the variance in changes in role participation after stroke, R2&#x2009;=&#x2009;.158, F(4, 152) = 6.957, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;.001. Intransitive pantomime accounted for 17.8% of the variance in expectations for future role participation, R2&#x2009;=&#x2009;.178, F(3, 152) = 10.776, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;.001. Nonsymbolic imitation and intransitive pantomime explained 16.2% of the variance of the assigned value to role participation, R2&#x2009;=&#x2009;.162, F(4, 152) = 7.170, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;.01.</AbstractText ULA is related to role participation after mild to moderate stroke. These findings serve as the foundation for designing and developing novel clinical interventions in occupational therapy. Plain-Language Summary: After a stroke, patients often experience difficulties participating in roles that provide a sense of purpose in daily activities. This decrease in participation is partly because of cognitive factors. Upper limb apraxia (ULA) is a cognitive sequela of stroke that hinders the ability to perform deliberate and essential movements. ULA can affect daily life by posing challenges in the execution of daily tasks and activities, which can affect a person's independence, participation, and community reintegration. Because ULA is a cognitive dysfunction that affects intentional movements, this study investigated the potential relationship between ULA and role participation. Based on the evaluation of 153 patients with mild to moderate poststroke, the results revealed that ULA is associated with role participation after a stroke. These findings serve as the foundation for occupational therapists to design and develop novel clinical interventions.</AbstractText
[ [ "34104033", "Blue-Light Therapy Strengthens Resting-State Effective Connectivity within Default-Mode Network after Mild TBI.", "Emerging evidence suggests that post concussive symptoms, including mood changes, may be improved through morning blue-wavelength light therapy (BLT). However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown. We hypothesize that BLT may influence the effective brain connectivity (EC) patterns within the default-mode network (DMN), particularly involving the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), which may contribute to improvements in mood.</AbstractText Resting-state functional MRI data were collected from 41 healthy-controls (HCs) and 28 individuals with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Individuals with mTBI also underwent a diffusion-weighted imaging scan and were randomly assigned to complete either 6&#x2009;weeks of daily morning BLT (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;14) or amber light therapy (ALT; N&#x2009;=&#x2009;14). Advanced spectral dynamic causal modeling (sDCM) and diffusion MRI connectometry were used to estimate EC patterns and structural connectivity strength within the DMN, respectively.</AbstractText The sDCM analysis showed dominant connectivity pattern following mTBI (pre-treatment) within the hemisphere contralateral to the one observed for HCs. BLT, but not ALT, resulted in improved directional information flow (ie, EC) from the left lateral parietal cortex (LLPC) to MPFC within the DMN. The improvement in EC from LLPC to MPFC was accompanied by stronger structural connectivity between the 2 areas. For the BLT group, the observed improvements in function and structure were correlated (at a trend level) with changes in self-reported happiness.</AbstractText The current preliminary findings provide empirical evidence that morning short-wavelength light therapy could be used as a novel alternative rehabilitation technique for mTBI.</AbstractText The research protocols were registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov database (CT Identifiers NCT01747811 and NCT01721356).</AbstractText" ], [ "38688718", "Structural Neuroplasticity Effects of Singing in Chronic Aphasia.", "Singing-based treatments of aphasia can improve language outcomes, but the neural benefits of group-based singing in aphasia are unknown. Here, we set out to determine the structural neuroplasticity changes underpinning group-based singing-induced treatment effects in chronic aphasia. Twenty-eight patients with at least mild nonfluent poststroke aphasia were randomized into two groups that received a 4-month multicomponent singing intervention (singing group) or standard care (control group). High-resolution T1 images and multishell diffusion-weighted MRI data were collected in two time points (baseline/5&#x2005;months). Structural gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) neuroplasticity changes were assessed using language network region of interest-based voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and quantitative anisotropy-based connectometry, and their associations to improved language outcomes (Western Aphasia Battery Naming and Repetition) were evaluated. Connectometry analyses showed that the singing group enhanced structural WM connectivity in the left arcuate fasciculus (AF) and corpus callosum as well as in the frontal aslant tract (FAT), superior longitudinal fasciculus, and corticostriatal tract bilaterally compared with the control group. Moreover, in VBM, the singing group showed GM volume increase in the left inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 44) compared with the control group. The neuroplasticity effects in the left BA44, AF, and FAT correlated with improved naming abilities after the intervention. These findings suggest that in the poststroke aphasia group, singing can bring about structural neuroplasticity changes in left frontal language areas and in bilateral language pathways, which underpin treatment-induced improvement in speech production.</AbstractText" ], [ "30762012", "Aphasia rehabilitation based on mirror neuron theory: a randomized-block-design study of neuropsychology and functional magnetic resonance imaging.", "When watching someone performs an action, mirror neurons are activated in a way that is very similar to the activation that occurs when actually performing that action. Previous single-sample case studies indicate that hand-action observation training may lead to activation and remodeling of mirror neuron systems, which include important language centers, and may improve language function in aphasia patients. In this randomized-block-design experiment, we recruited 24 aphasia patients from, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, China. The patients were divided into three groups where they underwent hand-action observation and repetition, dynamic-object observation and repetition, or conventional speech therapy. Training took place 5 days per week, 35 minutes per day, for 2 weeks. We assessed language function via picture naming tests for objects and actions and the Western Aphasia Battery. Among the participants, one patient, his wife and four healthy student volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging to analyze changes in brain activation during hand-action observation and dynamic-object observation. Results demonstrated that, compared with dynamic-object observation, hand-action observation led to greater performance with respect to the aphasia quotient and affiliated naming sub-tests and a greater Western Aphasia Battery test score. The overall effect was similar to that of conventional aphasia training, yet hand-action observation had advantages compared with conventional training in terms of vocabulary extraction and spontaneous speech. Thus, hand-action observation appears to more strongly activate the mirror neuron system compared with dynamic-object observation. The activated areas included Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the supramarginal gyrus. These results suggest that hand-action observation combined with repetition might better improve language function in aphasia patients compared with dynamic-object observation combined with repetition. The therapeutic mechanism of this intervention may be associated with activation of additional mirror neuron systems, and may have implications for the possible repair and remodeling of damaged nerve networks. The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Committee of Nanjing Medical University, China (approval number: 2011-SRFA-086) on March 11, 2011. This trial has been registered in the ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN84827527).</AbstractText" ], [ "37521287", "Association between superior longitudinal fasciculus, motor recovery, and motor outcome after stroke: a cohort study.", "Parieto-frontal interactions are mediated by the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and are crucial to integrate visuomotor information and mediate fine motor control. In this study, we aimed to characterize the relation of white matter integrity of both parts of the SLF (SLF I and SLF II) to both motor outcome and recovery and its evolution over time in stroke patients with upper limb motor deficits.</AbstractText Fractional anisotropy (FA) values over the SLF I, SLF II, and corticospinal tract (CST) and upper limb motor performance evaluated by both the upper limb Fugl-Meyer Assessment score and maximum grip strength were measured for 16 patients at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks poststroke. FA changes were assessed over time using repeated-measures Friedman ANOVA, and correlations between motor recovery, motor outcome at 12 weeks, and FA values in the CST, SLF I, and SLF II at 3 weeks were performed using Spearman's rank-order correlation.</AbstractText FA values in the affected hemisphere's SLF I and SLF II at 3 weeks correlated with motor recovery at 12 weeks when assessed by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for upper limb extremity (rho: 0.502, p: 0.04 and rho: 0.510, p: 0.04, respectively) but not when assessed by grip strength. FA values in the SLF I and SLF II were not correlated with motor outcomes. FA values in the SLF II in the affected hemisphere changed significantly over time (p: 0.016).</AbstractText Both SLF I and SLF II appeared to participate in poststroke motor recovery of complex movements but not in the motor outcome. These results argue that visually/spatially oriented motor tasks as well as more complex motor tasks using parietal associative areas should be used for poststroke rehabilitation strategies.</AbstractText" ], [ "31257411", "Neurotechnology-aided interventions for upper limb motor rehabilitation in severe chronic stroke.", "Upper limb motor deficits in severe stroke survivors often remain unresolved over extended time periods. Novel neurotechnologies have the potential to significantly support upper limb motor restoration in severely impaired stroke individuals. Here, we review recent controlled clinical studies and reviews focusing on the mechanisms of action and effectiveness of single and combined technology-aided interventions for upper limb motor rehabilitation after stroke, including robotics, muscular electrical stimulation, brain stimulation and brain computer/machine interfaces. We aim at identifying possible guidance for the optimal use of these new technologies to enhance upper limb motor recovery especially in severe chronic stroke patients. We found that the current literature does not provide enough evidence to support strict guidelines, because of the variability of the procedures for each intervention and of the heterogeneity of the stroke population. The present results confirm that neurotechnology-aided upper limb rehabilitation is promising for severe chronic stroke patients, but the combination of interventions often lacks understanding of single intervention mechanisms of action, which may not reflect the summation of single intervention's effectiveness. Stroke rehabilitation is a long and complex process, and one single intervention administrated in a short time interval cannot have a large impact for motor recovery, especially in severely impaired patients. To design personalized interventions combining or proposing different interventions in sequence, it is necessary to have an excellent understanding of the mechanisms determining the effectiveness of a single treatment in this heterogeneous population of stroke patients. We encourage the identification of objective biomarkers for stroke recovery for patients' stratification and to tailor treatments. Furthermore, the advantage of longitudinal personalized trial designs compared to classical double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials as the basis for precise personalized stroke rehabilitation medicine is discussed. Finally, we also promote the necessary conceptual change from 'one-suits-all' treatments within in-patient clinical rehabilitation set-ups towards personalized home-based treatment strategies, by adopting novel technologies merging rehabilitation and motor assistance, including implantable ones.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40710562", "Understanding the Metabolic Effects of Surgically Induced Renal Ischemia in Humans: A Temporal Approach.", "<b" ], [ "40480414", "Flexible beam-based microelectrode arrays integrated with oriented nanofiber scaffolds for electrophysiological monitoring of cardiac tissue.", "In vitro culture and electrophysiological monitoring of engineered cardiac tissue (ECT) are crucial for the screening and evaluation of cardiotoxic drugs. Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) offer significant advantages in non-invasive, high-throughput detection. However, existing MEAs face challenges in replicating the natural growth environment of cardiomyocytes, which hinders the morphology and functional maturation of cells. In this study, a flexible beam-based microelectrode array (BMEA) integrated with nanofiber scaffolds is presented for the culturing of well-aligned cardiac tissue and the monitoring of electrophysiological signals. Oriented nanofibers are suspended on flexible polydimethylsiloxane beams to create a 3D culture environment for tissue. The BMEA exhibits low impedance (22 &#xb1; 7 k&#x3a9;@1 kHz for electrode width of 100 &#x3bc;m), stable electrochemical performance, and good biocompatibility. Through a 10-day continuous culture and drug stimulation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, the device demonstrates the ability to capture the electrophysiological signals dynamically while promoting the structural and functional maturation of cardiomyocytes, which show better cell orientation, larger cell size, and faster conduction velocity (&#x223c; 21 cm/s). Further drug tests validate the effectiveness of this device. The BMEA provides a perspective tool for screening and evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity to cardiac tissues. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The mechanical mismatch between traditional rigid MEAs and flexible biological tissues has been partially addressed by the development of flexible MEAs based on polymer or hydrogel substrates. However, these 2D adherent culture methods still face several limitations, including lack of biomimetic ECM microstructure, insufficient intercellular interactions, and directional access to nutrients, thereby posing challenges to the growth of cardiac tissue and the maturation of its electrophysiological functions. Herein, a flexible PDMS beam-based microelectrode array (BMEA) integrated with oriented nanofiber scaffolds is proposed for in-situ electrophysiological monitoring of aligned cardiac tissue in a suspended and biomimetic 3D culture environment. The BMEA provides a promising tool for screening and evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity to cardiac tissues.</AbstractText" ], [ "39883405", "Psychopathy as a bipolar construct: Testing the risk-promotive status of the four psychopathy checklist-revised/screening version facet scores in six clinical samples.", "This study tested the possibility that the four facets of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised/Screening Version (PCL-R/SV) serve as bipolar constructs in predicting future criminal justice outcomes. Organizing scores on the four facets (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, and Antisocial) into three categories-that is, lowest 25% of cases (best category), highest 25% of cases (worst category), and middle 50% of cases (intermediate category)-we tested bipolarity by crossing the three categories with a dichotomized crime/violence outcome and calculating both promotive (best category vs. worst + intermediate categories) and risk (worst category vs. best + intermediate categories) effects in six samples. Bipolarity was defined as the simultaneous presence of promotive (low scores predicting a good outcome) and risk (high scores predicting a poor outcome) effects for each PCL-R/SV facet in each sample. Odds ratios and the Cochrane-Armitage linear trend test revealed evidence of bipolarity in one of six samples for the Interpersonal facet, three of six samples for the Affective facet, five of six samples for the Lifestyle facet, and all six samples for the Antisocial facet. An item response theory analysis was then conducted, the results of which supported the facet-level findings from the odds ratio and Cochrane-Armitage analyses at the individual item level. These results provide modest (Affective facet) to moderately strong (Lifestyle and Antisocial facets) evidence of bipolarity in three of the four facets of the PCL-R/SV by showing that low scores are just as effective in predicting good criminal justice outcomes as high scores are in predicting poor criminal justice outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</AbstractText" ], [ "40439829", "Misdiagnosis of autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy as infectious meningitis: a case report.", "Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy (A-GFAP-A) is a rare autoimmune central nervous system disorder associated with anti-GFAP IgG, presenting with meningoencephalitis or myelitis. Differential diagnosis from infectious causes, such as tuberculous meningitis (TBM), is challenging due to overlapping clinical and radiological features.</AbstractText A 24-year-old Chinese female presented with acute headache, fever, and vomiting. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis showed lymphocytic pleocytosis, elevated protein and decreased glucose level. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement. She was initially diagnosed with infectious meningitis and emperically treated with antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis therapy. However, her symptoms progressed with seizures, urinary retention, and tremor. Subsequent MRI revealed the involvement of the whole spinal cord. CSF analysis identified anti-GFAP IgG (titer 1:32). Bacterial, viral and tuberculous infection were excluded through bacterial culturing, metagenomic next-generation sequencing and Xpert MTB/RIF assay. The patient responded well to intravenous immunoglobulin and corticosteroids, achieving full remission. Finally, the diagnosis of A-GFAP-A was confirmed.</AbstractText A-GFAP-A mimics infectious meningitis such as TBM due to similar CSF abnormalities and neuroimaging findings. This case underscores the importance of GFAP-IgG testing in differential diagnosis of patients with meningitis who have negative microbiological studies and atypical symptoms such as urinary retention and tremor.</AbstractText" ], [ "39988830", "Purinergic Receptor P2Y1 Modulates Catecholamine Signaling in Murine Mesenteric Lymph Nodes.", "Neuroimmune communication is crucial for the body's response to physiological challenges, homeostasis, and immune stress response. Adrenergic and purinergic neurotransmission in the sympathetic nervous system is vital for this communication. This study achieves the first co-detection of adenine-based purines and catecholamines in mesenteric lymph nodes via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Additionally, we reveal that manipulating an ATP receptor can impact catecholamine signaling in the lymph node for the first time. The G-protein-coupled receptor P2Y1, which controls intracellular Ca<sup" ] ]
40509179
Towards Cytotoxic Derivatives of Cafestol.
This study focuses on the extraction, characterization, and biological evaluation of diterpenes from green coffee beans, specifically, cafestol and kahweol. These compounds, known for their potential health benefits, were isolated via optimized extraction and saponification processes. Separation was achieved using silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel, and structural elucidation was performed through advanced 1D and 2D NMR techniques, including HSQC, HMBC, and (IN)ADEQUATE. Due to kahweol's instability, the research prioritized cafestol for the synthesis of rhodamine B conjugates. Initial ester-linked conjugates proved unstable, prompting the development of more robust derivatives through amide linkage strategies and further functionalization via acetylation and oxidation reactions. Some oxidation methods led to furan ring cleavage, impacting structural integrity. Selected compounds were tested for cytotoxicity using SRB assays on human tumor cell lines (MCF7, A2780) and non-malignant fibroblasts (NIH 3T3). While the parent diterpenes and many derivatives showed minimal activity, several cafestol-rhodamine B conjugates demonstrated notable cytotoxic effects. Compound <b
[ [ "27401805", "Quantitative hemodynamic PET imaging using image-derived arterial input function and a PET/MR hybrid scanner.", "Positron emission tomography (PET) with <sup" ], [ "30292731", "Sleep Disorders.", "Sleep disorders are frequent and can have serious consequences on patients' health and quality of life. While some sleep disorders are more challenging to treat, most can be easily managed with adequate interventions. We review the main diagnostic features of 6 major sleep disorders (insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-disordered breathing, hypersomnia/narcolepsy, parasomnias, and restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder) to aid medical practitioners in screening and treating sleep disorders as part of clinical practice.</AbstractText" ], [ "29790649", "Hyperpolarized NMR Spectroscopy: d-DNP, PHIP, and SABRE Techniques.", "The intensity of NMR signals can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude by using various techniques for the hyperpolarization of different molecules. Such approaches can overcome the main sensitivity challenges facing modern NMR/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, whilst hyperpolarized fluids can also be used in a variety of applications in material science and biomedicine. This Focus Review considers the fundamentals of the preparation of hyperpolarized liquids and gases by using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (d-DNP) and parahydrogen-based techniques, such as signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP), in both heterogeneous and homogeneous processes. The various new aspects in the formation and utilization of hyperpolarized fluids, along with the possibility of observing NMR signal enhancement, are described.</AbstractText" ], [ "25762497", "Recent applications of UHF-MRI in the study of human brain function and structure: a review.", "The increased availability of ultra-high-field (UHF) MRI has led to its application in a wide range of neuroimaging studies, which are showing promise in transforming fundamental approaches to human neuroscience. This review presents recent work on structural and functional brain imaging, at 7 T and higher field strengths. After a short outline of the effects of high field strength on MR images, the rapidly expanding literature on UHF applications of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent-based functional MRI is reviewed. Structural imaging is then discussed, divided into sections on imaging weighted by relaxation time, including quantitative relaxation time mapping, phase imaging and quantitative susceptibility mapping, angiography, diffusion-weighted imaging, and finally magnetization-transfer imaging. The final section discusses studies using the high spatial resolution available at UHF to identify explicit links between structure and function. Copyright &#xa9; 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.</AbstractText" ], [ "28480537", "Accelerated noncontrast-enhanced 4-dimensional intracranial MR angiography using golden-angle stack-of-stars trajectory and compressed sensing with magnitude subtraction.", "To evaluate the feasibility and performance of compressed sensing (CS) with magnitude subtraction regularization in accelerating non-contrast-enhanced dynamic intracranial MR angiography (NCE-dMRA).</AbstractText A CS algorithm was introduced in NCE-dMRA by exploiting the sparsity of the magnitude difference of the control and label images. The NCE-dMRA data were acquired using golden-angle stack-of-stars trajectory on six healthy volunteers and one patient with arteriovenous fistula. Images were reconstructed using (i) the proposed magnitude-subtraction CS (MS-CS); (ii) complex-subtraction CS; (iii) independent CS; and (iv) view-sharing with k-space weighted image contrast (KWIC). The dMRA image quality was compared across the four reconstruction strategies. The proposed MS-CS method was further compared with KWIC for temporal fidelity of depicting dynamic flow.</AbstractText The proposed MS-CS method was able to reconstruct NCE-dMRA images with detailed vascular structures and clean background. It provided better subjective image quality than the other two CS strategies (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). Compared with KWIC, MS-CS showed similar image quality, but reduced temporal blurring in delineating the fine distal arteries.</AbstractText The MS-CS method is a promising CS technique for accelerating NCE-dMRA acquisition without compromising image quality and temporal fidelity. Magn Reson Med 79:867-878, 2018. &#xa9; 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40647442", "The Role of ENHO in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Bioinformatics Approach.", "Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is an aggressive subtype of pancreatic cancer that is estimated to have a 5-year overall survival rate of only 13%. Most patients present with advanced disease with unpredictable outcomes. The identification of prognostic biomarkers is important to accurately stratify these patients.</AbstractText We investigated the molecular and survival-related role of <i We observed that <i Our results point to a protective role for <i" ], [ "40384034", "MR Spectroscopic Imaging of Hyperpolarized 129-Xenon in the Dissolved-Phase to Determine Regional Chemical Shifts of Hyperoxia in Healthy Porcine Lungs.", "Lung MRI with hyperpolarized xenon (<sup" ], [ "40746166", "Sex Differences in White Matter Structure in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: MR Diffusion Fixel-Based Analysis.", "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder prevalent among adolescents and exhibits notable sex dimorphism. Despite an increasing body of research, the impact of sex on ADHD remains underexplored. This study aimed to examine sex differences in white matter organization in children with ADHD using magnetic resonance (MR)&#xa0;diffusion data analyzed with fixel-based analysis (FBA), a novel technique that enables detailed assessment of both microstructural and macrostructural properties of white matter.</AbstractText Fifty-five children with ADHD and 37 age-matched typically developing controls underwent MR diffusion. FBA was used to assess white matter structure. Group comparisons examined sex differences within and between groups, and correlation analyses were conducted between white matter features and clinical symptoms in the ADHD group.</AbstractText The results demonstrated that no significant sex differences were identified among healthy controls. However, within the ADHD group, the fiber cross-section (FC) metric revealed significant white matter alterations in several tracts, including the arcuate fasciculus, corpus callosum (CC), cingulum (CG), superior longitudinal fascicle, striato-fronto-orbital (ST_FO), and striato-precentral. In addition, the fiber density and cross-section metrics showed comparable abnormalities in the CC, CG, and ST_FO. Females with ADHD showed stronger correlations between FC metrics in bundles of white matter and clinical symptoms.</AbstractText This study is the first to demonstrate sex differences in ADHD white matter bundles using FBA, contributing to a deeper understanding of the pathological mechanisms of ADHD and offering new insights for its diagnosis and treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "40631251", "Subtype-Specific Roles of Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Neurons in Motor and Associative Learning.", "Nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons (DANs) in the <i" ], [ "40407341", "Differential Lesion Patterns Associated With Stroke-Induced Apraxia in Women and Men.", "The motor-cognitive syndrome apraxia is a common stroke sequela and severely affects the outcome after stroke by impairing activities of daily living. Notably, like in many health conditions, there is a massive backlog regarding studies on sex differences in patients with apraxia despite common knowledge that sex influences praxis performance in healthy participants. We investigated putative sex differences in apraxic stroke patients at the behavioral and neural levels.</AbstractText We retrospectively analysed the data of a cohort of 102 left-hemisphere stroke patients in the (sub)acute phase who were apraxic according to the Cologne Apraxia Screening (KAS). We conducted voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) to elucidate the lesion patterns. Further, in an age-matched subsample (tolerance of 5&#x2009;years) with equal numbers of men and women, behavioral comparisons and a VLSM analysis were conducted to explore differential sex-related lesion patterns.</AbstractText Overall, apraxic deficits were associated with lesions in the parietal, temporal, and frontal regions in the cohort of 102 left-hemisphere stroke patients. The age-matched cohort consisted of 30 women and 30 men and showed no significant differences in demographic and clinical characteristics. There were no performance differences between men and women at the behavioral level regarding praxis functions. In contrast, VLSM revealed differential lesion patterns by sex. Male compared to female apraxic stroke patients significantly more often showed lesions that affected the left inferior frontal gyrus.</AbstractText The data suggest a differential organization of the praxis system in men and women, warranting further exploration.</AbstractText" ] ]
34519480
Antioxidative and Angiogenic Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hydrogel for the Treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease.
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a progressive atherosclerotic disorder characterized by blockages of the arteries supplying the lower extremities. Ischemia initiates oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction in the legs of PAD patients, causing injury to the tissues of the leg, significant decline in walking performance, leg pain while walking, and in the most severe cases, nonhealing ulcers and gangrene. Current clinical trials based on cells/stem cells, the trophic factor, or gene therapy systems have shown some promising results for the treatment of PAD. Biomaterial matrices have been explored in animal models of PAD to enhance these therapies. However, current biomaterial approaches have not fully met the essential requirements for minimally invasive intramuscular delivery to the leg. Ideally, a biomaterial should present properties to ameliorate oxidative stress/damage and failure of angiogenesis. Recently, we have created a thermosensitive hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel with antioxidant capacity and skeletal muscle-matching stiffness. Here, we further optimized HA hydrogels with the cell adhesion peptide RGD to facilitate the development of vascular-like structures <i
[ [ "26282581", "GABAB receptor-mediated feed-forward circuit dysfunction in the mouse model of fragile X syndrome.", "Cortico-hippocampal feed-forward circuits formed by the temporoammonic (TA) pathway exhibit a marked increase in excitation/inhibition ratio and abnormal spike modulation functions in Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice. Inhibitory, but not excitatory, synapse dysfunction underlies cortico-hippocampal feed-forward circuit abnormalities in Fmr1 KO mice. GABA release is reduced in TA-associated inhibitory synapses of Fmr1 KO mice in a GABAB receptor-dependent manner. Inhibitory synapse and feed-forward circuit defects are mediated predominately by presynaptic GABAB receptor signalling in the TA pathway of Fmr1 KO mice. GABAB receptor-mediated inhibitory synapse defects are circuit-specific and are not observed in the Schaffer collateral pathway-associated inhibitory synapses in stratum radiatum.</AbstractText Circuit hyperexcitability has been implicated in neuropathology of fragile X syndrome, the most common inheritable cause of intellectual disability. Yet, how canonical unitary circuits are affected in this disorder remains poorly understood. Here, we examined this question in the context of the canonical feed-forward inhibitory circuit formed by the temporoammonic (TA) branch of the perforant path, the major cortical input to the hippocampus. TA feed-forward circuits exhibited a marked increase in excitation/inhibition ratio and major functional defects in spike modulation tasks in Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice, a fragile X mouse model. Changes in feed-forward circuits were caused specifically by inhibitory, but not excitatory, synapse defects. TA-associated inhibitory synapses exhibited increase in paired-pulse ratio and in the coefficient of variation of IPSPs, consistent with decreased GABA release probability. TA-associated inhibitory synaptic transmission in Fmr1 KO mice was also more sensitive to inhibition of GABAB receptors, suggesting an increase in presynaptic GABAB receptor (GABAB R) signalling. Indeed, the differences in inhibitory synaptic transmission between Fmr1 KO and wild-type (WT) mice were eliminated by a GABAB R antagonist. Inhibition of GABAB Rs or selective activation of presynaptic GABAB Rs also abolished the differences in the TA feed-forward circuit properties between Fmr1 KO and WT mice. These GABAB R-mediated defects were circuit-specific and were not observed in the Schaffer collateral pathway-associated inhibitory synapses. Our results suggest that the inhibitory synapse dysfunction in the cortico-hippocampal pathway of Fmr1 KO mice causes hyperexcitability and feed-forward circuit defects, which are mediated in part by a presynaptic GABAB R-dependent reduction in GABA release.</AbstractText" ], [ "35494482", "Revealing the Neuroimaging Mechanism of Acupuncture for Poststroke Aphasia: A Systematic Review.", "Aphasia is a common symptom in stroke patients, presenting with the impairment of spontaneous speech, repetition, naming, auditory comprehension, reading, and writing function. Multiple rehabilitation methods have been suggested for the recovery of poststroke aphasia, including medication treatment, behavioral therapy, and stimulation approach. Acupuncture has been proven to have a beneficial effect on improving speech functions in repetition, oral speech, reading, comprehension, and writing ability. Neuroimaging technology provides a visualized way to explore cerebral neural activity, which helps reveal the therapeutic effect of acupuncture therapy. In this systematic review, we aim to reveal and summarize the neuroimaging mechanism of acupuncture therapy on poststroke aphasia to provide the foundation for further study.</AbstractText Seven electronic databases were searched including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Wanfang databases, and the Chinese Scientific Journal Database. After screening the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we summarized the neuroimaging mechanism of acupuncture on poststroke aphasia, as well as the utilization of acupuncture therapy and the methodological characteristics.</AbstractText After searching, 885 articles were retrieved. After removing the literature studies, animal studies, and case reports, 16 studies were included in the final analysis. For the acupuncture type, 10 studies used manual acupuncture and 5 studies used electroacupuncture, while body acupuncture (10 studies), scalp acupuncture (7 studies), and tongue acupuncture (8 studies) were applied for poststroke aphasia patients. Based on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technologies, 4 neuroimaging analysis methods were used including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), seed-based analysis, and independent component analysis (ICA). Two studies reported the instant acupuncture effect, and 14 studies reported the constant acupuncture's effect on poststroke aphasia patients. 5 studies analyzed the correlation between the neuroimaging outcomes and the clinical language scales.</AbstractText In this systematic review, we found that the mechanism of acupuncture's effect might be associated with the activation and functional connectivity of language-related brain areas, such as brain areas around Broca's area and Wernicke's area in the left inferior temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus. However, these studies were still in the preliminary stage. Multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCT) with large sample sizes were needed to verify current evidence, as well as to explore deeply the neuroimaging mechanisms of acupuncture's effects.</AbstractText" ], [ "36307487", "The ex vivo human translaminar autonomous system to study spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome pathogenesis.", "Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) is a significant unexplained adverse reaction to long-duration spaceflight. We employ an ex vivo translaminar autonomous system (TAS) to recreate a human ocular ground-based spaceflight analogue model to study SANS pathogenesis. To recapitulate the human SANS conditions, human ocular posterior segments are cultured in the TAS model for 14 days. Translaminar pressure differentials are generated by simulating various flow rates within intracranial pressure (ICP) and intraocular (IOP) chambers to maintain hydrostatic pressures of ICP: IOP (12:16, 15:16, 12:21, 21:16&#x2009;mmHg). In addition, optic nerves are mechanically kinked by 6- and 10-degree tilt inserts for the ICP: IOP;15:16&#x2009;mmHg pressure paradigm. The TAS model successfully maintains various pressure differentials for all experimental groups over 14 days. Post culture, we determine inflammatory and extracellular component expression changes within posterior segments. To further characterize the SANS pathogenesis, axonal transport capacity, optic nerve degeneration and retinal functional are measured. Identifiable pathogenic alterations are observed in posterior segments by morphologic, apoptotic, and inflammatory changes including transport and functional deficits under various simulated SANS conditions. Here we report our TAS model provides a unique preclinical application system to mimic SANS pathology and a viable therapeutic testing device for countermeasures.</AbstractText" ], [ "26391047", "The NGF Metabolic Pathway in the CNS and its Dysregulation in Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's Disease.", "It is well established that individuals with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer's disease neuropathology by middle age. Both in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome, this is accompanied by the atrophy of NGF-dependent cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain. An NGF trophic compromise in Alzheimer's disease had been early suspected. This hypothesis was discarded with the finding of unaltered NGF mRNA synthesis and of increased NGF precursor levels (proNGF) in postmortem Alzheimer's disease brains. The possibility of an NGF trophic disconnection has been recently revisited at the light of a newly discovered extracellular NGF metabolic pathway; where proNGF is released in an activity-dependent manner and converted by plasmin to mature NGF in the extracellular space. Mature NGF is ultimately degraded by the metalloprotease MMP-9. This pathway has been shown to be compromised in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome brains, thus reviving the trophic factor hypothesis to explain the atrophy of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in these disorders. This chapter will discuss the physiological role of NGF and its biological significance to cholinergic neurons of the CNS, and present the evidence for a dysregulation of the NGF metabolism in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome.</AbstractText" ], [ "22226359", "Rejuvenation of regeneration in the aging central nervous system.", "Remyelination is a regenerative process in the central nervous system (CNS) that produces new myelin sheaths from adult stem cells. The decline in remyelination that occurs with advancing age poses a significant barrier to therapy in the CNS, particularly for long-term demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we show that remyelination of experimentally induced demyelination is enhanced in old mice exposed to a youthful systemic milieu through heterochronic parabiosis. Restored remyelination in old animals involves recruitment to the repairing lesions of blood-derived monocytes from the young parabiotic partner, and preventing this recruitment partially inhibits rejuvenation of remyelination. These data suggest that enhanced remyelinating activity requires both youthful monocytes and other factors, and that remyelination-enhancing therapies targeting endogenous cells can be effective throughout life.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "33430634", "Stroke Imaging Selection Modality and Endovascular Therapy Outcomes in the Early and Extended Time Windows.", "Advanced imaging has been increasingly used for patient selection in endovascular stroke therapy. The impact of imaging selection modality on endovascular stroke therapy clinical outcomes in extended time window remains to be defined. We aimed to study this relationship and compare it to that noted in early-treated patients.</AbstractText Patients from a prospective multicentric registry (n=2008) with occlusions involving the intracranial internal carotid or the M1- or M2-segments of the middle cerebral arteries, premorbid modified Rankin Scale score 0 to 2 and time to treatment 0 to 24 hours were categorized according to treatment times within the early (0-6 hour) or extended (6-24 hour) window as well as imaging modality with noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT)&#xb1;CT angiography (CTA) or NCCT&#xb1;CTA and CT perfusion (CTP). The association between imaging modality and 90-day modified Rankin Scale, analyzed in ordinal (modified Rankin Scale shift) and dichotomized (functional independence, modified Rankin Scale score 0-2) manner, was evaluated and compared within and across the extended and early windows.</AbstractText In the early window, 332 patients were selected with NCCT&#xb1;CTA alone while 373 also underwent CTP. After adjusting for identifiable confounders, there were no significant differences in terms of 90-day functional disability (ordinal shift: adjusted odd ratio [aOR], 0.936 [95% CI, 0.709-1.238], <i CTP acquisition was not associated with better outcomes in patients treated in the early or extended time windows. While confirmatory data is needed, our data suggests that extended window endovascular stroke therapy may remain beneficial even in the absence of advanced imaging.</AbstractText" ], [ "34764188", "NEST Desktop, an Educational Application for Neuroscience.", "Simulation software for spiking neuronal network models matured in the past decades regarding performance and flexibility. But the entry barrier remains high for students and early career scientists in computational neuroscience since these simulators typically require programming skills and a complex installation. Here, we describe an installation-free Graphical User Interface (GUI) running in the web browser, which is distinct from the simulation engine running anywhere, on the student's laptop or on a supercomputer. This architecture provides robustness against technological changes in the software stack and simplifies deployment for self-education and for teachers. Our new open-source tool, NEST Desktop, comprises graphical elements for creating and configuring network models, running simulations, and visualizing and analyzing the results. NEST Desktop allows students to explore important concepts in computational neuroscience without the need to learn a simulator control language before. Our experiences so far highlight that NEST Desktop helps advancing both quality and intensity of teaching in computational neuroscience in regular university courses. We view the availability of the tool on public resources like the European ICT infrastructure for neuroscience EBRAINS as a contribution to equal opportunities.</AbstractText" ], [ "34721724", "Narrative Devices: Neurotechnologies, Information, and Self-Constitution.", "This article provides a conceptual and normative framework through which we may understand the potentially ethically significant roles that information generated by neurotechnologies about our brains and minds may play in our construction of our identities. Neuroethics debates currently focus disproportionately on the ways that third parties may (ab)use these kinds of information. These debates occlude interests we may have in whether and how we ourselves encounter information about our own brains and minds. This gap is not yet adequately addressed by most allusions in the literature to potential identity impacts. These lack the requisite conceptual or normative foundations to explain why we should be concerned about such effects or how they might be addressed. This article seeks to fill this gap by presenting a normative account of identity as constituted by embodied self-narratives. It proposes that information generated by neurotechnologies can play significant content-supplying and interpretive roles in our construction of our self-narratives. It argues, to the extent that these roles support and detract from the coherence and inhabitability of these narratives, access to information about our brains and minds engages non-trivial identity-related interests. These claims are illustrated using examples drawn from empirical literature reporting reactions to information generated by implantable predictive BCIs and psychiatric neuroimaging. The article concludes by highlighting ways in which information generated by neurotechnologies might be governed so as to protect information subjects' interests in developing and inhabiting their own identities.</AbstractText" ], [ "34814138", "Written Discourse Task Helps to Identify Progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia.", "We aimed to investigate: (1) the clinical, diagnostic value of a written discourse task, and (2) the relationship between executive functions and written discourse within the spectrum of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).</AbstractText To determine whether written discourse performance predicts clinical course among individuals with MCI, we retrospectively classified individuals with MCI as converters (N = 26) who were later diagnosed with dementia or as a stable MCI group (N = 45). We quantified core word measures from written discourse samples obtained from the Cookie Theft picture description task.</AbstractText Written discourse measures differentiated converters from the stable MCI group. Converters produced a fewer number of core words than the stable MCI group. A measure of executive function significantly predicted performance on the production of core words in written discourse for the converters. In a multivariable regression, production of core words remained the only explanatory variable closely associated with the progression to dementia in MCI.</AbstractText Written discourse tasks can predict the likelihood of MCI progressing to dementia, independently of recall and an executive function measure. Correlational results suggest that written discourse performance was associated with executive function as measured by the Trail Making Test. Our findings emphasize the usefulness of including written discourse tasks in language assessment batteries targeting preclinical dementia populations.</AbstractText" ], [ "33502667", "Effect of MRI acquisition acceleration via compressed sensing and parallel imaging on brain volumetry.", "To investigate the effect of compressed SENSE (CS), an acceleration technique combining parallel imaging and compressed sensing, on potential bias and precision of brain volumetry and evaluate it in the context of normative brain volumetry.</AbstractText In total, 171 scans from scan-rescan experiments on three healthy subjects were analyzed. Each subject received 3D-T1-weighted brain MRI scans at increasing degrees of acceleration (CS-factor&#x2009;=&#x2009;1/4/8/12/16/20/32). Single-scan acquisition times ranged from 00:41&#xa0;min (CS-factor&#x2009;=&#x2009;32) to 21:52&#xa0;min (CS-factor&#x2009;=&#x2009;1). Brain segmentation and volumetry was performed using two different software tools: md.brain, a proprietary software based on voxel-based morphometry, and FreeSurfer, an open-source software based on surface-based morphometry. Four sub-volumes were analyzed: brain parenchyma (BP), total gray matter, total white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Coefficient of variation (CoV) of the repeated measurements as a measure of intra-subject reliability was calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with regard to increasing CS-factor was calculated as another measure of reliability. Noise-to-contrast ratio as a measure of image quality was calculated for each dataset to analyze the association between acceleration factor, noise and volumetric brain measurements.</AbstractText For all sub-volumes, there is a systematic bias proportional to the CS-factor which is dependent on the utilized software and subvolume. Measured volumes deviated significantly from the reference standard (CS-factor&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), e.g. ranging from 1 to 13% for BP. The CS-induced systematic bias is driven by increased image noise. Except for CSF, reliability of brain volumetry remains high, demonstrated by low CoV (&lt;&#x2009;1% for CS-factor up to 20) and good to excellent ICC for CS-factor up to 12.</AbstractText CS-acceleration has a systematic biasing effect on volumetric brain measurements.</AbstractText" ] ]
29340183
Action observation training to improve motor function recovery: a systematic review.
Following the discovery of Mirror Neuron System (MNS), Action Observation Training (AOT) has become an emerging rehabilitation tool to improve motor functions both in neurologic and orthopedic pathologies. The aim of this study is to present the state of the art on the use of AOT in experimental studies to improve motor function recovery in any disease. The research was performed in PubMed, PEDro, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (last search July 2015). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that analyse efficacy of AOT for recovery of motor functions, regardless of the kind of disease, were retrieved. The validity of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for evaluating risk of bias. Twenty RCTs were eligible. Four studies showed AOT efficacy in improving upper limb functional recovery in participants with chronic stroke, two studies in sub-acute ones and one in acute ones. Six articles suggested its effectiveness on walking performance in chronic stroke individuals, and three of them also suggested an efficacy in improving balance. The use of AOT was also recommended in individuals with Parkinson's disease to improve autonomy in activities of daily living, to improve spontaneous movement rate of self-paced finger movements and to reduce freezing of gait. Other two studies also indicated that AOT improves upper limb motor function in children with cerebral palsy. The last two studies, showed the efficacy of AOT in improving motor recovery in postsurgical orthopedic participants. Overall methodological quality of the considered studies was medium. The majority of analyzed studies suggest the efficacy of AOT, in addition to conventional physiotherapy, to improve motor function recovery in individuals with neurological and orthopedic diseases. However, the application of AOT is very heterogeneous in terms of diseases and outcome measures assessed, which makes it difficult to reach, to date, any conclusion that might influence clinical practice.</AbstractText
[ [ "29361441", "Neurophysiologic effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) via electrical stimulation of the tragus: A concurrent taVNS/fMRI study and review.", "Electrical stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) via transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) may influence afferent vagal networks. There have been 5 prior taVNS/fMRI studies, with inconsistent findings due to variability in stimulation targets and parameters.</AbstractText We developed a taVNS/fMRI system to enable concurrent electrical stimulation and fMRI acquisition to compare the effects of taVNS in relation to control stimulation.</AbstractText We enrolled 17 healthy adults in this single-blind, crossover taVNS/fMRI trial. Based on parameters shown to affect heart rate in healthy volunteers, participants received either left tragus (active) or earlobe (control) stimulation at 500&#x202f;&#x3bc;s 25&#x202f;HZ for 60&#x202f;s (repeated 3 times over 6&#x202f;min). Whole brain fMRI analysis was performed exploring the effect of: active stimulation, control stimulation, and the comparison. Region of interest analysis of the midbrain and brainstem was also conducted.</AbstractText Active stimulation produced significant increased BOLD signal in the contralateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral insula, frontal cortex, right operculum, and left cerebellum. Control stimulation produced BOLD signal activation in the contralateral postcentral gyrus. In the active vs. control contrast, tragus stimulation produced significantly greater BOLD increases in the right caudate, bilateral anterior cingulate, cerebellum, left prefrontal cortex, and mid-cingulate.</AbstractText Stimulation of the tragus activates the cerebral afferents of the vagal pathway and combined with our review of the literature suggest that taVNS is a promising form of VNS. Future taVNS/fMRI studies should systematically explore various parameters and alternative stimulation targets aimed to optimize this novel form of neuromodulation.</AbstractText" ], [ "28978697", "Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence.", "The role of the frontal cortex in consciousness remains a matter of debate. In this Perspective, we will critically review the clinical and neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the front versus the back of the cortex in specifying conscious contents and discuss promising research avenues.<b" ], [ "26707889", "Reliability of dissimilarity measures for multi-voxel pattern analysis.", "Representational similarity analysis of activation patterns has become an increasingly important tool for studying brain representations. The dissimilarity between two patterns is commonly quantified by the correlation distance or the accuracy of a linear classifier. However, there are many different ways to measure pattern dissimilarity and little is known about their relative reliability. Here, we compare the reliability of three classes of dissimilarity measure: classification accuracy, Euclidean/Mahalanobis distance, and Pearson correlation distance. Using simulations and four real functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets, we demonstrate that continuous dissimilarity measures are substantially more reliable than the classification accuracy. The difference in reliability can be explained by two characteristics of classifiers: discretization and susceptibility of the discriminant function to shifts of the pattern ensemble between imaging runs. Reliability can be further improved through multivariate noise normalization for all measures. Finally, unlike conventional distance measures, crossvalidated distances provide unbiased estimates of pattern dissimilarity on a ratio scale, thus providing an interpretable zero point. Overall, our results indicate that the crossvalidated Mahalanobis distance is preferable to both the classification accuracy and the correlation distance for characterizing representational geometries.</AbstractText" ], [ "26696921", "The Merit of Synesthesia for Consciousness Research.", "Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which additional perceptual experiences are elicited by sensory stimuli or cognitive concepts. Synesthetes possess a unique type of phenomenal experiences not directly triggered by sensory stimulation. Therefore, for better understanding of consciousness it is relevant to identify the mental and physiological processes that subserve synesthetic experience. In the present work we suggest several reasons why synesthesia has merit for research on consciousness. We first review the research on the dynamic and rapidly growing field of the studies of synesthesia. We particularly draw attention to the role of semantics in synesthesia, which is important for establishing synesthetic associations in the brain. We then propose that the interplay between semantics and sensory input in synesthesia can be helpful for the study of the neural correlates of consciousness, especially when making use of ambiguous stimuli for inducing synesthesia. Finally, synesthesia-related alterations of brain networks and functional connectivity can be of merit for the study of consciousness.</AbstractText" ], [ "25636911", "Unmasking Language Lateralization in Human Brain Intrinsic Activity.", "Lateralization of function is a fundamental feature of the human brain as exemplified by the left hemisphere dominance of language. Despite the prominence of lateralization in the lesion, split-brain and task-based fMRI literature, surprisingly little asymmetry has been revealed in the increasingly popular functional imaging studies of spontaneous fluctuations in the fMRI BOLD signal (so-called resting-state fMRI). Here, we show the global signal, an often discarded component of the BOLD signal in resting-state studies, reveals a leftward asymmetry that maps onto regions preferential for semantic processing in left frontal and temporal cortex and the right cerebellum and a rightward asymmetry that maps onto putative attention-related regions in right frontal, temporoparietal, and parietal cortex. Hemispheric asymmetries in the global signal resulted from amplitude modulation of the spontaneous fluctuations. To confirm these findings obtained from normal, healthy, right-handed subjects in the resting-state, we had them perform 2 semantic processing tasks: synonym and numerical magnitude judgment and sentence comprehension. In addition to establishing a new technique for studying lateralization through functional imaging of the resting-state, our findings shed new light on the physiology of the global brain signal.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "26033541", "Mitochondrial E3 ligase March5 maintains stemness of mouse ES cells via suppression of ERK signalling.", "Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) possess pluripotency, which is the capacity of cells to differentiate into all lineages of the mature organism. Increasing evidence suggests that the pluripotent state of ESCs is regulated by a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The underlying mechanisms, however, are not completely understood. Here, we show that March5, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is involved in maintaining mouse-ESC (mESC) pluripotency. Knockdown of March5 in mESCs led to differentiation from naive pluripotency. Mechanistically, as a transcriptional target of Klf4, March5 catalyses K63-linked polyubiquitination of Prkar1a, a negative regulatory subunit of PKA, to activate PKA, thereby inhibiting the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Moreover, March5 is able to replace a MEK/ERK inhibitor to maintain mESC pluripotency under serum-free culture conditions. In addition, March5 can partially replace the use of Klf4 for somatic cell reprogramming. Collectively, our study uncovers a role for the Klf4-March5-PKA-ERK pathway in maintaining the stemness properties of mESCs.</AbstractText" ], [ "26288755", "Phase-based metamorphosis of diffusion lesion in relation to perfusion values in acute ischemic stroke.", "Examining the dynamics of stroke ischemia is limited by the standard use of 2D-volume or voxel-based analysis techniques. Recently developed spatiotemporal models such as the 4D metamorphosis model showed promise for capturing ischemia dynamics. We used a 4D metamorphosis model to evaluate acute ischemic stroke lesion morphology from the acute diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to final T2-weighted imaging (T2-w). In 20 representative patients, we metamorphosed the acute lesion to subacute lesion to final infarct. From the DWI lesion deformation maps we identified dynamic lesion areas and examined their association with perfusion values inside and around the lesion edges, blinded to reperfusion status. We then tested the model in ten independent patients from the STroke Imaging Repository (STIR). Perfusion values varied widely between and within patients, and were similar in contracting and expanding DWI areas in many patients in both datasets. In 25% of patients, the perfusion values were higher in DWI-contracting than DWI-expanding areas. A similar wide range of perfusion values and ongoing expansion and contraction of the DWI lesion were seen subacutely. There was more DWI contraction and less expansion in patients who received thrombolysis, although with widely ranging perfusion values that did not differ. 4D metamorphosis modeling shows promise as a method to improve use of multimodal imaging to understand the evolution of acute ischemic tissue towards its fate.</AbstractText" ], [ "26168047", "Quantitative Evaluation of Rabbit Brain Injury after Cerebral Hemisphere Radiation Exposure Using Generalized q-Sampling Imaging.", "Radiation therapy is widely used for the treatment of brain tumors and may result in cellular, vascular and axonal injury and further behavioral deficits. The non-invasive longitudinal imaging assessment of brain injury caused by radiation therapy is important for determining patient prognoses. Several rodent studies have been performed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but further studies in rabbits and large mammals with advanced magnetic resonance (MR) techniques are needed. Previously, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate radiation-induced rabbit brain injury. However, DTI is unable to resolve the complicated neural structure changes that are frequently observed during brain injury after radiation exposure. Generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) is a more accurate and sophisticated diffusion MR approach that can extract additional information about the altered diffusion environments. Therefore, herein, a longitudinal study was performed that used GQI indices, including generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA), quantitative anisotropy (QA), and the isotropic value (ISO) of the orientation distribution function and DTI indices, including fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) over a period of approximately half a year to observe long-term, radiation-induced changes in the different brain compartments of a rabbit model after a hemi-brain single dose (30 Gy) radiation exposure. We revealed that in the external capsule, the GFA right to left (R/L) ratio showed similar trends as the FA R/L ratio, but no clear trends in the remaining three brain compartments. Both the QA and ISO R/L ratios showed similar trends in the all four different compartments during the acute to early delayed post-irradiation phase, which could be explained and reflected the histopathological changes of the complicated dynamic interactions among astrogliosis, demyelination and vasogenic edema. We suggest that GQI is a promising non-invasive technique and as compared with DTI, it has better potential ability in detecting and monitoring the pathophysiological cascades in acute to early delayed radiation-induced brain injury by using clinical MR scanners.</AbstractText" ], [ "25945544", "Chronic ciguatoxin treatment induces synaptic scaling through voltage gated sodium channels in cortical neurons.", "Ciguatoxins are sodium channels activators that cause ciguatera, one of the most widespread nonbacterial forms of food poisoning, which presents with long-term neurological alterations. In central neurons, chronic perturbations in activity induce homeostatic synaptic mechanisms that adjust the strength of excitatory synapses and modulate glutamate receptor expression in order to stabilize the overall activity. Immediate early genes, such as Arc and Egr1, are induced in response to activity changes and underlie the trafficking of glutamate receptors during neuronal homeostasis. To better understand the long lasting neurological consequences of ciguatera, it is important to establish the role that chronic changes in activity produced by ciguatoxins represent to central neurons. Here, the effect of a 30 min exposure of 10-13 days in vitro (DIV) cortical neurons to the synthetic ciguatoxin CTX 3C on Arc and Egr1 expression was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction approaches. Since the toxin increased the mRNA levels of both Arc and Egr1, the effect of CTX 3C in NaV channels, membrane potential, firing activity, miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), and glutamate receptors expression in cortical neurons after a 24 h exposure was evaluated using electrophysiological and western blot approaches. The data presented here show that CTX 3C induced an upregulation of Arc and Egr1 that was prevented by previous coincubation of the neurons with the NaV channel blocker tetrodotoxin. In addition, chronic CTX 3C caused a concentration-dependent shift in the activation voltage of NaV channels to more negative potentials and produced membrane potential depolarization. Moreover, 24 h treatment of cortical neurons with 5 nM CTX 3C decreased neuronal firing and induced synaptic scaling mechanisms, as evidenced by a decrease in the amplitude of mEPSCs and downregulation in the protein level of glutamate receptors that was also prevented by tetrodotoxin. These findings identify an unanticipated role for ciguatoxin in the regulation of homeostatic plasticity in central neurons involving NaV channels and raise the possibility that some of the neurological symptoms of ciguatera might be explained by these compensatory mechanisms.</AbstractText" ], [ "24641323", "GABA(B) receptors in the bladder and bowel: therapeutic potential for positive allosteric modulators?: Commentary on Kalinichev et al., Br J Pharmacol 171: 995-1006.", "This article is a Commentary on Kalinichev M, Palea S, Haddouk H, Royer-Urios I, Guilloteau V, Lluel P, Schneider M, Saporito M and Poli S (2014). ADX71441, a novel, potent and selective positive allosteric modulator of the GABAB receptor, shows efficacy in rodent models of overactive bladder. Br J Pharmacol 171: 995-1006. doi: 10.1111/bph.12517.</AbstractText" ] ]
39560584
Mitochondrial related Mendelian randomization identifies causal associations between metabolic disorders and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.
Childhood neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette syndrome, are a predominant cause of health-related disabilities in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, disease biomarkers are still limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential, causal relationship between mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), metabolic disorders, and childhood NDDs using the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method. Genetic associations with mtDNA-CN, disorders of lipoprotein metabolism, and disorders of iron metabolism were selected as exposures, and genome-wide association data from ASD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette syndrome were utilized as outcomes. Results of the study suggested that a high degree of disordered lipoprotein metabolism related increases in ASD risk result from a decrease in mtDNA-CN (disordered lipoprotein metabolism-mtDNA: inverse variance weighting &#x3b2;: -0.03, 95% confidence interval: -0.05 to -0.02, P&#x2005;=&#x2005;2.08&#x2005;&#xd7;&#x2005;10-5; mtDNA-CN-ASD: inverse variance weighting odds ratio: 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.69-0.99, P&#x2005;=&#x2005;.034). The research findings implied that mtDNA-CN can mediate disorders of lipoprotein metabolism, potentially influencing the development of ASD. The potential impact of the results of this study for the prevention and treatment of childhood NDDs warrants validation in robust randomized clinical trials.</AbstractText
[ [ "36447010", "Mispatterning and interneuron deficit in Tourette Syndrome basal ganglia organoids.", "Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder thought to involve a reduction of basal ganglia (BG) interneurons and malfunctioning of the BG circuitry. However, whether interneurons fail to develop or are lost postnatally remains unknown. To investigate the pathophysiology of early development in TS, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived BG organoids from TS patients and healthy controls were compared on multiple levels of measurement and analysis. BG organoids from TS individuals manifested an impaired medial ganglionic eminence fate and a decreased differentiation of cholinergic and GABAergic interneurons. Transcriptome analyses revealed organoid mispatterning in TS, with a preference for dorsolateral at the expense of ventromedial fates. Our results point to altered expression of GLI transcription factors downstream of the Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway with cilia disruption at the earliest stages of BG organoid differentiation as a potential mechanism for the BG mispatterning in TS. This study uncovers early neurodevelopmental underpinnings of TS neuropathological deficits using organoids as a model system.</AbstractText" ], [ "37048598", "Median Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of Tics: Randomized, Controlled, Crossover Trial.", "A prior study showed that rhythmic, but not arrhythmic, 12 Hz stimulation of the median nerve (MNS) entrained the sensorimotor cortex EEG signal and found that 10 Hz MNS improved tics in Tourette syndrome (TS). However, no control condition was tested, and stimulation blocks lasted only 1 min. We set out to replicate the TS results and to test whether tic improvement occurs by the proposed cortical entrainment mechanism. Preregistration was completed at ClinicalTrials.gov, under number NCT04731714. Thirty-two people with TS, age 15-64, completed two study visits with repeated MNS on and off blocks in random order, one visit for rhythmic and one for arrhythmic MNS. Subjects and staff were blind to order; a video rater was additionally blind to stimulation and to the order of visits and blocks. Rhythmic MNS at 10 Hz improved tics. Both rhythmic and arrhythmic 12 Hz MNS improved tic frequency, intensity, and urges, but the two treatments did not differ significantly. Participant masking was effective, and there was no carryover effect. Several participants described a dramatic benefit. Discomfort was minimal. There was no evidence that the MNS benefit persisted after stimulation ended. These results replicate the tic benefit from MNS but show that the EEG entrainment hypothesis cannot explain that benefit. Another electrophysiological mechanism may explain the benefit; alternatively, these data do not exclude a placebo effect.</AbstractText" ], [ "36842882", "Additive and Interactive Effects of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Tic Disorder on Brain Connectivity.", "Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and persistent tic disorder (PTD) are two neurodevelopmental disorders that frequently co-occur. Contributions of each disorder to cognitive and behavioral deficits have been reported. In this paper, we tested 3 models of pathophysiology for the two disorders (additive, interactive, and phenotypic) using resting-state connectivity associated with each disorder separately and together.</AbstractText Participants were 148 children (55 with ADHD only, 33 with ADHD and PTD, 27 with PTD only, and 33 healthy control subjects) at ages 8 to 12 years. Following diagnostic interviews and behavioral assessment, participants underwent a 128-channel electroencephalography recording. Resting-state, cortical source-level effective connectivity was analyzed across the 4 groups using a 2&#xa0;&#xd7; 2 factorial design with factors of ADHD (with/without) and PTD (with/without).</AbstractText ADHD diagnosis was the primary driver of cognitive and behavioral deficits, while deficits associated with PTD were primarily with thought problems and internalizing problems when compared with controls. Subadditive effects were observed in co-occurring ADHD+PTD for parent-rated behavioral problems and cognitive functions. Aberrant effective connectivity was primarily associated with ADHD, more specifically with lower posterior and occipital-frontal connectivity, while children with PTD exhibited greater left postcentral to precuneus connectivity. Weaker ADHD-related connectivity was associated with more severe behavioral problems, including internalizing behaviors, thought problems, and working memory deficits.</AbstractText Similar to general behavioral deficits, aberrant resting-state neural connectivity in pediatric ADHD and PTD combines additively in co-occurring cases. The findings of this study support ADHD as a focus of treatment in comorbid cases, given the driving role of ADHD in both behavioral and neurophysiological deficits.</AbstractText" ], [ "38859549", "An Online Mindfulness-Based Group Intervention for Tics: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.", "Current treatments for Tourette syndrome (TS) and persistent tic disorder (PTD) are often insufficiently effective, inaccessible, and frequently associated with adverse events. Thus, we must continue to develop and test effective, accessible, and safe treatment options.</AbstractText We aimed to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing a novel, videoconference-delivered group mindfulness-based intervention for tics (MBIT) to videoconference-delivered group psychoeducation, relaxation, and supportive therapy (PRST) for adults with TS or PTD.</AbstractText Thirty-two adults with TS or PTD were randomly assigned to receive 8&#x2009;weeks of either MBIT or PRST. Tic severity, tic-related impairment, and global improvement were assessed by a trained, independent evaluator who was masked to treatment condition at baseline (week 0), posttreatment (week 9), 1-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. All study procedures were conducted online via secure videoconferencing.</AbstractText Twenty-eight participants began treatment and were included in analyses. MBIT, relative to PRST, was associated with a significantly greater decline in tic severity (d&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.85) and tic-related impairment (d&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.99) from baseline to posttreatment. Treatment response was significantly higher in MBIT (69%) than in PRST (13%). Neither treatment resulted in serious adverse effects. The durability of treatment outcomes is also reported and discussed.</AbstractText The results from this pilot RCT suggest that videoconference-delivered group MBIT may be an efficacious, accessible, and safe intervention for adults with tics. Future research is necessary to confirm these preliminary findings. &#xa9; 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.</AbstractText" ], [ "38311626", "The Association of Quality of Life with Psychosocial Factors in Adolescents with Tourette Syndrome.", "Individuals with Tourette syndrome (TS) have poorer quality of life (QoL) than their peers, yet factors contributing to poor QoL in this population remain unclear. Research to date has predominantly focused on the impact of tics and psychiatric symptoms on QoL in TS samples. The aim of this cross-sectional, multi-informant study was to identify psychosocial variables that may impact adolescent QoL in TS. Thirty-eight adolescents aged 13 to 17 with TS and 28 age-matched controls participated with a caregiver. No group differences were found on QoL, although the TS group reported reduced QoL compared to population normative data. In the TS group, reduced QoL was associated with lower self-esteem, poorer family functioning, higher stress, and greater depression and anxiety; QoL was unrelated to tic severity. In regression analyses, after adjusting for covariates, family functioning was the strongest predictor of QoL. These results emphasize the need to further explore the influence of psychosocial factors, particularly family functioning, on QoL in adolescents with TS.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37882378", "The efficacy of oral corticoids in treating complex regional pain syndrome: A retrospective cohort study.", "There is growing evidence supporting the role of inflammatory mechanisms in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Corticoids, as most effective anti-inflammatory drugs, are widely used in treating inflammation. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the efficacy of oral corticoid treatment in CRPS patients.</AbstractText Patients treated at the center of pain medicine in the Erasmus University Medical Centre between January 2015 and January 2020 were approached to partake in this study. Medical records were screened for age, gender, medical history, duration of CRPS, and CRPS severity score. Also, treatment effect, dose and duration, pain scores (NRS), and side effects were extracted from medical records. In addition, global perceived effect was completed in patients treated with corticoids.</AbstractText Between January 2015 and January 2020, twenty-nine CRPS patients received corticoids and met the inclusion criteria. One extreme outlier was excluded and treatment effect was unknown for one patient. Average daily dose was 28.9&#x2009;mg (range 10-30&#x2009;mg) and the mean treatment duration was 10.5&#x2009;days (7-21&#x2009;days). Fourteen patients (51.9%) responded positively to treatment and thirteen (48.1%) did not respond. Side effects were reported in five patients (17.9%).</AbstractText Corticoid treatment was effective in more than half of the patients. With only mild side effects reported the treatment also appears to be relatively safe. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of corticoids in treating (early) CRPS, preferably in an intervention study.</AbstractText" ], [ "39243493", "Aphantasia and autism: An investigation of mental imagery vividness.", "The present study investigated whether autistic adults report different levels of mental imagery vividness than non-autistic adults, and, moreover, if autism is associated with aphantasia which is defined as a condition of reduced or absent voluntary imagery.</AbstractText Clinically diagnosed and self-identifying autistic participants were compared with non-autistic participants in their mental imagery vividness (vision, sound, smell, taste, touch, bodily sensation and emotional feeling) and autistic traits using an online survey (N&#xa0;=&#xa0;121).</AbstractText The autistic group scored significantly lower than the non-autistic group on imagery vividness (d&#xa0;=&#xa0;-0.44), in addition to having a higher proportion of participants scoring at cut-off for aphantasia. Moreover, a similar difference was observed for the emotional feel (&#x3b7;<sup The vividness of visual and emotional mental imagery was on average lower for autistic individuals, with a higher proportion presenting at cut-off to be considered an aphantasic.</AbstractText" ], [ "37364616", "Erythromelalgia. Part II: Differential diagnoses and management.", "The management of erythromelalgia is challenging and requires multidisciplinary effort. Patient education is crucial as unsafe self-administered cooling techniques can lead to significant morbidity, including acral necrosis, infection, and amputation. The goal of management is pain control, reduction of flare frequency, and prevention of complications. This text is focused on the management of erythromelalgia and several other incompletely understood and under-recognized neurovascular disorders such as red scrotum syndrome, red ear syndrome, facial flushing, and complex regional pain syndrome.</AbstractText" ], [ "38608341", "An automated algorithm for stereoelectroencephalography electrode localization and labelling.", "Stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) is increasingly utilized for localization of seizure foci, functional mapping, and neurocognitive research due to its ability to target deep and difficult to reach anatomical locations and to study in vivo brain function with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The research potential of sEEG is constrained by the need for accurate localization of the implanted electrodes in a common template space for group analyses.</AbstractText We present an algorithm to automate the grouping of sEEG electrodes by trajectories, labelled by target and insertion point. This algorithm forms the core of a pipeline that fully automates the entire process of electrode localization in standard space, using raw CT and MRI images to produce atlas labelled MNI coordinates.</AbstractText Across 196 trajectories from 20 patients, the pipeline successfully processed 190 trajectories with localizations within 0.25&#xb1;0.55 mm of the manual annotation by two reviewers. Six electrode trajectories were not directly identified due to metal artifacts and locations were interpolated based on the first and last contact location and the number of contacts in that electrode as listed in the surgical record.</AbstractText We introduce our algorithm and pipeline for automatically localizing, grouping, and classifying sEEG electrodes from raw CT and MRI. Our algorithm adds to existing pipelines and toolboxes for electrode localization by automating the manual step of marking and grouping electrodes, thereby expedites the analyses of sEEG data, particularly in large datasets.</AbstractText" ], [ "35962556", "Subjective Sensitivity to Exteroceptive and Interoceptive processing in Highly Sensitive Person.", "A highly sensitive person is known to have greater levels of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) referring to a personality trait to exhibit high stimulation and arousal while processing subtle sensory signals. However, how SPS levels reflect the profile of sensitivity in exteroceptive and interoceptive sensory processing remains inadequately understood. Thus, we collected data using the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), the Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (GSQ), and the Body Perception Questionnaire-Short Form (BPQ-SF) from 600 Japanese adults, and examined their relationships. The results revealed that SPS levels, assessed by the HSPS, were significantly, positively correlated with hypersensitivity scores of the GSQ in several exteroceptive sensory domains. Further, SPS levels were positively correlated with sensitivity in interoceptive awareness assessed by the BPQ-SF; however, it does so scarcely. Our findings suggest that SPS levels reflect a subjective sensitivity to exteroceptive sensory processing regardless of sensory domains and narrowly to the interoceptive sensory processing.</AbstractText" ] ]
39999454
Comorbid Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Tuberculosis: A Case Study and Global Perspective.
A 27-year-old man presented with a cough and progressive limb weakness. Initially diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, he showed improvement in his cough after antituberculosis treatment (ATT). However, he subsequently developed worsening weakness and numbness in his lower limbs, leading to mobility loss and difficulty swallowing. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, including computed tomography of the lung, cranial magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and electromyography, confirmed concurrent diagnoses of tuberculosis (TB) and Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (GBS). Treatment included immunoglobulin and corticosteroid therapy; however, his symptoms persisted, progressing to respiratory failure that required endotracheal intubation and plasma exchange therapy. After these interventions, his condition gradually improved, and he continued ATT, achieving a favorable recovery. A literature review identified 15 countries reporting cases of GBS associated with TB, with the highest incidence in India. Although most cases showed a positive prognosis, mortality rates were elevated in patients with comorbid TB and GBS compared to those with GBS alone.</AbstractText
[ [ "30310069", "Immune-mediated neuropathies.", "Since the discovery of an acute monophasic paralysis, later coined Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome, almost 100 years ago, and the discovery of chronic, steroid-responsive polyneuropathy 50 years ago, the spectrum of immune-mediated polyneuropathies has broadened, with various subtypes continuing to be identified, including chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). In general, these disorders are speculated to be caused by autoimmunity to proteins located at the node of Ranvier or components of myelin of peripheral nerves, although disease-associated autoantibodies have not been identified for all disorders. Owing to the numerous subtypes of the immune-mediated neuropathies, making the right diagnosis in daily clinical practice is complicated. Moreover, treating these disorders, particularly their chronic variants, such as CIDP and MMN, poses a challenge. In general, management of these disorders includes immunotherapies, such as corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange. Improvements in clinical criteria and the emergence of more disease-specific immunotherapies should broaden the therapeutic options for these disabling diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "36212732", "Development of facial palsy following COVID-19 vaccination: A systematic review.", "Reports of facial palsy occurring after the receipt of COVID-19 vaccines have raised concerns but are rare. The purpose of this study is to systematically assess the association between COVID-19 vaccination and facial palsy.</AbstractText Our systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist and compiled all the reported cases of facial palsy post-COVID-19 vaccination. We discussed the probable pathophysiology behind facial palsy as a consequence of COVID-19 vaccination and measures to be taken for future reference. Furthermore, we conducted a detailed assessment of characteristics, clinical courses, treatment, and recovery of patients with facial palsy after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.</AbstractText We included 37 studies providing data on 58 individuals in our review. Over half (51.72%) of the patients complained of facial paralysis following the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination. Out of 51 cases, most (88.24%) occurred after the 1st dose. The majority (53.45%) of cases had bilateral facial palsy. Intravenous immunoglobin (IVIg), corticosteroids, and plasmapheresis were the first line of treatment with 75.93% of patients partially recovered, including those undergoing treatment or a lack of follow-up till the end while 22.22% had complete symptomatic recovery.</AbstractText Our review shows that Bell's palsy can be a plausible non-serious adverse effect of COVID-19 vaccination. However, the association observed between COVID-19 vaccination and Bell's palsy is less threatening than the COVID-19 infection. Hence, vaccination should be encouraged because facial palsy, if it occurs, has shown favourable outcomes with treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "36669428", "Prevalence and associated factors with peripheral neuropathies in the general population in the rural area of Adjohoun in Benin.", "Peripheral neuropathies (PN) are a group of neurological conditions related to damage to the peripheral nervous system. Due to their wide diversity, few studies in sub-Saharan Africa have explored their epidemiology in general population. Our objective was to study the prevalence and associated factors with PN in general population in Adjohoun in Benin.</AbstractText A cross-sectional study has been conducted from February to March 2019 and included people aged&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;18&#xa0;years old living in Adjohoun, Benin. Following a screening phase for PN (using World Health Organization questionnaire for major neurological diseases), a neurologist made a diagnosis after in-depth clinical examinations completed in some cases by electroneuromyography. The EFNS (European Federation of Neurological Societies) 2010 criteria was used for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy diagnosis. Data such as age, occupation, consanguinity, alcohol consumption, diabetes, hypertension were collected. Association between independent variables and PN were investigated using multivariable logistic regression models.</AbstractText In total, 1 655 participants were included, mean age 41.4&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;16.7&#xa0;years; 64.8&#xa0;% are female. The overall prevalence of PN was 6.9&#xa0;% (95&#xa0;%CI: 5.7&#xa0;%-8.2&#xa0;%). The main types of PN were: polyneuropathies 4.8&#xa0;% (95&#xa0;%CI: 3.8&#xa0;%-5.9&#xa0;%); polyradiculoneuropathies 1.6&#xa0;% (95&#xa0;%CI: 1.0&#xa0;%-2.2&#xa0;%). Factors independently associated with PN were age&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;40&#xa0;years (adjusted Odds Ratio aOR&#xa0;=&#xa0;19.6; 95&#xa0;%CI: 8.2-46.3), diabetes (aOR&#xa0;=&#xa0;1.8; 95&#xa0;%CI: 1.08-2.99) and hypertension (aOR&#xa0;=&#xa0;1.6; 95&#xa0;%CI: 1.02-2.5).</AbstractText The prevalence of PN was high in the rural commune of Adjohoun in Benin. Actions on its modifiable associated factors such as diabetes and hypertension could help reduce the proportion of PN and their potential harmful consequences.</AbstractText" ], [ "39464332", "Overview of emerging therapies for demyelinating diseases.", "This paper provides an overview of autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system, specifically those caused by demyelination. We explore new research regarding potential therapeutic interventions, particularly those aimed at inducing remyelination. Remyelination is a detailed process, involving many cell types-oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), astrocytes, and microglia-and both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Our discussion of this process includes the differentiation potential of neural stem cells, the function of adult OPCs, and the impact of molecular mediators on myelin repair. Emerging therapies are also explored, with mechanisms of action including the induction of OPC differentiation, the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells, and the use of molecular mediators. Further, we discuss current medical advancements in relation to many myelin-related disorders, including multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease, transverse myelitis, and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Beyond these emerging systemic therapies, we also introduce the dimethyl fumarate/silk fibroin nerve conduit and its potential role in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries. Despite these aforementioned scientific advancements, this paper maintains the need for ongoing research to deepen our understanding of demyelinating diseases and advance therapeutic strategies that enhance affected patients' quality of life.</AbstractText" ], [ "39434812", "Guillain-Barré syndrome in pregnancy: a case report and review of the literature.", "Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome represents a heterogeneous group of immune-mediated peripheral neuropathies that are characterized by various clinical manifestations. Reporting this clinical case emphasizes the rarity of Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome, the diagnostic challenges faced by healthcare providers, and the risk of delayed diagnosis for both the mother and fetus. A 34-year-old pregnant woman at 33 weeks of gestation presented to the inpatient ward complaining of paresthesia in the lower and upper limbs, muscle pain, balance disturbances, moderate headache, nausea and vertigo, general weakness, and pronounced fatigue. The patient had experienced an acute viral respiratory infection 4 weeks before presenting to the hospital. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit with a preliminary diagnosis of acute viral respiratory infection and nasopharyngitis. The patient's condition worsened dynamically, manifesting bulbar syndrome (swallowing problems), paresthesia of the anterior abdominal wall, reduced perception of fetal movements, numbness of the tongue, and low fever (37.2&#xb0;C). A diagnosis of acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculopathy (Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome) was established. Despite treatment, the neurologic symptoms worsened. The paravertebral radicular type pains were difficult to manage with administered analgesic therapy, and there was a progression of the bulbar syndrome. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin was initiated. Consequently, it was recommended by the multidisciplinary council to perform an emergency cesarean delivery, in the interest of the mother and fetus. Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome is a rare condition that occurs during pregnancy and requires thorough evaluation, prompt multidisciplinary assessment, and individualized management of delivery to improve maternal and fetal prognosis.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40436348", "Gene therapy and nanomedicine for meningioma treatment.", "Meningioma, a prevalent central nervous system (CNS) tumor, exhibits a broad spectrum of clinical behavior, ranging from benign to aggressive. Although surgical resection remains a viable treatment option for most cases, higher-grade meningiomas often require a multifaceted therapeutic approach. Gene therapies have shown potential for use in clinical intervention for the treatment of several types of cancer. Small nucleic acid molecules such as small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) can restore aberrant gene expression and selectively silence oncogenic drivers. However, their clinical application could be improved by addressing challenges such as molecular instability, off-target toxicity, and limited bioavailability. Despite the rapid progress in nanotechnology that has significantly improved the gene therapy delivery system, its use for meningioma treatment has lagged behind. The lag in research can be attributed to the critical need for a deeper understanding of the molecular landscape of meningioma and its relative resistance to conventional chemotherapy. Therefore, our review article focuses on the complex molecular landscape of meningioma and highlights the challenges in its treatment and management. We also discuss the current gene therapy approaches for meningioma, exploring ongoing clinical trials and elucidating the mechanism of emerging therapies. Furthermore, we investigate the potential of nanomedicine in enhancing gene therapy for meningioma, highlighting the need for innovative delivery techniques. This comprehensive analysis not only outlines the status of the therapy in meningioma but also offers valuable insights into the future research direction and their clinical translation.</AbstractText" ], [ "40583215", "Chaperone-Mediated Regulation of Tau Phase Separation, Fibrillation, and Toxicity.", "Biological condensates are involved in several essential processes but may also be tangled into disease progression in protein misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and tauopathies. One hallmark of these disorders is the appearance of fibrillar aggregates formed by microtubule-stabilizing Tau protein. Notably, Tau can also assemble into biological condensates and droplets via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). The molecular mechanisms of the conversion of functional Tau toward insoluble fibrils, potentially via LLPS processes, remain largely unknown, and efficient treatment approaches to target toxic pathways and species are still missing. Here, we show that the molecular chaperone-like Bri2 BRICHOS domain efficiently inhibits full-length Tau fibril formation and subsequent neurotoxicity by specifically suppressing secondary nucleation processes. Further, at substoichiometric ratios, Bri2 BRICHOS modulates the potency of Tau to form droplets, incorporates into Tau droplets, and alters the dynamic behavior of Tau. In contrast, at superstoichiometric Bri2 BRICHOS ratios, Tau droplet formation is abolished. Finally, Bri2 BRICHOS reduces Tau fibril toxicity in electrophysiological experiments on hippocampal slice preparations. Taken together, Bri2 BRICHOS targets molecular processes related to protein misfolding, where our study provides molecular insights into how the inhibition of secondary nucleation pathways and modulated droplet formation are eventually linked to attenuated neurotoxicity.</AbstractText" ], [ "40075518", "SNUH methylation classifier for CNS tumors.", "Methylation profiling of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, pioneered by the German Cancer Research Center, has significantly improved diagnostic accuracy. This study aimed to further enhance the performance of methylation classifiers by leveraging publicly available data and innovative machine-learning techniques.</AbstractText Seoul National University Hospital Methylation Classifier (SNUH-MC) addressed data imbalance using the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) algorithm and incorporated OpenMax within a Multi-Layer Perceptron to prevent labeling errors in low-confidence diagnoses. Compared to two published CNS tumor methylation classification models (DKFZ-MC: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Methylation Classifier v11b4: RandomForest, 767-MC: Multi-Layer Perceptron), our SNUH-MC showed improved performance in F1-score. For 'Filtered Test Data Set 1,' the SNUH-MC achieved higher F1-micro (0.932) and F1-macro (0.919) scores compared to DKFZ-MC v11b4 (F1-micro: 0.907, F1-macro: 0.627). We evaluated the performance of three classifiers; SNUH-MC, DKFZ-MC v11b4, and DKFZ-MC v12.5, using specific criteria. We set established 'Decisions' categories based on histopathology, clinical information, and next-generation sequencing to assess the classification results. When applied to 193 unknown SNUH methylation data samples, SNUH-MC notably improved diagnosis compared to DKFZ-MC v11b4. Specifically, 17 cases were reclassified as 'Match' and 34 cases as 'Likely Match' when transitioning from DKFZ-MC v11b4 to SNUH-MC. Additionally, SNUH-MC demonstrated similar results to DKFZ-MC v12.5 for 23 cases that were unclassified by v11b4.</AbstractText This study presents SNUH-MC, an innovative methylation-based classification tool that significantly advances the field of neuropathology and bioinformatics. Our classifier incorporates cutting-edge techniques such as the SMOTE and OpenMax resulting in improved diagnostic accuracy and robustness, particularly when dealing with unknown or noisy data.</AbstractText" ], [ "39983830", "Toxicological mechanisms of carbon polymers in accelerating cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.", "Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the primary cause of dementia and is emerging as a global threat to human health. Increased availability of processed food is identified as a crucial dietary risk factor underlying the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease. Carbon polymers (CPs), as neo-formed substances and ubiquitous in thermally processed foods, the relationship between them and AD onset remains unclear.</AbstractText The effect of CPs on AD onset was examined and the toxicological mechanisms of prolonged exposure to CPs derived from thermal processed foods on AD progression were comprehensively investigated using a scopolamine-induced neuroinflammatory cell models and the transgenic APPswe/PSEN1dE9 (APP/PS1) AD mouse.</AbstractText The CPs were extracted from thermally processed foods and the effects of CPs exposure on oxidative stress in neuroinflammatory cells were evaluated using scopolamine-induced PC12 cells as a neuroinflammation model. Furthermore, APP/PS1 AD mice were used to validate the potential adverse impacts of prolonged exposure to CPs on AD progression through the Morris water maze and open field test. In addition, histopathological examination, including immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, Nissl staining, and H&amp;E, of the brain tissue in AD mice after chronic CPs treatment was performed to elucidate the underlying risk of dietary exposure to CPs on AD progression.</AbstractText Exposure to CPs enhanced oxidative damage in neuroinflammatory cells, as demonstrated by impaired mitochondrial function and activated NF-&#x3ba;B/MAPK signaling pathways. Further results from electron spin resonance substantiated the catalytic properties of CPs, which accelerated oxidative damage through promoting free radical generation. Using transgenic AD mice model, our findings also demonstrated that prolonged CPs exposure aggravated AD-associated pathology, as evidenced by increased amyloid-beta deposition and glial cell activation, ultimately accelerating cognitive decline.</AbstractText These findings provide compelling evidence of the potential health risks associated with long-term dietary exposure to CPs and provide insight into the relationship between foodborne risk factors and neurodegenerative diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "40540418", "Analysis of Proton NMR Transverse Magnetization Decay of Mixtures of Compounds and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Least-Squares Fit and the Inverse Laplace Transform.", "The present study aimed to determine the strategy for analysis of NMR transverse magnetization decay (the <i" ] ]
30401642
Denervated mouse dentate granule cells adjust their excitatory but not inhibitory synapses following in vitro entorhinal cortex lesion.
Neurons adjust their synaptic strength in a homeostatic manner following changes in network activity and connectivity. While this form of plasticity has been studied in detail for excitatory synapses, homeostatic plasticity of inhibitory synapses remains not well-understood. In the present study, we employed entorhinal cortex lesion (ECL) of organotypic entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures to test for homeostatic changes in GABAergic neurotransmission onto partially denervated dentate granule cells. Using single and paired whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, as well as immunostainings for synaptic markers, we find that excitatory synaptic strength is robustly increased 3&#x202f;days post lesion (dpl), whereas GABAergic neurotransmission is not changed after denervation. Even under conditions of pharmacological inhibition of glutamatergic neurotransmission, which prevents neurons to compensate for the loss of input via excitatory synaptic scaling, down-scaling of GABAergic synapses does not emerge 3&#x202f;days after denervation. We conclude that granule cells maintain structural and functional properties of GABAergic synapses even in the face of substantial changes in network connectivity. Hence, alterations in inhibitory neurotransmission, as seen in pathological brain states, may not simply reflect a homeostatic response to disconnection.</AbstractText
[ [ "11031127", "The genomic action potential.", "Neurons compute in part by integrating, on a time scale of milliseconds, many synaptic inputs and generating a digital output-the \"action potential\" of classic electrophysiology. Recent discoveries indicate that neurons also perform a second, much slower, integration operating on a time scale of minutes or even hours. The output of this slower integration involves a pulse of gene expression which may be likened to the electrophysiological action potential. Its function, however, is not directed toward immediate transmission of a synaptic signal but rather toward the experience-dependent modification of the underlying synaptic circuitry. Commonly termed the \"immediate early gene\" (IEG) response, this phenomenon is often assumed to be a necessary component of a linear, deterministic cascade of memory consolidation. Critical review of the large literature describing the phenomenon, however, leads to an alternative model of IEG function in the brain. In this alternative, IEG activation is not directed at the consolidation of memories of a specific inducing event; instead, it sets the overall gain or efficiency of memory formation and directs it to circuits engaged by behaviorally significant contexts. The net result is a sharpening of the selectivity of memory formation, a recruitment of temporally correlated associations, and an ultimate enhancement of long-term memory retrieval.</AbstractText" ], [ "26109571", "Activity-dependent synaptic GRIP1 accumulation drives synaptic scaling up in response to action potential blockade.", "Synaptic scaling is a form of homeostatic plasticity that stabilizes neuronal firing in response to changes in synapse number and strength. Scaling up in response to action-potential blockade is accomplished through increased synaptic accumulation of GluA2-containing AMPA receptors (AMPAR), but the receptor trafficking steps that drive this process remain largely obscure. Here, we show that the AMPAR-binding protein glutamate receptor-interacting protein-1 (GRIP1) is essential for regulated synaptic AMPAR accumulation during scaling up. Synaptic abundance of GRIP1 was enhanced by activity deprivation, directly increasing synaptic GRIP1 abundance through overexpression increased the amplitude of AMPA miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), and shRNA-mediated GRIP1 knockdown prevented scaling up of AMPA mEPSCs. Furthermore, knockdown and replace experiments targeting either GRIP1 or GluA2 revealed that scaling up requires the interaction between GRIP1 and GluA2. Finally, GRIP1 synaptic accumulation during scaling up did not require GluA2 binding. Taken together, our data support a model in which activity-dependent trafficking of GRIP1 to synaptic sites drives the forward trafficking and enhanced synaptic accumulation of GluA2-containing AMPAR during synaptic scaling up.</AbstractText" ], [ "29861281", "Blocking NMDAR Disrupts Spike Timing and Decouples Monkey Prefrontal Circuits: Implications for Activity-Dependent Disconnection in Schizophrenia.", "We employed multi-electrode array recording to evaluate the influence of NMDA receptors (NMDAR) on spike-timing dynamics in prefrontal networks of monkeys as they performed a cognitive control task measuring specific deficits in schizophrenia. Systemic, periodic administration of an NMDAR antagonist (phencyclidine) reduced the prevalence and strength of synchronous (0-lag) spike correlation in simultaneously recorded neuron pairs. We employed transfer entropy analysis to measure effective connectivity between prefrontal neurons at lags consistent with monosynaptic interactions and found that effective connectivity was persistently reduced following exposure to the NMDAR antagonist. These results suggest that a disruption of spike timing and effective connectivity might be interrelated factors in pathogenesis, supporting an activity-dependent disconnection theory of schizophrenia. In this theory, disruption of NMDAR synaptic function leads to dysregulated timing of action potentials in prefrontal networks, accelerating synaptic disconnection through a spike-timing-dependent mechanism.</AbstractText" ], [ "27241695", "Mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity in the excitatory synapse.", "Brain development, sensory information processing, and learning and memory processes depend on Hebbian forms of synaptic plasticity, and on the remodeling and pruning of synaptic connections. Neurons in networks implicated in these processes carry out their functions while facing constant perturbation; homeostatic responses are therefore required to maintain neuronal activity within functional ranges for proper brain function. Here, we will review in&#xa0;vitro and in&#xa0;vivo studies demonstrating that several mechanisms underlie homeostatic plasticity of excitatory synapses, and identifying participant molecular players. Emerging evidence suggests a link between disrupted homeostatic synaptic plasticity and neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders. Hebbian forms of synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potentiation (LTP), induce long-lasting changes in synaptic strength, which can be destabilizing and drive activity to saturation. Conversely, homeostatic plasticity operates to compensate for prolonged activity changes, stabilizing neuronal firing within a dynamic physiological range. We review mechanisms underlying homeostatic plasticity, and address how neurons integrate distinct forms of plasticity for proper brain function. This article is part of a mini review series: \"Synaptic Function and Dysfunction in Brain Diseases\".</AbstractText" ], [ "29107520", "Deprivation-Induced Homeostatic Spine Scaling In Vivo Is Localized to Dendritic Branches that Have Undergone Recent Spine Loss.", "Synaptic scaling is a key homeostatic plasticity mechanism and is thought to be involved in the regulation of cortical activity levels. Here we investigated the spatial scale of homeostatic changes in spine size following sensory deprivation in a subset of inhibitory (layer 2/3 GAD65-positive) and excitatory (layer 5 Thy1-positive) neurons in mouse visual cortex. Using repeated in&#xa0;vivo two-photon imaging, we find that increases in spine size are tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-&#x3b1;) dependent and thus are likely associated with synaptic scaling. Rather than occurring at all spines, the observed increases in spine size&#xa0;are spatially localized to a subset of dendritic branches and are correlated with the degree of recent local spine loss within that branch. Using simulations, we show that such a compartmentalized form of synaptic scaling has computational benefits over cell-wide scaling for information processing within the cell.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "30312809", "Depth-dependent intracortical myelin organization in the living human brain determined by in vivo ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging.", "Intracortical myelin is a key determinant of neuronal synchrony and plasticity that underpin optimal brain function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facilitates the examination of intracortical myelin but presents with methodological challenges. Here we describe a whole-brain approach for the in vivo investigation of intracortical myelin in the human brain using ultra-high field MRI.</AbstractText Twenty-five healthy adults were imaged in a 7 Tesla MRI scanner using diffusion-weighted imaging and a T<sub Intracortical T<sub We demonstrate the usefulness of an automatic, whole-brain method to perform depth-dependent examination of intracortical myelin organization. The extracted metrics, T<sub" ], [ "31474812", "Perspectives About Time Frames in Stem Cell Research for Multiple Sclerosis: \"Time Is Brain\".", "Stem cell research has been a focus of inquiry in the field of neurology for nearly 3 decades and has led to much hope for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies, however, demonstrate that information about the pace of developments in the stem cell arena is less accessible than are representations of potential benefits.</AbstractText To explore the understanding and perspectives of adult patients with MS and MS clinicians about the time frames associated with stem cell research, we conducted semistructured interviews with 20 patients with MS across Canada and 15 clinicians who specialize in MS. Patients who participated did not have any previous stem cell interventions. Interviews were analyzed for recurring themes and individual variations using the constant comparative approach.</AbstractText We found that patients with MS have a limited understanding about the time that it takes for stem cell research to reach the clinic. In parallel, they express a desire to know more than they do about the translational process. Clinicians offer strategies to address patients' questions about the pace of stem cell research and to promote informed hope about experimental interventions.</AbstractText These results underscore opportunities to promote transparency in clinical discourse about the pace of stem cell research for MS and other progressive neurologic diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "30562166", "MR image corrections for PET-induced gradient distortions.", "The combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by using PET inserts in existing MRI scanners is an attractive approach. When designing the PET insert, mutual influences of both imaging modalities need to be minimized. The gradient magnetic fields induce eddy currents in all conductive components of the PET insert. Eddy currents produce superimposing magnetic fields distorting the gradient magnetic field. However, the gradient magnetic fields determine how the MRI data is acquired in the k-space. A distorted gradient shape produces a distorted k-space trajectory which then results in a distorted image. The dynamic performance of the gradient system can be characterized by measuring its gradient impulse response function (GIRF). Knowledge of the GIRF enables to correct the k-space trajectory and thereby enables to reduce image distortions. We characterized the influence of a preclinical PET insert, i.e. the Hyperion II<sup" ], [ "31278681", "Semantic Integration and Enrichment of Heterogeneous Biological Databases.", "Biological databases are growing at an exponential rate, currently being among the major producers of Big Data, almost on par with commercial generators, such as YouTube or Twitter. While traditionally biological databases evolved as independent silos, each purposely built by a different research group in order to answer specific research questions; more recently significant efforts have been made toward integrating these heterogeneous sources into unified data access systems or interoperable systems using the FAIR principles of data sharing. Semantic Web technologies have been key enablers in this process, opening the path for new insights into the unified data, which were not visible at the level of each independent database. In this chapter, we first provide an introduction into two of the most used database models for biological data: relational databases and RDF stores. Next, we discuss ontology-based data integration, which serves to unify and enrich heterogeneous data sources. We present an extensive timeline of milestones in data integration based on Semantic Web technologies in the field of life sciences. Finally, we discuss some of the remaining challenges in making ontology-based data access (OBDA) systems easily accessible to a larger audience. In particular, we introduce natural language search interfaces, which alleviate the need for database users to be familiar with technical query languages. We illustrate the main theoretical concepts of data integration through concrete examples, using two well-known biological databases: a gene expression database, Bgee, and an orthology database, OMA.</AbstractText" ], [ "30947159", "MRI artifact simulation for clinically relevant MRI sequences for guidance of prostate HDR brachytherapy.", "For the purpose of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance of prostate high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, this paper presents a study on the potential of clinically relevant MRI sequences to facilitate tracking or localization of brachytherapy devices (HDR source/titanium needle), and which could simultaneously be used to visualize the anatomy. The tracking or localization involves simulation of the MRI artifact in combination with a template matching algorithm. Simulations of the MRI artifacts induced by an HDR brachytherapy source and a titanium needle were implemented for four types of sequences: spoiled gradient echo, spin echo, balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) and bSSFP with spectral attenuated inversion recovery (SPAIR) fat suppression. A phantom study was conducted in which mentioned sequences (in 2D) as well as the volumetric MRI sequences of the current clinical scan protocol were applied to obtain the induced MRI artifacts for an HDR source and a titanium needle. Localization of the objects was performed by a phase correlation based template matching algorithm. The simulated images demonstrated high correspondences with the acquired MR images, and allowed localization of the objects. A comparison between the object positions obtained for all applied MRI sequences showed deviations (from the average position) of 0.2-0.3&#x2009;mm, proving that all MRI sequences were suitable for localization of the objects, irrespective of their 2D or volumetric nature. This study demonstrated that the MRI artifact induced by an HDR source or a titanium needle could be simulated for the four investigated types of MRI sequences (spoiled gradient echo, spin echo, bSSFP and bSSFP-SPAIR), valuable for real-time object localization in clinical practice. This leads to more flexibility in the choice of MRI sequences for guidance of HDR brachytherapy, as they are suitable for both object localization and anatomy visualization.</AbstractText" ] ]
37257216
Prednisolone 20 mg vs 40 mg in complex regional pain syndrome type I: A randomized controlled trial.
High dose of corticosteroid has been found beneficial in complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS-I). We report the efficacy and safety of prednisolone 20&#xa0;mg versus 40&#xa0;mg in CRPS-I in an open label randomized controlled trial.</AbstractText The patients with CRPS-I of the shoulder joint with a CRPS score of &#x2265;8 were included. Their demographic details, comorbidities, and underlying etiology were noted. The severity of CRPS was assessed using a 0-14 CRPS scale, the pain using a 0-10 Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and sleep quality using a 0-10. Daily Sleep Interference Scale (DSIS). Patients were randomized to prednisolone 40&#xa0;mg/day (group I) or 20&#xa0;mg/day (group II) for 14&#xa0;days, then tapered to 10&#xa0;mg in group I and to 5&#xa0;mg in group II by 1&#xa0;month. Thereafter both groups received prednisolone 5&#xa0;mg/day for 2&#xa0;months. The primary outcome was a &gt;50% reduction in VAS score, and secondary outcomes were a reduction in CRPS score, DSIS score, and adverse events.</AbstractText Fifty patients were included, and their baseline characteristics were comparable. At one month, all the patients had &gt;50% reduction in the VAS score. The effect size was 0.38 (95% CI 0.93-0.20; p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.20). On the Kaplan-Mayer analysis, the improvement in the VAS score (Hazard ratio-1.43, 95&#xa0;% CI-0.80-2.56, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.22) and the CRPS score (HR-0.79,95&#xa0;% CI-0.45-1.39; p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.41) was insignificant between the two groups. The DSIS score improved in group II (HR-1.85,95&#xa0;% Cl-1.04-3.31,p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.04). Group I patients needed frequent adjustment of antidiabetic drugs (14 vs 6; p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.04).</AbstractText The efficacy of prednisolone 20&#xa0;mg is not inferior to 40&#xa0;mg in CRPS-I, and is safe in diabetic patients.</AbstractText This is an open label randomized controlled trial with small sample size without a placebo arm.</AbstractText
[ [ "40149508", "Cannabinoids in Chronic Pain Management: A Review of the History, Efficacy, Applications, and Risks.", "<b" ], [ "40280127", "The gut microbiota promotes pain in fibromyalgia.", "Fibromyalgia is a prevalent syndrome characterized by widespread pain in the absence of evident tissue injury or pathology, making it one of the most mysterious chronic pain conditions. The composition of the gut microbiota in individuals with fibromyalgia differs from that of healthy controls, but its functional role in the syndrome is unknown. Here, we show that fecal microbiota transplantation from fibromyalgia patients, but not from healthy controls, into germ-free mice induces pain and numerous molecular phenotypes that parallel known changes in fibromyalgia patients, including immune activation and metabolomic profile alterations. Replacing the fibromyalgia microbiota with a healthy microbiota substantially alleviated pain in mice. An open-label trial in women with fibromyalgia (Registry MOH_2021-11-04_010374) showed that transplantation of a healthy microbiota is associated with reduced pain and improved quality of life. We conclude that altered gut microbiota has a role in fibromyalgia pain, highlighting it as a promising target for therapeutic interventions.</AbstractText" ], [ "33494023", "Ignoring space around a painful limb? No evidence for a body-related visuospatial attention bias in complex regional pain syndrome.", "Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a disorder of severe chronic pain in one or more limb(s). People with CRPS report unusual perceptions of the painful limb suggesting altered body representations, as well as difficulty attending to their affected limb (i.e., a 'neglect-like' attention bias). Altered body representations and attention in CRPS might be related, however, existing evidence is unclear. We hypothesized that if there were a body-related visuospatial attention bias in CRPS, then any attention bias away from the affected side should be larger for or limited to circumstances when the (impaired) body representation is involved in the task versus when this is not the case.</AbstractText We included 40 people with CRPS, 40 with other limb pain conditions, and 40 pain-free controls. In half of the people with pain, their upper limb was affected, in the other half their lower limb. We administered computerized tasks of spatial attention, including free viewing of images, shape cancellation, temporal order judgement, and dot-probe. The degree to which different versions of each task involved body representation was manipulated by one or more of the following: (1) presenting stimuli nearer versus further away from the body, (2) using body related versus neutral stimuli, and (3) inducing mental rotation of body parts versus no mental rotation. In addition to perceptual judgements, eye movements were recorded as a sensitive index of spatial attention. Bayesian repeated measures analyses were performed.</AbstractText We found no evidence for a (body-related) visuospatial attention bias in upper limb CRPS. Secondary analyses suggested the presence of a body-related visuospatial attention bias away from the affected side in some participants with lower limb CRPS.</AbstractText Our results add to growing evidence that there might be no general visuospatial attention bias away from the affected side in CRPS.</AbstractText" ], [ "40106017", "Gray matter structural and functional brain abnormalities in Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis of VBM and ALFF data.", "Previous studies based on resting-state functional imaging and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) have revealed structural and functional alterations in several brain regions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but their results have been inconsistent. Furthermore, no studies have investigated specific and common functional and structural alterations in PD.</AbstractText The whole-brain voxel-wise meta-analyses on the VBM and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) studies were conducted using the Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images (SDM-PSI) software, respectively, with multimodal overlapping to comprehensively identify the gray matter volume (GMV) and spontaneous functional activity changes in patients with PD.</AbstractText A total of 30 independent studies for ALFF (1413 PD and 1424 HCs) and 27 independent studies for VBM (1236 PD and 1185 HCs) were included. Compared with HCs, patients with PD displayed significantly decreased spontaneous functional activity in the left striatum. For the VBM meta-analysis, patients with PD showed significantly decreased GMV in the right temporal pole: superior temporal gyrus (extending to the right hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and amygdala), the left superior temporal gyrus (extending to the left insula, and temporal pole: superior temporal gyrus), and the left striatum. Furthermore, after overlapping functional and structural differences, patients with PD displayed a conjoint decrease of spontaneous functional activity and GMV in the left striatum.</AbstractText The multimodal meta-analysis revealed that PD showed similar pattern of aberrant brain functional activity and structure in the striatum. In addition, some brain regions within the within the temporal lobe and limbic system displayed only structural deficits. These findings provide useful insights for understanding the underlying pathophysiology of PD.</AbstractText" ], [ "38702506", "Functional connectivity associated with attention networks differs among subgroups of fibromyalgia patients: an observational case-control study.", "Fibromyalgia is a heterogenous chronic pain disorder diagnosed by symptom-based criteria. The aim of this study was to clarify different pathophysiological characteristics between subgroups of patients with fibromyalgia. We identified subgroups with distinct pain thresholds: those with a low pressure pain threshold (PL; 16 patients) and those with a normal pressure pain threshold (PN; 15 patients). Both groups experienced severe pain. We performed resting-state functional MRI analysis and detected 11 functional connectivity pairs among all 164 ROIs with distinct difference between the two groups (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). The most distinctive one was that the PN group had significantly higher functional connectivity between the secondary somatosensory area and the dorsal attention network (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.0001). Then, we investigated the transmission pathway of pain stimuli. Functional connectivity of the thalamus to the insular cortex was significantly higher in the PL group (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01&#x2009;-&#x2009;0.05). These results suggest that endogenous pain driven by top-down signals via the dorsal attention network may contribute to pain sensation in a subgroup of fibromyalgia patients with a normal pain threshold. Besides, external pain driven by bottom-up signals via the spinothalamic tract may contribute to pain sensations in another group of patients with a low pain threshold. Trial registration: UMIN000037712.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36347341", "The neural mechanism of non-phase-locked EEG activity in task switching.", "Flexible switching between different tasks is an important cognitive ability for humans and it is often studied using the task-switching paradigm. Although the neural mechanisms of task switching have been extensively explored in previous studies using event-related potentials techniques, the activity and process mechanisms of non-phase-locked electroencephalography (EEG) have rarely been revealed. For this reason, this paper discusses the processing of non-phase-locked EEG oscillations in task switching based on frequency-band delineation. First, the roles of each frequency band in local brain regions were summarized. In particular, during the proactive control process (the cue-stimulus interval), delta, theta, and alpha oscillations played more roles in the switch condition while beta played more roles in repeat task. In the reactive control process (post-target), delta, alpha, and beta are all related to sensorimotor function. Then, utilizing the functional connectivity (FC) method, delta connections in the frontotemporal regions and theta connections located in the parietal-to-occipital sites are involved in the preparatory period before task switching, while alpha connections located in the sensorimotor areas and beta connections located in the frontal-parietal cortex are involved in response inhibition. Finally, cross-frequency coupling (CFC) play an important role in working memory among different band oscillation. The present study shows that in addition to the processing mechanisms specific to each frequency band, there are some shared and interactive neural mechanism in task switching by using different analysis techniques.</AbstractText" ], [ "37145250", "COMPASS: a formal framework and aggregate dataset for generalized surgical procedure modeling.", "We propose a formal framework for the modeling and segmentation of minimally invasive surgical tasks using a unified set of motion primitives (MPs) to enable more objective labeling and the aggregation of different datasets.</AbstractText We model dry-lab surgical tasks as finite state machines, representing how the execution of MPs as the basic surgical actions results in the change of surgical context, which characterizes the physical interactions among tools and objects in the surgical environment. We develop methods for labeling surgical context based on video data and for automatic translation of context to MP labels. We then use our framework to create the COntext and Motion Primitive Aggregate Surgical Set (COMPASS), including six dry-lab surgical tasks from three publicly available datasets (JIGSAWS, DESK, and ROSMA), with kinematic and video data and context and MP labels.</AbstractText Our context labeling method achieves near-perfect agreement between consensus labels from crowd-sourcing and expert surgeons. Segmentation of tasks to MPs results in the creation of the COMPASS dataset that nearly triples the amount of data for modeling and analysis and enables the generation of separate transcripts for the left and right tools.</AbstractText The proposed framework results in high quality labeling of surgical data based on context and fine-grained MPs. Modeling surgical tasks with MPs enables the aggregation of different datasets and the separate analysis of left and right hands for bimanual coordination assessment. Our formal framework and aggregate dataset can support the development of explainable and multi-granularity models for improved surgical process analysis, skill assessment, error detection, and autonomy.</AbstractText" ], [ "36993887", "Neural correlates of the attention training technique as used in metacognitive therapy - A randomized sham-controlled fMRI study in healthy volunteers.", "The Attention Training Technique (ATT) developed as part of metacognitive therapy is a psychotherapeutic treatment method used to enhance top-down attentional flexibility and control. This study investigated potential neurocognitive changes due to ATT and its underlying neural mechanisms using pre-to-post functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).</AbstractText Fifty-four healthy participants were subjected to a randomized, sham-controlled attention training and evaluated using a neurocognitive test battery that partly took place in an fMRI environment. Participants received two doses ATT or sham ATT daily for 1 week. On day eight, all subjects completed the neurocognitive test battery again.</AbstractText After the training, the ATT group showed a significant improvement in reaction times regarding attentional disengagement compared to the sham ATT group. fMRI data showed decreased levels of activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) when comparing the ATT group to the sham ATT group during attentional disengagement post intervention. No ATT&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;sham ATT effects were found regarding selective auditory attention, working memory performance and inhibitory control.</AbstractText These findings putatively indicate that ATT facilitates faster attention allocation and increased attentional flexibility in healthy subjects. The fMRI results suggest this ATT-dependent improvement is accompanied by reduced ACC activity, indicating a more flexible attentional state.</AbstractText" ], [ "37732305", "Research hotspots and trends of brain-computer interface technology in stroke: a bibliometric study and visualization analysis.", "The incidence and mortality rates of stroke are escalating due to the growing aging population, which presents a significant hazard to human health. In the realm of stroke, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has gained considerable attention as a means to enhance treatment efficacy and improve quality of life. Consequently, a bibliometric visualization analysis was performed to investigate the research hotspots and trends of BCI technology in stroke, with the objective of furnishing reference and guidance for future research.</AbstractText This study utilized the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded) within the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database as the data source, selecting relevant literature published between 2013 and 2022 as research sample. Through the application of VOSviewer 1.6.19 and CiteSpace 6.2.R2 visualization analysis software, as well as the bibliometric online analysis platform, the scientific knowledge maps were constructed and subjected to visualization display, and statistical analysis.</AbstractText This study encompasses a total of 693 relevant literature, which were published by 2,556 scholars from 975 institutions across 53 countries/regions and have been collected by 185 journals. In the past decade, BCI technology in stroke research has exhibited an upward trend in both annual publications and citations. China and the United States are high productivity countries, while the University of Tubingen stands out as the most contributing institution. Birbaumer N and Pfurtscheller G are the authors with the highest publication and citation frequency in this field, respectively. <i This study comprehensively and visually presents the extensive and in-depth literature resources of BCI technology in stroke research in the form of knowledge maps, which facilitates scholars to gain a more convenient understanding of the development and prospects in this field, thereby promoting further research work.</AbstractText" ], [ "36547366", "Optimizing Ramadan fasting: A randomised controlled trial for people with type 2 diabetes during Ramadan applying the principles of the ADA/EASD consensus.", "Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Fasting is not meant to create excessive hardship on the Muslim individual according to religious tenets. It is important that health professionals are aware of potential risks associated with fasting during the month of Ramadan (mainly hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia).</AbstractText To explore the impact of applying the principles of our 2020 recommendations for the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) during the month of Ramadan.</AbstractText A multinational randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in five Muslim majority countries. Six hundred and sixty participants were deemed eligible for the study; however, 23% declined to participate later for various reasons. In total, 506 participants were enroled and were equally randomized to the intervention or the control group. At the end of the study, data from 231 participants in the intervention group and 221 participants from the control group were collected after 12.6% and 8.7% were, respectively, lost to follow-up. Participants were randomized to receive a Ramadan-focussed education with treatment for diabetes adjusted as per our 2020 recommendation update compared with the local usual care (control group). Results are presented using mean, standard deviation, odds ratio (OR), and percentages.</AbstractText At the end of the study, the number of hypoglycemic episodes in the intervention group was less than in participants who received usual care. The intervention group had significantly lower severe hypoglycemia compared to the control group with an OR of 0.2 [0.1-0.8]. Compared to baseline, both groups had a significant reduction in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), but the improvements were significantly greater in the intervention group. Whilst body weight reduced and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased with the intervention, these changes were not significantly different from usual care.</AbstractText A pre-Ramadan assessment of people with T2D coupled with pre-Ramadan education and an adjustment of glucose-lowering treatment as per our updated 2020 recommendations can prevent acute complications and allow a safer fast for people with T2D. We have shown that such an approach reduces the risk of developing severe hypoglycemia and improves the metabolic outcomes in people with T2D.</AbstractText" ] ]
40748959
Orexin effect on physiological pulsations of the human brain.
Sleep promotes cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to interstitial fluid (ISF) exchange in the brain facilitated by brain pulsations. Especially brain vasomotion and arterial pulsations modulated by noradrenaline drive the intracranial fluid dynamics. Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) entails lessened orexinergic output to wake-promoting systems including the noradrenergic locus coeruleus. As arousal state and noradrenergic signaling affect CSF-ISF clearance, we chose patients with NT1 as a human orexin-targeted model of sleep-related pathology bridging the gap between healthy awake and sleep with respect to CSF flow pulsations. We also investigated the sensitivity of magnetic resonance encephalography to detect flow with a phantom model and sought to replicate earlier pulsation findings in sleep. In this case-control study, we used fast functional MRI to map brain pulsations in groups of healthy sleeping controls (n = 13), healthy awake controls (n = 79), and awake NT1 (n = 21) patients. We measured the very low frequency (0.008 to 0.1) and cardiorespiratory frequencies and calculated in each frequency band the coefficient of variation, spectral power, and full band spectral entropy to obtain brain pulsation maps. We uncovered a brain pulsation profile from healthy waking to sleep to a sleep-related pathology NT1 prominently affected in the vascular-related vasomotor and brain arterial pulsations. Our results established how drivers of brain hydrodynamics are affected by a specific loss of key neurotransmitter governing arousal compared to healthy sleep. We also showed with a phantom model that MREG is sensitive to flow-related signal changes and solidified evidence of brain pulsations in the healthy states of sleep and wakefulness.</AbstractText
[ [ "40111737", "Narcolepsy: Beyond the Classic Pentad.", "Narcolepsy is a rare, disabling, chronic neurologic disorder that requires lifelong management of symptoms with pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic methods. The pentad symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, disrupted nighttime sleep, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations. However, people with narcolepsy often experience additional symptoms and disability related to nonpentad symptoms and comorbidities, such as cognitive, psychiatric, metabolic, and sleep disturbances. Current treatment strategies have focused primarily on addressing two of the pentad symptoms, excessive daytime sleepiness, and cataplexy, mainly owing to medication options being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for these specific indications, neglecting the full 24-h impact and spectrum of symptoms. Meanwhile, the burden of disease extends far beyond these symptoms, and optimal management should reflect a comprehensive, patient-specific approach that not only addresses the entire pentad, but also goes beyond it to include the complete clinical presentation and manifestations of the disease. Individualized treatment must consider the patient's age and stage of life, most debilitating symptoms, support system and structure, comorbid conditions, treatment goals, and overall health. This review discusses care considerations for people living with narcolepsy in the context of their clinical characteristics beyond the hallmark features of narcolepsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "38337347", "Characterization of the Increase in Narcolepsy following the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic in Sweden.", "(1) Background: In the context of the H1N1 pandemic and the Pandemrix vaccination campaign, an increased number of narcolepsy cases were noted in several countries. In Sweden, this phenomenon was attributed to the effect of the Pandemrix vaccination in the first place. Studies from China indicated that narcolepsy could occur as a consequence of the H1N1 infection itself. We performed an analysis of the increase, with a specific interest in age and sex distribution. We also aimed to validate the origin of the excess cases, post hoc. (2) Methods: Data for narcolepsy patients (ICD code G 47.4, both type 1 and type 2) distributed by sex and age at 5-year intervals, annually between 2005 and 2017, were retrieved from the National Patient Register. Information on the total population was collected from the Swedish Population Register. (3) Results: The number of narcolepsy cases increased markedly from 2009 to 2014 compared to the period before 2009. A particular increase in 2011 among children and teenagers was observed. The sex ratio did not change significantly during the study period. (4) Conclusions: Our results support an association between the increased prevalence of narcolepsy cases and Pandemrix vaccination, but the effect of the virus itself cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor.</AbstractText" ], [ "39484812", "The Lehigh Valley Health Network Narcolepsy Cohort: clinical and polysomnographic analysis of 304 cases.", "We aimed to characterize clinical features, comorbidities, and polysomnographic characteristics of a large cohort of patients with narcolepsy.</AbstractText We undertook a retrospective chart and polysomnographic review of all patients with a diagnosis of narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) or narcolepsy type 2 (NT2) seen within the Lehigh Valley Health Network between 2000 and 2022.</AbstractText We found 304 cases with a diagnosis of narcolepsy (52 NT1, 252 NT2), based on <i This is one of the largest monocentric studies to date of patients with narcolepsy and confirms the frequent comorbidities of narcolepsy. Specific clinical characteristics and comorbidities may help differentiate NT1 from NT2.</AbstractText Jiang RY, Rochart R, Chu I, Duka S, Vendrame M. The Lehigh Valley Health Network Narcolepsy Cohort: clinical and polysomnographic analysis of 304 cases. <i Methylphenidate is FDA-approved for the treatment of ADHD in adults and children 6 years and older. Additionally, methylphenidate serves as a second-line therapy for narcolepsy in adults. Off-label uses include cancer-related fatigue, refractory depression in older adults, apathy in patients with Alzheimer disease, and cognitive enhancement (eg, memory improvement); the efficacy of methylphenidate for these conditions is moderate at best.</AbstractText" ], [ "39092633", "Orexin increases the neuronal excitability of several brain areas associated with maintaining of arousal.", "Orexin is exclusively produced in neurons localized within the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and perifornical area (PFA). Orexin has been identified as a key promotor of arousal. The selective loss of orexinergic neurons results in narcolepsy. It is known that the intrinsic electrophysiological properties are critical for neurons to perform their functions in corresponding brain regions. In addition to hypothalamic orexin, other brain nuclei are involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. Quite a lot of studies focus on elucidating orexin-induced regulation of sleep-wake states and modulation of neuronal electrophysiological properties in several brain regions. Here, we summarize that the orexinergic neurons exhibit spontaneous firing activity which is associated with the states of sleep-wake cycle. Orexin mainly exerts postsynaptic excitatory effects on multiple brain nuclei associated with the process of sleep and wakefulness. This review may provide a background to guide future research about the cellular mechanisms of orexin-induced maintaining of arousal.</AbstractText" ], [ "38783152", "Navigating narcolepsy: exploring coping strategies and their association with quality of life in patients with narcolepsy type 1.", "Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness, sudden sleep episodes, disrupted nocturnal sleep, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations, which significantly impact the overall well-being and quality of life of individuals. While psychological factors have gained attention, there is limited research on the coping strategies employed by patients with NT1 and their association with quality of life. This study aimed to compare coping strategies in patients with NT1 and controls, as well as assess the relationship between coping strategies and quality of life in patients with NT1. A total of 122 individuals diagnosed with NT1 and 138 controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed questionnaires assessing coping strategies and health-related quality of life. A Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to compare the use of different coping strategies by patients with NT1 and controls. Spearman's rho correlation was performed to examine the association between coping strategies and quality of life in the NT1 group. Results showed that patients with NT1 exhibited differences in the use of coping strategies compared to controls. They reported lower use of active coping, planning, instrumental, and emotional social support, and higher use of behavioral and mental disengagement. Denial and behavioral disengagement were significantly and negatively associated with quality of life. Identifying coping strategies and their association with quality of life may aid in the development of tailored interventions aimed at improving the adoption of effective coping strategies and reducing the use of maladaptive coping strategies.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40455869", "Modelling fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders in young inducible 90CGG premutation mice.", "Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder caused by a preCGG repeat expansion in the FMR1 gene. Individuals with the FMR1 premutation often exhibit neuropsychiatric symptoms before FXTAS onset, leading to the identification of fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (FXAND). Rodent models of FXTAS show motor impairments, pathological intranuclear inclusions, and heightened anxiety. However, the early onset of neuropsychiatric features and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To address the above issues, we used the doxycycline (dox)-inducible 90CGG mouse model, with transgene activation at two developmental stages: adolescence and young adulthood. Mice were evaluated in a behavioural battery to assess anxiety-like behaviour, exploration, and motor coordination and learning. Next, we conducted a combination of ex vivo extracellular local field potential recordings to measure synaptic physiology and oscillatory activity in the limbic system, particularly in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and ventral hippocampus (vH) regions. Parvalbumin interneurons and intranuclear inclusions in the amygdala and hippocampus were investigated by immunofluorescence, while mass spectrometry and gene set enrichment were used to identify differentially expressed proteins molecular pathways. Adolescent 90CGG mice displayed early-onset hyperactivity, transitioning to heightened anxiety in young adulthood, coinciding with the accumulation of intranuclear inclusions in the BLA and vH. Electrophysiological analysis revealed augmented gamma oscillations in the vH, emerging during adolescence and persisting in young adulthood. These changes correlated with a reduction in parvalbumin interneurons in these regions, and together likely contribute to enhanced BLA excitability and impaired vH plasticity. Finally, proteomic analysis of the vH revealed altered proteins linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescence and anxiety/depression in adulthood, aligning well with behavioural findings. Importantly, these behavioural, electrophysiological, and cellular alterations were reversible upon transgene inactivation. This study reveals a temporal progression of CGG premutation effects on behaviour, from hyperactivity to heightened anxiety to late onset motor dysfunction. Moreover, these findings provide altered network activity in the limbic system as a putative mechanism in neuropsychiatric features of premutation carriers.</AbstractText" ], [ "40475568", "Selectivity filter mutation in Na (V) 1.5 promotes ventricular tachycardia.", "Loss-of-Function (LoF) mutations in the <i Na <sub" ], [ "40346697", "Functional analysis of JPH2-knockout cardiomyocytes identifies ECCD as a novel indicator in a human cardiac modelJPH2.", "Junctophilin-2 (JPH2) is a vital protein in cardiomyocytes, anchoring T-tubule and sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes to facilitate excitation-contraction coupling, a process essential for cardiac contractile function. Dysfunction of JPH2 is associated with cardiac disorders such as heart failure; however, prior studies using mouse models or primary human cardiomyocytes are limited by interspecies differences or poor cell viability, respectively. This study aimed to investigate JPH2's role in human cardiac function and disease using a novel stem cell-derived model, while introducing a new indicator to evaluate related cardiac impairments.</AbstractText We generated a JPH2-knockout model using human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) with CRISPR/Cas9. Cellular morphology, contractile function, calcium dynamics, and electrophysiological properties were assessed via transmission electron microscopy, the CardioExcyte96 system, calcium imaging with Fluo-4 AM, and multi-electrode array recordings, respectively. Wild-type JPH2 was overexpressed through lentiviral transfection to evaluate rescue effects, and two JPH2 variants-one benign (G505S) and one pathogenic (E85K)-were introduced to study mutation-specific effects.</AbstractText JPH2 knockout disrupted excitation-contraction coupling in hESC-CMs by impairing junctional membrane complex structure, leading to heart failure-like phenotypes with reduced contractility, altered calcium dynamics, and electrophysiological irregularities. Overexpression of wild-type JPH2 restored these functions, affirming its critical role in cardiac physiology. We identified excitation-contraction coupling delay (ECCD) as a novel indicator that precisely quantified coupling impairment severity, with its applicability validated across distinct JPH2 variants (G505S and E85K).</AbstractText This study demonstrates JPH2's essential role in sustaining excitation-contraction coupling by stabilizing the junctional membrane complex, with its deficiency driving heart failure-like cardiac dysfunction. ECCD is established as a sensitive, comprehensive indicator for assessing JPH2-related impairment severity. These findings advance our understanding of JPH2 in cardiac pathology and position ECCD as a valuable tool for research and potential clinical evaluation, with JPH2 and calcium regulation emerging as promising therapeutic targets.</AbstractText" ], [ "40582948", "Effects of Negative Emotions and Personality Traits on Laryngeal and Speech Motor Control.", "The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of negative affective stimuli on oral and laryngeal motor control. It was also aimed to examine the role of personality traits in emotion-motor interaction.</AbstractText Thirty-five female volunteers (age range: 18-25) were included in the study. Affective stimuli were selected from within the Nencki Affective Picture System (70 pictures with neutral affective valence and 70 with negative affective valence). Participants' personality traits were assessed using the five-factor personality inventory (FFPI). Skin conductance response and heart rate variability assessments were made simultaneously with the presentation of affective pictures. Oral and laryngeal motor skills were assessed via seven vocal tasks: one task was based on electroglottographic analysis (fundamental frequency-F<sub The abductor L-DDK rate, adductor L-DDK rate, syllabic rate, and EGG-CQ values obtained in the presence of negative affective stimuli were statistically significantly higher than those obtained in the presence of neutral affective stimuli (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the two stimulus types in terms of their F2rate and O-DDK rate values (P&#xa0;&gt;&#xa0;0.05). Moreover, neuroticism and extraversion as personality traits were significantly correlated with the F<sub Negative affective stimuli led to an increase in oral and laryngeal motor movement speed by likely activating the sympathetic nervous system. There was also an increase in the CQ of the vocal folds. Furthermore, participants who scored higher on the FFPI personality trait of \"extraversion\"&#xa0;had lower EGG-CQ scores, while those who scored higher on the personality trait of \"neuroticism\"&#xa0;had higher EGG average jitter and F<sub" ], [ "40763289", "The genomic configurations driving antimicrobial resistance and virulence in colistin resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa from an Egyptian Tertiary Oncology Hospital.", "Pseudomonas aeruginosa, recognized by the World Health Organization as a critical priority pathogen, exhibits significant genomic plasticity and a high potential for developing resistance to multiple antimicrobials. This study provides comprehensive genomic insights into colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from cancer patients. Phenotypic assays were conducted to evaluate antibiotic susceptibility, biofilm formation, efflux pump activity, swarming motility, and pigment production. Whole genome sequencing of the collected isolates was performed using Oxford-Nanopore technology to examine sequence types, resistome profiles, virulence-associated genes, and mobile genetic elements. Our findings reveled that out of 52 isolates, 10 (19.2%) were resistant to colistin. Ceftolozane/tazobactam demonstrated full efficacy against 60% of colistin resistant P. aeruginosa isolates. Within this colistin resistant subset, high-risk clones ST308 and ST773 emerged as dominant, both harboring blaNDM-1 and exhibiting extensive resistance profiles, including resistance to colistin and, in some cases, ceftolozane/tazobactam. The first detection of ST1143 and ST1693 in Egypt carrying blaOXA-1028 and blaOXA-904, respectively was documented, neither of which had been previously reported in the country. The accessory genome, accounting for up to 34.6% of the total genome, highlights the remarkable genomic plasticity of P. aeruginosa, and its capacity for horizontal acquisition of resistance and virulence genes via mobile genetic elements, such as integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs). Virulome analysis revealed the presence of the exoU gene in high-risk clones, a marker closely linked to hypervirulence in infection models, whereas other sequence types were associated with less virulent factors, such as exoS. Despite phenotypic variability in biofilm formation, pigment production, and motility, the underlying genetic determinants of these traits were highly conserved. Mutational analysis revealed mutations in the regulatory system PhoPQ as the primary mechanism of colistin resistance, with no mcr genes detected. In conclusion, the substantial genomic plasticity of P. aeruginosa, reflected by an extensive accessory genome facilitates horizontal gene transfer (HGT), and significantly influences antimicrobial resistance and virulence. Colistin resistance was predominantly mediated by chromosomal mutations. Virulome and resistome analyses underscores the high pathogenicity and resistance potential of high-risk clones ST773 and ST308. The detection of horizontally acquired elements, such as integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) carrying resistance genes such as blaNDM-1, underscores their role in disseminating resistance determinants. These findings emphasize the need urgent for targeted antimicrobial stewardship and surveillance strategies within Egyptian healthcare settings.</AbstractText" ] ]
40653907
Integrin β4-Enriched Small Extracellular Vesicle as Drug Delivery Vehicle for Targeting Pulmonary Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) hold significant promise for targeted drug delivery, owing to their unique ability to target and accumulate in specific tissues. The organotropism of sEVs is primarily determined by the presence of integrins on their surface. In this study, sEV with enriched integrin &#x3b2;4, designated as XP-ITG&#x3b2;4-sEV, are engineered to enhance lung-targeting capabilities. The therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin-loaded XP-ITG&#x3b2;4-sEV (XP-ITG&#x3b2;4-sEV/Dox) is evaluated in targeting pulmonary metastasis of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a murine lung metastasis model. Remarkably, treatment with XP-ITG&#x3b2;4-sEV/Dox effectively suppresses tumor cell colonization in the lungs compared to an equivalent dose of free doxorubicin. Histological analyses reveal a reduction in lung metastatic foci, inhibition of proliferation, and an increase in apoptosis of HCC cells. Notably, XP-ITG&#x3b2;4-sEV/Dox exhibits a superior therapeutic efficacy with an improved safety profile compared to a higher dose of free doxorubicin that demonstrates similar efficacy. These findings collectively underscore the potential of integrin &#x3b2;4-enriched sEVs as a targeted drug delivery system for addressing pulmonary metastasis of HCC.</AbstractText
[ [ "32772213", "Splice variants of RAS-translational significance.", "One of the mechanisms potentially explaining the discrepancy between the number of human genes and the functional complexity of organisms is generating alternative splice variants, an attribute of the vast majority of multi-exon genes. Members of the RAS family, such as NRAS, KRAS and HRAS, all of which are of significant importance in cancer biology, are no exception. The structural and functional differences of these splice variants, particularly if they contain the canonical (and therefore routinely targeted for diagnostic purposes) hot spot mutations, pose a significant challenge for targeted therapies. We must therefore consider whether these alternative splice variants constitute a minor component as originally thought and how therapies targeting the canonical isoforms affect these alternative splice variants and their overall functions.</AbstractText" ], [ "27716417", "Importance of rare gene copy number alterations for personalized tumor characterization and survival analysis.", "It has proven exceedingly difficult to ascertain rare copy number alterations (CNAs) that may have strong effects in individual tumors. We show that a regulatory network inferred from gene expression and gene copy number data of 768 human cancer cell lines can be used to quantify the impact of patient-specific CNAs on survival signature genes. A focused analysis of tumors from six tissues reveals that rare patient-specific gene CNAs often have stronger effects on signature genes than frequent gene CNAs. Further comparison to a related network-based approach shows that the integration of indirectly acting gene CNAs significantly improves the survival analysis.</AbstractText" ], [ "33789737", "Exosomes derived from human adipose mesenchymal stem cells attenuate hypertrophic scar fibrosis by miR-192-5p/IL-17RA/Smad axis.", "Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a fibro-proliferative disorder of dermis after burn or trauma and usually leads to esthetic disfiguration and functionary impairment for patients. Emerging evidences demonstrated ADSC-Exo could alleviate the visceral fibrosis, but little attention had been paid to its role in skin fibrosis. In the study, we would explore the effect of ADSC-Exo on HS and investigated the exact mechanism underlying the properties.</AbstractText ADSC-Exo were isolated, identified, and internalized by HS-derived fibroblasts (HSFs). The effect of ADSC-Exo on the proliferation and migration of HSFs were detected by flow cytometry and Ki67 immunofluorescence staining, or scratch and trans-wells assays, respectively. RT-PCR, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry staining were used to evaluate the expression of IL-17RA, Col1, Col3, &#x3b1;-SMA, SIP1, and p-Smad2/p-Smad3 in HSFs stimulated with ADSC-Exo, miR-192-5p mimics, or inhibitors, IL-17RA siRNA and their negative controls. Digital morphology, H&amp;E, Masson's trichrome staining, and immunohistochemistry staining were performed to measure the effect of ADSC-Exo and Lv-IL-17RA shRNA on excisional wound of BALB/c mice.</AbstractText The verified ADSC-Exo effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of HSFs, decreased the expression of Col1, Col3, &#x3b1;-SMA, IL-17RA, and p-Smad2/p-Smad3 and increased the levels of SIP1 in HSFs. Besides, the mice in ADSC-Exo-treated group demonstrated faster wound healing and less collagen deposition. Furthermore, miR-192-5p was highly expressed in ADSC-Exo and ADSC-Exosomal miR-192-5p ameliorated hypertrophic scar fibrosis. Meanwhile, miR-192-5p targeted the expression of IL-17RA to decrease the pro-fibrotic proteins levels. Moreover, IL-17RA was overexpressed in HS and HSFs, and knockdown IL-17RA alleviated the expression of Col1, Col3, &#x3b1;-SMA, and p-Smad2/p-Smad3 and increased the expression of SIP1 in HSFs. Most importantly, IL-17RA silence also facilitated wound healing, attenuated collagen production, and modulated Smad pathway in HSFs.</AbstractText This study illustrated ADSC-Exo attenuated the deposition of collagen, the trans-differentiation of fibroblasts-to-myofibroblasts, and the formation of hypertrophic scar by in vitro and in vivo experiments. ADSC-Exosomal miR-192-5p targeted IL-17RA to regulate Smad pathway in hypertrophic scar fibrosis. ADSC-Exo could be a promising therapeutic strategy for clinical treatment of hypertrophic scar and the anti-fibrotic properties could be achieved by miR-192-5p/IL-17RA/Smad axis.</AbstractText" ], [ "23430739", "Heparanase regulates secretion, composition, and function of tumor cell-derived exosomes.", "Emerging evidence indicates that exosomes play a key role in tumor-host cross-talk and that exosome secretion, composition, and functional capacity are altered as tumors progress to an aggressive phenotype. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms that regulate these changes. Heparanase is an enzyme whose expression is up-regulated as tumors become more aggressive and is associated with enhanced tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. We have discovered that in human cancer cells (myeloma, lymphoblastoid, and breast cancer), when expression of heparanase is enhanced or when tumor cells are exposed to exogenous heparanase, exosome secretion is dramatically increased. Heparanase enzyme activity is required for robust enhancement of exosome secretion because enzymatically inactive forms of heparanase, even when present in high amounts, do not dramatically increase exosome secretion. Heparanase also impacts exosome protein cargo as reflected by higher levels of syndecan-1, VEGF, and hepatocyte growth factor in exosomes secreted by heparanase-high expressing cells as compared with heparanase-low expressing cells. In functional assays, exosomes from heparanase-high cells stimulated spreading of tumor cells on fibronectin and invasion of endothelial cells through extracellular matrix better than did exosomes secreted by heparanase-low cells. These studies reveal that heparanase helps drive exosome secretion, alters exosome composition, and facilitates production of exosomes that impact both tumor and host cell behavior, thereby promoting tumor progression.</AbstractText" ], [ "30726905", "Multiple functions of the ER-resident VAP and its extracellular role in neural development and disease.", "VAP (VAMP-associated protein) is a type II integral membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and its N-terminal major sperm protein (MSP) domain faces the cytoplasmic side. VAP functions as a tethering molecule at the membrane contact sites between the ER and intracellular organelles and regulates a wide variety of cellular functions, including lipid transport, membrane trafficking, microtubule reorganization and unfolded protein response. VAP-point mutations in human vapb are strongly associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Importantly, the MSP domain of VAP is cleaved, secreted and interacts with the axon growth cone guidance receptors (Eph, Robo, Lar), suggesting that VAP could function as a circulating hormone similar to the Caenorhabditis elegans MSP protein. In this review, we discuss not only the intracellular functions of VAP but also the recently discovered extracellular functions and their implications for neurodegenerative disease.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40796324", "Exploring the Diagnostic Potential of Core Targets of 6PPD and Its Metabolite 6PPD-Q in Cardiovascular Diseases: An Integrated Analysis Based on Network Toxicology, Molecular Docking, and In Vitro Validation.", "6PPD (N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine) and its oxidized form, 6PPD-Q (2-((4-methylpentan-2-yl)amino)-5-(phenylamino)cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione), are commonly used in rubber-based materials and have been increasingly found in the environment. Recent studies suggest that these compounds may be toxic to the cardiovascular system, but the exact molecular mechanisms are not well understood. This study used a combination of network toxicology, molecular docking, and bioinformatics to investigate how 6PPD and 6PPD-Q affect the heart, particularly in relation to atherosclerosis, acute myocardial infarction, and heart failure. By screening multiple databases and analyzing Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) transcriptome data, we identified key targets that are involved in these diseases. We built PPI networks and performed Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses to explore the related pathways. Additionally, we validated four core targets-nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 3 (NR4A3), sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 3 (S1PR3), nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), and formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1)-that showed high diagnostic value in all three diseases using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Molecular docking revealed that both 6PPD and 6PPD-Q strongly bind to these targets. Further in&#xa0;vitro experiments revealed that 6PPD and 6PPD-Q induce damage in H9c2 cells. The mechanism may be associated with these four targets. This study sheds light on how these environmental pollutants harm the cardiovascular system and demonstrates the value of combining network toxicology with omics and structural biology in risk assessment and therapeutic development.</AbstractText" ], [ "39956966", "Structural covariance network patterns linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms in biologically defined Alzheimer's disease: Insights from the mild behavioral impairment checklist.", "The frequent presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in the context of normal or minimally-impaired cognitive function led to the concept of Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI). While MBI's impact on subsequent cognitive decline is recognized, its association with brain network changes in biologically-defined AD remains unexplored.</AbstractText To investigate the correlation of structural covariance networks with MBI-C checklist sub-scores in biologically-defined AD patients.</AbstractText We analyzed 33 biologically-defined AD patients, ranging from mild cognitive impairment to early dementia, all characterized as amyloid-positive through cerebrospinal fluid analysis or amyloid positron emission tomography scans. Regional network properties were assessed through graph theory.</AbstractText Affective dysregulation correlated with decreased segregation and integration in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Impulse dyscontrol and social inappropriateness correlated positively with centrality and efficiency in the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Global network properties showed a preserved small-world organization.</AbstractText This study reveals associations between MBI subdomains and structural brain network alterations in biologically-confirmed AD. The IFG's involvement is crucial for mood dysregulation, while the PCC could be involved in compensatory mechanisms for social cognition and impulse control. These findings underscore the significance of biomarker-based neuroimaging for the characterization of NPS across the AD spectrum.</AbstractText Altered mental status is one of the most common presenting complaints in older adult patients and is often related to \"3 Ds\": delirium, dementia, and depression. Out of the 3 Ds, delirium and dementia are more commonly encountered in clinical practice. The 2 terms are frequently used interchangeably and, therefore, unrecognized during the initial assessment. Understanding that delirium and dementia are distinct syndromes with different prognoses and management is essential, though distinguishing between both diagnoses in the clinical setting can be difficult, even for experienced clinicians.&#xa0;While an acute confusional state that fluctuates and develops over days to weeks is likely to be delirium, a more persistent and chronic progression is more suggestive of dementia; however, these clinical features may not be as evident in patients with underlying dementia who develop acute delirium.&#xa0;Additionally, this distinction is blurred in cases of persistent delirium and reversible dementia etiologies. Cognition is assessed in 6 domains: memory and learning, language, executive functioning, complex attention, perceptual-motor, and social cognition.&#xa0; Delirium is characterized by an altered awareness mainly affecting attention, whereas dementia is defined as cognitive decline, which interferes with 1 or more domains.&#xa0;Delirium is an abrupt onset of reduced orientation or awareness of the environment in contrast to dementia, a gradual process leading to disturbance in the core features, with attention being affected much later in the disease course.&#xa0; Typically, dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder seen in older age and is of various subtypes, with the age of onset depending on the subtype. On the other hand, delirium is an age-independent process that occurs more commonly in older adult patients and can happen under variable circumstances. Delirium typically occurs from hours to days, whereas dementia is a slow progressive course over months to years. Delirium and dementia commonly coexist, with preexisting dementia being a leading risk factor for delirium.&#xa0;Sometimes, when dementia is rapidly progressive, it can be challenging to differentiate between the conditions in patients without a prior history of dementia.&#xa0;Therefore, distinguishing between these conditions or identifying superimposed delirium in a preexisting dementia patient is essential, as misdiagnosis may lead to a prolonged hospital stay, accelerated cognitive and functional decline, increased healthcare costs, and even death.</AbstractText" ], [ "40700061", "The Co-Occurrence of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Aarskog-Scott Syndrome in an Accomplished Young Man.", "<b" ], [ "40730985", "The effect of emotion regulation difficulties and loneliness on anxiety, depression, and stress levels in remote workers.", "While remote work brings flexibility to work life, it can also bring loneliness, emotion regulation difficulties, and some mental health symptoms. This study examined the relationship between loneliness and emotion regulation difficulties and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in remote workers and the role of some sociodemographic variables in these relationships.</AbstractText An analytical cross-sectional observational study was conducted. One hundred twenty-one participants (53.7% female, 46.3% male), aged 23-56 and working remotely for at least six months, were reached through snowball sampling and evaluated using online survey forms. Data were collected using a sociodemographic information form, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. In addition to correlation analyses and group comparisons, mediation analyses were conducted using the bootstrap method.</AbstractText Emotion regulation difficulties and loneliness were significantly positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. An increase in the number of days working remotely per week increased anxiety levels, and emotion regulation difficulties mediated this effect. Loneliness had a mediating role in the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and depression.</AbstractText Emotion regulation difficulties and loneliness have a significant impact on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in individuals working remotely. These findings support the need to strengthen emotion regulation skills and develop policies that increase social interaction to support the mental health of remote workers.</AbstractText" ], [ "40371238", "Development and validation of Restless Legs Syndrome Diary for the assessment of severity and course of symptoms - A cross-sectional study.", "The clinical course and severity of restless legs syndrome (RLS) are variable. Existing questionnaires measure the severity of RLS based on recall. One possible solution could be the daily charting of symptoms in a diary.</AbstractText Development and validation of a diary for the longitudinal assessment of symptoms and the impact of RLS.</AbstractText This study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, an RLS diary was developed. During phase 2, it was given to patients presenting with RLS. They were explained how to fill in the information in the diary. It collected information related to symptoms as well as sleep. Adverse effects of the symptoms on mood and daytime function were also assessed. Three scores were calculated from the data-the burden of RLS, the burden of severe RLS symptoms, and the overall burden of RLS. The convergent validity of the diary was calculated by comparing it with the international RLS severity rating scale (IRLS).</AbstractText During phase 1, RLS Diary attained a score of one during content validation by universal agreement. Of 34 participants, 63.6% were females with an average age of 46.6 &#xb1; 14 years. Cronbach's alpha of the diary was 0.92. RLS diary showed the temporal change in time of onset of RLS, change in severity, and topography. The composite score from the RLS diary for week four had weak to moderate positive correlations with IRLS (week four).</AbstractText RLS Diary is a valid and psychometrically optimal tool for detailed assessment of the severity of RLS symptoms and the burden of RLS. However, there was a poor to the moderate correlation with recall-based measures of the severity of RLS.</AbstractText" ] ]
38447117
Disparities in Genetic Testing for Neurologic Disorders.
Genetic testing is now the standard of care for many neurologic conditions. Health care disparities are unfortunately widespread in the US health care system, but disparities in the utilization of genetic testing for neurologic conditions have not been studied. We tested the hypothesis that access to and results of genetic testing vary according to race, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and insurance status for adults with neurologic conditions.</AbstractText We analyzed retrospective data from patients who underwent genetic evaluation and testing through our institution's neurogenetics program. We tested for differences between demographic groups in 3 steps of a genetic evaluation pathway: (1) attending a neurogenetic evaluation, (2) completing genetic testing, and (3) receiving a diagnostic result. We compared patients on this genetic evaluation pathway with the population of all neurology outpatients at our institution, using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses.</AbstractText Between 2015 and 2022, a total of 128,440 patients were seen in our outpatient neurology clinics and 2,540 patients underwent genetic evaluation. Black patients were less than half as likely as White patients to be evaluated (odds ratio [OR] 0.49, <i We observed unequal utilization of our clinical neurogenetics program for patients from marginalized and minoritized demographic groups, especially Black patients. Among patients who do undergo evaluation, all groups benefit similarly from genetic testing when it is indicated. Understanding and removing barriers to accessing genetic testing will be essential to health care equity and optimal care for all patients with neurologic disorders.</AbstractText
[ [ "36685225", "A functional network of highly pure enteric neurons in a dish.", "The enteric nervous system (ENS) is the intrinsic nervous system that innervates the entire digestive tract and regulates major digestive functions. Recent evidence has shown that functions of the ENS critically rely on enteric neuronal connectivity; however, experimental models to decipher the underlying mechanisms are limited. Compared to the central nervous system, for which pure neuronal cultures have been developed for decades and are recognized as a reference in the field of neuroscience, an equivalent model for enteric neurons is lacking. In this study, we developed a novel model of highly pure rat embryonic enteric neurons with dense and functional synaptic networks. The methodology is simple and relatively fast. We characterized enteric neurons using immunohistochemical, morphological, and electrophysiological approaches. In particular, we demonstrated the applicability of this culture model to multi-electrode array technology as a new approach for monitoring enteric neuronal network activity. This <i" ], [ "37350014", "Attentional modulation of neural sound tracking in children with and without dyslexia.", "Auditory selective attention forms an important foundation of children's learning by enabling the prioritisation and encoding of relevant stimuli. It may also influence reading development, which relies on metalinguistic skills including the awareness of the sound structure of spoken language. Reports of attentional impairments and speech perception difficulties in noisy environments in dyslexic readers are also suggestive of the putative contribution of auditory attention to reading development. To date, it is unclear whether non-speech selective attention and its underlying neural mechanisms are impaired in children with dyslexia and to which extent these deficits relate to individual reading and speech perception abilities in suboptimal listening conditions. In this EEG study, we assessed non-speech sustained auditory selective attention in 106 7-to-12-year-old children with and without dyslexia. Children attended to one of two tone streams, detecting occasional sequence repeats in the attended stream, and performed a speech-in-speech perception task. Results show that when children directed their attention to one stream, inter-trial-phase-coherence at the attended rate increased in fronto-central sites; this, in turn, was associated with better target detection. Behavioural and neural indices of attention did not systematically differ as a function of dyslexia diagnosis. However, behavioural indices of attention did explain individual differences in reading fluency and speech-in-speech perception abilities: both these skills were impaired in dyslexic readers. Taken together, our results show that children with dyslexia do not show group-level auditory attention deficits but these deficits may represent a risk for developing reading impairments and problems with speech perception in complex acoustic environments. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Non-speech sustained auditory selective attention modulates EEG phase coherence in children with/without dyslexia Children with dyslexia show difficulties in speech-in-speech perception Attention relates to dyslexic readers' speech-in-speech perception and reading skills Dyslexia diagnosis is not linked to behavioural/EEG indices of auditory attention.</AbstractText" ], [ "39169183", "Thermal infrared directs host-seeking behaviour in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.", "Mosquito-borne diseases affect hundreds of millions of people annually and disproportionately impact the developing world<sup" ], [ "38832639", "Extended haplotype with rs41524547-G defines the ancestral origin of SCA10.", "Spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10) is a rare autosomal dominant ataxia caused by a large expansion of the (ATTCT)n repeat in ATXN10. SCA10 was described in Native American and Asian individuals which prompted a search for an expanded haplotype to confirm a common ancestral origin for the expansion event. All patients with SCA10 expansions in our cohort share a single haplotype defined at the 5'-end by the minor allele of rs41524547, located ~35&#xa0;kb upstream of the SCA10 expansion. Intriguingly, rs41524547 is located within the miRNA gene, MIR4762, within its DROSHA cleavage site and just outside the seed sequence for mir4792-5p. The world-wide frequency of rs41524547-G is less than 5% and found almost exclusively in the Americas and East Asia-a geographic distribution that mirrors reported SCA10 cases. We identified rs41524547-G(+) DNA from the 1000 Genomes/International Genome Sample Resource and our own general population samples and identified SCA10 repeat expansions in up to 25% of these samples. The reduced penetrance of these SCA10 expansions may be explained by a young (pre-onset) age at sample collection, a small repeat size, purity of repeat units, or the disruption of miR4762-5p function. We conclude that rs41524547-G is the most robust at-risk SNP allele for SCA10, is useful for screening of SCA10 expansions in population genetics studies and provides the most compelling evidence to date for a single, prehistoric origin of SCA10 expansions sometime prior to or during the migration of individuals across the Bering Land Bridge into the Americas.</AbstractText" ], [ "36905813", "The evolution of comprehensive genetic analysis in neurology: Implications for precision medicine.", "Technological advancements have facilitated the availability of reliable and thorough genetic analysis in many medical fields, including neurology. In this review, we focus on the importance of selecting the appropriate genetic test to aid in the accurate identification of disease utilizing currently employed technologies for analyzing monogenic neurological disorders. Moreover, the applicability of comprehensive analysis via NGS for various genetically heterogeneous neurological disorders is reviewed, revealing its efficiency in clarifying a frequently cloudy diagnostic picture and delivering a conclusive and solid diagnosis that is essential for the proper management of the patient. The feasibility and effectiveness of medical genetics in neurology require interdisciplinary cooperation among several medical specialties and geneticists, to select and perform the most relevant test according to each patient's medical history, using the most appropriate technological tools. The prerequisites for a comprehensive genetic analysis are discussed, highlighting the utility of appropriate gene selection, variant annotation, and classification. Moreover, genetic counseling and interdisciplinary collaboration could improve diagnostic yield further. Additionally, a sub-analysis is conducted on the 1,502,769 variation records with submitted interpretations in the Clinical Variation (ClinVar) database, with a focus on neurology-related genes, to clarify the value of suitable variant categorization. Finally, we review the current applications of genetic analysis in the diagnosis and personalized management of neurological patients and the advances in the research and scientific knowledge of hereditary neurological disorders that are evolving the utility of genetic analysis towards the individualization of the treatment strategy.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39556800", "Middle fossa approach for a petrous apex bony spur causing trigeminal neuralgia: illustrative case.", "Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) can arise from trigeminal nerve compression at the root entry zone due to neurovascular conflict, which most often presents in the 6th decade of life. The authors report the case of a young patient with TN with a petrous apex bony spur near the entrance of Meckel's cave, causing compression of the proximal trigeminal nerve.</AbstractText A 21-year-old woman presented with a 5-year history of progressive right-sided TN. Axial T2 sampling perfection with application optimized contrast using different flip angle evolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) did not reveal vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve. However, sagittal reformats demonstrated a prominent bony ridge along the petrous apex, causing compression of the right trigeminal nerve at the porus trigeminus. Removal of the bony spur via a middle fossa approach completely resolved the patient's symptoms.</AbstractText Although TN is most frequently caused by neurovascular compression, it is vital to examine the entire course of the trigeminal nerve on MRI to identify alternative causes of nerve compression in the absence of neurovascular conflict. Bony compression is a rare cause of TN that should be considered, particularly in younger patients. The presence of prominent osseous structures along the course of the trigeminal nerve can be evaluated reliably on sagittal MRI. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE24321.</AbstractText" ], [ "38104774", "Cognitive inflexibility and heightened error monitoring are related to lower sexual functioning.", "Sexual functioning is an important predictor of well-being and relationship satisfaction. Previous research indicates that several aspects of cognitive function are related to sex-related behaviors and functioning among individuals with sex-related disorders, neurological disorders, and in older adults; however, this has been relatively underexamined in younger populations. To examine this, the present study assessed whether behavioral and/or neurophysiological measures of cognitive function are associated with sexual functioning in a community sample of young 489 adults (64&#xa0;% female) ages 18-30. Cognitive flexibility (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;460) and inhibition (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;466) were measured using neuropsychological assessment (D-KEFS), and conflict monitoring and error monitoring were measured by event-related potentials (conflict N2: n&#xa0;=&#xa0;394; error-related negativity: n&#xa0;=&#xa0;389). After separately testing relations between the different measures of cognitive function and sexual functioning, we assessed whether results (1) remained after covarying for externalizing and internalizing dimensions (PID-5; n&#xa0;=&#xa0;489) or (2) varied by gender. Finally, we tested whether any aspects of cognitive function were unique predictors of sexual functioning. Cognitive flexibility and error monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity) were both significantly related to sexual functioning among males and females, such that poorer cognitive flexibility and heightened error monitoring were related to lower sexual functioning. No significant effects emerged for inhibition or conflict monitoring. In a multiple regression model, cognitive flexibility and error monitoring each accounted for a unique portion of variance in sexual functioning beyond other aspects of cognitive function and psychopathology-related traits. Results suggest that cognitive function is a meaningful correlate of sexual functioning in young adulthood, which should be considered further in future research.</AbstractText" ], [ "38095981", "Can speech perception deficits cause phonological impairments? Evidence from short-term memory for ambiguous speech.", "Poor performance on phonological tasks is characteristic of neurodevelopmental language disorders (dyslexia and/or developmental language disorder). Perceptual deficit accounts attribute phonological dysfunction to lower-level deficits in speech-sound processing. However, a causal pathway from speech perception to phonological performance has not been established. We assessed this relationship in typical adults by experimentally disrupting speech-sound discrimination in a phonological short-term memory (pSTM) task. We used an automated audio-morphing method (Rogers &amp; Davis, 2017) to create ambiguous intermediate syllables between 16 letter name-letter name (\"B\"-\"P\") and letter name-word (\"B\"-\"we\") pairs. High- and low-ambiguity syllables were used in a pSTM task in which participants (<i" ], [ "38184375", "Evaluation of 2D ion chamber arrays for patient specific quality assurance using a static phantom at a 0.35 T MR-Linac.", "Patient specific quality assurance (QA) in MR-Linacs can be performed with MR-compatible ion chamber arrays. However, the presence of a static magnetic field can alter the angular response of such arrays substantially. This works investigates the suitability of two ion chamber arrays, an air-filled and a liquid-filled array, for patient specific QA at a 0.35&#x202f;T MR-Linac using a static phantom.</AbstractText In order to study the angular response, the two arrays were placed in a static, solid phantom and irradiated with 9.96&#x202f;&#xd7;&#x202f;9.96&#x202f;cm<sup The air-filled array showed asymmetric angular response changes of central chamber dose of up to 18% and down to local 3&#x202f;mm&#x202f;/&#x202f;3% gamma rates of 20%, while only minor differences within 3% (excluding parallel irradiation and beams through the couch edges) were found for the liquid-filled ion chamber array without rotating the phantom. Patient plan QA using the liquid-filled array yielded a median local 3&#x202f;mm&#x202f;/&#x202f;3% 3D gamma passing rate of 99.8% (range 96.9%-100%).</AbstractText A liquid-filled ionization chamber array in combination with a static phantom can be used for efficient patient specific plan QA in a single measurement set-up in a 0.35&#x202f;T MR-Linac, while the air-filled ion chamber array phantom shows large angular response changes and has its limitations regarding patient specific QA measurements.</AbstractText" ], [ "38844198", "Electrophysiological markers of vestibular-mediated self-motion perception - A pilot study.", "Peripheral vestibular activation results in multi-level responses, from brainstem-mediated reflexes (e.g. vestibular ocular reflex - VOR) to perception of self-motion. While VOR responses indicate preserved vestibular peripheral and brainstem functioning, there are no automated measures of vestibular perception of self-motion - important since some patients with brain disconnection syndromes manifest a vestibular agnosia (intact VOR but impaired self-motion perception). Electroencephalography ('EEG') - may provide a surrogate marker of vestibular perception of self-motion. A related objective is obtaining an EEG marker of vestibular sensory signal processing, distinct from vestibular-motion perception. We performed a pilot study comparing EEG responses in the dark when healthy participants sat in a vibrationless computer-controlled motorised rotating chair moving at near threshold of self-motion perception, versus a second situation in which subjects sat in the chair at rest in the dark who could be induced (or not) into falsely perceiving self-motion. In both conditions subjects could perceive self-motion perception, but in the second there was no bottom-up reflex-brainstem activation. Time-frequency analyses showed: (i) alpha frequency band activity is linked to vestibular sensory-signal activation; and (ii) theta band activity is a marker of vestibular-mediated self-motion perception. Consistent with emerging animal data, our findings support the role of theta activity in the processing of self-motion perception.</AbstractText" ] ]
39916400
Influence of Different Types of Contralateral Suppression Tones on Otoacoustic Emission in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Auditory sensory gating deficits are abnormalities in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that may lead to sensory processing difficulties. It is particularly difficult for children with ASD to distinguish multiple auditory stimuli, which hinders them from focusing on a single auditory stimulus and separating unnecessary sounds. Suppression of otoacoustic emission (OAE) is an approach used to identify sensory gating deficits in the general population, specifically for children with ASD. This study aimed to investigate the suppression effect of various types of sound suppressors to measure their sensory gating capacity in children with ASD. Subjects and.</AbstractText Twenty children including 10 with ASD and 10 normally developing children aged 6-12 years were recruited for this study. One accessible ear was exposed to transient-evoked OAE, whereas the other was exposed to suppressor tones. Contralateral suppressors included white noise, Quranic recitations, environmental noise, and natural sound. The magnitude of OAE suppression was determined from the difference between the OAE amplitude with and without the masker (in dB sound pressure levels) for all sound types. The sound with the highest suppression effect was determined using effect size calculation and repeated-measures analysis of variance at a 95% confidence level. A high suppression effect may suggest a high sensory gating performance, whereas low suppression may indicate low sensory gating performance.</AbstractText Based on the analysis, the sound with the highest suppression effect was that of the waterfall. The suppression results were supported by descriptive analysis findings and effect-size calculations.</AbstractText This study provides a better understanding of the alternative sound stimuli, besides the standard white noise tone, for the assessment of sensory gating deficits among children with ASD. Sounds with a high suppression effect have the potential to be used as sound therapy interventions for children with ASD as part of rehabilitation and therapy.</AbstractText
[ [ "34798233", "Delta- and theta-band cortical tracking and phase-amplitude coupling to sung speech by infants.", "The amplitude envelope of speech carries crucial low-frequency acoustic information that assists linguistic decoding at multiple time scales. Neurophysiological signals are known to track the amplitude envelope of adult-directed speech (ADS), particularly in the theta-band. Acoustic analysis of infant-directed speech (IDS) has revealed significantly greater modulation energy than ADS in an amplitude-modulation (AM) band centred on &#x223c;2&#xa0;Hz. Accordingly, cortical tracking of IDS by delta-band neural signals may be key to language acquisition. Speech also contains acoustic information within its higher-frequency bands (beta, gamma). Adult EEG and MEG studies reveal an oscillatory hierarchy, whereby low-frequency (delta, theta) neural phase dynamics temporally organize the amplitude of high-frequency signals (phase amplitude coupling, PAC). Whilst consensus is growing around the role of PAC in the matured adult brain, its role in the development of speech processing is unexplored. Here, we examined the presence and maturation of low-frequency (&lt;12&#xa0;Hz) cortical speech tracking in infants by recording EEG longitudinally from 60 participants when aged 4-, 7- and 11- months as they listened to nursery rhymes. After establishing stimulus-related neural signals in delta and theta, cortical tracking at each age was assessed in the delta, theta and alpha [control] bands using a multivariate temporal response function (mTRF) method. Delta-beta, delta-gamma, theta-beta and theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was also assessed. Significant delta and theta but not alpha tracking was found. Significant PAC was present at all ages, with both delta and theta -driven coupling observed.</AbstractText" ], [ "37451263", "Improvement of sensory deficits in fragile X mice by increasing cortical interneuron activity after the critical period.", "Changes in the function of inhibitory interneurons (INs) during cortical development could contribute to the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. Using all-optical in&#xa0;vivo approaches, we find that parvalbumin (PV) INs and their immature precursors are hypoactive and transiently decoupled from excitatory neurons in postnatal mouse somatosensory cortex (S1) of Fmr1 KO mice, a model of fragile X syndrome (FXS). This leads to a loss of parvalbumin INs (PV-INs) in both mice and humans with FXS. Increasing the activity of future PV-INs in neonatal Fmr1 KO mice restores PV-IN density and ameliorates transcriptional dysregulation in S1, but not circuit dysfunction. Critically, administering an allosteric modulator of Kv3.1 channels after the S1 critical period does rescue circuit dynamics and tactile defensiveness. Symptoms in FXS and related disorders could be mitigated by targeting PV-INs.</AbstractText" ], [ "37647036", "Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure and Offspring Brain Morphologic Trajectory.", "Clinical decision-making on antidepressant treatment during pregnancy, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), is challenging, as both prenatal SSRI exposure and maternal depressive symptoms may be associated with negative outcomes in offspring.</AbstractText To investigate the association between intrauterine SSRI exposure and maternal depressive symptoms and structural brain development in offspring from mid-childhood to early puberty.</AbstractText This prospective, population-based cohort study was embedded in the Generation R Study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. All pregnant individuals with an expected delivery date between April 1, 2002, and January 31, 2006, were invited to participate. Data were analyzed from February 1 to September 30, 2022.</AbstractText Maternal-reported SSRI use verified by pharmacy records. In mid-pregnancy and 2 and 6 months after delivery, participants reported depressive symptoms using the Brief Symptom Inventory and were divided into 5 groups: SSRI use during pregnancy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;41; 80 scans), SSRI use only before pregnancy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;77; 126 scans), prenatal depressive symptoms without prenatal SSRI use (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;257; 477 scans), postnatal depressive symptoms only (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;74; 128 scans), and nonexposed control individuals (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;2749; 4813 scans).</AbstractText The main outcome was brain morphometry in offspring, including global and cortical brain volumes, measured at 3 magnetic resonance imaging assessments from 7 to 15 years of age.</AbstractText The study included 3198 mother-child dyads. A total of 3198 mothers (100%) identified as women; mean (SD) age at intake was 31.1 (4.7) years. Children (1670 [52.2%] female) underwent brain imaging assessment from 7 to 15 years of age with 5624 total scans. Most brain gray matter volumes showed an inverted U-shaped trajectory. Compared with nonexposed controls, children prenatally exposed to SSRIs had less cerebral gray matter (&#x3b2; [SE], -20&#x202f;212.2 [7285.6] mm3; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;.006), particularly within the corticolimbic circuit, which persisted up to 15 years of age. Children exposed to SSRIs prenatally showed a steeper increase in volumes of the amygdala (age interaction: &#x3b2; [SE], 43.3 [13.4] mm3; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;.006) and fusiform gyrus (age interaction: &#x3b2; [SE], 168.3 [51.4] mm3; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;.003) from 7 to 15 years of age. These volumetric differences in the amygdala and fusiform observed in childhood did not persist until early adolescence. Prenatal depression was associated with a smaller volume in the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus (&#x3b2; [SE], -166.3 [65.1] mm3; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;.006), and postnatal depression was associated with a reduced fusiform gyrus (&#x3b2; [SE], -480.5 [189.2] mm3; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;.002). No association of SSRI use before pregnancy with brain outcomes was observed.</AbstractText The results of this cohort study suggest that prenatal SSRI exposure may be associated with altered developmental trajectories of brain regions involved in emotional regulation in offspring. Further research on the functional implications of these findings is needed.</AbstractText" ], [ "33592246", "Electroencephalographic correlates of temporal Bayesian belief updating and surprise.", "The brain predicts the timing of forthcoming events to optimize responses to them. Temporal predictions have been formalized in terms of the hazard function, which integrates prior beliefs on the likely timing of stimulus occurrence with information conveyed by the passage of time. However, how the human brain updates prior temporal beliefs is still elusive. Here we investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures associated with Bayes-optimal updating of temporal beliefs. Given that updating usually occurs in response to surprising events, we sought to disentangle EEG correlates of updating from those associated with surprise. Twenty-six participants performed a temporal foreperiod task, which comprised a subset of surprising events not eliciting updating. EEG data were analyzed through a regression-based massive approach in the electrode and source space. Distinct late positive, centro-parietally distributed, event-related potentials (ERPs) were associated with surprise and belief updating in the electrode space. While surprise modulated the commonly observed P3b, updating was associated with a later and more sustained P3b-like waveform deflection. Results from source analyses revealed that neural encoding of surprise comprises neural activity in the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and parietal regions. These data provide evidence that temporal predictions are computed in a Bayesian manner, and that this is reflected in P3 modulations, akin to other cognitive domains. Overall, our study revealed that analyzing P3 modulations provides an important window into the Bayesian brain. Data and scripts are shared on OSF: https://osf.io/ckqa5/.</AbstractText" ], [ "29922641", "Improvements in Heart Rate Variability, Baroreflex Sensitivity, and Sleep After Use of Closed-Loop Allostatic Neurotechnology by a Heterogeneous Cohort.", "Heart rate variability (HRV) is an indicator of dynamic adaptability of the autonomic nervous system. Few interventions target upstream, cerebral cortex components of the heart-brain system for autonomic management. We report changes in HRV and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), associated with use of a noninvasive, closed-loop, allostatic, computer-guided, acoustic stimulation neurotechnology.</AbstractText Over 5&#x2009;years, 220 subjects with heterogeneous neurological, cardiovascular, and psychophysiological conditions consecutively enrolled in a naturalistic, single-arm study exploring clinical effects associated with use of the neurotechnology. Of those, 202 completed the study protocol and 160 had recordings adequate to analyze HRV and BRS. Mean age was 44.0 (SD 19.4), with 130 women. Participants received a mean of 16.1 (5.2) sessions, over 24.2&#x2009;days (23.3), with 9.5 (3.8) actual intervention days. Sessions included real-time analysis of brain electrical activity and software algorithm-guided translation of selected frequencies into patterns of acoustic stimulation (audible tones of variable pitch and timing), to facilitate auto-calibration of neural oscillations. Outcomes including 10-min supine, at-rest recordings of blood pressure and heart rate, and inventories for insomnia (ISI) and depression (CES-D or BDI-II), were obtained at baseline and 15.3 (16.7) days after the last session.</AbstractText Compared to baseline, significant increases (all <i These findings indicate that use of a noninvasive, allostatic, closed-loop neurotechnology appears to have robust potential for public health efforts to support greater flexibility in autonomic cardiovascular regulation, through self-optimization of electrical activity at the level of the brain.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40698469", "Experience of trans-sphenoidal excision of pituitary adenomas in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.", "To determine the presentation, indications, management and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent trans-sphenoidal excision of pituitary adenomas in a tertiary care setting.</AbstractText The retrospective, descriptive study was conducted at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised records of patients with pituitary adenoma who underwent trans-sphenoidal excision between July 2005 and September 2022. Data was analysed using STATA 15.1.</AbstractText Of the 50 patients, 25(50%) were males and 25(50%) were females. The overall mean age was 43.16&#xb1;12 years. In 35(70%) cases, tumours were invading the cavernous sinus and were partially resected, 32(64%) tumours were macroadenoma, and 36(72%) were non-secretory. Of the total, 29(58%) patients were discharged within eight days of surgery. Intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak was seen in 4(8%) patients. Postoperative complications included anterior pituitary deficiency 17(34%), posterior pituitary deficiency 13(26%) and panhypopituitarism 3(6%). Postoperatively, vision improved in 23(46%) patients. External radiation therapy was offered to 15(30%) patients, while 5(10%) had gamma knife therapy.</AbstractText Patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas mostly presented later in life, with large adenomas causing compressive symptoms.</AbstractText" ], [ "39740036", "Unexpected Twists: Electrophysiological Correlates of Encoding and Retrieval of Events Eliciting Prediction Error.", "According to the predictive processing framework, our brain constantly generates predictions based on past experiences and compares these predictions with incoming sensory information. When an event contradicts these predictions, it results in a prediction error (PE), which has been shown to enhance subsequent memory. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the influence of PEs on subsequent memory remain unclear. This study investigated the electrophysiological correlates during encoding and retrieval of events eliciting PEs. We employed a statistical learning task in which participants were presented with pairs of objects in sequence. Subsequently, while recording electroencephalography (EEG), we introduced PEs by replacing the second object of each pair with new objects and we then tested the participants' memory. Behaviorally, PEs did not enhance memory. During retrieval, we observed higher amplitudes in the recollection-related late positive component for violation items that were remembered compared to those that were forgotten. In contrast, no evidence for the presence of the FN400 component associated with familiarity was found. These results suggest that recollection, but not familiarity, plays a crucial role in the interplay between PE and memory. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe a relationship between PEs and the P3 component during encoding. In conclusion, our study contributes to the growing body of knowledge concerning the intricate relationship between PEs and episodic memory. It sheds light on the underlying neural mechanisms involved and emphasizes the importance of recollection in this context.</AbstractText" ], [ "40537032", "Estimation of Dopamine D(1) Receptor Agonist Binding Kinetics Using Time-Resolved Functional Assays: Relation to Agonist-Induced Receptor Internalization by Investigational Antiparkinsonian Therapeutics.", "The dopamine D<sub" ], [ "40502610", "An Unsupervised XAI Framework for Dementia Detection with Context Enrichment.", "Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) methods enhance the diagnostic efficiency of clinical decision support systems by making the predictions of a convolutional neural network's (CNN) on brain imaging more transparent and trustworthy. However, their clinical adoption is limited due to limited validation of the explanation quality. Our study introduces a framework that evaluates XAI methods by integrating neuroanatomical morphological features with CNN-generated relevance maps for disease classification.</AbstractText We trained a CNN using brain MRI scans from six cohorts: ADNI, AIBL, DELCODE, DESCRIBE, EDSD, and NIFD (N=3253), including participants that were cognitively normal, with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, dementia due to Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Clustering analysis benchmarked different explanation space configurations by using morphological features as proxy-ground truth. We implemented three post-hoc explanations methods: i) by simplifying model decisions, ii) explanation-by-example, and iii) textual explanations. A qualitative evaluation by clinicians (N=6) was performed to assess their clinical validity.</AbstractText Clustering performance improved in morphology enriched explanation spaces, improving both homogeneity and completeness of the clusters. Post hoc explanations by model simplification largely delineated converters and stable participants, while explanation-by-example presented possible cognition trajectories. Textual explanations gave rule-based summarization of pathological findings. Clinicians' qualitative evaluation highlighted challenges and opportunities of XAI for different clinical applications.</AbstractText Our study refines XAI explanation spaces and applies various approaches for generating explanations. Within the context of AI-based decision support system in dementia research we found the explanations methods to be promising towards enhancing diagnostic efficiency, backed up by the clinical assessments.</AbstractText" ], [ "40772307", "Prognostic Value of PET-Derived Myocardial Flow Reserve in Patients With Very High Coronary Artery Calcium Score.", "Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular outcomes, with patients having high CAC experiencing event rates similar to those in secondary prevention populations. Emerging evidence suggests that patients with extremely high CAC (&#x2265;1000) represent a distinct high-risk group. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of myocardial flow reserve (MFR) in patients with very high CAC.</AbstractText Consecutive patients who had a clinically indicated positron emission tomography were enrolled and followed prospectively for incident outcomes (all-cause death and myocardial infarction). Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to study the association between MFR and incident events (composite of all-cause death and myocardial infarction) among those with CAC &#x2265;400.</AbstractText The study population consisted of 3091 patients; mean (SD) age 69.6 (10.1) years, 36.8% female, 64.5% White, 46.0% with a CAC score of 400 to 999, and 54.0% with a CAC score of &#x2265;1000. The median (interquartile range) MFR was 1.9 (1.45-2.35). Over a median (interquartile range) follow-up time of 1.36 (0.45-2.50) years, there were 278 incident events (81 myocardial infarctions and 217 deaths). In adjusted analyses, an MFR &#x2265;2 was inversely associated with a lower risk of incident events; hazard ratio, 0.65 (95% CI, 0.38-1.12) for a CAC score of 400 to 999 and hazard ratio, 0.44 (95% CI, 0.28-0.69) for a CAC score of &#x2265; 1000. There was no significant interaction between MFR and CAC score; <i Among patients with CAC &#x2265;400, positron emission tomography-derived MFR &#x2265;2 is inversely associated with a lower risk of all-cause death and myocardial infarction.</AbstractText" ] ]
40793031
Improving the structure design of the passing/driving beam baffle of a headlamp.
In response to the increasing competition and rapid advancements in the automotive industry, manufacturers have designed more intricate structures to circumvent patent disputes. However, this approach has simultaneously resulted in extended development cycles, increased manufacturing costs, and prolonged production times. Consequently, reducing development cycles and cutting costs have become key objectives for leading automobile manufacturers. This study focuses on projector headlamp modules available on the market, aiming to address the complexity of the passing/driving beam baffle structure. Given the challenges posed by the intricate design, the study seeks to simplify the baffle structure while ensuring full compliance with ECE-R112 regulatory standards. Throughout the design process, careful attention must be paid to subsequent manufacturing challenges, particularly those involving complex curved surfaces and polygonal shapes, which contribute to processing difficulties, thereby extending development timelines and elevating costs. The research results indicate that the improved baffle structure is more streamlined and has successfully passed the verification of the ECE-R112 regulation. The passing beam's light intensity below the cut-off line shows significant improvement compared to the original baffle, with increases at various test points as follows: 8.53% at 50V (the point of maximum intensity), 7.58% at 75R, 3.68% at 50R, and 6.06% in Zone IV. For driving beam testing, the overall light intensity at the regulatory verification points increased by approximately 14% to 17% compared to the pre-improvement performance.</AbstractText
[ [ "31397331", "The neuro-glial coagulonome: the thrombin receptor and coagulation pathways as major players in neurological diseases.", "The neuro-glial interface extends far beyond mechanical support alone and includes interactions throu-gh coagulation cascade proteins. Here, we systematically review the evidence indicating that synaptic and node of Ranvier glia cell components modulate synaptic transmission and axonal conduction by a coagulation cascade protein system, leading us to propose the concept of the neuro-glial coagulonome. In the peripheral nervous system, the main thrombin receptor protease activated receptor 1 (PAR1) is located on the Schwann microvilli at the node of Ranvier and at the neuromuscular junction. PAR1 activation effects can be both neuroprotective or harmful, depending on thrombin activity levels. Low physiological levels of thrombin induce neuroprotective effects in the Schwann cells which are mediated by the endothelial protein C receptor. High levels of thrombin induce conduction deficits, as found in experimental autoimmune neuritis, the animal model for Guillaine-Barre syndrome. In the central nervous system, PAR1 is located on the peri-synaptic astrocyte end-feet. Its activation by high thrombin levels is involved in the pathology of primary inflammatory brain diseases such as multiple sclerosis, as well as in other central nervous system insults, including trauma, neoplasms, epilepsy and vascular injury. Following activation of PAR1 by high thrombin levels the seizure threshold is lowered. On the other hand, PAR1 activation by lower levels of thrombin in the central nervous system protects against a future ischemic insult. This review presents the known structure and function of the neuro-glial coagulonome, focusing on coagulation, thrombin and PAR1 in a pathway which may be either physiological (neuroprotective) or detrimental in peripheral nervous system and central nervous system diseases. Understanding the neuro-glial coagulonome may open opportunities for novel pharmacological interventions in neurological diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "39696422", "Accurate RNA velocity estimation based on multibatch network reveals complex lineage in batch scRNA-seq data.", "RNA velocity, as an extension of trajectory inference, is an effective method for understanding cell development using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) experiments. However, existing RNA velocity methods are limited by the batch effect because they cannot directly correct for batch effects in the input data, which comprises spliced and unspliced matrices in a proportional relationship. This limitation can lead to an incorrect velocity stream. This paper introduces VeloVGI, which addresses this issue innovatively in two key ways. Firstly, it employs an optimal transport (OT) and mutual nearest neighbor (MNN) approach to construct neighbors in batch data. This strategy overcomes the limitations of existing methods that are affected by the batch effect. Secondly, VeloVGI improves upon VeloVI's velocity estimation by incorporating the graph structure into the encoder for more effective feature extraction. The effectiveness of VeloVGI is demonstrated in various scenarios, including the mouse spinal cord and olfactory bulb tissue, as well as on several public datasets. The results show that VeloVGI outperformed other methods in terms of metric performance.</AbstractText" ], [ "35155260", "Emerging Roles of m(6)A RNA Methylation Regulators in Gynecological Cancer.", "Gynecological cancers seriously affect the reproductive system of females; diseases include ovarian tumors, uterine tumors, endometrial cancers, cervical cancers, and vulva and vaginal tumors. At present, the diagnosis methods of gynecological cancer are insufficiently sensitive and specific, leading to failure of early disease detection. N<sup" ], [ "32646854", "Nasa dugo ('It's in the blood'): lay conceptions of hypertension in the Philippines.", "Understanding explanatory models is important for hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. This article aims to determine what adult patients with hypertension in the Philippines attribute their condition to, how these views might be explained and what the implications are for hypertension management.</AbstractText This is a qualitative study drawing on 71 semistructured interviews (40 initial and 31 follow-up) and four focus group discussions with patients diagnosed with hypertension. The setting was urban and rural low-income communities in the Philippines.</AbstractText Four prominent perceived causes were identified-genetics, heat, stress and diet-for what patients refer to as 'high blood'. We propose a 'folk physiology' that rests on local understandings of blood and blood flow, draws from broader cultural notions of illness causation and accounts for a dynamic, non-chronic view of hypertension that in turn informs the health behaviours of those affected.</AbstractText By understanding that hypertension is frequently seen not as a chronic constant condition but rather as an episodic one triggered by external influences, although in those genetically predisposed to it, it may be possible to address patient's beliefs and thus adherence to treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "39327419", "Continuous evolution of Fermi arcs in a minimal ideal photonic Weyl medium.", "Propagation properties of electromagnetic waves in an optical medium are mainly determined by the contour of equal-frequency states in <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ] ]
[ [ "40718100", "Emerging biomarkers and frontier therapies: unveiling the role of endothelial dysfunction in cerebral small vessel disease.", "Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD), a major contributor to stroke, cognitive decline, and vascular dementia, accounts for around 25% of ischemic strokes and significantly impacts age-related neurological disability. Despite its clinical significance, the underlying mechanisms of cSVD remain incompletely understood, and therapeutic options are limited. Mounting evidence has pinpointed endothelial dysfunction as a central driver in cSVD pathogenesis, which disrupts blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, impairs cerebral blood flow autoregulation, and promotes neuroinflammation. The vascular endothelium, serving as a dynamic interface between blood and brain parenchyma, plays a crucial role in maintaining vascular homeostasis through functions like nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilation, anti-thrombotic signaling, and immune regulation. In cSVD, chronic endothelial injury triggered by factors such as hypertension, oxidative stress, or genetic predisposition leads to microvascular rarefaction, pericyte loss, and gliosis, ultimately resulting in characteristic manifestations like white matter hyperintensities, lacunar infarcts, and cerebral microbleeds. Our review stands out by comprehensively integrating the latest research on emerging biomarkers and frontier therapeutic strategies specifically related to the cSVD-endothelium interplay. Recent breakthroughs in biomarker discovery, including novel circulating endothelial microparticles subtypes and advanced neuroimaging-derived biomarkers, offer unprecedented insights into endothelial health in cSVD. These biomarkers not only aid in early diagnosis but also enable more accurate risk stratification and monitoring of therapeutic responses. Concurrently, this review delves into the latest preclinical and clinical trial progress of innovative therapeutic strategies targeting endothelial repair. By bridging mechanistic insights with clinical translation, this review aims to highlight novel pathways for early intervention and personalized management of cSVD, thereby advancing the field beyond previous reviews that mainly focused on established knowledge. Relevant studies were retrieved from databases such as PubMed and Web of Science, covering the period up to 2025, to synthesize the latest evidence on endothelial dysfunction in cSVD. This review not only synthesizes current knowledge on endothelial dysfunction in cSVD but also critically evaluates the diagnostic and prognostic utility of emerging endothelial biomarkers and discusses recent therapeutic innovations, providing a more forward-looking perspective for researchers and clinicians.</AbstractText" ], [ "40778629", "Impact of visual impairment on work participation from the perspectives of patients and professionals: a concept mapping study.", "Visual impairments (VI) substantially impact work participation, with persistently low employment rates despite re-integration programs and supportive legislation. This study explored factors influencing work participation among persons with VI.</AbstractText Using concept mapping and purposive sampling, we gathered insights impacting work participation from patients with VI and professionals. These key stakeholders initially identified items (76 VI patients and 25 professionals), which were subsequently rated for importance and categorized into conceptually common themes (61 VI patients and 47 professionals).</AbstractText The final concept map comprised 105 distinct vision-related items, grouped into 9 thematic clusters ranked by importance: personal competences and self-awareness; conditions for workplace adjustments; mobility/commuting and ICT; support and awareness working environment; organizations, regulations and expertise; personal development and social environment/network; professional support for work; physical workplace; task performance. Importance scores ranged from 3.6 to 4.3 on 5-point scale, indicating overall relevance. Differences emerged based on participant type, VI severity, and nationality.</AbstractText This study provides a consensus-based framework identifying key factors essential for understanding work participation in individuals with VI. Findings highlight the need for multi-level strategies, addressing individual, organizational and societal factors, to enhance sustainable employment through improved interventions, validated assessment tools, policies, and workplace adaptations.</AbstractText Having a visual impairment (VI) affects multiple life domains, particularly work participation, which remains low despite reintegration programs and supportive legislation.Using concept mapping has provided a consensus-based framework identifying key factors and themes essential for understanding work participation affected by VI.Addressing individual, organizational, and societal domains through multi-level strategies should further improve employment outcomes for persons with VI.</AbstractText" ], [ "40769102", "Calcified cartilage-like aggregations of the external acoustic meatus found on cone beam computed tomography scans may offer forensic application: Report of case series.", "There is increased recognition regarding the unique characteristics of the human ear and its potential for secondary evidentiary value with inconclusive cases involving forensic identification where only partial recoverable remains have been available. This report describes a previously unreported finding of bilateral small radiodensities surrounding the external acoustic meatus on cone beam computed tomography scans on 3 affected patients. These newly discovered structures were deemed consistent with cartilaginous tissue in comparison to the gray values of adjacent cortical bone. It is proposed that these cartilage-like aggregations may offer distinctive morphology, phenotypic display, and potential for recoverable DNA to be used as supplemental identifiers in forensic investigations.</AbstractText" ], [ "40359201", "Association between anthropometric factors and meningioma risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.", "Data regarding the association between anthropometric factors and meningioma risk are inconsistent. Our aim was to investigate the association of body mass index (BMI), height, waist to hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference, and meningioma risk through a comprehensive meta-analysis.</AbstractText An extensive review of literature was conducted in PubMed and Embase databases. Random-effects models were used to pool the study-specific relative risk estimates (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Moreover, we employed a dose-response meta-analysis with a one-stage robust error meta-regression (REMR) model.</AbstractText We included nine prospective studies for four anthropometric factors listed above and meningioma risk. Compared with normal weight, both overweight (RR:1.11, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.19; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.003, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0%) and obesity (RR: 1.38, 95% CI:1.16, 1.64; P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;54.7%) were statistically significantly associated with meningioma risk. Dose-response analysis showed a nonlinear relationship between BMI and meningioma risk (P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.038). For height, a positive association was identified for men (RR:1.30, 95% CI:1.08, 1.56; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.005, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0%) but not women (RR:1.13, 95% CI: 0.94,1.36; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.186, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;49.8%). Highest vs. lowest levels analyses also showed a positive association between meningioma risk and waist circumference (RR:1.89, 95% CI:1.34, 2.66; P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0%) and WHR (RR:1.40, 95% CI:1.00, 1.94; P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.048, I2&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0%).</AbstractText Our meta-analysis indicates greater height (in men) and excess weight and body fat mass were associated with an increased risk of meningioma. Further prospective studies with particular attention to sex disparity and dose-response analysis are warranted to confirm our observation.</AbstractText" ], [ "40180019", "Targeting LKB1-AMPK-SIRT1-induced autophagy and mitophagy pathways improves cerebrovascular homeostasis in APP/PS1 mice.", "Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common and severe degenerative disorder of the central nervous system in the elderly, profoundly impacting patients' quality of life. However, effective therapeutic agents for AD are still lacking. Bazi Bushen capsule (BZBS) is a traditional Chinese herbal compound with potential neuroprotective effects, yet its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.</AbstractText In this study, we utilized APP/PS1 transgenic mice to assess the therapeutic efficacy of BZBS. Initially, we evaluated the spatial learning and memory of the mice using the Barnes maze. The brain microcirculation was assessed through a small-animal ultrasound system, two-photon in vivo imaging, and micro-computed tomography angiography. Molecular, biochemical, and pathological analyses were conducted on brain tissues. Through network pharmacology, we identified potential intervention pathways and targets for BZBS in the treatment of AD, which we subsequently validated both in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, we employed molecular virtual docking screening and biolayer interferometry to elucidate the direct interactions of ginsenoside Rg5 and ginsenoside Ro in BZBS with AMPK and LKB1 proteins.</AbstractText The BZBS intervention significantly enhanced spatial learning and memory in APP/PS1 mice while decreasing A&#x3b2; deposition. Furthermore, BZBS protected cerebrovascular homeostasis and mitigated neuroinflammation, as evidenced by decreased blood-brain barrier permeability, increased expression of tight-junction proteins, and restored cerebral blood flow. Mechanistically, ginsenosides Rg5 and Ro in BZBS directly bind to AMPK and LKB1 proteins, activating the LKB1-AMPK-SIRT1 signaling pathway, promoting autophagy and mitochondrial autophagy, and alleviating oxidative stress damage in endothelial cells.</AbstractText BZBS enhances autophagy-related activity, decreases A&#x3b2; deposition, and improves endothelial cell homeostasis through the activation of the LKB1-AMPK-SIRT1 signaling pathway, ultimately leading to improved cognitive function in mice with AD. This study highlights the importance of enhancing autophagic activity and maintaining cerebrovascular homeostasis in mitigating cognitive decline in AD, providing evidence and new insights into the application of compound medicines for treating age-related neurological disorders.</AbstractText" ] ]
40755012
Immune checkpoint changes correlate with the progression and prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) urgently requires robust biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostic stratification. This study aims to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of membrane-bound and soluble immune checkpoint molecules in ALS pathogenesis.</AbstractText In the present study at Fujian Medical Union Hospital, 72 participants (46 ALS and 26 healthy controls [HC]) underwent flow cytometry analysis of PD-1 expression in CD4<sup Flow cytometry revealed elevated PD1 expression in CD4<sup Our research demonstrated a considerable increase in membrane-bound and soluble PD-1 in ALS patients, correlating with disease progression and worse prognosis. Furthermore, we explored 13 other immune checkpoint molecules. Collectively, these molecules may be implicated in peripheral immune mechanisms underlying ALS pathogenesis. While baseline PD-1 levels show some association with prognosis, their elevation potentially indicates an unfavorable course.</AbstractText
[ [ "39970376", "Digital Migration of the Loewenstein Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L): Development and Validation Study in Older Participants.", "The early detection of mild cognitive impairment is crucial for providing treatment before further decline. Cognitive challenge tests such as the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L) can identify individuals at highest risk for cognitive deterioration. Performance on elements of the LASSI-L, particularly proactive interference, correlate with the presence of critical Alzheimer disease biomarkers. However, in-person paper tests require skilled testers and are not practical in many community settings or for large-scale screening in prevention.</AbstractText This study reports on the development and initial validation of a self-administered computerized version of the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference (LASSI), the digital LASSI (LASSI-D). A self-administered digital version, with an artificial intelligence-generated avatar assistant, was the migrated assessment.</AbstractText Cloud-based software was developed, using voice recognition technology, for English and Spanish versions of the LASSI-D. Participants were assessed with either the LASSI-L or LASSI-D first, in a sequential assessment study. Participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; n=54) or normal cognition (NC; n=58) were also tested with traditional measures such as the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognition. We examined group differences in performance across the legacy and digital versions of the LASSI, as well as correlations between LASSI performance and other measures across the versions.</AbstractText Differences on recall and intrusion variables between aMCI and NC samples on both versions were all statistically significant (all P&lt;.001), with at least medium effect sizes (d&gt;0.68). There were no statistically significant performance differences in these variables between legacy and digital administration in either sample (all P&lt;.13). There were no language differences in any variables (P&gt;.10), and correlations between LASSI variables and other cognitive variables were statistically significant (all P&lt;.01). The most predictive legacy variables, proactive interference and failure to recover from proactive interference, were identical across legacy and migrated versions within groups and were identical to results of previous studies with the legacy LASSI-L. Classification accuracy was 88% for NC and 78% for aMCI participants.</AbstractText The results for the digital migration of the LASSI-D were highly convergent with the legacy LASSI-L. Across all indices of similarity, including sensitivity, criterion validity, classification accuracy, and performance, the versions converged across languages. Future studies will present additional validation data, including correlations with blood-based Alzheimer disease biomarkers and alternative forms. The current data provide convincing evidence of the use of a fully self-administered digitally migrated cognitive challenge test.</AbstractText" ], [ "23139362", "Automated image analysis of skeletal muscle fiber cross-sectional area.", "Morphological characteristics of muscle fibers, such as fiber size, are critical factors that determine the health and function of the muscle. However, at this time, quantification of muscle fiber cross-sectional area is still a manual or, at best, a semiautomated process. This process is labor intensive, time consuming, and prone to errors, leading to high interobserver variability. We have developed and validated an automatic image segmentation algorithm and compared it directly with commercially available semiautomatic software currently considered state of the art. The proposed automatic segmentation algorithm was evaluated against a semiautomatic method with manual annotation using 35 randomly selected cross-sectional muscle histochemical images. The proposed algorithm begins with ridge detection to enhance the muscle fiber boundaries, followed by robust seed detection based on concave area identification to find initial seeds for muscle fibers. The final muscle fiber boundaries are automatically delineated using a gradient vector flow deformable model. Our automatic approach is accurate and represents a significant advancement in efficiency; quantification of fiber area in muscle cross sections was reduced from 25-40 min/image to 15 s/image, while accommodating common quantification obstacles including morphological variation (e.g., heterogeneity in fiber size and fibrosis) and technical artifacts (e.g., processing defects and poor staining quality). Automatic quantification of muscle fiber cross-sectional area using the proposed method is a powerful tool that will increase sensitivity, objectivity, and efficiency in measuring muscle adaptation.</AbstractText" ], [ "38956662", "Single-nucleus multi-omics of Parkinson's disease reveals a glutamatergic neuronal subtype susceptible to gene dysregulation via alteration of transcriptional networks.", "The genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease (PD) is complex and multiple brain cell subtypes are involved in the neuropathological progression of the disease. Here we aimed to advance our understanding of PD genetic complexity at a cell subtype precision level. Using parallel single-nucleus (sn)RNA-seq and snATAC-seq analyses we simultaneously profiled the transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility landscapes in temporal cortex tissues from 12 PD compared to 12 control subjects at a granular single cell resolution. An integrative bioinformatic pipeline was developed and applied for the analyses of these snMulti-omics datasets. The results identified a subpopulation of cortical glutamatergic excitatory neurons with remarkably altered gene expression in PD, including differentially-expressed genes within PD risk loci identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This was the only neuronal subtype showing significant and robust overexpression of SNCA. Further characterization of this neuronal-subpopulation showed upregulation of specific pathways related to axon guidance, neurite outgrowth and post-synaptic structure, and downregulated pathways involved in presynaptic organization and calcium response. Additionally, we characterized the roles of three molecular mechanisms in governing PD-associated cell subtype-specific dysregulation of gene expression: (1) changes in cis-regulatory element accessibility to transcriptional machinery; (2) changes in the abundance of master transcriptional regulators, including YY1, SP3, and KLF16; (3) candidate regulatory variants in high linkage disequilibrium with PD-GWAS genomic variants impacting transcription factor binding affinities. To our knowledge, this study is the first and the most comprehensive interrogation of the multi-omics landscape of PD at a cell-subtype resolution. Our findings provide new insights into a precise glutamatergic neuronal cell subtype, causal genes, and non-coding regulatory variants underlying the neuropathological progression of PD, paving the way for the development of cell- and gene-targeted therapeutics to halt disease progression as well as genetic biomarkers for early preclinical diagnosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "37313182", "The RYR3 gene is involved in Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cell treatment of Alzheimer's disease in rats.", "Our study aims to observe the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in lowering amyloid accumulation and ryanodine receptor 3 (RYR3) gene expression, further improving cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD).</AbstractText Twenty male adult Wistar rats were randomly distributed into three groups of animals (<i MSCs improved amyloid accumulation and Y-maze scores, and expression of the RYR3 gene decreased compared to the control group.</AbstractText MSCs improved amyloid accumulation, Y-maze scores, and RYR3 expression in the AD animal model.</AbstractText" ], [ "21489994", "Direct membrane association drives mitochondrial fission by the Parkinson disease-associated protein alpha-synuclein.", "The protein &#x3b1;-synuclein has a central role in Parkinson disease, but the mechanism by which it contributes to neural degeneration remains unknown. We now show that the expression of &#x3b1;-synuclein in mammalian cells, including neurons in vitro and in vivo, causes the fragmentation of mitochondria. The effect is specific for synuclein, with more fragmentation by &#x3b1;- than &#x3b2;- or &#x3b3;-isoforms, and it is not accompanied by changes in the morphology of other organelles or in mitochondrial membrane potential. However, mitochondrial fragmentation is eventually followed by a decline in respiration and neuronal death. The fragmentation does not require the mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 and involves a direct interaction of synuclein with mitochondrial membranes. In vitro, synuclein fragments artificial membranes containing the mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin, and this effect is specific for the small oligomeric forms of synuclein. &#x3b1;-Synuclein thus exerts a primary and direct effect on the morphology of an organelle long implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40555947", "Cortical volumetry and longitudinal cognitive changes in Parkinson's disease: insights from the COPPADIS cohort.", "Cognitive decline is a major non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), often linked to brain atrophy. This study examines the relationship between cortical atrophy and age groups in predicting cognitive decline in PD over five years. 188 PD patients from the COPPADIS cohort were stratified by age: young (30-55&#xa0;years, N&#x2009;=&#x2009;47), middle-aged (56-65&#xa0;years, N&#x2009;=&#x2009;59), and older adults (66-75&#xa0;years, N&#x2009;=&#x2009;82). Baseline cortical volume was assessed using T1-weighted MRI, and cognitive decline was evaluated using the annual rate of change of the Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS). Parametric or non-parametric tests were applied to evaluate group differences. Main analyses consist of several multiple regression analyses to examine associations between baseline brain atrophy and cognitive decline by age group. Older adults exhibited significantly greater cognitive decline in comparison to the younger age groups in the three compose scores of the PDCRS -Fronto-subcortical (H(2)&#x2009;=&#x2009;41.08, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001), Posterior Cortical (H(2)&#x2009;=&#x2009;22.03, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001), and Total(H(2)&#x2009;=&#x2009;41.13, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Higher educational level has a significant positive effect on older adults, specifically for working memory performance, delayed verbal memory and the fronto-subcortical composed score. Multiple regression models underscored the predictive value of the bilateral hippocampus, bilateral medial orbitofrontal cortex, right precuneus, and right isthmus cingulate gyrus, together with being an older adult or having a higher education. MRI measures, age, and education predict cognitive decline in PD. Longitudinal assessments are essential for refining atrophy-cognition correlations and optimizing patient stratification.</AbstractText The brain is a highly perfused organ, receiving up to 20% of the resting cardiac output. Blood reaches the brain through the internal carotid and vertebral arteries and is ultimately drained by the internal jugular veins. An intricate network of venous sinuses enables this drainage, collecting blood from the brain parenchyma, meninges, eyes, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Drainage pathways can be categorized teleologically as either superficial, draining into the dural sinuses, or deep, draining through medullary veins into the cerebral vein of Galen. These vessels are uniformly valveless, allowing free communication between channels and facilitating the potential spread of infectious pathogens. The cerebral venous system is particularly delicate. Since the brain is suspended in CSF, even minor trauma or abrupt deceleration can rupture cortical bridging veins and result in a subdural hematoma (SDH). Diagnosing and managing conditions such as venous sinus thrombosis, SDH, and intracranial infections requires a thorough understanding of cerebral venous anatomy. During neurosurgical procedures, preserving venous drainage pathways helps prevent venous infarction and secondary brain injury.&#xa0;Mastery of cerebral venous architecture supports sound decision-making across diagnostic and operative settings.</AbstractText" ], [ "40409983", "Adjunctive Flat-panel CT-based Reperfusion Grading after Endovascular Therapy: Enhanced Detection of Residual Distal Vessel Occlusion.", "The detection of residual distal vessel occlusion is crucial for the evolution of endovascular therapy outcomes. This study evaluated whether distal occlusion tracker signs on immediate postprocedural flat-panel CT could assist in the detection of residual distal vessel occlusion in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion after thrombectomy.</AbstractText A single-center retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion who achieved successful reperfusion, defined as a modified TICI score of &#x2265;2b, following endovascular therapy and underwent immediate postprocedural flat-panel CT and perfusion MRI. Two reviewers, blinded to the clinical data and perfusion findings, independently assessed the presence, number, and location of distal occlusion tracker signs on flat-panel CT and the final reperfusion state on cerebral DSA. Distal occlusion tracker signs were defined as dot-like, round, or tubular hyperdensities along the course of the distal intracranial arteries on immediate postprocedural flat-panel CT. Two datasets were compared: (I) using DSA alone, and (II) using DSA combined with flat-panel CT. A core laboratory determined the TICI grading and residual distal occlusion using both DSA and postprocedural perfusion MRI as reference standards.</AbstractText The distal occlusion tracker sign was present in 65/156 patients (41.7%), with excellent inter-rater agreement (weighted kappa = 0.91; 95%CI, 0.85-0.96). Distal occlusion tracker signs demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 81.5 and 96.2%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy in detecting residual distal occlusion was greater with the addition of flat-panel CT findings to DSA than with DSA alone (the area under the curve increased from 0.884 to 0.955, P=0.009). Reperfusion grading overestimation decreased from 17.9% with DSA alone to 3.8% with the addition of flat-panel CT to DSA.</AbstractText Distal occlusion tracker signs are common findings on immediate postprocedural flat-panel CT, indicating residual distal vessel occlusion. The addition of flat-panel CT findings to DSA may enhance the detection of residual distal vessel occlusion after endovascular therapy.</AbstractText EVT = endovascular therapy; DVO = distal vessel occlusion; FPCT = flat-panel computed tomography; DOT = distal occlusion tracker; FPCT+DSA_<sub" ], [ "40103118", "Stable three-dimensional vortex solitons of high topological charge in a Rydberg-dressed Bose-Einstein condensate with spin-orbit coupling.", "Stable vortex solitons (VSs) are objects of great interest for fundamental studies and various applications, including particle trapping, microscopy, data encoding, and matter-wave gyroscopes. However, three-dimensional (3D) VSs with high topological charges, supported by self-attractive nonlinearities, are unstable against fragmentation, which eventually leads to internal blowup (supercritical collapse) of the fragments. Here, we propose a scheme for realizing stable 3D VSs with topological charges up to 5 and 6 in the two components of a binary, Rydberg-dressed Bose-Einstein condensate with spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We show that, if the SOC strength exceeds a critical value, the rotational symmetry of the VSs in the transverse plane gets broken, resulting in a separation of the two components. Nevertheless, the VSs with the broken symmetry remain stable. The VS stability domains are identified in the system's parameter space. Moreover, application of torque to the stable VSs sets them in the state of robust gyroscopic precession.</AbstractText" ], [ "40774709", "Visual perception and cognitive functioning in MCI and mild Alzheimer's disease: a cross-sectional study protocol from the DEM-VIS study in Germany.", "Visual perception is a fundamental skill that plays a central role in sensing the external environment. Deficits can lead to impairments in everyday activities. Visual perception is known to be impaired in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the extent to which visual perception is impaired in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a prodromal state of AD, has not been sufficiently investigated. This study aims to assess visual perceptual abilities in people with MCI and mild AD compared with healthy controls. It will also investigate whether executive functions, activities of daily living and intelligence are affected in this context, providing new insights into the research of visual perception together with MCI and mild AD.</AbstractText People with MCI, mild AD and healthy controls will be assessed for cognitive deficits using the Syndrom-Kurztest (SKT). Visual perceptual performance will be assessed using the German version of the Developmental Test of Visual Perception-Adolescent and Adult: Second Edition (DTVP-A:2; Frostings Entwicklungstest der visuellen Wahrnehmung - Jugendliche und Erwachsene 2. Auflage). Activities of daily living will be assessed through the Erlangen Test of Activities of Daily Living in Persons with Mild Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (ETAM) and the Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale (B-ADL). Executive functions will be measured using the German adaptation of the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult (BRIEF-A) and intelligence will be assessed using the Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary Test of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Data analysis will involve descriptive analyses, linear regression analyses, multivariate analysis of variance, mediation analysis and structural equation modelling.</AbstractText This study has received approval from the Ethics Committee of Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Germany (number: 2023_009). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences.</AbstractText Registered at OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PM5AV.</AbstractText" ], [ "40765612", "Non-coding repeat analyses in patients with Parkinson's disease.", "The genetic etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) is complex; approximately 10% of patients with PD have various gene mutations that lead to familial forms of the disease. Recent analyses of non-coding repeat regions revealed that many neurodegenerative diseases are associated with pathological expansions. We evaluated the genetic background of non-coding repeat expansions in Japanese patients with PD.</AbstractText We collected blood samples from 203 Japanese patients with PD and analyzed various non-coding repeat genes, including <i Three patients with PD (1.5%) were found to have heterozygous repeat expansions in <i Our findings revealed the importance of non-coding repeat expansions in Japanese patients with PD. This is the first study to show the positive result of non-coding repeat expansions in many patients with PD in Japan.</AbstractText" ] ]
34384041
What's Hot in Breast MRI.
Several articles in the literature have demonstrated a promising role for breast MRI techniques that are more economic in total exam time than others when used as supplement to mammography for detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. There are many technical factors that must be considered in the shortened breast MRI protocols to cut down time of standard ones, including using optimal fat suppression, gadolinium-chelates intravascular contrast administrations for dynamic imaging with post processing subtractions and maximum intensity projections (MIP) high spatial and temporal resolution among others. Multiparametric breast MRI that includes both gadolinium-dependent, i.e., dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-MRI) and gadolinium-free techniques, i.e., diffusion-weighted/diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DWI/DTI) are shown by several investigators that can provide extremely high sensitivity and specificity for detection of breast cancer. This article provides an overview of the proven indications for breast MRI including breast cancer screening for higher than average risk, determining chemotherapy induced tumor response, detecting residual tumor after incomplete surgical excision, detecting occult cancer in patients presenting with axillary node metastasis, detecting residual tumor after incomplete breast cancer surgical excision, detecting cancer when results of conventional imaging are equivocal, as well patients suspicious of having breast implant rupture. Despite having the highest sensitivity for breast cancer detection, there are pitfalls, however, secondary to false positive and false negative contrast enhancement and contrast-free MRI techniques. Awareness of the strengths and limitations of different approaches to obtain state of the art MR images of the breast will facilitate the work-up of patients with suspicious breast lesions.</AbstractText
[ [ "36814033", "Ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer imaging of knee cartilage and meniscus after long-distance running.", "To assess the detection of changes in knee cartilage and meniscus of amateur marathon runners before and after long-distance running using a 3D ultrashort echo time MRI sequence with magnetization transfer preparation (UTE-MT).</AbstractText We recruited 23 amateur marathon runners (46 knees) in this prospective cohort study. MRI scans using UTE-MT and UTE-T2* sequences were performed pre-race, 2&#xa0;days post-race, and 4&#xa0;weeks post-race. UTE-MT ratio (UTE-MTR) and UTE-T2* were measured for knee cartilage (eight subregions) and meniscus (four subregions). The sequence reproducibility and inter-rater reliability were also investigated.</AbstractText Both the UTE-MTR and UTE-T2* measurements showed good reproducibility and inter-rater reliability. For most subregions of cartilage and meniscus, the UTE-MTR values decreased 2&#xa0;days post-race and increased after 4&#xa0;weeks of rest. Conversely, the UTE-T2* values increased 2&#xa0;days post-race and decreased after 4&#xa0;weeks. The UTE-MTR values in lateral tibial plateau, central medial femoral condyle, and medial tibial plateau showed a significant decrease at 2&#xa0;days post-race compared to the other two time points (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). By comparison, no significant UTE-T2* changes were found for any cartilage subregions. For meniscus, the UTE-MTR values in medial posterior horn and lateral posterior horn regions at 2&#xa0;days post-race were significantly lower than those at pre-race and 4&#xa0;weeks post-race (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). By comparison, only the UTE-T2* values in medial posterior horn showed a significant difference.</AbstractText UTE-MTR is a promising method for the detection of dynamic changes in knee cartilage and meniscus after long-distance running.</AbstractText &#x2022; Long-distance running causes changes in the knee cartilage and meniscus. &#x2022; UTE-MT monitors dynamic changes of knee cartilage and meniscal non-invasively. &#x2022; UTE-MT is superior to UTE-T2* in monitoring dynamic changes in knee cartilage and meniscus.</AbstractText" ], [ "30997152", "MRI of skeletal muscles in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: characteristic findings and diagnostic performance in dermatomyositis.", "To define the characteristic findings on MRI of skeletal muscles in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) relative to those in patients with other idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and to assess their diagnostic performance in DM.</AbstractText Thirty-six patients with DM, 17 patients with amyopathic DM, 19 patients with polymyositis and 16 patients with non-IIM classified by the 2017 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology criteria were included in this study. The following MRI findings (short-tau inversion recovery [STIR] and gadolinium-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging [Gd-T1WI]) for proximal limb muscles were compared between the disease groups and between myositis-specific autoantibodies/myositis-associated autoantibodies (MSAs/MAAs)-positive and MSAs/MAAs-negative groups: structures with high signal intensity (HSI) (subcutaneous, fascia, muscle); distributions of HSI areas in muscle (diffuse, patchy, peripheral) and patterns of HSI in muscle (honeycomb, foggy, strong HSI). Univariate, multivariate and receiver-operating characteristic [ROC] analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of MRI in DM.</AbstractText The characteristic MRI findings in patients with DM were subcutaneous HSI, fascial HSI, peripheral distribution and honeycomb pattern. The MRI findings in the MSAs/MAAs-positive group included more frequent fascial HSI but less frequent foggy pattern compared with the MSAs/MAAs-negative group. Likelihood of DM score &#x2265; 3 (obtained by counting the number of characteristic MRI findings in patients with DM) showed good diagnostic performance in DM (STIR: sensitivity 72.2%, specificity 88.5%, area under ROC curve [AUC] 84.9%; Gd-T1WI: sensitivity 81.2%, specificity 91.5%, AUC 89.9%).</AbstractText The characteristic MRI findings of skeletal muscles can predict patients with DM as well as patients with MSAs/MAAs.</AbstractText" ], [ "32600068", "Morphological and functional assessment of the uterus: \"one-stop shop imaging\" using a compressed-sensing accelerated, free-breathing T1-VIBE sequence.", "The combination of motion-insensitive, high-temporal, and spatial resolution imaging with evaluation of quantitative perfusion has the potential to increase the diagnostic capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the female pelvis.</AbstractText To compare a free-breathing compressed-sensing VIBE (fbVIBE) with flexible temporal resolution (range&#x2009;=&#x2009;4.6-13.8 s) with breath-hold VIBE (bhVIBE) and to evaluate the potential value of quantifying uterine perfusion.</AbstractText A total of 70 datasets from 60 patients (bhVIBE: n&#x2009;=&#x2009;30; fbVIBE: n&#x2009;=&#x2009;40) were evaluated by two radiologists. Only temporally resolved reconstruction (fbVIBE) was performed on 30 of the fbVIBE datasets. For a subset (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;10) of the fbVIBE acquisitions, a time- and motion-resolved reconstruction (mrVIBE) was evaluated. Image quality (IQ), artifacts, diagnostic confidence (DC), and delineation of uterine structures (DoS) were graded on Likert scales (IQ/DC/DoS: 1 (non-diagnostic) to 5 (perfect); artifacts: 1 (no artifacts) to 5 (severe artifacts)). A Tofts model was applied for perfusion analysis. Ktrans was obtained in the myometrium (Mm), junctional zone (Jz), and cervix (Cx).</AbstractText The median IQ/DoS/DC scores of fbVIBE (4/5/5 &#x3ba; &gt;0.7-0.9) and bhVIBE (4/4/4; &#x3ba;&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.5-0.7; <i The fbVIBE sequence allows functional and morphological assessment of the uterus at comparable IQ to bhVIBE.</AbstractText" ], [ "26194589", "Evaluation of the orbit using contrast-enhanced radial 3D fat-suppressed T1 weighted gradient echo (Radial-VIBE) sequence.", "Contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1 weighted (T1W) two-dimensional (2D) turbo spin echo (TSE) and magnetization-prepared gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequences with water excitation are routinely obtained to evaluate orbit pathology. However, these sequences can be marred by artefacts. The radial-volume-interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) sequence is a motion-robust fat-suppressed T1W sequence which has demonstrated value in paediatric and body imaging. The purpose of our study was to evaluate its role in assessing the orbit and to compare it with routinely acquired sequences.</AbstractText A Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant and institutional review board-approved retrospective study was performed in 46 patients (age range: 1-81 years) who underwent orbit studies on a 1.5-T MRI system using contrast-enhanced Radial-VIBE, MPRAGE and 2D TSE sequences. Two radiologists blinded to the sequence analysed evaluated multiple parameters of image quality including motion artefact, degree of fat suppression, clarity of choroidal enhancement, intraorbital vessels, extraocular muscles, optic nerves, brain parenchyma and evaluation of pathology. Each parameter was assessed on a 5-point scale, with a higher score indicating the more optimal examination. Mix model analysis of variance and interobserver variability were assessed.</AbstractText Radial-VIBE demonstrated superior quality (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001) for all orbit parameters when compared with MPRAGE and 2D TSE. Interobserver agreement demonstrated average fair-to-good agreement for degree of motion artefact (0.745), fat suppression (0.678), clarity of choroidal enhancement (0.688), vessels (0.655), extraocular muscles (0.675), optic nerves (0.518), brain parenchyma (0.710) and evaluation of pathology (0.590).</AbstractText Radial-VIBE sequence demonstrates superior image quality when evaluating the orbits as compared with conventional MPRAGE and 2D TSE sequences.</AbstractText Radial-VIBE employs unique non-Cartesian k-space sampling in a radial or spoke-wheel fashion which provides superior image quality improving diagnostic capability in the evaluation of the orbits.</AbstractText" ], [ "30821032", "Fast quantitative 3D ultrashort echo time MRI of cortical bone using extended cones sampling.", "To investigate the effect of stretching sampling window on quantitative 3D ultrashort TE (UTE) imaging of cortical bone at 3 T.</AbstractText Ten bovine cortical bone and 17 human tibial midshaft samples were imaged with a 3T clinical MRI scanner using an 8-channel knee coil. Quantitative 3D UTE imaging biomarkers, including T<sub For both bovine and human cortical bone samples, no significant differences were observed for all UTE biomarkers (single-component <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" The total scan time can be reduced by 76% with quantification errors less than 5%. Quantitative UTE-MRI techniques can be greatly accelerated using longer sampling windows without significant quantification errors.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "35734237", "UTP14A, DKC1, DDX10, PinX1, and ESF1 Modulate Cardiac Angiogenesis Leading to Obesity-Induced Cardiac Injury.", "This study is aimed at exploring the key genes and the possible mechanism of heart damage caused by obesity.</AbstractText We analyzed the GSE98226 dataset. Firstly, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in heart tissues of obese and normal mice. Then, we analyzed DEGs using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Thirdly, we constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and key modules and searched hub genes. Finally, we observed the pathological changes associated with obesity through histopathology.</AbstractText A total of 763 DEGs were discovered, including 629 upregulated and 134 downregulated genes. GO enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly related to the regulation of transcription, DNA-templated, nucleic acid binding, and metal ion binding. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the DEGs were enriched in long-term depression, gap junction, and sphingolipid signaling pathways. Finally, we identified UTP14A, DKC1, DDX10, PinX1, and ESF1 as the hub genes. Histopathologic analysis showed that obesity increased the number of collagen fibers and decreased the number of microvessels and proliferation of the endothelium and increased endothelial cell damage which further leads to dysfunction of cardiac microcirculation.</AbstractText UTP14A, DKC1, DDX10, PinX1, and ESF1 have been identified as hub genes in obesity-induced pathological changes in the heart and may be involved in obesity-induced cardiac injury by affecting cardiac microcirculatory function.</AbstractText" ], [ "35529778", "Brain Computer Interfaces and Communication Disabilities: Ethical, Legal, and Social Aspects of Decoding Speech From the Brain.", "A brain-computer interface technology that can decode the neural signals associated with attempted but unarticulated speech could offer a future efficient means of communication for people with severe motor impairments. Recent demonstrations have validated this approach. Here we assume that it will be possible in future to decode imagined (i.e., attempted but unarticulated) speech in people with severe motor impairments, and we consider the characteristics that could maximize the social utility of a BCI for communication. As a social interaction, communication involves the needs and goals of both speaker and listener, particularly in contexts that have significant potential consequences. We explore three high-consequence legal situations in which neurally-decoded speech could have implications: <i" ], [ "35114182", "Reversible Toxic Encephalopathy Involving the Cerebellum and Subcortical White Matter Attributed to Capecitabine.", "Capecitabine is an anticancer drug related to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) that is used to treat multiple cancers. Little is known about the central nervous system toxicity of capecitabine owing to the low frequency of occurrence. In this report we describe a rare case of capecitabine-related toxic encephalopathy involving the cerebellum and subcortical white matter. A review of the literature showed that most reported cases have shown excellent recovery within a few days of capecitabine termination. Whether uridine triacetate is a reasonable treatment choice for patients with life-threatening toxic encephalopathy depends on the availability of reliable clinical data. Prescreening for dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase genotype variants and detection of 5-FU degradation rate prior to capecitabine treatment may become an effective way to avoid toxic reactions by regulating the therapeutic dose for each patient, which remains to be investigated and needs more clinical data to support.</AbstractText" ], [ "39281827", "Significance of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Combining with Detection of Serum HE4, TSGF, and CD105 Levels in Diagnosis and Treatment of Moderate to Advanced Cervical Cancer.", "To explore the significance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combining with detection of serum HE4, TSGF, and CD105 levels in diagnosis and treatment of moderate to advanced cervical cancer.</AbstractText By means of retrospective study, 50 patients diagnosed with moderate to advanced cervical cancer by cervix biopsy pathology examination in our hospital from October 2018 to October 2019 were selected as the study group, and another 50 healthy individuals who did not have cervical cancer after routine gynecological examination and conventional ultrasound examination in the same period were selected as the control group. At the time of enrollment and 3 months after treatment, all study subjects received MRI examination and serological examination, and their HE4 and TSGF levels were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and chromatography method, respectively, and additionally, the immunohistochemistry SP method was adopted for patients in the study group to measure the microvessel density (MVD) marked by CD105. The relationship between MRI staging and FIGO staging was assessed, the efficacy of combining MRI with detection of serum HE4, TSGF, and CD105 levels in diagnosing moderate to advanced cervical cancer was calculated by plotting the ROC curve, and the imaging changes and serological changes of tumor tissue before and after treatment were analyzed.</AbstractText There were 3 of 4 patients in stage IIa and 14 of 15 patients in stage IIIb presenting MRI findings compatible with clinical examinations; 26 patients in stage IIb and 5 patients in stage IVb presenting MRI findings totally compatible with clinical examination. Before treatment, MRI finding of cervical lesion was irregular soft tissue mass, T<sub MRI staging is objective and accurate and has higher sensitivity when combined with serum HE4, TSGF, and CD105 levels in diagnosing moderate to advanced cervical cancer. All MRI, HE4, and TSGF can reflect the treatment effect of patients and are of great importance to efficacy assessment.</AbstractText" ], [ "36124081", "Grid cell remapping under three-dimensional object and social landmarks detected by implantable microelectrode arrays for the medial entorhinal cortex.", "Grid cells with stable hexagonal firing patterns in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) carry the vital function of serving as a metric for the surrounding environment. Whether this mechanism processes only spatial information or involves nonspatial information remains elusive. Here, we fabricated an MEC-shaped microelectrode array (MEA) to detect the variation in neural spikes and local field potentials of the MEC when rats forage in a square enclosure with a planar, three-dimensional object and social landmarks in sequence. The results showed that grid cells exhibited rate remapping under social conditions in which spike firing fields closer to the social landmark had a higher firing rate. Furthermore, global remapping showed that hexagonal firing patterns were rotated and scaled when the planar landmark was replaced with object and social landmarks. In addition, when grid cells were activated, the local field potentials were dominated by the theta band (5-8&#x2009;Hz), and spike phase locking was observed at troughs of theta oscillations. Our results suggest the pattern separation mechanism of grid cells in which the spatial firing structure and firing rate respond to spatial and social information, respectively, which may provide new insights into how the brain creates a cognitive map.</AbstractText" ] ]
37190377
Synchrony-Division Neural Multiplexing: An Encoding Model.
Cortical neurons receive mixed information from the collective spiking activities of primary sensory neurons in response to a sensory stimulus. A recent study demonstrated an abrupt increase or decrease in stimulus intensity and the stimulus intensity itself can be respectively represented by the synchronous and asynchronous spikes of S1 neurons in rats. This evidence capitalized on the ability of an ensemble of homogeneous neurons to multiplex, a coding strategy that was referred to as synchrony-division multiplexing (SDM). Although neural multiplexing can be conceived by distinct functions of individual neurons in a heterogeneous neural ensemble, the extent to which nearly identical neurons in a homogeneous neural ensemble encode multiple features of a mixed stimulus remains unknown. Here, we present a computational framework to provide a system-level understanding on how an ensemble of homogeneous neurons enable SDM. First, we simulate SDM with an ensemble of homogeneous conductance-based model neurons receiving a mixed stimulus comprising slow and fast features. Using feature-estimation techniques, we show that both features of the stimulus can be inferred from the generated spikes. Second, we utilize linear nonlinear (LNL) cascade models and calculate temporal filters and static nonlinearities of differentially synchronized spikes. We demonstrate that these filters and nonlinearities are distinct for synchronous and asynchronous spikes. Finally, we develop an augmented LNL cascade model as an encoding model for the SDM by combining individual LNLs calculated for each type of spike. The augmented LNL model reveals that a homogeneous neural ensemble model can perform two different functions, namely, temporal- and rate-coding, simultaneously.</AbstractText
[ [ "26156990", "Network Anisotropy Trumps Noise for Efficient Object Coding in Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex.", "How neuronal ensembles compute information is actively studied in early visual cortex. Much less is known about how local ensembles function in inferior temporal (IT) cortex, the last stage of the ventral visual pathway that supports visual recognition. Previous reports suggested that nearby neurons carry information mostly independently, supporting efficient processing (Barlow, 1961). However, others postulate that noise covariation effects may depend on network anisotropy/homogeneity and on how the covariation relates to representation. Do slow trial-by-trial noise covariations increase or decrease IT's object coding capability, how does encoding capability relate to correlational structure (i.e., the spatial pattern of signal and noise redundancy/homogeneity across neurons), and does knowledge of correlational structure matter for decoding? We recorded simultaneously from &#x223c;80 spiking neurons in &#x223c;1 mm(3) of macaque IT under light neurolept anesthesia. Noise correlations were stronger for neurons with correlated tuning, and noise covariations reduced object encoding capability, including generalization across object pose and illumination. Knowledge of noise covariations did not lead to better decoding performance. However, knowledge of anisotropy/homogeneity improved encoding and decoding efficiency by reducing the number of neurons needed to reach a given performance level. Such correlated neurons were found mostly in supragranular and infragranular layers, supporting theories that link recurrent circuitry to manifold representation. These results suggest that redundancy benefits manifold learning of complex high-dimensional information and that subsets of neurons may be more immune to noise covariation than others.</AbstractText How noise affects neuronal population coding is poorly understood. By sampling densely from local populations supporting visual object recognition, we show that recurrent circuitry supports useful representations and that subsets of neurons may be more immune to noise covariation than others.</AbstractText" ], [ "29608671", "Working Memory Load Modulates Neuronal Coupling.", "There is a severe limitation in the number of items that can be held in working memory. However, the neurophysiological limits remain unknown. We asked whether the capacity limit might be explained by differences in neuronal coupling. We developed a theoretical model based on Predictive Coding and used it to analyze Cross Spectral Density data from the prefrontal cortex (PFC), frontal eye fields (FEF), and lateral intraparietal area (LIP). Monkeys performed a change detection task. The number of objects that had to be remembered (memory load) was varied (1-3 objects in the same visual hemifield). Changes in memory load changed the connectivity in the PFC-FEF-LIP network. Feedback (top-down) coupling broke down when the number of objects exceeded cognitive capacity. Thus, impaired behavioral performance coincided with a break-down of Prediction signals. This provides new insights into the neuronal underpinnings of cognitive capacity and how coupling in a distributed working memory network is affected by memory load.</AbstractText" ], [ "24041775", "Sexual activity counteracts the suppressive effects of chronic stress on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and recognition memory.", "Adult neurogenesis can be influenced by a variety of factors. Stress is one of the most potent inhibitors of hippocampal neurogenesis. Stress effects on adult hippocampal neurogenesis are affected differently by environmental factors, including social interaction. Sexual behavior between males and females in a social context has been suggested to influence neurogenesis and enhance hippocampal cell proliferation. However, the mechanisms of action of sexual interaction, the possible changes relative to stress state, and its effects on learning and memory remain uncertain. The current study examined the influence of sexual interaction on neurological responses in adult male mice and the function of sexual interaction relative to recognition memory in stress states. Changes in the expression of neurotrophic and transcription factors were assessed in reference to stress and/or sexual behaviors. The survival of newly generated cells and their rate of differentiation into neurons were determined in the hippocampus of chronically stressed and/or sexually experienced mice. Finally, to evaluate whether sexual experience alters adult hippocampal function, we tested learning and memory in a recognition memory task. The results demonstrated that sexual activity increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, tyrosine kinase B, and cAMP response element-binding factor. Furthermore, the results supported the view that sexual interaction could be helpful for buffering adult hippocampal neurogenesis and recognition memory function against the suppressive actions of chronic stress.</AbstractText" ], [ "34611028", "Altered Response Dynamics and Increased Population Correlation to Tonal Stimuli Embedded in Noise in Aging Auditory Cortex.", "Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a chronic health condition that affects one-third of the world population. One hallmark of presbycusis is a difficulty hearing in noisy environments. Presbycusis can be separated into two components: alterations of peripheral mechanotransduction of sound in the cochlea and central alterations of auditory processing areas of the brain. Although the effects of the aging cochlea in hearing loss have been well studied, the role of the aging brain in hearing loss is less well understood. Therefore, to examine how age-related central processing changes affect hearing in noisy environments, we used a mouse model (Thy1-GCaMP6s X CBA) that has excellent peripheral hearing in old age. We used <i" ], [ "32521223", "A Distributed Neural Code in the Dentate Gyrus and in CA1.", "Neurons are often considered specialized functional units that encode a single variable. However, many neurons are observed to respond to a mix of disparate sensory, cognitive, and behavioral variables. For such representations, information is distributed across multiple neurons. Here we find this distributed code in the dentate gyrus and CA1 subregions of the hippocampus. Using calcium imaging in freely moving mice, we decoded an animal's position, direction of motion, and speed from the activity of hundreds of cells. The response properties of individual neurons were only partially predictive of their importance for encoding position. Non-place cells encoded position and contributed to position encoding when combined with other cells. Indeed, disrupting the correlations between neural activities decreased decoding performance, mostly in CA1. Our analysis indicates that population methods rather than classical analyses based on single-cell response properties may more accurately characterize the neural code in the hippocampus.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37739797", "Expectation Cues and False Percepts Generate Stimulus-Specific Activity in Distinct Layers of the Early Visual Cortex.", "Perception has been proposed to result from the integration of feedforward sensory signals with internally generated feedback signals. Feedback signals are believed to play an important role in driving false percepts, that is, seeing things that are not actually there. Feedforward and feedback influences on perception can be studied using layer-specific fMRI, which we used here to interrogate neural activity underlying high-confidence false percepts while healthy human participants (<i" ], [ "37615480", "Predictors of Cognitive Change in Parkinson Disease: A 2-year Follow-up Study.", "Mild cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson disease (PD-MCI). However, instability in this clinical diagnosis and variability in rates of progression to dementia raises questions regarding its utility for longitudinal tracking and prediction of cognitive change in PD. We examined baseline neuropsychological test and cognitive diagnosis predictors of cognitive change in PD.</AbstractText Persons with PD, without dementia PD (N=138) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment at baseline and were followed up to 2 years. Level II Movement Disorder Society criteria for PD-MCI and PD dementia (PDD) were applied annually. Composite global and domain cognitive z -scores were calculated based on a 10-test neuropsychological battery.</AbstractText Baseline diagnosis of PD-MCI was not associated with a change in global cognitive z -scores. Lower baseline attention and higher executive domain z -scores were associated with greater global cognitive z -score worsening regardless of cognitive diagnosis. Worse baseline domain z -scores in the attention and language domains were associated with progression to MCI or PDD, whereas higher baseline scores in all cognitive domains except executive function were associated with clinical and psychometric reversion to \"normal\" cognition.</AbstractText Lower scores on cognitive tests of attention were predictive of worse global cognition over 2 years of follow-up in PD, and lower baseline attention and language scores were associated with progression to MCI or PDD. However, PD-MCI diagnosis per se was not predictive of cognitive decline over 2 years. The association between higher executive domain z -scores and greater global cognitive worsening is probably a spurious result.</AbstractText" ], [ "36998627", "Face processing in young adults with autism and ADHD: An event related potentials study.", "Atypicalities in perception and interpretation of faces and emotional facial expressions have been reported in both autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during childhood and adulthood. Investigation of face processing during young adulthood (18 to 25 years), a transition period to full-fledged adulthood, could provide important information on the adult outcomes of autism and ADHD.</AbstractText In this study, we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) related to visual face processing in autism, ADHD, and co-occurring autism and ADHD in a large sample of young adults (<i Across both tasks, we consistently found lower amplitude and longer latency of N170 in participants with autism compared to those without. Longer P1 latencies and smaller P3 amplitudes in response to emotional expressions and longer P3 latencies for upright faces were also characteristic to the autistic group. Those with ADHD had longer N170 latencies, specific to the face-gaze task. Individuals with both autism and ADHD showed additional alterations in gaze modulation and a lack of the face inversion effect indexed by a delayed N170.</AbstractText Alterations in N170 for autistic young adults is largely consistent with studies on autistic adults, and some studies in autistic children. These findings suggest that there are identifiable and measurable socio-functional atypicalities in young adults with autism.</AbstractText" ], [ "37023399", "Sex-Specific Contributions of Alcohol and Hypertension on Everyday Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.", "<b" ], [ "37520429", "Extensive multiregional urea elevations in a case-control study of vascular dementia point toward a novel shared mechanism of disease amongst the age-related dementias.", "Vascular dementia (VaD) is one of the most common causes of dementia among the elderly. Despite this, the molecular basis of VaD remains poorly characterized when compared to other age-related dementias. Pervasive cerebral elevations of urea have recently been reported in several dementias; however, a similar analysis was not yet available for VaD.</AbstractText Here, we utilized ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) to measure urea levels from seven brain regions in post-mortem tissue from cases of VaD (<i Elevated urea levels ranging from 2.2- to 2.4-fold-change in VaD cases were identified in six out of the seven regions analysed, which are similar in magnitude to those observed in uremic encephalopathy. Fold-elevation of urea was highest in the basal ganglia and hippocampus (2.4-fold-change), consistent with the observation that these regions are severely affected in VaD.</AbstractText Taken together, these data not only describe a multiregional elevation of brain-urea levels in VaD but also imply the existence of a common urea-mediated disease mechanism that is now known to be present in at least four of the main age-related dementias.</AbstractText" ] ]
40702788
Exploring the link between dopamine dysregulation and eating disorders: A narrative review.
The prevalence of eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorders, is on the rise, and it is imperative to explore the pathophysiological aspects and associations of these disorders to provide better and precise treatment. Dopamine is an essential hormone and a neurotransmitter involved in an array of processes and pathways. Disruption of any of the dopamine pathways can lead to diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, schizophrenia, or anhedonia. The mesolimbic pathway of dopamine has a special association with the feeding behavior of a person, and disruption of this pathway has been shown to be associated with ED. In this article, we comprehensively assess the relation between dopamine and ED and discuss the clinical implications involving the pharmacological associations of drugs influencing dopamine levels and their impact on the treatment of ED.</AbstractText
[ [ "37853169", "CANVAS-related RFC1 mutations in patients with immune-mediated neuropathy.", "Cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) has recently been attributed to biallelic repeat expansions in RFC1. More recently, the disease entity has expanded to atypical phenotypes, including chronic neuropathy without cerebellar ataxia or vestibular areflexia. Very recently, RFC1 expansions were found in patients with Sj&#xf6;gren syndrome who had neuropathy that did not respond to immunotherapy. In this study RFC1 was examined in 240 patients with acute or chronic neuropathies, including 105 with Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome or Miller Fisher syndrome, 76 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and 59 with other types of chronic neuropathy. Biallelic RFC1 mutations were found in three patients with immune-mediated neuropathies, including Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome, idiopathic sensory ataxic neuropathy, or anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) neuropathy, who responded to immunotherapies. In addition, a patient with chronic sensory autonomic neuropathy had biallelic mutations, and subclinical changes in Schwann cells on nerve biopsy. In summary,&#xa0;we found CANVAS-related RFC1 mutations in patients with treatable immune-mediated neuropathy or demyelinating neuropathy.</AbstractText" ], [ "33652376", "Ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging in human epilepsy: A systematic review.", "Resective epilepsy surgery is an evidence-based curative treatment option for patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The major preoperative predictor of a good surgical outcome is detection of an epileptogenic lesion by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Application of ultra-high field (UHF) MRI, i.e. field strengths&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;7 Tesla (T), may increase the sensitivity to detect such a lesion.</AbstractText A keyword search strategy was submitted to Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Database and clinicaltrials.gov to select studies on UHF MRI in patients with epilepsy. Follow-up study selection and data extraction were performed following PRISMA guidelines. We focused on I) diagnostic gain of UHF- over conventional MRI, II) concordance of MRI-detected lesion, seizure onset zone and surgical decision-making, and III) postoperative histopathological diagnosis and seizure outcome.</AbstractText Sixteen observational cohort studies, all using 7T MRI were included. Diagnostic gain of 7T over conventional MRI ranged from 8% to 67%, with a pooled gain of 31%. Novel techniques to visualize pathological processes in epilepsy and lesion detection are discussed. Seizure freedom was achieved in 73% of operated patients; no seizure outcome comparison was made between 7T MRI positive, 7T negative and 3T positive patients. 7T could influence surgical decision-making, with high concordance of lesion and seizure onset zone. Focal cortical dysplasia (54%), hippocampal sclerosis (12%) and gliosis (8.1%) were the most frequently diagnosed histopathological entities.</AbstractText UHF MRI increases, yet variably, the sensitivity to detect an epileptogenic lesion, showing potential for use in clinical practice. It remains to be established whether this results in improved seizure outcome after surgical treatment. Prospective studies with larger cohorts of epilepsy patients, uniform scan and sequence protocols, and innovative post-processing technology are equally important as further increasing field strengths. Besides technical ameliorations, improved correlation of imaging features with clinical semiology, histopathology and clinical outcome has to be established.</AbstractText" ], [ "30847466", "Cerebral perfusion changes in presymptomatic genetic frontotemporal dementia: a GENFI study.", "Genetic forms of frontotemporal dementia are most commonly due to mutations in three genes, C9orf72, GRN or MAPT, with presymptomatic carriers from families representing those at risk. While cerebral blood flow shows differences between frontotemporal dementia and other forms of dementia, there is limited evidence of its utility in presymptomatic stages of frontotemporal dementia. This study aimed to delineate the cerebral blood flow signature of presymptomatic, genetic frontotemporal dementia using a voxel-based approach. In the multicentre GENetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative (GENFI) study, we investigated cross-sectional differences in arterial spin labelling MRI-based cerebral blood flow between presymptomatic C9orf72, GRN or MAPT mutation carriers (n = 107) and non-carriers (n = 113), using general linear mixed-effects models and voxel-based analyses. Cerebral blood flow within regions of interest derived from this model was then explored to identify differences between individual gene carrier groups and to estimate a timeframe for the expression of these differences. The voxel-based analysis revealed a significant inverse association between cerebral blood flow and the expected age of symptom onset in carriers, but not non-carriers. Regions included the bilateral insulae/orbitofrontal cortices, anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri, and inferior parietal cortices, as well as the left middle temporal gyrus. For all bilateral regions, associations were greater on the right side. After correction for partial volume effects in a region of interest analysis, the results were found to be largely driven by the C9orf72 genetic subgroup. These cerebral blood flow differences first appeared approximately 12.5 years before the expected symptom onset determined on an individual basis. Cerebral blood flow was lower in presymptomatic mutation carriers closer to and beyond their expected age of symptom onset in key frontotemporal dementia signature regions. These results suggest that arterial spin labelling MRI may be a promising non-invasive imaging biomarker for the presymptomatic stages of genetic frontotemporal dementia.</AbstractText" ], [ "23071554", "The amygdala as a neurobiological target for ghrelin in rats: neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and behavioral evidence.", "Here, we sought to demonstrate that the orexigenic circulating hormone, ghrelin, is able to exert neurobiological effects (including those linked to feeding control) at the level of the amygdala, involving neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural studies. We found that ghrelin receptors (GHS-R) are densely expressed in several subnuclei of the amygdala, notably in ventrolateral (LaVL) and ventromedial (LaVM) parts of the lateral amygdaloid nucleus. Using whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology to record from cells in the lateral amygdaloid nucleus, we found that ghrelin reduced the frequency of mEPSCs recorded from large pyramidal-like neurons, an effect that could be blocked by co-application of a ghrelin receptor antagonist. In ad libitum fed rats, intra-amygdala administration of ghrelin produced a large orexigenic response that lasted throughout the 4 hr of testing. Conversely, in hungry, fasted rats ghrelin receptor blockade in the amygdala significantly reduced food intake. Finally, we investigated a possible interaction between ghrelin's effects on feeding control and emotional reactivity exerted at the level of the amygdala. In rats allowed to feed during a 1-hour period between ghrelin injection and anxiety testing (elevated plus maze and open field), intra-amygdala ghrelin had no effect on anxiety-like behavior. By contrast, if the rats were not given access to food during this 1-hour period, a decrease in anxiety-like behavior was observed in both tests. Collectively, these data indicate that the amygdala is a valid target brain area for ghrelin where its neurobiological effects are important for food intake and for the suppression of emotional (anxiety-like) behaviors if food is not available.</AbstractText" ], [ "37098194", "Persistent genital arousal disorder - the present knowledge.", "Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is a relatively recently described sexual disorder, characterized by symptoms of spontaneous genital arousal which persist in the absence of sexual desire and may affect women and men. Epidemiological studies conducted so far indicate that the prevalence of PGAD in the population may reach 1-4%. The etiology of PGAD remains unclear and complex, hypothesized causes include vascular, neurological, hormonal, psychological, pharmacologic, dietary, mechanical factors or a combination of these factors. Proposed methods of treatment include pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, hypnotherapy, injection of botulinum toxin, pelvic floor physical therapy, application of anesthetizing agents, reduction of identifiable factors exacerbating the symptoms, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. There is no standardized treatment algorithm for PGAD due to lack of clinical trials (evidence-based medicine). The classification of PGAD is under discussion: it could be classified as a separate sexual disorder, a subtype of vulvodynia or a disorder with pathogenesis similar to overactive bladder (OAB) and restless legs syndrome (RLS). Due to specificity of symptoms, patients may feel shame and discomfort during the examination or even delay reporting symptoms to the specialist. Thus, it is crucial to spread knowledge about this disorder, which would allow doctors to diagnose and help PGAD patients sooner.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40669618", "Chitosan@DOTAGA-based hydrogel: A metal-chelating dressing for the treatment of complex wounds.", "Complex wounds, whether acute or chronic, often suffer from delayed healing, especially when contaminated with metals. These metals worsen the wound environment by promoting the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), sustaining inflammation, and promoting microbial growth. Additionally, some heavy metals are intrinsically toxic, further damaging tissues and hindering repair. In this study, we investigated the potential of a novel chitosan-based swelling hydrogel functionalized with the chelating molecule DOTAGA (chitosan@DOTAGA) as a treatment of complex wounds. By combining the known beneficial properties of chitosan with the enhanced metal-binding ability of DOTAGA, this hydrogel aims to tackle the harmful effects of metals in wounds. In vitro assays demonstrated the hydrogel's biodegradability and potent antimicrobial properties, confirming its suitability as a wound dressing. In vivo studies conducted in rat and porcine wound models reveal the hydrogel's effectiveness and safety in various wound types, showcasing its potential to improve healing outcomes. Our results indicate that chitosan@DOTAGA hydrogel significantly improves healing, reducing inflammation and microbial growth. The hydrogel's ability to modulate the wound environment underscores its promise as an advanced dressing for complex wounds particularly in case of metallic contamination.</AbstractText" ], [ "40778661", "General mental ability (Spearman's g) in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.", "To: (a) interrogate the concept of general mental ability reflected by \"Spearman's g\" factor in participants with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) and control participants; (b) understand g's clinical, familial, socioeconomic, and brain structural correlates; and (c) determine g's relationship with variable cognitive pathology in JME and the neuroanatomical correlates of association.</AbstractText Seventy-seven JME and 43 typically developing unrelated control participants (mean ages 19.7 and 20.3&#x2009;years, respectively) were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery with characterization of clinical epilepsy and familial features, determination of socioeconomic status, and structural neuroimaging. g was estimated through factor analysis and compared between participant groups, related to familial social factors (marital status, level of education, work status), socioeconomic environment (Area Deprivation Index), and brain morphological features (total intracranial volume [TIV], cortical and subcortical volumes, and cortical thickness). High and low cognitive reserve groups were defined by g and interrogated in a similar fashion.</AbstractText General mental ability (g) was significantly lower in JME than in controls and associated with a lower level of paternal education, greater disadvantage, smaller TIV and cortical and subcortical volumes, as well as with disruption of age-appropriate cortical thinning in bifrontal lateral and medial regions. JME high and low g groups exhibited significantly different cognitive and academic profiles compared to controls, as well as to each other, with differences in familial and socioeconomic factors, as well as in brain morphological characteristics, all less favorable in the low compared to high g JME group. High g JME participants showed few differences compared to controls.</AbstractText g is lower in JME than control participants and linked with definable features of familial and sociodemographic environment, as well as brain morphological patterns. g appears to provide an effective metric to characterize so-called reserve for overall cognitive and academic function with associated brain structural features, notably the presence/absence of age-appropriate cortical thinning in bifrontal regions.</AbstractText General mental ability, or g, is an important aspect of a person's cognitive ability. We found g to be lower in JME patients compared to controls and to be linked to features of their family, neighborhood, and brain. The protective effects of g could be shown by dividing participants into high and low g groups. High g participants exhibited few differences compared to controls, while, in contrast, low g participants showed poorer cognition, school performance, came from deprived neighborhoods, and had more problematic family features. Importantly, lower g was linked to measures of the brain, suggesting slowed neurodevelopment.</AbstractText" ], [ "40440152", "Hierarchical Transformer Fusion of Gaze Attention and Muscle Activity for Forearm Movement Estimation.", "Tracking forearm movement via measured physiological signals is crucial for understanding human motor control mechanism. Current methods mainly use muscle-derived signals to predict arm movements while often overlooking the potential role of gaze attention, which is important for hand-eye coordination and instant and continuous motion planning and execution. In this study, we explored the impact of gaze on motion tracking. A hierarchical transformer-based structure was developed to integrate gaze into muscle activity signals for recovering the joint trajectory. To collect the dataset, six subjects were recruited to perform arm motions broadly involved in daily activities; the measured signals from the muscle activity and gaze attention were used to train and evaluate the proposed method. A performance comparison was conducted between the models using solely muscle activity signals and both muscle and gaze information. The experimental results showed the important role of gaze information involved in motion prediction and the motor control mechanism. This research also gained insights on how to integrate gaze information into the muscle signals, which offers an alternative to bringing artificial intelligence to be engaged in the framework of motion tracking. Consequently, it is important for future designs of biomechanical sensors and wearable robotics systems.</AbstractText" ], [ "40451784", "Does traffic-related air pollution exposure alter blood gas parameters in recreationally trained male cyclists during prolonged endurance exercise?", "Exposure to air pollution has been a significant challenge in large cities as S&#xe3;o Paulo, Brazil, particularly for individuals exercising outdoors. The increasing on ventilation (VE) during physical effort can lead to greater pollutant inhalation. Our goal in the present study evaluated whether air pollution exposure affects venous blood gases and if it has an impact on performance during a 50-km cycling time trial (TT). Ten male cyclists performed the TT in an environmental chamber under TRAP and filtered air conditions. Venous blood samples collected pre- and post-TT were analyzed for pH, PvCO<sub" ], [ "39895532", "Prior Anticoagulation and Risk of Hemorrhagic Transformation in Acute Stroke: A Post Hoc Analysis of the PRODAST Study.", "Oral anticoagulation is highly effective in preventing ischemic events in patients with atrial fibrillation. Still, a considerable number of patients have an acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack despite anticoagulation. In this study, we investigated the association of prior antithrombotic regimens with stroke severity, volume, and hemorrhagic transformation.</AbstractText This is a post hoc analysis of the prospective, multicenter, observational PRODAST (Prospective Record of the Use of Dabigatran in Patients With Acute Stroke or TIA) study, which was conducted in 86 stroke units in Germany between July 2015 and November 2020. In 9030 patients with atrial fibrillation who had an acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack within 7&#x2009;days before enrollment, we analyzed the association of anticoagulants in comparison to lack of prevalent antithrombotic treatment with clinical stroke severity, infarct size, and risk for hemorrhagic transformation. A total of 4479 patients had prior anticoagulation at the time of index event. After adjustment for confounders (arterial hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, age, and sex), patients with prior anticoagulation had less severe strokes (-2.5 National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale points [95% CI, -2.8 to -2.2]), smaller infarct sizes (-23&#x2009;mL [95% CI, -44&#x2009;mL to -2&#x2009;mL], n=4041), and reduced odds for hemorrhagic transformation (5% versus 10%; odds ratio, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.40-0.57]) compared with patients without antithrombotic treatment. These findings were confirmed using sensitivity analyses accounting for thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy, as well as timing of brain imaging. Antiplatelet therapy had hardly any association&#xa0;with the end points compared with no antithrombotic pretreatment.</AbstractText Prior anticoagulation was not only associated with less severe stroke and smaller infarct size but also with a reduced risk of hemorrhagic transformation compared with no antithrombotic pretreatment.</AbstractText URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02507856.</AbstractText" ] ]
36560048
Depth-Based Measurement of Respiratory Volumes: A Review.
Depth-based plethysmography (DPG) for the measurement of respiratory parameters is a mobile and cost-effective alternative to spirometry and body plethysmography. In addition, natural breathing can be measured without a mouthpiece, and breathing mechanics can be visualized. This paper aims at showing further improvements for DPG by analyzing recent developments regarding the individual components of a DPG measurement. Starting from the advantages and application scenarios, measurement scenarios and recording devices, selection algorithms and location of a region of interest (ROI) on the upper body, signal processing steps, models for error minimization with a reference measurement device, and final evaluation procedures are presented and discussed. It is shown that ROI selection has an impact on signal quality. Adaptive methods and dynamic referencing of body points to select the ROI can allow more accurate placement and thus lead to better signal quality. Multiple different ROIs can be used to assess breathing mechanics and distinguish patient groups. Signal acquisition can be performed quickly using arithmetic calculations and is not inferior to complex 3D reconstruction algorithms. It is shown that linear models provide a good approximation of the signal. However, further dependencies, such as personal characteristics, may lead to non-linear models in the future. Finally, it is pointed out to focus developments with respect to single-camera systems and to focus on independence from an individual calibration in the evaluation.</AbstractText
[ [ "38021282", "Sparse-view reconstruction for photoacoustic tomography combining diffusion model with model-based iteration.", "As a non-invasive hybrid biomedical imaging technology, photoacoustic tomography combines high contrast of optical imaging and high penetration of acoustic imaging. However, the conventional standard reconstruction under sparse view could result in low-quality image in photoacoustic tomography. Here, a novel model-based sparse reconstruction method for photoacoustic tomography via diffusion model was proposed. A score-based diffusion model is designed for learning the prior information of the data distribution. The learned prior information is utilized as a constraint for the data consistency term of an optimization problem based on the least-square method in the model-based iterative reconstruction, aiming to achieve the optimal solution. Blood vessels simulation data and the animal in vivo experimental data were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves higher-quality sparse reconstruction compared with conventional reconstruction methods and U-Net. In particular, under the extreme sparse projection (e.g., 32 projections), the proposed method achieves an improvement of &#x223c; 260 % in structural similarity and &#x223c; 30 % in peak signal-to-noise ratio for in vivo data, compared with the conventional delay-and-sum method. This method has the potential to reduce the acquisition time and cost of photoacoustic tomography, which will further expand the application range.</AbstractText" ], [ "37581663", "Value of deep learning reconstruction of chest low-dose CT for image quality improvement and lung parenchyma assessment on lung window.", "To explore the performance of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) with deep learning reconstruction (DLR) for the improvement of image quality and assessment of lung parenchyma.</AbstractText Sixty patients underwent chest regular-dose CT (RDCT) followed by LDCT during the same examination. RDCT images were reconstructed with hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR) and LDCT images were reconstructed with HIR and DLR, both using lung algorithm. Radiation exposure was recorded. Image noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and subjective image quality of normal and abnormal CT features were evaluated and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction.</AbstractText The effective radiation dose of LDCT was significantly lower than that of RDCT (0.29 &#xb1; 0.03 vs 2.05 &#xb1; 0.65 mSv, p &lt; 0.001). The mean image noise &#xb1; standard deviation was 33.9 &#xb1; 4.7, 39.6 &#xb1; 4.3, and 31.1 &#xb1; 3.2 HU in RDCT, LDCT HIR-Strong, and LDCT DLR-Strong, respectively (p &lt; 0.001). The overall image quality of LDCT DLR-Strong was significantly better than that of LDCT HIR-Strong (p &lt; 0.001) and comparable to that of RDCT (p &gt; 0.05). LDCT DLR-Strong was comparable to RDCT in evaluating solid nodules, increased attenuation, linear opacity, and airway lesions (all p &gt; 0.05). The visualization of subsolid nodules and decreased attenuation was better with DLR than with HIR in LDCT but inferior to RDCT (all p &lt; 0.05).</AbstractText LDCT DLR can effectively reduce image noise and improve image quality. LDCT DLR provides good performance for evaluating pulmonary lesions, except for subsolid nodules and decreased lung attenuation, compared to RDCT-HIR.</AbstractText The study prospectively evaluated the contribution of DLR applied to chest low-dose CT for image quality improvement and lung parenchyma assessment. DLR can be used to reduce radiation dose and keep image quality for several indications.</AbstractText &#x2022; DLR enables LDCT maintaining image quality even with very low radiation doses. &#x2022; Chest LDCT with DLR can be used to evaluate lung parenchymal lesions except for subsolid nodules and decreased lung attenuation. &#x2022; Diagnosis of pulmonary emphysema or subsolid nodules may require higher radiation doses.</AbstractText" ], [ "33037956", "Deep learning-based and hybrid-type iterative reconstructions for CT: comparison of capability for quantitative and qualitative image quality improvements and small vessel evaluation at dynamic CE-abdominal CT with ultra-high and standard resolutions.", "To determine the image quality improvement including vascular structures using deep learning reconstruction (DLR) for ultra-high-resolution CT (UHR-CT) and area-detector CT (ADCT) compared to a commercially available hybrid-iterative reconstruction (IR) method.</AbstractText Thirty-two patients suspected of renal cell carcinoma underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced (CE) CT using UHR-CT or ADCT systems. CT value and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) on each CT dataset were assessed with region of interest (ROI) measurements. For qualitative assessment of improvement for vascular structure visualization, each artery was assessed using a 5-point scale. To determine the utility of DLR, CT values and CNRs were compared among all UHR-CT data by means of ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test, and same values on ADCT data were also compared between hybrid IR and DLR methods by paired t test.</AbstractText For all arteries except the aorta, the CT value and CNR of the DLR method were significantly higher compared to those of the hybrid-type IR method in both CT systems reconstructed as 512 or 1024 matrixes (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05).</AbstractText DLR has a higher potential to improve the image quality resulting in a more accurate evaluation for vascular structures than hybrid IR for both UHR-CT and ADCT.</AbstractText" ], [ "35396897", "Golden-Angle Radial MRI: Basics, Advances, and Applications.", "In recent years, golden-angle radial sampling has received substantial attention and interest in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) community, and it has become a popular sampling trajectory for both research and clinical use. However, although the number of relevant techniques and publications has grown rapidly, there is still a lack of a review paper that provides a comprehensive overview and summary of the basics of golden-angle rotation, the advantages and challenges/limitations of golden-angle radial sampling, and recommendations in using different types of golden-angle radial trajectories for MRI applications. Such a review paper is expected to be helpful both for clinicians who are interested in learning the potential benefits of golden-angle radial sampling and for MRI physicists who are interested in exploring this research direction. The main purpose of this review paper is thus to present an overview and summary about golden-angle radial MRI sampling. The review consists of three sections. The first section aims to answer basic questions such as: what is a golden angle; how is the golden angle calculated; why is golden-angle radial sampling useful, and what are its limitations. The second section aims to review more advanced trajectories of golden-angle radial sampling, including tiny golden-angle rotation, stack-of-stars golden-angle radial sampling, and three-dimensional (3D) kooshball golden-angle radial sampling. Their respective advantages and limitations and potential solutions to address these limitations are also discussed. Finally, the third section reviews MRI applications that can benefit from golden-angle radial sampling and provides recommendations to readers who are interested in implementing golden-angle radial trajectories in their MRI studies. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.</AbstractText" ], [ "36417742", "ENSURE: A General Approach for Unsupervised Training of Deep Image Reconstruction Algorithms.", "Image reconstruction using deep learning algorithms offers improved reconstruction quality and lower reconstruction time than classical compressed sensing and model-based algorithms. Unfortunately, clean and fully sampled ground-truth data to train the deep networks is often unavailable in several applications, restricting the applicability of the above methods. We introduce a novel metric termed the ENsemble Stein's Unbiased Risk Estimate (ENSURE) framework, which can be used to train deep image reconstruction algorithms without fully sampled and noise-free images. The proposed framework is the generalization of the classical SURE and GSURE formulation to the setting where the images are sampled by different measurement operators, chosen randomly from a set. We evaluate the expectation of the GSURE loss functions over the sampling patterns to obtain the ENSURE loss function. We show that this loss is an unbiased estimate for the true mean-square error, which offers a better alternative to GSURE, which only offers an unbiased estimate for the projected error. Our experiments show that the networks trained with this loss function can offer reconstructions comparable to the supervised setting. While we demonstrate this framework in the context of MR image recovery, the ENSURE framework is generally applicable to arbitrary inverse problems.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "34977503", "Glycine-induced NMDA receptor internalization provides neuroprotection and preserves vasculature following ischemic stroke.", "Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Following an ischemic event, neuronal death is triggered by uncontrolled glutamate release leading to overactivation of glutamate sensitive <i" ], [ "36169030", "Multi-omic analysis of host-microbial interactions central to the gut-brain axis.", "The gut microbiota impact numerous aspects of human physiology, including the central nervous system (CNS). Emerging work is now focusing on the microbial factors underlying the bi-directional communication network linking host and microbial systems within the gastrointestinal tract to the CNS, the \"gut-brain axis\". Neurotransmitters are key coordinators of this network, and their dysregulation has been linked to numerous neurological disease states. As the bioavailability of neurotransmitters is modified by gut microbes, it is critical to unravel the influence of the microbiota on neurotransmitters in the context of the gut-brain axis. Here we review foundational studies that defined molecular relationships between the microbiota, neurotransmitters, and the gut-brain axis. We examine links between the gut microbiome, behavior, and neurological diseases, as well as microbial influences on neurotransmitter bioavailability and physiology. Finally, we review multi-omics technologies uniquely applicable to this area, including high-throughput genetics, modern metabolomics, structure-guided metagenomics, targeted proteomics, and chemogenetics. Interdisciplinary studies will continue to drive the discovery of molecular mechanisms linking the gut microbiota to clinical manifestations of neurobiology.</AbstractText" ], [ "38011487", "Simultaneous screening for antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and aquaporin-4 in patients with optic neuritis using cell-based assay.", "<b" ], [ "35743104", "Retrograde Axonal Transport of Liposomes from Peripheral Tissue to Spinal Cord and DRGs by Optimized Phospholipid and CTB Modification.", "Despite recent advancements in therapeutic options for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), the lack of an efficient drug-delivery system (DDS) hampers their clinical application. We hypothesized that liposomes could be optimized for retrograde transport in axons as a DDS from peripheral tissues to the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRGs). Three types of liposomes consisting of DSPC, DSPC/POPC, or POPC in combination with cholesterol (Chol) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) lipid were administered to sciatic nerves or the tibialis anterior muscle of mature rats. Liposomes in cell bodies were detected with infrared fluorescence of DiD conjugated to liposomes. Three days later, all nerve-administered liposomes were retrogradely transported to the spinal cord and DRGs, whereas only muscle-administered liposomes consisting of DSPC reached the spinal cord and DRGs. Modification with Cholera toxin B subunit improved the transport efficiency of liposomes to the spinal cord and DRGs from 4.5% to 17.3% and from 3.9% to 14.3% via nerve administration, and from 2.6% to 4.8% and from 2.3% to 4.1% via muscle administration, respectively. Modification with octa-arginine (R8) improved the transport efficiency via nerve administration but abolished the transport capability via muscle administration. These findings provide the initial data for the development of a novel DDS targeting the spinal cord and DRGs via peripheral administration.</AbstractText" ], [ "35412293", "Analyzing the Impact of Gene Mutations on Axonal Transport in Caenorhabditis Elegans.", "The development and functions of neurons are supported by axonal transport. Axonal transport is a complex process whose regulation involves multiple molecules, such as microtubules, microtubule-associated proteins, kinases, molecular motors, and motor binding proteins. Gain of function and loss of function mutations of genes that encode these proteins often lead to human axonal neuropathy. Caenorhabditis elegans provides a powerful genetic system to study the consequences of gene mutations for axonal transport. Here, we discuss advantages and limitations of using C. elegans, propose standard criteria, and describe methods to analyze the impact of gene mutations on axonal transport in C. elegans. To obtain solid conclusions, it is necessary to image single neurons in vivo labeled by a specific promoter and to confirm that a mutation changes the localization of a cargo. The motility parameters of the transported cargo should then be analyzed in the mutant. This method enables the axonal transport of proteins and organelles, such as synaptic vesicle precursors and mitochondria, to be analyzed.</AbstractText" ] ]
40731831
Mapping the Maxillary Artery and Lateral Pterygoid Muscle Relationship: Insights from Radiological and Meta-Analytic Evidence.
<i
[ [ "40430212", "The Role of TNF-α in Neuropathic Pain: An Immunotherapeutic Perspective.", "TNF-&#x3b1; is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of immune responses. It is predominantly produced by activated macrophages, although other cell types, such as T lymphocytes and NK cells, also contribute to its secretion. TNF-&#x3b1; participates in various physiological processes, including cell proliferation and differentiation. Moreover, TNF-&#x3b1; has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Recent studies have highlighted the important role of TNF-&#x3b1; in neuropathic pain, a complex and frequently disabling condition caused by nerve injury or dysfunction. Increased TNF-&#x3b1; levels in the nervous system have been associated with the onset of neuropathic pain, contributing to neuronal sensitization and alterations in pain signaling pathways. This study supports the idea that TNF-&#x3b1; connects the immune system with the nervous system, thereby supporting our understanding of the neuroimmune interface of pain and bringing a potential treatment against neuropathic pain: targeting TNF-&#x3b1;. Anti-TNF-&#x3b1; antibody administration reduces pain behaviors and neuroinflammation in preclinical animal models. Simultaneously, clinical trials are evaluating the safety and efficacy of anti-TNF-&#x3b1; treatments, with preliminary results indicating promising outcomes in patients experiencing neuropathic pain. Here, targeting TNF-&#x3b1; goes beyond its conventional spectrum of inflammatory pathologies and initiates a new mechanism-based approach to defining neuropathic pain, thereby improving the quality of life of the individuals affected and bringing together an area of colossal unmet clinical need.</AbstractText" ], [ "32717878", "3D Printing and Bioprinting Nerve Conduits for Neural Tissue Engineering.", "Fabrication of nerve conduits for perfectly repairing or replacing damaged peripheral nerve is an urgent demand worldwide, but it is also a formidable clinical challenge. In the last decade, with the rapid development of manufacture technologies, 3D printing and bioprinting have been becoming remarkable stars in the field of neural engineering. In this review, we explore that the biomaterial inks (hydrogels, thermoplastic, and thermoset polyesters and composite) and bioinks have been selected for 3D printing and bioprinting of peripheral nerve conduits. This review covers 3D manufacturing technologies, including extrusion printing, inkjet printing, stereolithography, and bioprinting with inclusion of cells, bioactive molecules, and drugs. Finally, an outlook on the future directions of 3D printing and 4D printing in customizable nerve therapies is presented.</AbstractText" ], [ "37774703", "Shared GABA transmission pathology in dopamine agonist- and antagonist-induced dyskinesia.", "Dyskinesia is involuntary movement caused by long-term medication with dopamine-related agents: the dopamine agonist 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) to treat Parkinson's disease (L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia [LID]) or dopamine antagonists to treat schizophrenia (tardive dyskinesia [TD]). However, it remains unknown why distinct types of medications for distinct neuropsychiatric disorders induce similar involuntary movements. Here, we search for a shared structural footprint using magnetic resonance imaging-based macroscopic screening and super-resolution microscopy-based microscopic identification. We identify the enlarged axon terminals of striatal medium spiny neurons in LID and TD model mice. Striatal overexpression of the vesicular gamma-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT) is necessary and sufficient for modeling these structural changes; VGAT levels gate the functional and behavioral alterations in dyskinesia models. Our findings indicate that lowered type 2 dopamine receptor signaling with repetitive dopamine fluctuations is a common cause of VGAT overexpression and late-onset dyskinesia formation and that reducing dopamine fluctuation rescues dyskinesia pathology via VGAT downregulation.</AbstractText" ], [ "36928137", "Surgical Treatment of Severe Sprengel's Deformity: A Case Report.", "An adolescent girl who presented with obviously impaired shoulder abduction due to untreated severe Sprengel's deformity underwent deformity correction surgery. Intraoperative neuromonitoring was used to warn of potential brachial plexus injury during a modified Woodward procedure. At 3-month follow-up, range of shoulder abduction had improved significantly.</AbstractText Sprengel's deformity is a rare congenital shoulder deformity, and the Woodward procedure could cause nerve injury in patients with severe Sprengel's deformity. Neuromonitoring can be performed intraoperatively to avoid brachial plexus injury.</AbstractText" ], [ "34630052", "Measuring Behavior in the Home Cage: Study Design, Applications, Challenges, and Perspectives.", "The reproducibility crisis (or replication crisis) in biomedical research is a particularly existential and under-addressed issue in the field of behavioral neuroscience, where, in spite of efforts to standardize testing and assay protocols, several known and unknown sources of confounding environmental factors add to variance. Human interference is a major contributor to variability both within and across laboratories, as well as novelty-induced anxiety. Attempts to reduce human interference and to measure more \"natural\" behaviors in subjects has led to the development of automated home-cage monitoring systems. These systems enable prolonged and longitudinal recordings, and provide large continuous measures of spontaneous behavior that can be analyzed across multiple time scales. In this review, a diverse team of neuroscientists and product developers share their experiences using such an automated monitoring system that combines Noldus PhenoTyper<sup" ] ]
[ [ "40490586", "Transfer learning for accurate brain tumor classification in MRI: a step forward in medical diagnostics.", "Brain tumor classification is critical for therapeutic applications that benefit from computer-aided diagnostics. Misdiagnosing a brain tumor can significantly reduce a patient's chances of survival, as it may lead to ineffective treatments. This study proposes a&#xa0;novel approach&#xa0;for classifying brain tumors in MRI images using&#xa0;Transfer Learning (TL)&#xa0;with&#xa0;state-of-the-art deep learning models: AlexNet, MobileNetV2, and GoogleNet. Unlike previous studies that often focus on a single model, our work comprehensively compares these architectures, fine-tuned specifically for brain tumor classification. We utilize a publicly available dataset of 4,517 MRI scans, consisting of three prevalent types of brain tumors-glioma (1,129 images), meningioma (1,134 images), and pituitary tumors (1,138 images)-as well as 1,116 images of normal brains (no tumor). Our approach addresses key research gaps, including class imbalance, through data augmentation and model efficiency, leveraging lightweight architectures like MobileNetV2. The GoogleNet model achieves the highest classification accuracy of 99.2%, outperforming previous studies using the same dataset. This demonstrates the potential of our approach to assist physicians in making rapid and precise decisions, thereby improving patient outcomes. The results highlight the effectiveness of TL in medical diagnostics and its potential for real-world clinical deployment. This study advances the field of brain tumor classification and provides a robust framework for future research in medical image analysis.</AbstractText" ], [ "40796083", "N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as an adjunct to intravenous fibrinolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a single group study (NAC-Safety).", "Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (alteplase) and its derivative tenecteplase are approved for acute ischemic stroke (AIS), but their low recanalization rates remain a limitation. Resistance to intravenous (IV) fibrinolysis may arise from platelet cross-linking during arterial thrombosis, mediated by von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimers. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) has demonstrated potential to cleave large VWF multimers in preclinical studies, suggesting its potential as an adjunct therapy. The primary safety endpoint was the rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhagic (ICHs) transformation. Secondary endpoints included changes in circulating VWF multimer concentrations. We conducted a prospective, pilot, monocentric, single-arm phase IIa trial to evaluate the safety and effects of IV NAC (HIDONAC, 150&#x202f;mg/kg) administered in adjunct of alteplase in AIS patients. The study was terminated early after enrolling 12 of the planned 19 patients due to the occurrence of two fatal ICHs among patients on prior antiplatelet therapy (17&#x202f;%, exact 95&#x202f;% confidence interval [2&#x202f;% to 48&#x202f;%]). Among the enrolled patients, 83&#x202f;% (10/12) tolerated the combined NAC and alteplase therapy without severe adverse events. NAC administration resulted in a significant reduction in circulating large VWF multimers within hours of administration (-82&#x202f;% for ULMWM-VWF, p&#x202f;&lt;&#x202f;0.001), aligning with preclinical findings. While NAC effectively cleaved circulating large VWF multimers in AIS patients, its combination with alteplase raises safety concerns, particularly in patients with a history of antiplatelet therapy.</AbstractText" ], [ "39952667", "Toward Principles of Brain Network Organization and Function.", "The brain is immensely complex, with diverse components and dynamic interactions building upon one another to orchestrate a wide range of behaviors. Understanding patterns of these complex interactions and how they are coordinated to support collective neural function is critical for parsing human and animal behavior, treating mental illness, and developing artificial intelligence. Rapid experimental advances in imaging, recording, and perturbing neural systems across various species now provide opportunities to distill underlying principles of brain organization and function. Here, we take stock of recent progress and review methods used in the statistical analysis of brain networks, drawing from fields of statistical physics, network theory, and information theory. Our discussion is organized by scale, starting with models of individual neurons and extending to large-scale networks mapped across brain regions. We then examine organizing principles and constraints that shape the biological structure and function of neural circuits. We conclude with an overview of several critical frontiers, including expanding current models, fostering tighter feedback between theory and experiment, and leveraging perturbative approaches to understand neural systems. Alongside these efforts, we highlight the importance of contextualizing their contributions by linking them to formal accounts of explanation and causation.</AbstractText" ], [ "40395721", "Effects of dehumanization and disgust-eliciting language on attitudes toward immigration: a sentiment analysis of Twitter data.", "Attitudes towards immigration may be influenced by dehumanization and disgust: The more people dehumanize immigrants and the more disgusted they feel, the more negative their attitudes toward immigrants tend to be. Despite the fact that the majority of U.S. adults are on social media, however, little is known about how exposure to social media that links dehumanization, disgust and immigration influences users' attitudes on this issue over time. We used Twitter data, machine learning and sentiment analysis to explore this question. Results showed that dehumanizing and/or disgust-eliciting language appeared in 66% of sampled immigration-relevant tweets. Surprisingly, exposure to both types of language in such tweets related to increases in positive sentiment about immigration over time. There was evidence of Granger-causality only for dehumanizing language, however, and only when controlling for communicators' political affiliation. These findings suggest social media exposure may influence public attitudes toward immigration in unexpected ways.</AbstractText" ], [ "39607282", "Rapid in vivo EPID image prediction using a combination of analytically calculated attenuation and AI predicted scatter.", "The electronic portal imaging device (EPID) can be used in vivo, to detect on-treatment errors by evaluating radiation exiting a patient. To detect deviations from the planning intent, image predictions need to be modeled based on the patient's anatomy and plan information. To date in vivo transit images have been predicted using Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms. A deep learning approach can make predictions faster than MC and only requires patient information for training.</AbstractText To test the feasibility and reliability of creating a deep-learning model with patient data for predicting in vivo EPID images for IMRT treatments.</AbstractText In our approach, the in vivo EPID image was separated into contributions from primary and scattered photons. A primary photon attenuation function was determined by measuring attenuation factors for various thicknesses of solid water. The scatter component of&#xa0;in vivo&#xa0;EPID images was estimated using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN input was a 3-channel image comprised of the non-transit EPID image and ray tracing projections through a pretreatment CBCT. The predicted scatter component was added to the primary attenuation component to give the full predicted&#xa0;in vivo EPID image. We acquired 193 IMRT fields/images from 93 patients treated on the Varian Halcyon. Model training:validation:test dataset ratios were 133:20:40 images. Additional patient plans were delivered to anthropomorphic phantoms, yielding 75 images for further validation. We assessed model accuracy by comparing model-calculated and measured&#xa0;in vivo&#xa0;images with a gamma comparison.</AbstractText Comparing the model-calculated and measured in vivo images gives a mean gamma pass rate for the training:validation:test datasets of 95.4%:94.1%:92.9% for 3%/3 mm and 98.4%:98.4%:96.8% for 5%/3&#xa0;mm. For images delivered to phantom data sets the average gamma pass rate was 96.4% (3%/3 mm criteria). In all data sets, the lower passing rates of some images were due to CBCT artifacts and patient motion that occurred between the time of CBCT and treatment.&#xa0; CONCLUSIONS: The developed deep-learning-based model can generate&#xa0;in vivo&#xa0;EPID images with a mean gamma pass rate greater than 92% (3%/3 mm criteria).&#xa0;This approach provides an alternative to MC prediction algorithms. Image predictions can be made in 30 ms on a standard GPU. In future work, image predictions from this model can be used to detect&#xa0;in vivo treatment errors and on-treatment changes in patient anatomy, providing an additional layer of patient-specific quality assurance.</AbstractText" ] ]
40064001
Direct MRI-guided stereotactic radiofrequency thermal ablation for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: illustrative cases.
Despite rapid adoption among many epilepsy centers across the United States, stereotactic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) thermometry-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is not universally available to treat medically refractory epilepsy in appropriately selected patients.</AbstractText The authors present two cases in which patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE)-one with stereoelectroencephalography-proven left MTLE and one with right mesial temporal sclerosis-were advised to undergo LITT by a multidisciplinary team, but an insurance provider refused preauthorization, prompting the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) instead. In each case, the authors utilized a disposable direct MRI guidance stereotactic frame and a commercially available RFA probe with direct thermistor measurements under general anesthesia. The hippocampus, amygdala, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex were targeted with two sequential trajectories through a single occipital twist drill hole, direct MRI guidance of trajectory control, and anatomical MRI between trajectories to judge ablation progress. No complications were observed. Patients were seizure free at the last follow-ups of 11 and 24 months. Two approximately parallel RFA trajectories yielded postablation volumes comparable to index single-trajectory LITT cases.</AbstractText In select cases, RFA can provide an alternative to LITT for treating focal epilepsy. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE24543.</AbstractText
[ [ "36766523", "Conventional and Deep-Learning-Based Image Reconstructions of Undersampled K-Space Data of the Lumbar Spine Using Compressed Sensing in MRI: A Comparative Study on 20 Subjects.", "Compressed sensing accelerates magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition by undersampling of the k-space. Yet, excessive undersampling impairs image quality when using conventional reconstruction techniques. Deep-learning-based reconstruction methods might allow for stronger undersampling and thus faster MRI scans without loss of crucial image quality. We compared imaging approaches using parallel imaging (SENSE), a combination of parallel imaging and compressed sensing (COMPRESSED SENSE, CS), and a combination of CS and a deep-learning-based reconstruction (CS AI) on raw k-space data acquired at different undersampling factors. 3D T2-weighted images of the lumbar spine were obtained from 20 volunteers, including a 3D sequence (standard SENSE), as provided by the manufacturer, as well as accelerated 3D sequences (undersampling factors 4.5, 8, and 11) reconstructed with CS and CS AI. Subjective rating was performed using a 5-point Likert scale to evaluate anatomical structures and overall image impression. Objective rating was performed using apparent signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratio (aSNR and aCNR) as well as root mean square error (RMSE) and structural-similarity index (SSIM). The CS AI 4.5 sequence was subjectively rated better than the standard in several categories and deep-learning-based reconstructions were subjectively rated better than conventional reconstructions in several categories for acceleration factors 8 and 11. In the objective rating, only aSNR of the bone showed a significant tendency towards better results of the deep-learning-based reconstructions. We conclude that CS in combination with deep-learning-based image reconstruction allows for stronger undersampling of k-space data without loss of image quality, and thus has potential for further scan time reduction.</AbstractText" ], [ "37801196", "Parametric Imaging of P-Glycoprotein Function at the Blood-Brain Barrier Using k(E,brain)-maps Generated from [(11)C]Metoclopramide PET Data in Rats, Nonhuman Primates and Humans.", "PET imaging using [<sup k<sub The linear part of the log-transformed brain TACs occurred from 10 to 30&#xa0;min after radiotracer injection in rats, from 15 to 60&#xa0;min in baboons, and from 20 to 60&#xa0;min in humans. P-gp inhibition significantly decreased k<sub k<sub" ], [ "29925602", "The impact of traditional neuroimaging methods on the spatial localization of cortical areas.", "Localizing human brain functions is a long-standing goal in systems neuroscience. Toward this goal, neuroimaging studies have traditionally used volume-based smoothing, registered data to volume-based standard spaces, and reported results relative to volume-based parcellations. A novel 360-area surface-based cortical parcellation was recently generated using multimodal data from the Human Connectome Project, and a volume-based version of this parcellation has frequently been requested for use with traditional volume-based analyses. However, given the major methodological differences between traditional volumetric and Human Connectome Project-style processing, the utility and interpretability of such an altered parcellation must first be established. By starting from automatically generated individual-subject parcellations and processing them with different methodological approaches, we show that traditional processing steps, especially volume-based smoothing and registration, substantially degrade cortical area localization compared with surface-based approaches. We also show that surface-based registration using features closely tied to cortical areas, rather than to folding patterns alone, improves the alignment of areas, and that the benefits of high-resolution acquisitions are largely unexploited by traditional volume-based methods. Quantitatively, we show that the most common version of the traditional approach has spatial localization that is only 35% as good as the best surface-based method as assessed using two objective measures (peak areal probabilities and \"captured area fraction\" for maximum probability maps). Finally, we demonstrate that substantial challenges exist when attempting to accurately represent volume-based group analysis results on the surface, which has important implications for the interpretability of studies, both past and future, that use these volume-based methods.</AbstractText" ], [ "40264351", "Updated classification of epileptic seizures: Position paper of the International League Against Epilepsy.", "The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has updated the operational classification of epileptic seizures, building upon the framework established in 2017. This revision, informed by the implementation experience, involved a working group appointed by the ILAE Executive Committee. Comprising 37 members from all ILAE regions, the group utilized a modified Delphi process, requiring a consensus threshold of more than two thirds for any proposal. Following public comments, the Executive Committee appointed seven additional experts to the revision task force to address and incorporate the issues raised, as appropriate. The updated classification maintains four main seizure classes: Focal, Generalized, Unknown (whether focal or generalized), and Unclassified. Taxonomic rules distinguish classifiers, which are considered to reflect biological classes and directly impact clinical management, from descriptors, which indicate other important seizure characteristics. Focal seizures and those of unknown origin are further classified by the patient's state of consciousness (impaired or preserved) during the seizure, defined operationally through clinical assessment of awareness and responsiveness. If the state of consciousness is undetermined, the seizure is classified under the parent term, that is, the main seizure class (focal seizure or seizure of unknown origin). Generalized seizures are grouped into absence seizures, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and other generalized seizures, now including recognition of negative myoclonus as a seizure type. Seizures are described in the basic version as with or without observable manifestations, whereas an expanded version utilizes the chronological sequence of seizure semiology. This updated classification comprises four main classes and 21 seizure types. Special emphasis was placed on ensuring translatability into languages beyond English. Its aim is to establish a common language for all health care professionals involved in epilepsy care, from resource-limited areas to highly specialized centers, and to provide accessible terms for patients and caregivers.</AbstractText" ], [ "26778405", "7T MRI in focal epilepsy with unrevealing conventional field strength imaging.", "To assess the diagnostic yield of 7T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting and characterizing structural lesions in patients with intractable focal epilepsy and unrevealing conventional (1.5 or 3T) MRI.</AbstractText We conducted an observational clinical imaging study on 21 patients (17 adults and 4 children) with intractable focal epilepsy, exhibiting clinical and electroencephalographic features consistent with a single seizure-onset zone (SOZ) and unrevealing conventional MRI. Patients were enrolled at two tertiary epilepsy surgery centers and imaged at 7T, including whole brain (three-dimensional [3D] T1 -weighted [T1W] fast-spoiled gradient echo (FSPGR), 3D susceptibility-weighted angiography [SWAN], 3D fluid-attenuated inversion recovery [FLAIR]) and targeted imaging (2D T2*-weighted dual-echo gradient-recalled echo [GRE] and 2D gray-white matter tissue border enhancement [TBE] fast spin echo inversion recovery [FSE-IR]). MRI studies at 1.5 or 3T deemed unrevealing at the referral center were reviewed by three experts in epilepsy imaging. Reviewers were provided information regarding the suspected localization of the SOZ. The same team subsequently reviewed 7T images. Agreement in imaging interpretation was reached through consensus-based discussions based on visual identification of structural abnormalities and their likely correlation with clinical and electrographic data.</AbstractText 7T MRI revealed structural lesions in 6 (29%) of 21 patients. The diagnostic gain in detection was obtained using GRE and FLAIR images. Four of the six patients with abnormal 7T underwent epilepsy surgery. Histopathology revealed focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) in all. In the remaining 15 patients (71%), 7T MRI remained unrevealing; 4 of the patients underwent epilepsy surgery and histopathologic evaluation revealed gliosis.</AbstractText 7T MRI improves detection of epileptogenic FCD that is not visible at conventional field strengths. A dedicated protocol including whole brain FLAIR and GRE images at 7T targeted at the suspected SOZ increases the diagnostic yield.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40786530", "Assessment of Root Canal Anatomy of Mandibular Permanent Incisors in a Sample of Yemeni Population.", "<b" ], [ "40480206", "A new era in regenerative medicine: Cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease is on the horizon.", "Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by the selective loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons (mDANs), is a promising target for cell replacement therapy. Two recent clinical trials<sup" ], [ "40629661", "Acute ischemic stroke after right middle lobectomy with favorable clinical outcome of mechanical thrombectomy: A case report.", "Acute ischemic stroke after lung resection is a rare and serious complication, often caused by a venous stump thrombus. This study presents the first reported case of cerebral embolism caused by a venous stump thrombus after right middle lobe resection and aims to raise clinical awareness and provide evidence for stroke prevention and management strategies in the perioperative period.</AbstractText A 41-year-old woman who had undergone thoracoscopic right middle lobectomy for lung adenocarcinoma with right hemiplegia and complete motor aphasia was admitted to our hospital.</AbstractText After obtaining clinical manifestations, and medical history, the final diagnosis was a cerebral embolism presumably caused by a thrombus in the pulmonary vein stump after right middle lobectomy for lung cancer.</AbstractText An urgent mechanical thrombectomy was performed under general anesthesia. Following surgical intervention, subcutaneous injections of low molecular weight heparin calcium were initiated at a dosage of twice daily. This regimen was maintained for a period of 5 days.</AbstractText On postoperative day 6, the patient was transferred to the rehabilitation department with a modified Rankin Scale score of 2. Imaging studies revealed extensive infarction in the middle cerebral artery territory, along with intracerebral hemorrhage. The patient showed significant neurological improvement over time.</AbstractText We reported a case of a patient who underwent mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke after lobectomy for lung cancer. Although all test results were negative, the thrombus source in the patient was still considered to be due to thrombus formation at the residual pulmonary vein. Therefore, it is very important to further explore the etiological prevention and treatment strategies for the perioperative period.</AbstractText" ], [ "40673899", "Klotho and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Levels and Their Association With Inhibitory Dyscontrol in Adolescents With First-Episode Major Affective Disorders.", "<b" ], [ "40174531", "Design and application of a water-soluble triphenylamine-based probe for rapid analysis of α-amylase activity.", "In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with D-&#x3c0;-A structures by regulating the donor (D) and acceptor (A) of electron. Unlike GT01 and GT03, the water solubility of GT02 and GT04 synthesized by coupling galactose to them through &#x3b1;-1,4-glycosidic bonds is significantly improved. To reduce the impact of ultraviolet light on &#x3b1;-amylase activity, GT04 was selected as the research object and further studied its response behavior to &#x3b1;-amylase. Certainly, &#x3b1;-amylase could cleave the glycosidic bond of GT04 to change its water solubility, thereby significantly aggregating GT03 and emitting bright fluorescence. Research results present that the limit of detection (LOD) of the &#x3b1;-amylase activity detection curve constructed based on the structural change of GT04 is 0.1864&#xa0;U/L, and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) is 0.5647&#xa0;U/L. This method exhibits high specificity and selectivity, with a detection error not exceeding 5&#xa0;% even when compared to commercial kits, further demonstrating the high reliability of it. Additionally, the reaction time of GT04 and &#x3b1;-amylase has been reduced to 3&#xa0;min, significantly shortening the overall testing duration. Research results also tell us that high-quality smoke could increase the activity of salivary &#x3b1;-amylase (sAA) by activating the sympathetic nervous system. Undoubtedly, this method provides an effective rapid testing tool for assessing human sensory experiences and the development of high-quality tobacco through the fluctuation of sAA activity.</AbstractText" ] ]
30137255
Decomposing Parietal Memory Reactivation to Predict Consequences of Remembering.
Memory retrieval can strengthen, but also distort memories. Parietal cortex is a candidate region involved in retrieval-induced memory changes as it reflects retrieval success and represents retrieved content. Here, we conducted an fMRI experiment to test whether different forms of parietal reactivation predict distinct consequences of retrieval. Subjects studied associations between words and pictures of faces, scenes, or objects, and then repeatedly retrieved half of the pictures, reporting the vividness of the retrieved pictures ("retrieval practice"). On the following day, subjects completed a recognition memory test for individual pictures. Critically, the test included lures highly similar to studied pictures. Behaviorally, retrieval practice increased both hit and false alarm (FA) rates to similar lures, confirming a causal influence of retrieval on subsequent memory. Using pattern similarity analyses, we measured two different levels of reactivation during retrieval practice: generic "category-level" reactivation and idiosyncratic "item-level" reactivation. Vivid remembering during retrieval practice was associated with stronger category- and item-level reactivation in parietal cortex. However, these measures differentially predicted subsequent recognition memory performance: whereas higher category-level reactivation tended to predict FAs to lures, item-level reactivation predicted correct rejections. These findings indicate that parietal reactivation can be decomposed to tease apart distinct consequences of memory retrieval.</AbstractText
[ [ "28502662", "\"What Not\" Detectors Help the Brain See in Depth.", "Binocular stereopsis is one of the primary cues for three-dimensional (3D) vision in species ranging from insects to primates. Understanding how the brain extracts depth from two different retinal images represents a tractable challenge in sensory neuroscience that has so far evaded full explanation. Central to current thinking is the idea that the brain needs to identify matching features in the two retinal images (i.e., solving the \"stereoscopic correspondence problem\") so that the depth of objects in the world can be triangulated. Although intuitive, this approach fails to account for key physiological and perceptual observations. We show that formulating the problem to identify \"correct matches\" is suboptimal and propose an alternative, based on optimal information encoding, that mixes disparity detection with \"proscription\": exploiting dissimilar features to provide evidence against unlikely interpretations. We demonstrate the role of these \"what not\" responses in a neural network optimized to extract depth in natural images. The network combines information for and against the likely depth structure of the viewed scene, naturally reproducing key characteristics of both neural responses and perceptual interpretations. We capture the encoding and readout computations of the network in simple analytical form and derive a binocular likelihood model that provides a unified account of long-standing puzzles in 3D vision at the physiological and perceptual levels. We suggest that marrying detection with proscription provides an effective coding strategy for sensory estimation that may be useful for diverse feature domains (e.g., motion) and multisensory integration.</AbstractText" ], [ "25653609", "Distributed functions of detection and discrimination of vibrotactile stimuli in the hierarchical human somatosensory system.", "According to the hierarchical view of human somatosensory network, somatic sensory information is relayed from the thalamus to primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and then distributed to adjacent cortical regions to perform further perceptual and cognitive functions. Although a number of neuroimaging studies have examined neuronal activity correlated with tactile stimuli, comparatively less attention has been devoted toward understanding how vibrotactile stimulus information is processed in the hierarchical somatosensory cortical network. To explore the hierarchical perspective of tactile information processing, we studied two cases: (a) discrimination between the locations of finger stimulation; and (b) detection of stimulation against no stimulation on individual fingers, using both standard general linear model (GLM) and searchlight multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques. These two cases were studied on the same data set resulting from a passive vibrotactile stimulation experiment. Our results showed that vibrotactile stimulus locations on fingers could be discriminated from measurements of human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In particular, it was in case (a) we observed activity in contralateral posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and supramarginal gyrus (SMG) but not in S1, while in case; (b) we found significant cortical activations in S1 but not in PPC and SMG. These discrepant observations suggest the functional specialization with regard to vibrotactile stimulus locations, especially, the hierarchical information processing in the human somatosensory cortical areas. Our findings moreover support the general understanding that S1 is the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch, and adjacent cortical regions (i.e., PPC and SMG) are in charge of a higher level of processing and may thus contribute most for the successful classification between stimulated finger locations.</AbstractText" ], [ "31588004", "Complementary Task Structure Representations in Hippocampus and Orbitofrontal Cortex during an Odor Sequence Task.", "Both hippocampus (HPC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been shown to be critical for behavioral tasks that require use of an internal model or cognitive map, composed of the states and the relationships between them, which define the current environment or task at hand. One general idea is that the HPC provides the cognitive map, which is then transformed by OFC to emphasize information of relevance to current goals. Our previous analysis of ensemble activity in OFC in rats performing an odor sequence task revealed a rich representation of behaviorally relevant task structure, consistent with this proposal. Here, we compared those data to recordings from single units in area CA1 of the HPC of rats performing the same task. Contrary to expectations that HPC ensembles would represent detailed, even incidental, information defining the full task space, we found that HPC ensembles-like those in OFC-failed to distinguish states when it was not behaviorally necessary. However, hippocampal ensembles were better than those in OFC at distinguishing task states in which prospective memory was necessary for future performance. These results suggest that, in familiar environments, the HPC and OFC may play complementary roles, with the OFC maintaining the subjects' current position on the cognitive map or state space, supported by HPC when memory demands are high.</AbstractText" ], [ "27708566", "Is the Sensorimotor Cortex Relevant for Speech Perception and Understanding? An Integrative Review.", "In the neuroscience of language, phonemes are frequently described as multimodal units whose neuronal representations are distributed across perisylvian cortical regions, including auditory and sensorimotor areas. A different position views phonemes primarily as acoustic entities with posterior temporal localization, which are functionally independent from frontoparietal articulatory programs. To address this current controversy, we here discuss experimental results from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies. On first glance, a mixed picture emerges, with earlier research documenting neurofunctional distinctions between phonemes in both temporal and frontoparietal sensorimotor systems, but some recent work seemingly failing to replicate the latter. Detailed analysis of methodological differences between studies reveals that the way experiments are set up explains whether sensorimotor cortex maps phonological information during speech perception or not. In particular, acoustic noise during the experiment and 'motor noise' caused by button press tasks work against the frontoparietal manifestation of phonemes. We highlight recent studies using sparse imaging and passive speech perception tasks along with multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and especially representational similarity analysis (RSA), which succeeded in separating acoustic-phonological from general-acoustic processes and in mapping specific phonological information on temporal and frontoparietal regions. The question about a causal role of sensorimotor cortex on speech perception and understanding is addressed by reviewing recent TMS studies. We conclude that frontoparietal cortices, including ventral motor and somatosensory areas, reflect phonological information during speech perception and exert a causal influence on language understanding.</AbstractText" ], [ "32758554", "Me first: Neural representations of fairness during three-party interactions.", "One hallmark of human morality is a deep sense of fairness. People are motivated by both self-interest and a concern for the welfare of others. However, it remains unclear whether these motivations rely on similar neural computations, and the extent to which such computations influence social decision-making when self-fairness and other-fairness motivations compete. In this study, two groups of participants engaged in the role of responder in a three-party Ultimatum Game while being scanned with functional MRI (N&#xa0;=&#xa0;32) or while undergoing high-density electroencephalography (N&#xa0;=&#xa0;40). In both studies, participants accepted more OtherFair offers when they themselves received fair offers. Though SelfFairness was reliably decoded from scalp voltages by 170&#xa0;ms, and from hemodynamic responses in right insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, there was no overlap between neural representations of fairness for self and for other. Distinct neural computations and mechanisms seem to be involved when making decisions about fairness in three-party contexts, which are anchored in an egocentric, self-serving bias.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "33526099", "Molecular neuroscience at its \"high\": bibliometric analysis of the most cited papers on endocannabinoid system, cannabis and cannabinoids.", "Cannabis, cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are heavily investigated topics with many articles published every year. We aimed to identify the 100 most cited manuscripts among the vast literature and analyze their contents.</AbstractText Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection was searched to identify the 100 most cited relevant manuscripts, which were analyzed with reference to (1) authorship, (2) institution, (3) country, (4) document type, (5) journal, (6) publication year, (7) WoS category, and (8) citation count. Semantic content and citation data of the manuscripts were analyzed with VOSviewer.</AbstractText The most cited manuscripts were published between 1986 and 2016, with the majority being published in the 2000s (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;51). The number of citations for the top 100 articles ranged from 469 to 3651, with a median citation count of 635.5. The most prolific authors were Vincenzo Di Marzo (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11) and Daniele Piomelli (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11). The major contributing countries were USA (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;49), Italy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;22), UK (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;19), and France (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11). The most prolific institutions were University of California (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;14), National Research Council of Italy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;12) and National Institutes of Health USA (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;12). The manuscripts consisted of original articles (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;75), reviews (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;24) and a note (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1). The most dominant journal was Nature (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;15). The major WoS categories associated were Multidisciplinary sciences (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;31), Neurosciences (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;20), Pharmacology / Pharmacy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;16), and General / Internal Medicine (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11).</AbstractText The top-ranked manuscripts among the 100 were concerning analgesia, weight loss, long-term potentiation, depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition, opiates and other topics. Cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor was studied by more of the top 100 papers in comparison to cannabinoid type 2 (CB2) receptor. The most frequently mentioned chemicals in these publications were 2-arachidonoylglycerol, tetrahydrocannabinol, and anandamide. Together, these manuscripts comprise the most highly cited publications in the topic, literally the molecular neuroscience at its \"high\".</AbstractText" ], [ "30693423", "Methylphenidate modifies activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortex accelerating the time judgment.", "Methylphenidate produces its effects via actions on cortical areas involved with attention and working memory, which have a direct role in time estimation judgment tasks. In particular, the prefrontal and parietal cortex has been the target of several studies to understand the effect of methylphenidate on executive functions and time interval perception. However, it has not yet been studied whether acute administration of methylphenidate influences performance in time estimation task and the changes in alpha band absolute power in the prefrontal and parietal cortex. The current study investigates the influence of the acute use of methylphenidate in both performance and judgment in the time estimation interpretation through the alpha band absolute power activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortex. This is a double-blind, crossover study with a sample of 32 subjects under control (placebo) and experimental (methylphenidate) conditions with absolute alpha band power analysis during a time estimation task. We observed that methylphenidate does not influence task performance (p&#xa0;&gt;&#x2009;0.05), but it increases the time interval underestimation by over 7&#xa0;s (p&#xa0;&lt;&#x2009;0.001) with a concomitant decrease in absolute alpha band power in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex (p&#xa0;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Acute use of methylphenidate increases the time interval underestimation, consistent with reduced accuracy of the internal clock mechanisms. Furthermore, acute use of methylphenidate influences the absolute alpha band power over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal cortex.</AbstractText" ], [ "31376477", "Functional MRI and resting state connectivity in white matter - a mini-review.", "Functional MRI (fMRI) signals are robustly detectable in white matter (WM) but they have been largely ignored in the fMRI literature. Their nature, interpretation, and relevance as potential indicators of brain function remain under explored and even controversial. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast has for over 25&#x202f;years been exploited for detecting localized neural activity in the cortex using fMRI. While BOLD signals have been reliably detected in grey matter (GM) in a very large number of studies, such signals have rarely been reported from WM. However, it is clear from our own and other studies that although BOLD effects are weaker in WM, using appropriate detection and analysis methods they are robustly detectable both in response to stimuli and in a resting state. BOLD fluctuations in a resting state exhibit similar temporal and spectral profiles in both GM and WM, and their relative low frequency (0.01-0.1&#x202f;Hz) signal powers are comparable. They also vary with baseline neural activity e.g. as induced by different levels of anesthesia, and alter in response to a stimulus. In previous work we reported that BOLD signals in WM in a resting state exhibit anisotropic temporal correlations with neighboring voxels. On the basis of these findings, we derived functional correlation tensors that quantify the correlational anisotropy in WM BOLD signals. We found that, along many WM tracts, the directional preferences of these functional correlation tensors in a resting state are grossly consistent with those revealed by diffusion tensors, and that external stimuli tend to enhance visualization of specific and relevant fiber pathways. These findings support the proposition that variations in WM BOLD signals represent tract-specific responses to neural activity. We have more recently shown that sensory stimulations induce explicit BOLD responses along parts of the projection fiber pathways, and that task-related BOLD changes in WM occur synchronously with the temporal pattern of stimuli. WM tracts also show a transient signal response following short stimuli analogous to but different from the hemodynamic response function (HRF) characteristic of GM. Thus there is converging and compelling evidence that WM exhibits both resting state fluctuations and stimulus-evoked BOLD signals very similar (albeit weaker) to those in GM. A number of studies from other laboratories have also reported reliable observations of WM activations. Detection of BOLD signals in WM has been enhanced by using specialized tasks or modified data analysis methods. In this mini-review we report summaries of some of our recent studies that provide evidence that BOLD signals in WM are related to brain functional activity and deserve greater attention by the neuroimaging community.</AbstractText" ], [ "38696607", "Infants' reorienting efficiency depends on parental autistic traits and predicts future socio-communicative behaviors.", "Attentional reorienting is dysfunctional not only in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but also in infants who will develop ASD, thus constituting a potential causal factor of future social interaction and communication abilities. Following the research domain criteria framework, we hypothesized that the presence of subclinical autistic traits in parents should lead to atypical infants' attentional reorienting, which in turn should impact on their future socio-communication behavior in toddlerhood. During an attentional cueing task, we measured the saccadic latencies in a large sample (total enrolled n&#x2009;=&#x2009;89; final sample n&#x2009;=&#x2009;71) of 8-month-old infants from the general population as a proxy for their stimulus-driven attention. Infants were grouped in a high parental traits (HPT; n&#x2009;=&#x2009;23) or in a low parental traits (LPT; n&#x2009;=&#x2009;48) group, according to the degree of autistic traits self-reported by their parents. Infants (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;33) were then longitudinally followed to test their socio-communicative behaviors at 21&#xa0;months. Results show a sluggish reorienting system, which was a longitudinal predictor of future socio-communicative skills at 21&#xa0;months. Our combined transgenerational and longitudinal findings suggest that the early functionality of the stimulus-driven attentional network-redirecting attention from one event to another-could be directly connected to future social and communication development.</AbstractText" ], [ "31356222", "MRI findings in vestibular paroxysmia - An observational study.", "Vestibular paroxysmia (VP) presents as episodic vertigo believed to be caused by neurovascular cross-compression (NVCC) of the vestibulocochlear nerve. We investigated whether NVCC occurred at a higher rate in VP, compared with controls and whether angulation of the nerve, the vessel involved and location of the point of contact were significant features.</AbstractText Retrospective analysis was conducted of MR imaging performed in patients with VP and also patients with unilateral tinnitus (in whom the asymptomatic side was used as a control). Two independent, blinded reviewers assessed each case.</AbstractText Nine patients with VP and 20 patients with unilateral tinnitus were included. NVCC was demonstrated in all 9 VP patients (100%), compared with 9 of the controls (45%), p&#x200a;=&#x200a;0.0049. NVCC was mostly caused by a branch of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA). Nerve angulation at the point of contact occurred in 5 of the cases (44%), but in none of the controls (specificity&#x200a;=&#x200a;100%), p&#x200a;=&#x200a;0.0053. There was no correlation between site of contact and VP.</AbstractText Our study supports the concept of NVCC in VP and additionally suggests that nerve angulation may be a specific feature. Neurovascular contact remains a common phenomenon in asymptomatic patients and therefore correlation with neuro-otology assessment remains essential.</AbstractText" ] ]
35898414
The Structured Mind at Rest: Low-Frequency Oscillations Reflect Interactive Dynamics Between Spontaneous Brain Activity and a Common Architecture for Task Control.
The Common Model of Cognition (CMC) has been proposed as a high level framework through which functional neuroimaging data can be predicted and interpreted. Previous work has found the CMC is capable of predicting brain activity across a variety of tasks, but it has not been tested on resting state data. This paper adapts a previously used method for comparing theoretical models of brain structure, Dynamic Causal Modeling, for the task-free environment of resting state, and compares the CMC against six alternate architectural frameworks while also separately modeling spontaneous low-frequency oscillations. For a large sample of subjects from the Human Connectome Project, the CMC provides the best account of resting state brain activity, suggesting the presence of a general purpose structure of connections in the brain that drives activity when at rest and when performing directed task behavior. At the same time, spontaneous brain activity was found to be present and significant across all frequencies and in all regions. Together, these results suggest that, at rest, spontaneous low-frequency oscillations interact with the general cognitive architecture for task-based activity. The possible functional implications of these findings are discussed.</AbstractText
[ [ "36226735", "Quantitative Assessment of Resting-State Functional Connectivity MRI to Differentiate Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease From Normal Subjects.", "Alzheimer disease (AD) is a neurological disorder with brain network dysfunction. Investigation of the brain network functional connectivity (FC) alterations using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) can provide valuable information about the brain network pattern in early AD diagnosis.</AbstractText To quantitatively assess FC patterns of resting-state brain networks and graph theory metrics (GTMs) to identify potential features for differentiation of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and late-onset AD from normal.</AbstractText Prospective.</AbstractText A total of 14 normal, 16 aMCI, and 13 late-onset AD.</AbstractText A 3.0&#x2009;T; rs-fMRI: single-shot 2D-EPI and T1-weighted structure: MPRAGE.</AbstractText By applying bivariate correlation coefficient and Fisher transformation on the time series of predefined ROIs' pairs, correlation coefficient matrixes and ROI-to-ROI connectivity (RRC) were extracted. By thresholding the RRC matrix (with a threshold of 0.15), a graph adjacency matrix was created to compute GTMs.</AbstractText Region of interest (ROI)-based analysis: parametric multivariable statistical analysis (PMSA) with a false discovery rate using (FDR)-corrected P&#xa0;&lt;&#x2009;0.05 cluster-level threshold together with posthoc uncorrected P&#xa0;&lt;&#x2009;0.05 connection-level threshold. Graph-theory analysis (GTA): P-FDR-corrected&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05. One-way ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to compare clinical characteristics.</AbstractText PMSA differentiated AD from normal, with a significant decrease in FC of default mode, salience, dorsal attention, frontoparietal, language, visual, and cerebellar networks. Furthermore, significant increase in overall FC of visual and language networks was observed in aMCI compared to normal. GTA revealed a significant decrease in global-efficiency (28.05&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;45), local-efficiency (22.98&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;24.05), and betweenness-centrality (14.60&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;17.39) for AD against normal. Moreover, a significant increase in local-efficiency (33.46&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;24.05) and clustering-coefficient (25&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;20.18) were found in aMCI compared to normal.</AbstractText This study demonstrated resting-state FC potential as an indicator to differentiate AD, aMCI, and normal. GTA revealed brain integration and breakdown by providing concise and comprehensible statistics.</AbstractText 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.</AbstractText" ], [ "31897474", "Anatomy and Physiology of Macaque Visual Cortical Areas V1, V2, and V5/MT: Bases for Biologically Realistic Models.", "The cerebral cortex of primates encompasses multiple anatomically and physiologically distinct areas processing visual information. Areas V1, V2, and V5/MT are conserved across mammals and are central for visual behavior. To facilitate the generation of biologically accurate computational models of primate early visual processing, here we provide an overview of over 350 published studies of these three areas in the genus Macaca, whose visual system provides the closest model for human vision. The literature reports 14 anatomical connection types from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus to V1 having distinct layers of origin or termination, and 194 connection types between V1, V2, and V5, forming multiple parallel and interacting visual processing streams. Moreover, within V1, there are reports of 286 and 120 types of intrinsic excitatory and inhibitory connections, respectively. Physiologically, tuning of neuronal responses to 11 types of visual stimulus parameters has been consistently reported. Overall, the optimal spatial frequency (SF) of constituent neurons decreases with cortical hierarchy. Moreover, V5 neurons are distinct from neurons in other areas for their higher direction selectivity, higher contrast sensitivity, higher temporal frequency tuning, and wider SF bandwidth. We also discuss currently unavailable data that could be useful for biologically accurate models.</AbstractText" ], [ "32875112", "A brain network supporting social influences in human decision-making.", "Humans learn from their own trial-and-error experience and observing others. However, it remains unknown how brain circuits compute expected values when direct learning and social learning coexist in uncertain environments. Using a multiplayer reward learning paradigm with 185 participants (39 being scanned) in real time, we observed that individuals succumbed to the group when confronted with dissenting information but observing confirming information increased their confidence. Leveraging computational modeling and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tracked direct valuation through experience and vicarious valuation through observation and their dissociable, but interacting neural representations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, respectively. Their functional coupling with the right temporoparietal junction representing instantaneous social information instantiated a hitherto uncharacterized social prediction error, rather than a reward prediction error, in the putamen. These findings suggest that an integrated network involving the brain's reward hub and social hub supports social influence in human decision-making.</AbstractText" ], [ "36094955", "Thalamic regulation of frontal interactions in human cognitive flexibility.", "Interactions across frontal cortex are critical for cognition. Animal studies suggest a role for mediodorsal thalamus (MD) in these interactions, but the computations performed and direct relevance to human decision making are unclear. Here, inspired by animal work, we extended a neural model of an executive frontal-MD network and trained it on a human decision-making task for which neuroimaging data were collected. Using a biologically-plausible learning rule, we found that the model MD thalamus compressed its cortical inputs (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dlPFC) underlying stimulus-response representations. Through direct feedback to dlPFC, this thalamic operation efficiently partitioned cortical activity patterns and enhanced task switching across different contingencies. To account for interactions with other frontal regions, we expanded the model to compute higher-order strategy signals outside dlPFC, and found that the MD offered a more efficient route for such signals to switch dlPFC activity patterns. Human fMRI data provided evidence that the MD engaged in feedback to dlPFC, and had a role in routing orbitofrontal cortex inputs when subjects switched behavioral strategy. Collectively, our findings contribute to the emerging evidence for thalamic regulation of frontal interactions in the human brain.</AbstractText" ], [ "34879273", "Stimulus-specific plasticity of macaque V1 spike rates and gamma.", "When a visual stimulus is repeated, average neuronal responses typically decrease, yet they might maintain or even increase their impact through increased synchronization. Previous work has found that many repetitions of a grating lead to increasing gamma-band synchronization. Here, we show in awake macaque area V1 that both repetition-related reductions in firing rate and increases in gamma are specific to the repeated stimulus. These effects show some persistence on the timescale of minutes. Gamma increases are specific to the presented stimulus location. Further, repetition effects on gamma and on firing rates generalize to images of natural objects. These findings support the notion that gamma-band synchronization subserves the adaptive processing of repeated stimulus encounters.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "34350601", "In-plane simultaneous multisegment imaging using a 2D RF pulse.", "To develop an in-plane simultaneous multisegment (IP-SMS) imaging technique using a 2D-RF pulse and to demonstrate its ability to achieve high spatial resolution in EPI while reducing image distortion.</AbstractText The proposed IP-SMS technique takes advantage of periodic replicates of the excitation profile of a 2D-RF pulse to simultaneously excite multiple segments within a slice. These segments were acquired over a reduced FOV and separated using a joint GRAPPA reconstruction by leveraging virtual coils that combined the physical coil sensitivity and 2D-RF pulse spatial response. Two excitations were used with complementary spatial response profiles to adequately cover a full FOV, producing a full-FOV image that had the benefits of reduced FOV with high spatial resolution and reduced distortion. The IP-SMS technique was implemented in a diffusion-weighted single-shot EPI sequence. Experimental demonstrations were performed on a phantom and healthy human brain.</AbstractText In the phantom experiment, IP-SMS enabled a four-fold acceleration using an eight-channel coil without causing residual aliasing artifacts. In the human brain experiment, diffusion-weighted images with high in-plane resolution (1 &#xd7; 1 mm<sup The proposed IP-SMS technique can realize the benefits of reduced-FOV imaging while achieving a full-FOV coverage with good image quality and time efficiency.</AbstractText" ], [ "35982766", "Real-time Detection of Patient Head Position and Cephalometric Landmarks from Neuro-Interventional Procedure Images Using Machine Learning for Patient Eye-Lens Dose Prediction.", "A deep learning (DL) model has been developed to estimate patient-lens dose in real-time for given exposure and geometric conditions during fluoroscopically-guided neuro-interventional procedures. Parameters input into the DL model for dose prediction include the patient head shift from isocenter and cephalometric landmark locations as a surrogate for head size. Machine learning (ML) models were investigated to automatically detect these parameters from the in-procedure fluoroscopic image. Fluoroscopic images of a Kyoto Kagaku anthropomorphic head phantom were taken at various known X (transverse) and Y (longitudinal) shifts, as well as different magnification modes, to create an image database. For each image, anatomical landmark coordinate locations were obtained manually using ImageJ and are used as ground-truth labels for training. This database was then used to train the two separate ML models. One ML model predicts the patient head shift in both the X and Y directions and the other model predicts the coordinates of the anatomical landmarks. From the coordinates, the distance between these anatomical landmarks is calculated, and input into the DL dose-prediction model. Model performance was evaluated using mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) for the head-shift and landmark-coordinate models, respectively. The goal is to implement these two separate models into the Dose Tracking System (DTS) developed by our group. This would allow the DTS to automatically detect the patient head size and position for eye-lens dose prediction and eliminate the need for manual input by the clinical staff.</AbstractText" ], [ "35596709", "Metamemory for involuntary autobiographical memories and semantic mind-pops in 5-, 7- and 9-year-old children and young adults.", "In a cross-sectional study, 5-, 7-, and 9-year-old-children and adults (N&#xa0;=&#xa0;144, 86 females, predominantly White U.K. sample of lower-middle to middle-class background) were interviewed about their experiences of involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) and semantic mind-pops that come to mind unintentionally. Although some age differences emerged, the majority of participants in all age groups claimed familiarity with involuntary memories and provided examples from their own experience. Moreover, the self-reported frequency of IAMs and mind-pops was high, and reported IAMs usually referred to incidental environmental triggers, whereas reported mind-pops did not. This age invariance highlights the ubiquity of involuntary memories across development and opens up interesting avenues for developmental research on involuntary memories and other spontaneous phenomena (e.g., mind-wandering, future thinking).</AbstractText" ], [ "35463766", "Closed-Loop Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases: State of the Art and Future Directions.", "The autonomic nervous system exerts a fine beat-to-beat regulation of cardiovascular functions and is consequently involved in the onset and progression of many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Selective neuromodulation of the brain-heart axis with advanced neurotechnologies is an emerging approach to corroborate CVDs treatment when classical pharmacological agents show limited effectiveness. The vagus nerve is a major component of the cardiac neuroaxis, and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a promising application to restore autonomic function under various pathological conditions. VNS has led to encouraging results in animal models of CVDs, but its translation to clinical practice has not been equally successful, calling for more investigation to optimize this technique. Herein we reviewed the state of the art of VNS for CVDs and discuss avenues for therapeutic optimization. Firstly, we provided a succinct description of cardiac vagal innervation anatomy and physiology and principles of VNS. Then, we examined the main clinical applications of VNS in CVDs and the related open challenges. Finally, we presented preclinical studies that aim at overcoming VNS limitations through optimization of anatomical targets, development of novel neural interface technologies, and design of efficient VNS closed-loop protocols.</AbstractText" ], [ "35976455", "The Management of Idiopathic and Refractory Syringomyelia.", "Idiopathic syringomyelia (IS) and refractory syringomyelia (RS) are types of syringomyelia that often pose a management challenge and are associated with long-term clinical sequela. They are usually an epiphenomenon reflecting an underlying pathology where the treatment of the primary cause should be the aim for any surgical intervention. In the case of IS, the initial step is agreeing on the definition of the terms idiopathic and syringomyelia. After a rigorous exhaustive clinic-radiological workup, only IS patients with progressive neurology are treated, usually unblocking subarachnoid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pathway obstruction somewhere in the thoracic spinal canal and reserving shunting techniques to nonresponsive cases. Similar to IS, also RS is multifactorial, and its management varies based on the initial pathology, strongly supported by radiological and clinical features. We aim to address this topic focusing on the etiopathology, investigation paradigm, and surgical pathway, formulating algorithms of management with available evidence in literature. Surgical techniques are discussed in detail.</AbstractText" ] ]
26985031
Cardinal Orientation Selectivity Is Represented by Two Distinct Ganglion Cell Types in Mouse Retina.
Orientation selectivity (OS) is a prominent and well studied feature of early visual processing in mammals, but recent work has highlighted the possibility that parallel OS circuits might exist in multiple brain locations. Although both classic and modern work has identified an OS mechanism in selective wiring from lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to primary visual cortex, OS responses have now been found upstream of cortex in mouse LGN and superior colliculus, suggesting a possible origin in the retina. Indeed, retinal OS responses have been reported for decades in rabbit and more recently in mouse. However, we still know very little about the properties and mechanisms of retinal OS in the mouse, including whether there is a distinct OS ganglion cell type, which orientations are represented, and what are the synaptic mechanisms of retinal OS. We have identified two novel types of OS ganglion cells in the mouse retina that are highly selective for horizontal and vertical cardinal orientations. Reconstructions of the dendritic trees of these OS ganglion cells and measurements of their synaptic conductances offer insights into the mechanism of the OS computation at the earliest stage of the visual system.</AbstractText Orientation selectivity (OS) is one of the most well studied computations in the brain and has become a prominent model system in various areas of sensory neuroscience. Although the cortical mechanism of OS suggested by Hubel and Wiesel (1962) has been investigated intensely, other OS cells exist upstream of cortex as early as the retina and the mechanisms of OS in subcortical regions are much less well understood. We identified two ON retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in mouse that compute OS along the horizontal (nasal-temporal) and vertical (dorsoventral) axes of visual space. We show the relationship between dendritic morphology and OS for each RGC type and reveal new synaptic mechanisms of OS computation in the retina.</AbstractText
[ [ "21208964", "Just a heartbeat away from one's body: interoceptive sensitivity predicts malleability of body-representations.", "Body-awareness relies on the representation of both interoceptive and exteroceptive percepts coming from one's body. However, the exact relationship and possible interaction of interoceptive and exteroceptive systems for body-awareness remain unknown. We sought to understand for the first time, to our knowledge, the interaction between interoceptive and exteroceptive awareness of the body. First, we measured interoceptive awareness with an established heartbeat monitoring task. We, then, used a multi-sensory-induced manipulation of body-ownership (e.g. Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI)) and we quantified the extent to which participants experienced ownership over a foreign body-part using behavioural, physiological and introspective measures. The results suggest that interoceptive sensitivity predicts the malleability of body representations, that is, people with low interoceptive sensitivity experienced a stronger illusion of ownership in the RHI. Importantly, this effect was not simply owing to a poor proprioceptive representation or differences in autonomic states of one's body prior to the multi-sensory stimulation, suggesting that interoceptive awareness modulates the online integration of multi-sensory body-percepts.</AbstractText" ], [ "29081083", "Ionotropic Receptor 76b Is Required for Gustatory Aversion to Excessive Na+ in Drosophila.", "Avoiding ingestion of excessively salty food is essential for cation homeostasis that underlies various physiological processes in organisms. The molecular and cellular basis of the aversive salt taste, however, remains elusive. Through a behavioral reverse genetic screening, we discover that feeding suppression by Na<sup" ], [ "28028221", "Stable population coding for working memory coexists with heterogeneous neural dynamics in prefrontal cortex.", "Working memory (WM) is a cognitive function for temporary maintenance and manipulation of information, which requires conversion of stimulus-driven signals into internal representations that are maintained across seconds-long mnemonic delays. Within primate prefrontal cortex (PFC), a critical node of the brain's WM network, neurons show stimulus-selective persistent activity during WM, but many of them exhibit strong temporal dynamics and heterogeneity, raising the questions of whether, and how, neuronal populations in PFC maintain stable mnemonic representations of stimuli during WM. Here we show that despite complex and heterogeneous temporal dynamics in single-neuron activity, PFC activity is endowed with a population-level coding of the mnemonic stimulus that is stable and robust throughout WM maintenance. We applied population-level analyses to hundreds of recorded single neurons from lateral PFC of monkeys performing two seminal tasks that demand parametric WM: oculomotor delayed response and vibrotactile delayed discrimination. We found that the high-dimensional state space of PFC population activity contains a low-dimensional subspace in which stimulus representations are stable across time during the cue and delay epochs, enabling robust and generalizable decoding compared with time-optimized subspaces. To explore potential mechanisms, we applied these same population-level analyses to theoretical neural circuit models of WM activity. Three previously proposed models failed to capture the key population-level features observed empirically. We propose network connectivity properties, implemented in a linear network model, which can underlie these features. This work uncovers stable population-level WM representations in PFC, despite strong temporal neural dynamics, thereby providing insights into neural circuit mechanisms supporting WM.</AbstractText" ], [ "28701533", "Treadmill vs. overground walking: different response to physical interaction.", "Rehabilitation of human motor function is an issue of growing significance, and human-interactive robots offer promising potential to meet the need. For the lower extremity, however, robot-aided therapy has proven challenging. To inform effective approaches to robotic gait therapy, it is important to better understand unimpaired locomotor control: its sensitivity to different mechanical contexts and its response to perturbations. The present study evaluated the behavior of 14 healthy subjects who walked on a motorized treadmill and overground while wearing an exoskeletal ankle robot. Their response to a periodic series of ankle plantar flexion torque pulses, delivered at periods different from, but sufficiently close to, their preferred stride cadence, was assessed to determine whether gait entrainment occurred, how it differed across conditions, and if the adapted motor behavior persisted after perturbation. Certain aspects of locomotor control were exquisitely sensitive to walking context, while others were not. Gaits entrained more often and more rapidly during overground walking, yet, in all cases, entrained gaits synchronized the torque pulses with ankle push-off, where they provided assistance with propulsion. Furthermore, subjects entrained to perturbation periods that required an adaption toward slower cadence, even though the pulses acted to accelerate gait, indicating a neural adaptation of locomotor control. Lastly, during 15 post-perturbation strides, the entrained gait period was observed to persist more frequently during overground walking. This persistence was correlated with the number of strides walked at the entrained gait period (i.e., longer exposure), which also indicated a neural adaptation.<b" ], [ "32166137", "A neuronal theory of sequential economic choice.", "Results of recent studies point towards a new framework for the neural bases of economic choice. The principles of this framework include the idea that evaluation is limited to a single option within the focus of attention and that we accept or reject that option relative to the entire set of alternatives. Rejection leads attention to a new option, although it can later switch back to a previously rejected one. The option to which a neuron's firing rate refers is determined dynamically by attention and not stably by labelled lines. Value is always computed relative to the value of rejection. Comparison results not from explicit competition between discrete populations of neurons, but indirectly, as in a horse race, from the fact that the first option whose value crosses a threshold is selected. Consequently, comparison can occur within a single pool of neurons rather than by competition between two or more neuronal populations. The computations that constitute comparison thus occur at multiple levels, including premotor levels, simultaneously (i.e. the brain uses a distributed consensus), and not in discrete stages. This framework suggests a solution to a set of otherwise unresolved neuronal binding problems that result from the need to link options to values, comparisons to actions, and choices to outcomes.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "27574308", "Repetition suppression: a means to index neural representations using BOLD?", "Understanding how the human brain gives rise to complex cognitive processes remains one of the biggest challenges of contemporary neuroscience. While invasive recording in animal models can provide insight into neural processes that are conserved across species, our understanding of cognition more broadly relies upon investigation of the human brain itself. There is therefore an imperative to establish non-invasive tools that allow human brain activity to be measured at high spatial and temporal resolution. In recent years, various attempts have been made to refine the coarse signal available in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), providing a means to investigate neural activity at the meso-scale, i.e. at the level of neural populations. The most widely used techniques include repetition suppression and multivariate pattern analysis. Human neuroscience can now use these techniques to investigate how representations are encoded across neural populations and transformed by relevant computations. Here, we review the physiological basis, applications and limitations of fMRI repetition suppression with a brief comparison to multivariate techniques. By doing so, we show how fMRI repetition suppression holds promise as a tool to reveal complex neural mechanisms that underlie human cognitive function.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience'.</AbstractText" ], [ "40707356", "Locally induced traveling waves generate globally observable traveling waves.", "Cortical traveling waves have been proposed as a fundamental mechanism for neural communication and computation. Methodological uncertainties currently limit the interpretability of non-invasive, extracranial traveling wave data, sparking debates about their cortical origin. Studies using EEG or MEG typically report waves that cover large portions of the sensor array which are often interpreted as reflecting long range cortical waves. Meanwhile, invasive, intracranial recordings in humans and animals routinely find both local, mesoscopic waves and large scale, macroscopic waves in cortex. Whether the global sensor-array waves found with EEG/MEG necessarily correspond to macroscopic cortical waves or whether they are merely projections of local dynamics remains unclear. In this study, we made use of the well-established retinotopic organization of early visual cortex to generate traveling waves with known properties in human participants (N=19, 10 female, 9 male) via targeted visual stimulation, while simultaneously recording MEG and EEG. The inducer stimuli were designed to elicit waves whose traveling direction in mesoscopic retinotopic visual areas depends on stimulus direction, while leaving macroscopic activation patterns along the visual hierarchy largely unchanged. We observed that the preferred direction of traveling waves across the sensor array was influenced by that of the visual stimulus, but only at the stimulation frequency. Comparison between single-trial and trial-averaged responses further showed considerable temporal variation in traveling wave patterns across trials. Our results highlight that under tight experimental control, non-invasive, extracranial recordings can recover mesoscopic traveling wave activity, thus making them viable tools for the investigation of spatially constrained wave dynamics.<b" ], [ "39375038", "The Relationship between White Matter Architecture and Language Lateralization in the Healthy Brain.", "Interhemispheric anatomical differences have long been thought to be related to language lateralization. Previous studies have explored whether asymmetries in the diffusion characteristics of white matter language tracts are consistent with language lateralization. These studies, typically with smaller cohorts, yielded mixed results. This study investigated whether connectomic analysis of quantitative anisotropy (QA) and shape features of white matter tracts across the whole brain are associated with language lateralization. We analyzed 1,040 healthy individuals (562 females) from the Human Connectome Project database. Hemispheric language dominance for each participant was quantified using a laterality quotient (LQ) derived from fMRI activation in regions of interest (ROIs) associated with a language comprehension task compared against a math task. A linear regression model was used to examine the relationship between structural asymmetry and functional lateralization. Connectometry revealed a significant negative correlation between LQs and QA of corpus callosum tracts, indicating that higher QA in these regions is associated with bilateral and right hemisphere language representation in frontal and temporal regions. Left language laterality in the temporal lobe was significantly associated with longer right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) and forceps minor tracts. These results suggest that diffusion measures of microstructural architecture as well as geometrical features of reconstructed white matter tracts play a role in language lateralization. People with increased dependence on the right or both frontal hemispheres for language processing may have more developed commissural fibers, which may support more efficient interhemispheric communication.</AbstractText" ], [ "28268427", "A node-wise analysis of the uterine muscle networks for pregnancy monitoring.", "The recent past years have seen a noticeable increase of interest in the correlation analysis of electrohysterographic (EHG) signals in the perspective of improving the pregnancy monitoring. Here we propose a new approach based on the functional connectivity between multichannel (4&#xd7;4 matrix) EHG signals recorded from the women's abdomen. The proposed pipeline includes i) the computation of the statistical couplings between the multichannel EHG signals, ii) the characterization of the connectivity matrices, computed by using the imaginary part of the coherence, based on the graph-theory analysis and iii) the use of these measures for pregnancy monitoring. The method was evaluated on a dataset of EHGs, in order to track the correlation between EHGs collected by each electrode of the matrix (called `node-wise' analysis) and follow their evolution along weeks before labor. Results showed that the strength of each node significantly increases from pregnancy to labor. Electrodes located on the median vertical axis of the uterus seemed to be the more discriminant. We speculate that the network-based analysis can be a very promising tool to improve pregnancy monitoring.</AbstractText" ], [ "38378274", "Cell-Type-Specific Effects of Somatostatin on Synaptic Transmission in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex.", "Inhibitory modulation of glutamatergic information processing is a prerequisite for proper network function. Among the many groups of interneurons (INs), somatostatin-expressing interneurons (SOM-INs) play an important role in the maintenance of physiological brain activity. We have previously shown that somatostatin (SOM) causes a reduction in pyramidal cell (PC) excitability. However, the mechanisms of action of the peptide on cortical synaptic circuits are still unclear. To understand the effects of the neuropeptide SOM on cortical synaptic circuits, we performed a detailed side-by-side comparison of its postsynaptic effects on PCs, SOM-INs, and layer 1 interneurons (L1-INs) in the anterior cingulate cortex of male and female mice and found that SOM produced pronounced postsynaptic effects in PCs while having little to no effect on either IN type. This comparison allowed us to link the observed postsynaptic effects to SOM-induced modulations of glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic transmission and to trace the impact of the neuropeptide on the neuronal circuitry between these three cell types. We show here that SOM depresses glutamatergic synaptic transmission via a presynaptic mechanism while exerting a differential impact on GABA<sub" ] ]
38447115
MOG Antibodies Restricted to CSF in Children With Inflammatory CNS Disorders.
To assess the clinical significance of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-abs) restricted to CSF in children with inflammatory CNS disorders.</AbstractText Patients included 760 children (younger than 18 years) from 3 multicenter prospective cohort studies: (A) acquired demyelinating syndromes, including acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); (B) non-ADEM encephalitis; and (C) noninflammatory neurologic disorders. For all cases, paired serum/CSF samples were systematically examined using brain immunohistochemistry and live cell-based assays.</AbstractText A total of 109 patients (14%) had MOG-abs in serum or CSF: 79 from cohort A, 30 from B, and none from C. Of these, 63 (58%) had antibodies in both samples, 37 (34%) only in serum, and 9 (8%) only in CSF. Children with MOG-abs only in CSF were older than those with MOG-abs only in serum or in both samples (median 12 vs 6 vs 5 years, <i Detection of MOG-abs in serum or CSF is associated with CNS inflammatory disorders. Children with MOG-abs restricted to CSF are more likely to have CSF oligoclonal bands and multiple sclerosis than those with MOG-abs detectable in serum.</AbstractText
[ [ "35185757", "Case Series: Acute Hemorrhagic Encephalomyelitis After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.", "We present three cases fulfilling diagnostic criteria of hemorrhagic variants of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (acute hemorrhagic encephalomyelitis, AHEM) occurring within 9 days after the first shot of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. AHEM was diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid analysis and brain biopsy in one case. The close temporal association with the vaccination, the immune-related nature of the disease as well as the lack of other canonical precipitating factors suggested that AHEM was a vaccine-related adverse effect. We believe that AHEM might reflect a novel COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse event for which physicians should be vigilant and sensitized.</AbstractText" ], [ "35512357", "Seronegative autoimmune encephalitis: clinical characteristics and factors associated with outcomes.", "Seronegative autoimmune encephalitis is autoimmune encephalitis without any identifiable pathogenic antibody. Although it is a major subtype of autoimmune encephalitis, many unmet clinical needs exist in terms of clinical characteristics, treatments and prognosis. In this institutional cohort study, patients diagnosed with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis with available 2-year outcomes were analysed for the disease course, 2-year outcome prediction system, effect of immunotherapy, necessity of further immunotherapy at 6 or 12 months and pattern of brain atrophy. Seronegative autoimmune encephalitis was subcategorized into antibody-negative probable autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune limbic encephalitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Poor 2-year outcome was defined by modified Rankin scale scores 3-6, and the 2-year serial data of Clinical Assessment Scales in Autoimmune Encephalitis score was used for longitudinal data analyses. A total of 147 patients were included. The frequency of achieving a good 2-year outcome (modified Rankin scale 0-2) was 56.5%. The antibody-negative probable autoimmune encephalitis subtype exhibited the poorest outcomes, although the baseline severity was similar among the subtypes. The RAPID score, consisting of five early usable clinical factors, refractory status epilepticus, age of onset &#x2265;60 years, probable autoimmune encephalitis (antibody-negative probable autoimmune encephalitis subtype), infratentorial involvement and delay of immunotherapy &#x2265;1 month, was associated with poorer 2-year outcomes. Any immunotherapy was associated with clinical improvement in the patients with low risk for poor 2-year outcomes (RAPID scores 0-1), and the combination immunotherapy of steroid, immunoglobulin, rituximab and tocilizumab was associated with better outcomes in the patients with high risk for poor 2-year outcomes (RAPID scores 2-5). In patients with persistent disease at 6 months, continuing immunotherapy was associated with more improvement, while the effect of continuing immunotherapy for more than 12 months was unclear. In the longitudinal analysis of MRI, the development of cerebellar atrophy indicated poor outcomes, while the absence of diffuse cerebral atrophy or medial temporal atrophy indicated the possibility of a good outcome. This study provides information about the clinical characteristics and courses, the effect of immunotherapy and its duration, and prognostic factors in seronegative autoimmune encephalitis.</AbstractText" ], [ "30578370", "A score that predicts 1-year functional status in patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.", "To construct a grading score that predicts neurologic function 1 year after diagnosis of anti-NMDA receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis.</AbstractText Three hundred eighty-two patients with detailed information and functional status at 1 year were studied. Factors associated with poor status (defined as modified Rankin Scale score &#x2265;3) were identified and incorporated into a multivariate logistic regression model. This model was used to develop a 5-point prediction score, termed the anti-NMDAR Encephalitis One-Year Functional Status (NEOS) score.</AbstractText Intensive care unit admission (<i The NEOS score accurately predicts 1-year functional status in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This score could help estimate the clinical course following diagnosis and may aid in identifying patients who could benefit from novel therapies.</AbstractText" ], [ "35698584", "Adult-Onset Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis with Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.", "We present the case of a 22-year-old man who was diagnosed with tonsillitis and treated with antibiotics. Although the symptoms subsided, 1 week later, he presented with weakness in the lower limbs and was hospitalized. The weakness in the lower limbs worsened; he developed difficulty speaking and was transferred to our hospital. Laboratory tests showed a white blood cell count of 10,600/<i" ], [ "37545724", "Pathology of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease: a comparison with multiple sclerosis and aquaporin 4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.", "Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is expressed on the outermost layer of the myelin sheath in the central nervous system. Recently, the clinical concept of MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) was established based on the results of human MOG-transfected cell-based assays which can detect conformation-sensitive antibodies against MOG. In this review, we summarized the pathological findings of MOGAD and discussed the issues that remain unresolved. MOGAD pathology is principally inflammatory demyelination without astrocyte destruction, characterized by perivenous demyelination previously reported in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and by its fusion pattern localized in both the white and gray matter, but not by radially expanding confluent demyelination typically seen in multiple sclerosis (MS). Some of demyelinating lesions in MOGAD show severe loss of MOG staining compared with those of other myelin proteins, suggesting a MOG-targeted pathology in the disease. Perivascular cuffings mainly consist of macrophages and T cells with CD4-dominancy, which is also different from CD8+ T-cell-dominant inflammation in MS. Compared to aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), perivenous complement deposition is less common, but can be seen on myelinated fibers and on myelin degradation products within macrophages, resembling MS Pattern II pathology. Thus, the pathogenetic contribution of complements in MOGAD is still debatable. Together, these pathological features in MOGAD are clearly different from those of MS and AQP4 antibody-positive NMOSD, suggesting that MOGAD is an independent autoimmune demyelinating disease entity. Further research is needed to clarify the exact pathomechanisms of demyelination and how the pathophysiology relates to the clinical phenotype and symptoms leading to disability in MOGAD patients.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38564214", "Impact of capillary and sarcolemmal proximity on mitochondrial structure and energetic function in skeletal muscle.", "Mitochondria within skeletal muscle cells are located either between the muscle contractile apparatus (interfibrillar mitochondria, IFM) or beneath the cell membrane (subsarcolemmal mitochondria, SSM), with several structural and functional differences reported between IFM and SSM. However, recent 3D imaging studies demonstrate that mitochondria are particularly concentrated in the proximity of capillaries embedded in sarcolemmal grooves rather than in proximity to the sarcolemma itself (paravascular mitochondria, PVM). To evaluate the impact of capillary vs. sarcolemmal proximity, we compared the structure and function of skeletal muscle mitochondria located either lateral to embedded capillaries (PVM), adjacent to the sarcolemma but not in PVM pools (SSM) or interspersed between sarcomeres (IFM). Mitochondrial morphology and interactions were assessed by 3D electron microscopy coupled with machine learning segmentation, whereas mitochondrial energy conversion was assessed by two-photon microscopy of mitochondrial membrane potential, content, calcium, NADH redox and flux in live, intact cells. Structurally, although PVM and SSM were similarly larger than IFM, PVM were larger, rounder and had more physical connections to neighbouring mitochondria compared to both IFM and SSM. Functionally, PVM had similar or greater basal NADH flux compared to SSM and IFM, respectively, despite a more oxidized NADH pool and a greater membrane potential, signifying a greater activation of the electron transport chain in PVM. Together, these data indicate that proximity to capillaries has a greater impact on resting mitochondrial energy conversion and distribution in skeletal muscle than the sarcolemma alone. KEY POINTS: Capillaries have a greater impact on mitochondrial energy conversion in skeletal muscle than the sarcolemma. Paravascular mitochondria are larger, and the outer mitochondrial membrane is more connected with neighbouring mitochondria. Interfibrillar mitochondria are longer and have greater contact sites with other organelles (i.e. sarcoplasmic reticulum and lipid droplets). Paravascular mitochondria have greater activation of oxidative phosphorylation than interfibrillar mitochondria at rest, although this is not regulated by calcium.</AbstractText" ], [ "40039023", "Anticipatory Gaze Dynamics in Human-to-Human Object Handover.", "The handover of objects between two humans requires mutual visual attention between individuals. This paper investigates the timing and focus of visual attention during human-human object handover, and how this attention changes with handover role. Two handover role configurations were studied: Giver initiated handover and Receiver initiated handover. To assess visual attention, we examined gaze intersections with the handover object and the final handover location, utilizing a dataset of motion capture and eye tracking data with over 3600 trials. Statistically significant differences in gaze behavior based on the role and action of each subject were observed. These findings provide useful information about how humans coordinate their gaze during handover, and may be applied to work in human-robot interactions.</AbstractText" ], [ "39139023", "Surgical Results with Low-Grade Arteriovenous Malformations : A Single Center 14-Year Experience.", "Advancements in AVM surgical techniques for cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) underscore its efficacy. Our research aims to showcase the positive outcomes of treating low-grade AVMs surgically, focusing on safety and effectiveness.</AbstractText We retrospectively reviewed 55 patients (36 males and 19 females; average age 37.4 years) with Spetzler-Martin (S-M) grade 1 and 2 AVMs who underwent surgical resection between January 2009 and December 2022.</AbstractText In our study, 55 patients with S-M grade 1 and 2 AVMs underwent surgical resection, evenly divided between grades 1 (50.9%) and 2 (49.1%). Intracranial hemorrhage was the primary symptom in 74.5% of cases. Pre-operative Glasgow coma scale (GCS) scores revealed 69.1% of patients scored above 13, with 18% below 8. Successful resection was achieved in 87.3%. Postoperatively, 95.5% of ruptured and 90.9% of unruptured AVM patients showed lower or same modified Rankin scale scores. Poorer outcomes were significantly linked to lower GCS scores and intranidal/flow-related aneurysms through multivariate logistic regression. Postoperative seizures noted in nine patients, were exclusive to the ruptured AVM group.</AbstractText Our findings indicate surgical resection as a beneficial treatment for low-grade AVMs, yielding high cure rates and positive functional outcomes in both ruptured and unruptured cases. Preoperative GCS scores and the presence of associated aneurysms are predictive of postoperative functional status. Additionally, managing postoperative seizures effectively is key to enhancing prognosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "38743289", "Validating the Supraorbital Notch-Nasion-Supraorbital Notch Angle as a Marker for Metopic Craniosynostosis Severity.", "Metopic craniosynostosis (MCS) can be difficult to differentiate from metopic ridge (MR) or normal frontal morphology. This study assess whether the supraorbital notch-nasion-supraorbital notch (SNS) angle can help identify MCS.</AbstractText Records of 212 patients with preoperative three-dimensional computed tomography scans were examined. The SNS angles, surgeon craniofacial dysmorphology rankings, and CranioRate metopic severity scores (MSSs) were compared with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with Youden J-statistic and cross-validation of regression models assessed the ability of these measures to predict surgery.</AbstractText A total of 212 patients were included, consisting of 78 MCS, 37 MR, and 97 controls. Both the mean SNS angle (MCS: 111.7 &#xb1; 10.7 degrees, MR: 126.0 &#xb1; 8.2 degrees, controls: 130.7 &#xb1; 8.8 degrees P &lt; 0.001) and MSS (MCS: 5.9 &#xb1; 2.0, MR: 1.4 &#xb1; 1.9, controls: 0.2 &#xb1; 1.9, P &lt; 0.001) were different among the cohorts. The mean SNS angle (111.5 &#xb1; 10.7 versus 129.1 &#xb1; 8.8, P &lt; 0.001) was lower in those who had surgery and CranioRate score (5.9 &#xb1; 2.1 versus 0.8 &#xb1; 2.2, P &lt; 0.001) was higher in those who underwent surgery. SNS angles were positively correlated with surgeon craniofacial dysmorphology rankings ( r = 0.41, P &lt; 0.05) and CranioRate MSS ( r = 0.54, P &lt; 0.05). The ROC curve requiring high sensitivity revealed an SNS angle of 124.8 degrees predicted surgery with a sensitivity of 88.7% and a specificity of 71.3%. A ROC curve using the CranioRate MCC values &#x2265;3.19 predicted surgery with 88.7% sensitivity and 94.7% specificity.</AbstractText Orbital dysmorphology in patients with MCS is well captured by the supraorbital-nasion angle. Both the SNS angle and CranioRate MSS scores accurately predict surgical intervention.</AbstractText" ], [ "38825241", "Standardizing a method for functional assessment of neural networks in brain organoids.", "During the last decade brain organoids have emerged as an attractive model system, allowing stem cells to be differentiated into complex 3D models, recapitulating many aspects of human brain development. Whilst many studies have analysed anatomical and cytoarchitectural characteristics of organoids, their functional characterisation has been limited, and highly variable between studies. Standardised, consistent methods for recording functional activity are critical to providing a functional understanding of neuronal networks at the synaptic and network level that can yield useful information about functional network phenotypes in disease and healthy states. In this study we outline a detailed methodology for calcium imaging and Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) recordings in brain organoids. To illustrate the utility of these functional interrogation techniques in uncovering induced differences in neural network activity we applied various stimulating media protocols. We demonstrate overlapping information from the two modalities, with comparable numbers of active cells in the four treatment groups and an increase in synchronous behaviour in BrainPhys treated groups. Further development of analysis pipelines to reveal network level changes in brain organoids will enrich our understanding of network formation and perturbation in these structures, and aid in the future development of drugs that target neurological disorders at the network level.</AbstractText" ] ]
40697530
Dorsal root ganglion stimulation for multifactorial refractory foot pain: A case report.
Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation has emerged as an effective, targeted neuromodulation therapy for refractory pain of the lower extremities, particularly in the setting of complex regional pain syndrome. However, preliminary evidence supporting DRG for other applications, such as peripheral neuropathy or refractory nociceptive pain, is currently limited to patient populations with discrete pain sources. We report a case of chronic, multifactorial foot pain successfully treated with a right S1 DRG stimulation after failure of multiple prior interventions including physical therapy, corticosteroid injections, and surgeries.</AbstractText A 74-year-old male presented with chronic refractory right foot pain, diagnosed with L5-S1 radiculopathy, peripheral neuropathy, persistent post-surgical pain following multiple procedures, including partial toe pain, which significantly impaired his mobility and quality of life. DRG stimulation was pursued after multiple prior interventions, including physical therapy, corticosteroid injections, surgeries, and a trial of peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) that provided only temporary relief. Following a successful stimulation trial, a permanent DRG device was implanted at the S1 level, resulting in meaningful, sustained pain relief and functional improvement.</AbstractText DRG stimulation represents a promising treatment for refractory lower extremity pain, especially in cases where traditional therapies have failed. This case illustrates its therapeutic potential in patients with complex refractory neuropathic pain of mixed etiologies.</AbstractText
[ [ "32997170", "Clinical Effectiveness and Mechanism of Action of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Treating Chronic Low Back and Lower Extremity Pain: a Systematic Review.", "The purpose of the present systematic review is to provide a current understanding of the mechanism of action and the evidence available to support clinical decision-making. The focus is to summarize randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized or observational studies of spinal cord stimulation in chronic pain to understand clinical effectiveness and the mechanism of action.</AbstractText Several recent studies have demonstrated the benefit of spinal cord stimulation in managing chronic pain. Until recently, the mechanism of action was founded on a central paradigm derived from gate control theory, which is the need to stimulate the dorsal column of the spinal cord to generate paresthesia. The recent development of new therapies that do not rely on paresthesia has left the field without a clear mechanism of action that could serve as a strong foundation to further improve clinical outcomes. Consequently, multiple theories have emerged to explain how electrical pulse applied to the spinal cord could alleviate pain, including activation of specific supraspinal pathways, and segmental modulation of the neurological interaction. Recent systematic reviews also have shown the clinical effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation in managing chronic spinal pain, phantom limb pain, complex regional pain syndrome, and other chronic painful conditions. Spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain is rapidly evolving with technology at its forefront. This comprehensive focused review evaluated 11 RCTs and 7 nonrandomized/observational studies which provided levels of evidence ranging from I to II.</AbstractText" ], [ "40097073", "Early toxicity of moderately hypofractionated radiation therapy in breast cancer patients receiving locoregional irradiation: First results of the UNICANCER HypoG-01 phase III trial.", "To investigate early adverse events (AEs) in HypoG-01, a randomised, controlled, multicentre, non-inferiority phase 3 trial comparing toxicity and efficacy of adjuvant loco-regional moderately hypofractionated radiation therapy versus 2&#xa0;Gy daily radiation therapy.</AbstractText Women&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;18&#xa0;years with T1-3&#xa0;N0-3&#xa0;M0 breast cancer were randomised 1:1 after surgery +/- systemic therapy to receive either 40&#xa0;Gy/15 fractions (3-week-RT) or 50&#xa0;Gy/25 fractions (5-week-RT) +/-tumour-bed boost. AEs at baseline, end of treatment, and 6-month follow-up were graded using CTCAEV4.0, LENT/SOMA and Harris 4-point scales. Competing risk analysis for cumulative incidence of AEs, worst grade dermatitis according to risk factors, and cosmetic assessment were performed in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population.</AbstractText From September 2016 to March 2020, 29 sites enrolled 1265 women. The ITT population included 1260 patients (3-week-RT: 631, 5-week-RT: 629). The proportion of patients with maximum grade&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;2 AEs were 284 (45&#xa0;%) in 3-week-RT and 326 (51.8&#xa0;%) in 5-week-RT. Overall, 88 (7&#xa0;%) grade 3, one grade 4 and no grade 5 AEs were observed. Reported AEs were mostly dermatitis, fatigue, and pain, numerically lower in 3-week-RT than 5-week-RT. Grade&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;2 dermatitis was more frequent in patients receiving a tumour-bed boost or with BMI&#xa0;&gt;&#xa0;30 but numerically less frequent with 3-week-RT than 5-week-RT even in those subgroups. Of the 552 patients with breast-conserving surgery who completed cosmetic evaluation at M6, 88.4&#xa0;% had excellent to good cosmetic results with no imbalance between groups.</AbstractText Early AEs were mild and do not raise safety concerns for 3-week-RT in women receiving nodal RT.</AbstractText" ], [ "39115545", "Does Cannabis-based Medicine Improve Pain and Sleep Quality in Patients With Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries? A Triple-blind, Crossover, Randomized Controlled Trial.", "After traumatic brachial plexus injuries, despite treatment with appropriate medications, some patients experience uncontrollable pain, which can be devastating. Cannabis-based medicine is considered to have pain-relieving benefits in this situation, but the evidence is limited.</AbstractText Is cannabis-based medicine effective compared with the placebo in (1) reducing pain (measured by the VAS for pain) and neuropathic pain (measured by the DN4 questionnaire), and (2) improving sleep quality (measured by the VAS for sleep quality) in patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury?</AbstractText This prospective, triple-blinded (the researcher administering the substance, the patients, and the evaluator were all blinded to the substance used), two-period crossover, placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial was conducted at a single center. Between January 2020 and January 2022, we treated 147 patients for neuropathic pain related to a traumatic brachial plexus injury. Our inclusion criteria were age between 20 and 60 years and moderate-to-severe pain (VAS for pain equal to or greater than 4 of 10 for more than 6 months), even with the use of appropriate medications. Based on these criteria, 20% (30) of patients were eligible. They were randomly allocated to receive either cannabis-based medicine followed by the placebo or vice versa. Fifteen patients received cannabis-based medicine first, and 15 patients received the placebo first. The groups did not differ at baseline in terms of demographic parameters. Participants received both the cannabis-based medicine and the placebo; they started with 10 days of the initial intervention, followed by a 14-day washout period, and then a 10-day period with the second intervention. The dosage regimen adhered strictly to the protocol. The outcomes were the (1) VAS for pain, which ranges from 0 to 10 and where 0 represents no pain and 10 signifies the worst pain; (2) the DN4 questionnaire which ranges from 1 to 10 and where a score of 4 or higher indicates a positive result for neuropathic pain; and (3) VAS for sleep quality, from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). The minimum clinically important difference of VAS for pain was defined as a 2-point improvement. After enrollment, 7% (2 of 30) of patients (one patient received the cannabis-based medicine first and another received the placebo first) were lost before the minimum study follow-up, leaving 93% (28 of 30) for analysis. With 28 patients in each group, the study was powered a priori at 90% to detect a clinically important difference of 2 points in the VAS for pain. No carryover or period effects were observed in the study. Four patients experienced mild dizziness during the cannabis-based medicine period but were able to continue the intervention.</AbstractText When comparing the use of cannabis-based medicine alongside pain control medications with the combination of placebo and pain control medications, the reduction in pain VAS from the preintervention resulted in a mean difference of 1 (99% CI -0.03 to 2.1; p = 0.01). Neuropathic pain was reported by 75% (21 of 28) of patients in both interventions (OR 1 [99% CI 0.07 to 14.1]; p &gt; 0.99). The VAS for sleep quality favored cannabis-based medicine with a mean difference of 1.5 (99% CI 0.7 to 2.4; p &lt; 0.001).</AbstractText Our study findings indicate that cannabis-based medicine did not improve pain by a clinically important margin. Consequently, our study advises against the addition of cannabis-based medicine to the standard medication treatment for pain in patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury.</AbstractText Level 1, therapeutic study.</AbstractText" ], [ "31590108", "Randomized controlled trial of cryotherapy to prevent paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (RU221511I); an ACCRU trial.", "This pilot trial aimed to assess if cooling hands and feet with crushed ice during receipt of paclitaxel helps prevent peripheral neuropathy.</AbstractText This prospective, randomized trial compared cryotherapy to standard care in patients initiating paclitaxel weekly x 12. For those on cryotherapy, hands and feet were cooled starting 15&#x202f;min prior to and ending 15&#x202f;min after each paclitaxel dose. EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 was completed at baseline, weekly x12, then monthly x6. Area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for subscale scores, adjusting for baseline, and compared between arms (Wilcoxon rank-sum test). Cross-study comparisons used data from 2 prior similarly-conducted neuropathy trials.</AbstractText Forty-six patients were accrued. Three withdrew and one was ineligible. Of the remaining 42 (21 cryotherapy, 21 control), 39 (19 cryotherapy, 20 control) were analyzable for AUC. Cryotherapy was well tolerated, but the AUC of the CIPN20 sensory scores over 12 weeks of paclitaxel was not found to differ between the study arms (mean difference 3.45, 95% CI -3.13 to 10.02, p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.26). However, the control arm of the current trial experienced less neuropathy than did the placebo arms of two previous similar trials. When our cryotherapy arm was compared to the combined control arms from all three trials, the cryotherapy arm had less neuropathy (Wilcoxon Rank-Sum p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.01).</AbstractText While there was no difference in CIPN20 scores identified between the 2 study arms in the current phase II trial, further investigation is needed given that the control arm experienced less neuropathy than was expected.</AbstractText" ], [ "15734851", "Effects of sustained insulin-induced hypoglycemia on cardiovascular autonomic regulation in type 1 diabetes.", "Effects of hypoglycemia on cardiac autonomic regulation may contribute to the occurrence of adverse cardiac events. This study assessed the effects of sustained hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia on cardiovascular autonomic regulation in type 1 diabetic patients and their nondiabetic counterparts. The study consisted of 16 type 1 diabetic patients and 8 age-matched healthy control subjects who underwent euglycemic and hypoglycemic clamp procedures in a random order. Heart rate variability was measured from continuous electrocardiogram recordings by time and frequency domain methods, along with Poincare plot analysis during both a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic and hypoglycemic clamp at three different glucose levels (4.5-5.5, 3.0-3.5, and 2.0-2.5 mmol/l). Controlled hypoglycemia resulted in an increase of supine heart rate in both the diabetic patients (from 72 +/- 9 to 80 +/- 11 bpm, P &lt; 0.01) and the control subjects (from 59 +/- 5 to 65 +/- 5 bpm, P &lt; 0.05) and progressive reductions of the high-frequency spectral component and beat-to-beat heart rate variability (SD1; P &lt; 0.05 in the diabetic patients and P &lt; 0.01 in control subjects). No significant changes in heart rate variability occurred during the euglycemic clamp. We conclude that hypoglycemia results in a reduction of cardiac vagal outflow in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. Altered autonomic regulation may contribute to the occurrence of cardiac events during hypoglycemia.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40339567", "Human pain neuroscience and the next generation of pain therapeutics.", "The recent approval of suzetrigine for acute pain treatment highlights both the success of targeting peripheral sensory neurons for pain management and the potential of developing new pain therapies primarily in human-based systems. To realize this transformative potential, further research into somatosensation and pain neuroimmunology in human systems is essential.</AbstractText" ], [ "40715565", "Polycyclitol Derivatives Restore Long- Term Memory Via cdk5/p25 Activation of Tau Signaling in Experimental Cerebral Malaria.", "Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a purified form of tau protein kinase II (TPKII), mediates abnormal tau hyperphosphorylation through activation by its cofactor p25. The resulting Cdk5-p25 complex promotes the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1&#x3b2;, contributing to elevated expression of the microglial marker Iba-1, an established feature of tauopathy-driven neurodegenerative diseases. Hyperphosphorylation of tau at Ser396/404 disrupts microtubule stability, leading to neuronal dysfunction, synaptic loss, and cognitive deficits. Notably, approximately 25% of children surviving cerebral malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa experience cognitive impairments, underscoring the urgent need for neuroprotective therapies. In this study, we employed an experimental cerebral malaria model to assess the therapeutic potential of four polycyclic derivatives, SR4-01 to SR4-04, as adjuncts to artemether. We evaluated their efficacy in attenuating Cdk5-p25-mediated tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser396, with the goal of restoring neuronal architecture and cognitive function. Behavioral assessments included the Barnes maze for long-term memory, T-maze for short-term memory, and a novelty-based recognition task. Among the treatment groups, SR4-02 and SR4-04 demonstrated significant improvements in learning and memory compared to both artemether monotherapy and the SR4-01 and SR4-03 groups. Immunohistochemical analysis of the hippocampus and cortex showed reduced phospho-tau (Ser396) expression in the SR4-02 and SR4-04 groups. Golgi-Cox staining further revealed enhanced neuronal arborization in the CA1 and CA3 subregions of the hippocampus and in the cortex. Western blot analysis confirmed reduced Cdk5-p25-mediated tau phosphorylation in the SR4-04 treated group. Collectively, our findings suggest that SR4-02 and SR4-04 hold promise as adjunctive therapies for reducing tau pathology and restoring cognitive function in cerebral malaria-associated neurodegeneration.</AbstractText" ], [ "40753592", "Study of serum vitamin D levels in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy using radioimmunoassay method.", "Diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) is a common and disabling complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated as a potential modifiable risk factor. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and DPN using the radioimmunoassay (RIA) method.</AbstractText One hundred twenty T2DM patients (80 with DPN and 40 without neuropathy) have been enrolled, while 40 healthy volunteers served as group control. Neuropathy diagnosis was based on clinical assessment (through Michigan neuropathy screening instrument (MNSI) - both questionnaire and examination) and nerve conduction studies. Serum 25(OH)D levels were quantified using RIA.</AbstractText Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in DPN patients (mean 13.2ng/mL) compared to diabetic (18.3ng/mL) and healthy controls (31.2ng/mL, P&lt;0.001). Vitamin D deficiency (&lt;10ng/mL) was found in 72.5% of DPN patients. Apart from severe neuropathy, other factors (age, body mass index -BMI- and HbA1c) have all been mildly inversely correlated to Vitamin D levels.</AbstractText Vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with the presence and severity of DPN. These findings support the clinical value of assessing and potentially improving vitamin D status in diabetic patients, particularly in those with severe neuropathy.</AbstractText" ], [ "40760188", "Altered static and dynamic spontaneous brain activity patterns in spinocerebellar ataxia type3 patients.", "Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is characterized by extensive supra- and infra-tentorial brain injuries, beginning in the pre-symptomatic stage. However, the alterations and evolution of spontaneous brain activity in SCA3 patients remain poorly understood.</AbstractText This study aimed to investigate the abnormal brain activity of SCA3, classified it into distinct patterns, and explored the association between spontaneous brain activity in affected regions and clinical variables.</AbstractText Ninety-nine SCA3 patients (76 sym- and 23 pre-SCA3 patients, mean age: 39.97&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;10.83y; 28.74&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;7.99y) and 49 healthy controls underwent 3.0T MRI and acquired T1 and resting-state functional MRI images. The static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (s/dALFF) and regional homogeneity (s/dReHo) were used to estimate local brain activity alterations.</AbstractText SCA3 patients exhibited significantly abnormal spontaneous brain activities in multiple regions, classified into four patterns (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Patterns 1 and 2 were found in the pre-symptomatic stage, involving the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus, right rolandic operculum, right insula, right angular gyrus, right crus I of cerebellar hemisphere and left superior frontal gyrus. Pattern 3 emerged in symptomatic SCA3, with expanded involvement of supra- to infra-tentorial regions. Pattern 4 showed increased activity in the right cerebellar lobule IX. Negative correlations were found between sReHo value in the right anterior cingulate cortex with the disease duration and severity (P&#x2009;&#x2264;&#x2009;0.04).</AbstractText SCA3 patients exhibit different patterns of brain activity damage at different stages. These findings provide new insight into brain dysfunction in SCA3 and suggest potential imaging markers for disease staging and monitoring.</AbstractText" ], [ "40306961", "Cerebellar Activity Affects Distal Cortical Physiology and Synaptic Plasticity in a Human Parietal-Motor Pathway Associated with Motor Actions.", "Voluntary movement control depends on plasticity in several interconnected brain regions, including the cerebellum (CB), primary motor cortex (M1), and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). It is thought that one role of the CB is to regulate communication between PPC and M1, but causal evidence for this regulatory role in humans remains lacking. Here, we evaluated how transiently altering activity in CB via intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) affects PPC-M1 connectivity and plasticity by assessing the effectiveness of subsequent Hebbian-like cortical paired associative stimulation (cPAS) to PPC and M1. Using a within-subject design, we administered four different single-session stimulation conditions to the CB and parietal-motor pathway of the motor network and measured the aftereffects on plasticity (both sexes). We administered iTBS to the right CB or right visual cortex, followed by cPAS of a parietal-motor circuit in the left hemisphere. In a subset of participants, we performed two additional control conditions to assess the effect of CB iTBS alone and Hebbian-like cPAS of the PPC-M1 circuit alone. We evaluated motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation as a measure of motor cortical excitability before and after each plasticity induction protocol. Cerebellar iTBS reduced cPAS-induced plasticity in the parietal-motor circuit, as evidenced by a decrease in MEPs. These responses were selective, as no decreases in excitability were observed during the control experiments. These findings suggest that CB activity can modify distal neural activity in a network-connected parietal-motor circuit through heterosynaptic metaplasticity.</AbstractText" ] ]
38367542
Exploring shared triggers and potential etiopathogenesis between migraine and idiopathic/genetic epilepsy: Insights from a multicenter tertiary-based study.
Migraine and epilepsy are two episodic disorders that share common pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of our research was to assess the possible shared etiopathogenesis by analyzing the relations of headache, and seizure triggers, based on information obtained from a national cohort surveying the headache characteristics of 809 patients who had been diagnosed with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy.</AbstractText Our study utilized data from a multi-center, nationwide investigation of headaches in 809 patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy. Out of these, 508 patients reported complaints related to any type of headache (333 Migraines, 175 Headaches of other types). In the initial phase of the study encompassing the entire sample of 809 epilepsy patients, differences in seizure triggers were assessed between the migraine group (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;333) and the non-migraine group (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;476). Additionally, the subsequent part of the study pertains to a subgroup of the entire patient group, namely those affected by all types of headaches (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;508), and differences in headache triggers were assessed among migraine patients (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;333) and those with other types of headaches (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;175). Similar differences were observed between epilepsy patients with and without a family history of epilepsy.</AbstractText The most frequently reported seizure triggers in all I/GE group (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;809) were stress (23%), sleep deprivation (22%) and fatigue (18%), respectively. The most frequently reported headache triggers in migraine patients were stress (31%), sleep deprivation (28%), and noise (26%). The occurrence of menstruation-triggered seizures in individuals with migraine and I/GE was found to be considerably higher than those without migraine. The most common triggers for seizure and headache among the individuals with a positive family history of epilepsy were determined to be light stimuli and sleep deprivation.</AbstractText In conclusion, our study provides valuable insights into the overlapping triggers including sleep patterns, stress levels, and menstrual cycles, etc. and potential shared etiology of migraine and I/GE. Recognizing these connections may facilitate the development of more precise therapeutic strategies and underscore the significance of adopting a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to the management of these intricate neurological conditions. Further research is essential to explore in greater depth the shared mechanisms underpinning these associations and their implications for clinical practice.</AbstractText
[ [ "25514514", "Assessing dynamic brain graphs of time-varying connectivity in fMRI data: application to healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia.", "Graph theory-based analysis has been widely employed in brain imaging studies, and altered topological properties of brain connectivity have emerged as important features of mental diseases such as schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have focused on graph metrics of stationary brain graphs, ignoring that brain connectivity exhibits fluctuations over time. Here we develop a new framework for accessing dynamic graph properties of time-varying functional brain connectivity in resting-state fMRI data and apply it to healthy controls (HCs) and patients with schizophrenia (SZs). Specifically, nodes of brain graphs are defined by intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) identified by group independent component analysis (ICA). Dynamic graph metrics of the time-varying brain connectivity estimated by the correlation of sliding time-windowed ICA time courses of ICNs are calculated. First- and second-level connectivity states are detected based on the correlation of nodal connectivity strength between time-varying brain graphs. Our results indicate that SZs show decreased variance in the dynamic graph metrics. Consistent with prior stationary functional brain connectivity works, graph measures of identified first-level connectivity states show lower values in SZs. In addition, more first-level connectivity states are disassociated with the second-level connectivity state which resembles the stationary connectivity pattern computed by the entire scan. Collectively, the findings provide new evidence about altered dynamic brain graphs in schizophrenia, which may underscore the abnormal brain performance in this mental illness.</AbstractText" ], [ "27942449", "Resting state functional network disruptions in a kainic acid model of temporal lobe epilepsy.", "We studied the graph topological properties of brain networks derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in a kainic acid induced model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) in rats. Functional connectivity was determined by temporal correlation of the resting-state Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signals between two brain regions during 1.5% and 2% isoflurane, and analyzed as networks in epileptic and control rats. Graph theoretical analysis revealed a significant increase in functional connectivity between brain areas in epileptic than control rats, and the connected brain areas could be categorized as a limbic network and a default mode network (DMN). The limbic network includes the hippocampus, amygdala, piriform cortex, nucleus accumbens, and mediodorsal thalamus, whereas DMN involves the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, auditory and temporal association cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. The TLE model manifested a higher clustering coefficient, increased global and local efficiency, and increased small-worldness as compared to controls, despite having a similar characteristic path length. These results suggest extensive disruptions in the functional brain networks, which may be the basis of altered cognitive, emotional and psychiatric symptoms in TLE.</AbstractText" ], [ "36990364", "Thalamocortical circuits in generalized epilepsy: Pathophysiologic mechanisms and therapeutic targets.", "Generalized epilepsy affects 24 million people globally; at least 25% of cases remain medically refractory. The thalamus, with widespread connections throughout the brain, plays a critical role in generalized epilepsy. The intrinsic properties of thalamic neurons and the synaptic connections between populations of neurons in the nucleus reticularis thalami and thalamocortical relay nuclei help generate different firing patterns that influence brain states. In particular, transitions from tonic firing to highly synchronized burst firing mode in thalamic neurons can cause seizures that rapidly generalize and cause altered awareness and unconsciousness. Here, we review the most recent advances in our understanding of how thalamic activity is regulated and discuss the gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms of generalized epilepsy syndromes. Elucidating the role of the thalamus in generalized epilepsy syndromes may lead to new opportunities to better treat pharmaco-resistant generalized epilepsy by thalamic modulation and dietary therapy.</AbstractText" ], [ "34741372", "Web-based decision support system for patient-tailored selection of antiseizure medication in adolescents and adults: An external validation study.", "Antiseizure medications (ASMs) should be tailored to individual characteristics, including seizure type, age, sex, comorbidities, comedications, drug allergies, and childbearing potential. We previously developed a web-based algorithm for patient-tailored ASM selection to assist health care professionals in prescribing medication using a decision support application (https://epipick.org). In this validation study, we used an independent dataset to assess whether ASMs recommended by the algorithm are associated with better outcomes than ASMs considered less desirable by the algorithm.</AbstractText Four hundred twenty-five consecutive patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy were followed for at least 1 year after starting an ASM chosen by their physician. Patient characteristics were fed into the algorithm, blinded to the physician's ASM choices and outcome. The algorithm recommended ASMs, ranked in hierarchical groups, with Group 1 ASMs labeled as the best option for that patient. We evaluated retention rates, seizure freedom rates, and adverse effects leading to treatment discontinuation. Survival analysis contrasted outcomes between patients who received favored drugs and those who received lower ranked drugs. Propensity score matching corrected for possible imbalances between the groups.</AbstractText Antiseizure medications classified by the algorithm as best options had a higher retention rate (79.4% vs. 67.2%, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.005), higher seizure freedom rate (76.0% vs. 61.6%, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.002), and lower rate of discontinuation due to adverse effects (12.0% vs. 29.2%, p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001) than ASMs ranked as less desirable by the algorithm.</AbstractText Use of the freely available decision support system is associated with improved outcomes. This drug selection application can provide valuable assistance to health care professionals prescribing medication for individuals with epilepsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "32947179", "Seizure outcome during bilateral, continuous, thalamic centromedian nuclei deep brain stimulation in patients with generalized epilepsy: a prospective, open-label study.", "We report on the seizure frequency and attention outcome during thalamic centromedian stimulation (CM-DBS) in patients with refractory generalized epilepsy (GE).</AbstractText Twenty consecutive patients with GE who were submitted to CM-DBS and had at least one year of follow-up were prospectively studied. The CM was targeted bilaterally. Stimulation intensity was ramped up (bipolar, continuous, 130&#x202f;Hz; 300&#x3bc;sec) until 4.5&#x202f;V or until side effects developed. Contacts` position was determined on postoperative volumetric MRI scans. Attention was qualitatively evaluated using the SNAP-IV (Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham) questionnaire. Patients were considered responders during CM-DBS if an at least 50% seizure frequency reduction was obtained compared to baseline.</AbstractText Median age was 15.5 years (13 males). Median follow-up time was 2.55 years. EEG disclosed generalized spike-and wave discharges in all patients. MRI was normal in 10 patients, showed diffuse atrophy in 6 patients, and showed abnormalities in 4 patients (3 patients had bilateral cortical development abnormalities and one had unilateral hemispheric atrophy). Patients presented with daily multiple seizure types (8 to 66 per day; median: 37), including tonic, atonic, myoclonic, atypical absence and generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Mean DBS intensity was 4.3&#x202f;V. An insertional effect was noted in 14 patients. CM-DBS was able to significantly reduce the frequency of tonic (p&#x202f;&lt;&#x202f;0.001), atypical absence seizures (p&#x202f;&lt;&#x202f;0.001), atonic seizures (p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.001) and bilateral generalized tonic-clonic seizures (p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.004). One patient became seizure-free. Ninety percent of the patients were considered responders (&gt;50% seizure frequency reduction). All patients showed some improvement in attention. The mean number of items in which improvement was noted in the SNAP-IV questionnaire was 4.8. There was a significant relationship between overall seizure frequency reduction and improvement of attention (p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.033).</AbstractText This prospective, open label study included a large, homogeneous cohort and provided evidence on the efficacy of CM-DBS in reducing the seizure burden and increasing attention in patients with refractory generalized epilepsy.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38773219", "Elucidating the difference between mind-wandering and day-dreaming terms.", "Self-generated thoughts have been widely investigated in recent years, while the terms \"mind-wandering\" and \"day-dreaming\" are usually used interchangeably. But are these terms equivalent? To test this, online study participants were presented with situations of a protagonist engaged in self-generated thoughts. The scenarios differed with regard to type of situation, the activity in which the protagonist was engaged in, and the properties of the self-generated thoughts. Two different groups evaluated the same situations; one group evaluated the extent to which the protagonist mind-wandered and another the extent to which the protagonist day-dreamt. Our key findings were that the situations were perceived differently with regard to mind-wandering and day-dreaming, depending on whether self-generated thoughts occurred when the protagonist was busy with another activity and the type of self-generated thoughts. In particular, while planning, worrying, and ruminating thoughts were perceived more as mind-wandering in situations involving another activity/task, the situations without another activity/task involving recalling past events and fantasizing thoughts were perceived more as day-dreaming. In the additional experiment, we investigated laypeople's reasons for classifying the situation as mind-wandering or day-dreaming. Our results altogether indicate that mind-wandering and day-dreaming might not be fully equivalent terms.</AbstractText" ], [ "39193208", "CSAM: A 2.5D Cross-Slice Attention Module for Anisotropic Volumetric Medical Image Segmentation.", "A large portion of volumetric medical data, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, is anisotropic, as the through-plane resolution is typically much lower than the in-plane resolution. Both 3D and purely 2D deep learning-based segmentation methods are deficient in dealing with such volumetric data since the performance of 3D methods suffers when confronting anisotropic data, and 2D methods disregard crucial volumetric information. Insufficient work has been done on 2.5D methods, in which 2D convolution is mainly used in concert with volumetric information. These models focus on learning the relationship across slices, but typically have many parameters to train. We offer a Cross-Slice Attention Module (CSAM) with minimal trainable parameters, which captures information across all the slices in the volume by applying semantic, positional, and slice attention on deep feature maps at different scales. Our extensive experiments using different network architectures and tasks demonstrate the usefulness and generalizability of CSAM. Associated code is available at https://github.com/aL3x-O-o-Hung/CSAM.</AbstractText" ], [ "40401162", "Does Differential Privacy Prevent Backdoor Attacks in Practice?", "Differential Privacy (DP) was originally developed to protect privacy. However, it has recently been utilized to secure machine learning (ML) models from poisoning attacks, with DP-SGD receiving substantial attention. Nevertheless, a thorough investigation is required to assess the effectiveness of different DP techniques in preventing backdoor attacks in practice. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of DP-SGD and, for the first time, examine PATE and Label-DP in the context of backdoor attacks. We also explore the role of different components of DP algorithms in defending against backdoor attacks and will show that PATE is effective against these attacks due to the bagging structure of the teacher models it employs. Our experiments reveal that hyper-parameters and the number of backdoors in the training dataset impact the success of DP algorithms. We also conclude that while Label-DP algorithms generally offer weaker privacy protection, accurate hyper-parameter tuning can make them more effective than DP methods in defending against backdoor attacks while maintaining model accuracy.</AbstractText" ], [ "38994104", "High gain multi-band circularly polarized wearable leaky wave zipper MIMO antenna.", "A miniaturized, multi-band, four-port wearable Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna is proposed, which contains a leaky wave textile antenna (LWTA) on denim (&#x3b5;<sub" ], [ "38277872", "Neural correlates of altered emotional responsivity to infant stimuli in mothers who use substances.", "Mothers who use substances during pregnancy and postpartum may have altered maternal behavior towards their infants, which can have negative consequences on infant social-emotional development. Since maternal substance use has been associated with difficulties in recognizing and responding to infant emotional expressions, investigating mothers' subjective responses to emotional infant stimuli may provide insight into the neural and psychological processes underlying these differences in maternal behavior. In this study, 39 mothers who used substances during the perinatal period and 42 mothers who did not underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing infant faces and hearing infant cries. Afterwards, they rated the emotional intensity they thought each infant felt ('think'-rating), and how intensely they felt in response to each infant stimulus ('feel'-rating). Mothers who used substances had lower 'feel'-ratings of infant stimuli compared to mothers who did not. Brain regions implicated in affective processing (e.g., insula, inferior frontal gyrus) were less active in response to infant stimuli, and activity in these brain regions statistically predicted maternal substance-use status. Interestingly, 'think'-ratings and activation in brain regions related to cognitive processing (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex) were comparable between the two groups of mothers. Taken together, these results suggest specific neural and psychological processes related to emotional responsivity to infant stimuli may reflect differences in maternal affective processing and may contribute to differences in maternal behavior in mothers who use substances compared to mothers who do not. The findings suggest potential neural targets for increasing maternal emotional responsivity and improving child outcomes.</AbstractText" ] ]
36255889
Wind imaging using simultaneous fringe sampling with field-widened Michelson interferometers.
The first, to our knowledge, successful laboratory implementation of an approach to image winds using simultaneous (as opposed to sequential) fringe imaging of suitable isolated spectral emission lines is described. Achieving this in practice has been a long-standing goal for wind imaging using airglow. It avoids the aliasing effects of source irradiance variations that are possible with sequential fringe sampling techniques. Simultaneous fringe imaging is accomplished using a field-widened Michelson interferometer by depositing phase steps on four quadrants of one of the mirrors and designing an optical system so that four images of the scene of interest, each at a different phase, are simultaneously produced. In this paper, the instrument characteristics, its characterization, and the analysis algorithms necessary for use of the technique for this type of interferometer are described for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The large throughput associated with field-widened Michelson interferometers is sufficient for the spatial resolutions and temporal cadences necessary for ground based imaging of gravity waves in wind and irradiance to be achieved. The practical demonstration of this technique also validates its use for proposed monolithic satellite instruments for wind measurements using airglow on the Earth and Mars.</AbstractText
[ [ "29787383", "Deep learning for undersampled MRI reconstruction.", "This paper presents a deep learning method for faster magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by reducing k-space data with sub-Nyquist sampling strategies and provides a rationale for why the proposed approach works well. Uniform subsampling is used in the time-consuming phase-encoding direction to capture high-resolution image information, while permitting the image-folding problem dictated by the Poisson summation formula. To deal with the localization uncertainty due to image folding, a small number of low-frequency k-space data are added. Training the deep learning net involves input and output images that are pairs of the Fourier transforms of the subsampled and fully sampled k-space data. Our experiments show the remarkable performance of the proposed method; only 29[Formula: see text] of the k-space data can generate images of high quality as effectively as standard MRI reconstruction with the fully sampled data.</AbstractText" ], [ "33759240", "qModeL: A plug-and-play model-based reconstruction for highly accelerated multi-shot diffusion MRI using learned priors.", "To introduce a joint reconstruction method for highly undersampled multi-shot diffusion weighted (msDW) scans.</AbstractText Multi-shot EPI methods enable higher spatial resolution for diffusion MRI, but at the expense of long scan-time. Highly accelerated msDW scans are needed to enable their utilization in advanced microstructure studies, which require high q-space coverage. Previously, joint k-q undersampling methods coupled with compressed sensing were shown to enable very high acceleration factors. However, the reconstruction of this data using sparsity priors is challenging and is not suited for multi-shell data. We propose a new reconstruction that recovers images from the combined k-q data jointly. The proposed qModeL reconstruction brings together the advantages of model-based iterative reconstruction and machine learning, extending the idea of plug-and-play algorithms. Specifically, qModeL works by prelearning the signal manifold corresponding to the diffusion measurement space using deep learning. The prelearned manifold prior is incorporated into a model-based reconstruction to provide a voxel-wise regularization along the q-dimension during the joint recovery. Notably, the learning does not require in vivo training data and is derived exclusively from biophysical modeling. Additionally, a plug-and-play total variation denoising provides regularization along the spatial dimension. The proposed framework is tested on k-q undersampled single-shell and multi-shell msDW acquisition at various acceleration factors.</AbstractText The qModeL joint reconstruction is shown to recover DWIs from 8-fold accelerated msDW acquisitions with error less than 5% for both single-shell and multi-shell data. Advanced microstructural analysis performed using the undersampled reconstruction also report reasonable accuracy.</AbstractText qModeL enables the joint recovery of highly accelerated multi-shot dMRI utilizing learning-based priors. The bio-physically driven approach enables the use of accelerated multi-shot imaging for multi-shell sampling and advanced microstructure studies.</AbstractText" ], [ "26728777", "Acceleration of MR parameter mapping using annihilating filter-based low rank hankel matrix (ALOHA).", "MR parameter mapping is one of clinically valuable MR imaging techniques. However, increased scan time makes it difficult for routine clinical use. This article aims at developing an accelerated MR parameter mapping technique using annihilating filter based low-rank Hankel matrix approach (ALOHA).</AbstractText When a dynamic sequence can be sparsified using spatial wavelet and temporal Fourier transform, this results in a rank-deficient Hankel structured matrix that is constructed using weighted k-t measurements. ALOHA then utilizes the low rank matrix completion algorithm combined with a multiscale pyramidal decomposition to estimate the missing k-space data.</AbstractText Spin-echo inversion recovery and multiecho spin echo pulse sequences for T<sub Experimental results confirmed that ALOHA outperformed the existing compressed sensing algorithms. Compared with the existing methods, the reconstruction errors appeared scattered throughout the entire images rather than exhibiting systematic distortion along edges and the parameter maps.</AbstractText Given that many diagnostic errors are caused by the systematic distortion of images, ALOHA may have a great potential for clinical applications. Magn Reson Med 76:1848-1864, 2016. &#xa9; 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.</AbstractText" ], [ "32235885", "Surface-based analysis increases the specificity of cortical activation patterns and connectivity results.", "Spatial smoothing of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data can be performed on volumetric images and on the extracted surface of the brain. Smoothing on the unfolded cortex should theoretically improve the ability to separate signals between brain areas that are near together in the folded cortex but are more distant in the unfolded cortex. However, surface-based method approaches (SBA) are currently not utilized as standard procedure in the preprocessing of neuroimaging data. Recent improvements in the quality of cortical surface modeling and improvements in its usability nevertheless advocate this method. In the current study, we evaluated the benefits of an up-to-date surface-based smoothing in comparison to volume-based smoothing. We focused on the effect of signal contamination between different functional systems using the primary motor and primary somatosensory cortex as an example. We were particularly interested in how this signal contamination influences the results of activity and connectivity analyses for these brain regions. We addressed this question by performing fMRI on 19 subjects during a tactile stimulation paradigm and by using simulated BOLD responses. We demonstrated that volume-based smoothing causes contamination of the primary motor cortex by somatosensory cortical responses, leading to false positive motor activation. These false positive motor activations were not found by using surface-based smoothing for reasonable kernel sizes. Accordingly, volume-based smoothing caused an exaggeration of connectivity estimates between these regions. In conclusion, this study showed that surface-based smoothing decreases signal contamination considerably between neighboring functional brain regions and improves the validity of activity and connectivity results.</AbstractText" ], [ "35722657", "A review and experimental evaluation of deep learning methods for MRI reconstruction.", "Following the success of deep learning in a wide range of applications, neural network-based machine-learning techniques have received significant interest for accelerating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition and reconstruction strategies. A number of ideas inspired by deep learning techniques for computer vision and image processing have been successfully applied to nonlinear image reconstruction in the spirit of compressed sensing for accelerated MRI. Given the rapidly growing nature of the field, it is imperative to consolidate and summarize the large number of deep learning methods that have been reported in the literature, to obtain a better understanding of the field in general. This article provides an overview of the recent developments in neural-network based approaches that have been proposed specifically for improving parallel imaging. A general background and introduction to parallel MRI is also given from a classical view of k-space based reconstruction methods. Image domain based techniques that introduce improved regularizers are covered along with k-space based methods which focus on better interpolation strategies using neural networks. While the field is rapidly evolving with plenty of papers published each year, in this review, we attempt to cover broad categories of methods that have shown good performance on publicly available data sets. Limitations and open problems are also discussed and recent efforts for producing open data sets and benchmarks for the community are examined.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "35634465", "Extract of Euterpe oleracea Martius Stone Presents Anticonvulsive Activity via the GABAA Receptor.", "Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases globally, resulting from a disorder in brain activity. This condition can be triggered by birth trauma, traumatic brain injury (TBI), infections of the brain and stroke. More than 70 million people suffer seizures caused by neurological abnormalities. Approximately 80% of all epileptic patients reside in low-income conditions or in developing countries, and over 75% of patients do not receive proper treatment. Our previous study found an anticonvulsant property of an extract of <i" ], [ "35833206", "Inducing Vascular Grammars for Anomaly Classification in Brain Angiograms.", "As machine learning is used to make strides in medical diagnostics, few methods provide heuristics from which human doctors can learn directly. This work introduces a method for leveraging human observable structures, such as macroscale vascular formations, for producing assessments of medical conditions with relatively few training cases, and uncovering patterns that are potential diagnostic aids. The approach draws on shape grammars, a rule-based technique, pioneered in design and architecture, and accelerated through a recursive subgraph mining algorithm. The distribution of rule instances in the data from which they are induced is then used as an intermediary representation enabling common classification and anomaly detection approaches to identify indicative rules with relatively small data sets. The method is applied to seven-tesla time-of-flight angiography MRI (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;54) of human brain vasculature. The data were segmented and induced to generate representative grammar rules. Ensembles of rules were isolated to implicate vascular conditions reliably. This application demonstrates the power of automated structured intermediary representations for assessing nuanced biological form relationships, and the strength of shape grammars, in particular for identifying indicative patterns in complex vascular networks.</AbstractText" ], [ "36530628", "Prognostic value of susceptibility-weighted imaging of prominent veins in acute ischemic stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.", "The prominent veins sign (PVS) on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) has been suggested to be related to the prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This meta-analysis aims to clarify the association between PVS and the prognosis of patients with AIS.</AbstractText This meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO (no. CRD42022343795). We performed systematic research in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases for studies investigating the prognostic value of PVS. Based on the enrolled studies, patients were divided into two groups as follows: those with PVS cohort and those without PVS cohort. Outcomes were unfavorable functional outcome, early neurological deterioration (END), and hemorrhagic transformation (HT). The random-effects models were used for the meta-analytical pooled. Heterogeneity was estimated using Cochran's <i A total of 19 studies with 1,867 patients were included. PVS was correlated with an unfavorable functional outcome in patients with AIS (risk ratio [RR] 1.61, 95% CI 1.28-2.02), especially in those receiving recanalization therapy (RR 2.00, 95% CI 1.52-2.63), but not in those treated conservatively (RR 1.33, 95% CI 0.87-2.04). Moreover, PVS was related to END (RR 2.77, 95% CI 2.21-3.46), while without an increased risk of HT (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.64-1.47).</AbstractText PVS was associated with an unfavorable prognosis of patients with AIS and increased the risk of END, while not correlated with an increased risk of HT. PVS might be useful for predicting functional outcomes of patients with AIS as a novel imaging maker.</AbstractText https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42022343795.</AbstractText" ], [ "35705852", "Symmetry and spatial ability enhance change detection in visuospatial structures.", "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) domains require people to recognize and transform complex visuospatial displays that appear to vastly exceed the limits of visuospatial working memory. Here, we consider possible domain-general mechanisms that may explain this advantage: capitalizing on symmetry, a structural regularity that can produce more efficient representations. Participants briefly viewed a structure made up of three-dimensional connected cubes of different colors, which was either asymmetrical or symmetrical. After a short delay, they were asked to detect a change (colors swapping positions) within a rotated second view. In change trials, the second display always had an asymmetrical structure. The presence of symmetry in the initial view improved change detection, and performance also declined with angular disparity of the encoding and test displays. People with higher spatial ability performed better on the change-detection task, but there was no evidence that they were better at leveraging symmetry than low-spatial individuals. The results suggest that leveraging symmetrical structures can help people of all ability levels exceed typical working memory limits by constructing more efficient representations and substituting resource-demanding mental rotation operations with alternative orientation-independent strategies.</AbstractText" ], [ "36397822", "Analytic modeling of neural tissue: II. Nonlinear membrane dynamics.", "Computational modeling of neuroactivity plays a central role in our effort to understand brain dynamics in the advancements of neural engineering such as deep brain stimulation, neuroprosthetics, and magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography. However, analytic solutions do not capture the fundamental nonlinear behavior of an action potential. What is needed is a method that is not constrained to only linearized models of neural tissue. Therefore, the objective of this study is to establish a robust, straightforward process for modeling neurodynamic phenomena, which preserves their nonlinear features. To address this, we turn to decomposition methods from homotopy analysis, which have emerged in recent decades as powerful tools for solving nonlinear differential equations. We solve the nonlinear ordinary differential equations of three landmark models of neural conduction-Ermentrout-Kopell, FitzHugh-Nagumo, and Hindmarsh-Rose models-using George Adomian's decomposition method. For each variable, we construct a power series solution equivalent to a generalized Taylor series expanded about a function. The first term of the decomposition series comes from the models' initial conditions. All subsequent terms are recursively determined from the first. We show rapid convergence, achieving a maximal error of <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ] ]
40465266
Activation of Sympathetic Nervous System Drives Dry Eye Onset Via Norepinephrine-β2-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in Mice.
Dry eye disease (DED) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation have clear association with chronic environmental and psychogenic stress. However, the relationship of SNS activation with DED remains incompletely understood. This study aims to explore the role and mechanism of SNS activation in dry eye pathogenesis.</AbstractText DED was induced in mice using scopolamine under desiccating stress. Systemic SNS ablation and local norepinephrine (NE) depletion were performed through intraperitoneal 6-OHDA and subconjunctival DPS-4 injection. Topical NE was applied to healthy and Adrb2-/- mice. A selective &#x3b2;2-adrenergic receptor (&#x3b2;2-AR) antagonist, ICI 118,551, was administered topically to evaluate its therapeutic potential. Tear secretion, corneal epithelial barrier function, expressions of matrix-metalloproteinases, chemokines, and inflammatory cytokines were assessed. Transcriptomic analysis identified key pathways, followed by experimental validation with human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs).</AbstractText DED mice showed apparent SNS activation with elevated corneal NE contents. Systemic SNS ablation and local NE depletion alleviated dry eye severity. Topical NE administration induced dry eye signs in healthy mice, but not in Adrb2-/- mice. ICI 118,551 improved tear secretion, corneal epithelial barrier function, and reduced inflammation. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the top 10 downregulated pathways were strongly associated with dry eye-related inflammatory responses, including TNF, NF-&#x3ba;B, chemokines, and IL-17 signaling pathways. In vitro, ICI 118,551 inhibited NF-&#x3ba;B activation and inflammatory cytokines expression in HCECs under hyperosmotic stress.</AbstractText This study provides direct evidence that SNS activation drives dry eye onset through the NE-&#x3b2;2-AR signaling pathway, offering a potential therapeutic target for dry eye diseases.</AbstractText
[ [ "38697112", "MECP2 directly interacts with RNA polymerase II to modulate transcription in human neurons.", "Mutations in the methyl-DNA-binding protein MECP2 cause the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome (RTT). How MECP2 contributes to transcriptional regulation in normal and disease states is unresolved; it has been reported to be an activator and a repressor. We describe here the first integrated CUT&amp;Tag, transcriptome, and proteome analyses using human neurons with wild-type (WT) and mutant MECP2 molecules. MECP2 occupies CpG-rich promoter-proximal regions in over four thousand genes in human neurons, including a plethora of autism risk genes, together with RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II). MECP2 directly interacts with RNA Pol II, and genes occupied by both proteins showed reduced expression in neurons with MECP2 patient mutations. We conclude that MECP2 acts as a positive cofactor for RNA Pol II gene expression at many neuronal genes that harbor CpG islands in promoter-proximal regions and that RTT is due, in part, to the loss of gene activity of these genes in neurons.</AbstractText" ], [ "15238045", "Context-specific freezing and associated physiological reactivity as a dysregulated fear response.", "The putative association between fear-related behaviors and peripheral sympathetic and neuroendocrine reactivity has not been replicated consistently. This inconsistency was addressed in a reexamination of the characterization of children with extreme fearful reactions by focusing on the match between distress behaviors and the eliciting context. Eighty 24-month-old children were observed in 4 mildly threatening contexts, and the relations among different measures of fear-related behaviors, reactive and basal cortisol levels, and baseline cardiac measures of heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and preejection period (PEP) were examined. The hypothesis that only behaviors under the less threatening context would be associated with higher cortisol and sympathetic cardiac activity was confirmed; only task-specific freezing behavior predicted higher reactive and basal cortisol levels and resting PEP measured 1 week later. Implications for the conceptualization of dysregulated fear behaviors in the classification of extremely fearful children are discussed.</AbstractText" ], [ "34090935", "Angiotensin II induces cognitive decline and anxiety-like behavior via disturbing pattern of theta-gamma oscillations.", "Hypertension is the most common chronic disease accompanied by cognitive decline and anxiety-like behavior. Angiotensin II (Ang II) induces hypertension by activating angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT1R). The purpose of the study was to examine the potential underlying mechanism of alterations in cognition and anxiety-like behavior induced by Ang II. Adult C57 mice were intraperitoneal injected with either 1 mg/kg/d Ang II or saline individually for 14 consecutive days. Ang II resulted in cognitive decline and anxious like behavior in C57 mice. Moreover, Ang II disturbed bidirectional synaptic plasticity and neural oscillation coupling between high theta and gamma on PP (perforant pathway)-DG (dentate gyrus) pathway. In addition, Ang II decreased the expression of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NR) 2A and NR 2B and increased the expression of GABA<sub" ], [ "31384010", "Wireless optofluidic brain probes for chronic neuropharmacology and photostimulation.", "Both in vivo neuropharmacology and optogenetic stimulation can be used to decode neural circuitry, and can provide therapeutic strategies for brain disorders. However, current neuronal interfaces hinder long-term studies in awake and freely behaving animals, as they are limited in their ability to provide simultaneous and prolonged delivery of multiple drugs, are often bulky and lack multifunctionality, and employ custom control systems with insufficiently versatile selectivity for output mode, animal selection and target brain circuits. Here, we describe smartphone-controlled, minimally invasive, soft optofluidic probes with replaceable plug-like drug cartridges for chronic in vivo pharmacology and optogenetics with selective manipulation of brain circuits. We demonstrate the use of the probes for the control of the locomotor activity of mice for over four weeks via programmable wireless drug delivery and photostimulation. Owing to their ability to deliver both drugs and photopharmacology into the brain repeatedly over long time periods, the probes may contribute to uncovering the basis of neuropsychiatric diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "29229375", "The pathophysiology of migraine: implications for clinical management.", "The understanding of migraine pathophysiology is advancing rapidly. Improved characterisation and diagnosis of its clinical features have led to the view of migraine as a complex, variable disorder of nervous system function rather than simply a vascular headache. Recent studies have provided important new insights into its genetic causes, anatomical and physiological features, and pharmacological mechanisms. The identification of new migraine-associated genes, the visualisation of brain regions that are activated at the earliest stages of a migraine attack, a greater appreciation of the potential role of the cervical nerves, and the recognition of the crucial role for neuropeptides are among the advances that have led to novel targets for migraine therapy. Future management of migraine will have the capacity to tailor treatments based on the distinct mechanisms of migraine that affect individual patients.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40264596", "Global Economic Burden of Spinal Muscular Atrophy: A Systematic Literature Review.", "Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare inherited neuromuscular disease classified into four main subtypes and characterized by severe muscle weakness and loss of motor function. Its high mortality rates, high treatment costs, and lengthy care requirements place a heavy burden on patients, caregivers, and the healthcare system. This study aims to explore the economic burden of SMA subtypes by analyzing costs, healthcare resource use, and loss of productivity for patients and their caregivers. We conducted a systematic literature review, searching for studies published since 2010 via Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, and gray literature databases. We extracted data concerning costs, healthcare resources, and productivity losses among SMA subtypes. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Quality of Health Economic Studies tools. We retrieved 55 studies from 32 countries with economic data variation due to the study design, location, and SMA subtype. The weighted average annual cost for an SMA patient was US$109,906 with the highest costs observed in type 1 patients, who incurred direct medical costs without disease-modifying treatments of US$187,88. The non-medical costs accounted for US$109,379 per patient, along with frequent hospitalizations and high caregiver productivity losses, requiring 2,947 hours of caregiving annually. The direct and indirect costs of SMA are substantial. The necessity for standardized approaches to evaluate and analyze the economic impact across various SMA subtypes is highlighted by the heterogeneity of the data. In order to control the financial burden of SMA, governments and healthcare systems can benefit from these insights to develop policies aimed at improving financial sustainability and patient support.</AbstractText Prenatal&#xa0;screening tests were first introduced in the 1970s with a single second-trimester serum test for maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP), which was used to detect neural tube defects. By the 1980s, maternal serum marker screening for aneuploidy became available. Since then, the range and complexity of prenatal screening options have continued to expand steadily. Prenatal genetic screening evaluates the risk of a fetus having a specific genetic disorder, while prenatal diagnostic testing is used to confirm the presence of a genetic condition. Prenatal diagnostic testing is typically performed through procedures such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. Prenatal genetic screening was initially developed to detect trisomy 21 (T21, also known as Down syndrome) but has since expanded to include a wider range of genetic conditions, such as trisomy 13 (T13), trisomy 18 (T18), selected microdeletions, and sex chromosome abnormalities. Screening options now include first-trimester screening, which combines nuchal translucency measurement via ultrasound with maternal serum analyte analysis, as well as second-trimester triple, quadruple, or penta screening. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing is also available. Combining first- and second-trimester screening using integrated, sequential-stepwise, or contingent protocols offers improved detection rates compared to single-step screening. Among all methods, cfDNA testing provides the highest detection rate. Carrier screening is available to couples both during the preconception period and throughout pregnancy. This type of screening involves genetic testing on an asymptomatic individual to identify whether they carry an abnormal copy of a gene associated with a specific inherited condition. Multiple panels of genetic disorders can be tested, allowing for a broader evaluation of potential risks. Previously, carrier screening was targeted at specific ethnic groups due to the higher prevalence of certain disorders in particular populations. However, given the increasing diversity of many patient populations, ethnic-based screening is no longer recommended, as determining an individual&#x2019;s specific ancestry can be challenging. For this reason, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) supports panethnic carrier screening. ACOG recommends that all individuals, regardless of ethnicity, be offered screening for a panel of genetic disorders.&#xa0;In addition, ACOG advises that all individuals who are considering pregnancy or are already pregnant be offered carrier screening for conditions such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, thalassemias, and hemoglobinopathies.&#xa0;Regardless of the screening method selected, it is essential that patients receive thorough counseling on the benefits, limitations, and possible outcomes of both screening and diagnostic tests, both before and after testing.</AbstractText" ], [ "40800639", "Giant atypical meningioma diagnosis and clinical treatment: a case report.", "Giant atypical meningioma (WHO grade 2), predominantly female-associated and rare in males. A 23-year-old male presented with episodic limb paralysis and progressive vision/olfaction decline. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;8&#xa0;cm heterogeneously enhancing tumor invading the diploic space with multi-site compression. Preoperative embolization followed by subtotal resection and adjuvant gamma knife radiosurgery achieved 3-year recurrence-free survival. This case highlights: (i) exceptional rarity of young male onset, challenging epidemiological patterns and (ii) the combined strategy of embolization, subtotal resection, and radiotherapy may overcome traditional high recurrence rates in atypical meningiomas, offering insights for individualized management.</AbstractText" ], [ "40501741", "Microglial SWELL1 Deficiency Drives Male-Specific Seizure Vulnerability but Paradoxical Neuroprotection through Impaired Phagocytosis.", "The discovery of genes encoding the volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC) has enabled detailed exploration of its cell type-specific roles in the brain. LRRC8A (SWELL1) is the essential VRAC subunit. We observed seizure-induced, subunit-specific changes in microglial VRAC expression and investigated its function using conditional knockout (cKO) of LRRC8A in microglia. SWELL1 cKO mice exhibited a male-specific increase in kainate-induced seizure severity yet showed paradoxical neuroprotection against seizure-associated neuronal loss. Mechanistically, SWELL1 deletion led to a cell-autonomous reduction in microglial density and decreased release of VRAC-permeable neuroactive metabolites, including taurine, GABA, and glutamate in culture. Additionally, impaired phagocytic kinetics and reduced lysosomal biogenesis contributed to the observed neuroprotection. These findings reveal novel roles for microglial VRAC in regulating seizure outcomes and microglia-neuron interactions.</AbstractText" ], [ "40602313", "Dynamical pattern of successive bits to predict the outcomes of the SSRI and rTMS depression therapies using EEG signals.", "Depression is a mental disorder that can lead to suicide and self-harm if left untreated. Predicting the outcomes of depression therapy is one of the most challenging tasks for psychiatrists and neurologists. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) are two well-established therapies for depression, commonly prescribed as first-line treatments for different levels of depression. However, the response rate is about 50%, which is not significantly high. In this paper, we propose a novel technique called the dynamical pattern of successive bits (DPSB) to extract distinctive features from Electroencephalography (EEG) signals to predict the outcome of different depression therapies and suggest the best course of treatment. Our novel feature extraction technique is built on the nonlinear fusion of variations in successive bits. Two features, amplitude (A) and phase (&#x3d5;), are extracted from EEG signals using the DPSB technique. These features are utilized along with a feedforward neural network architecture to predict the outcome of depression therapy. The results show that our accuracy levels are 99.40% and 99.59% in predicting the outcomes of SSRI and rTMS therapies, respectively. The model is trained and tested using a 10-fold cross-validation technique to avoid bias in the results. The findings indicate that the temporal lobe exhibits a better capability for predicting the outcomes of depression therapies. Furthermore, the T3 channel shows the best performance in predicting these outcomes. Two biomarkers, A and &#x3d5;, are proposed using the DPSB technique for the T3 channel to illustrate the brain's complex behaviors in a 2D plane. The proposed model is embedded in software that could assist neurologists in selecting the best course of treatment for depressed patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "40609403", "Abnormal calcium activity and CREB phosphorylation are associated with motor memory impairment in presenilin-1 mutant knock-in mice.", "Presenilin (PS) gene mutations cause memory impairment in early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.</AbstractText We examined the effects of the PS1 M146V FAD mutation on motor learning, motor learning-related changes in neuronal Ca<sup We found that PS1 M146V knock-in mice displayed long-term deficiencies in motor skill learning. Ca<sup These findings suggest that alterations of Ca<sup" ] ]
36851302
Investigation of Neurological Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination: Report of the Clinical Scenarios and Review of the Literature.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), broke out in 2019 and became a pandemic in 2020. Since then, vaccines have been approved to prevent severe illness. However, vaccines are associated with the risk of neurological complications ranging from mild to severe. Severe complications such as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) associated with acute ischaemic stroke have been reported as rare complications post-COVID-19 vaccination. During the pandemic era, VITT evaluation is needed in cases with a history of vaccination within the last month prior to the event. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) should be suspected in patients following immunization with persistent headaches who are unresponsive to analgesics. In this article, we investigated neurological complications after COVID-19 vaccination and provided more subsequent related clinical studies of accurate diagnosis, pathophysiological mechanisms, incidence, outcome, and management.</AbstractText
[ [ "36128311", "Bell's Palsy and COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review.", "<b" ], [ "19942723", "A prospective randomised controlled study on efficacies of acupuncture and steroid in treatment of idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis.", "A randomised controlled trial was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in comparison with steroid in treatment of idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis (Bell's palsy).</AbstractText A total of 119 patients attending Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital from February 2003 to December 2005 were randomly allocated to groups of acupuncture, steroid and control (conventional expectant treatment). There were 53 in the steroid group, 28 in the acupuncture group and 38 in the control group. Patients were assessed weekly by blinded assessors, using the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system.</AbstractText The efficacy of treatment in three groups was compared, in terms of degree of recovery and speed of recovery. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed. Results were analysed with SPSS software. Distribution of initial grade on presentation was analysed with the Pearson chi-square test and showed uneven distribution in the three groups in the intention-to-treat analysis. The overall improvement (grade 3 or better) was 86.9% in the steroid group, 96.4% in the acupuncture group and 89.5% in the control group respectively. However, the difference in degree of recovery and speed of recovery in the three groups was not statistically significant.</AbstractText The efficacies of acupuncture, steroid and conventional expectant treatment (natural course of recovery) in idiopathic peripheral facial palsy (Bell's palsy) in the study were the same with respect to the degree of recovery and speed of recovery.</AbstractText" ], [ "36258246", "Bell's palsy misdiagnosis: characteristics of occult tumors causing facial paralysis.", "The aim of this study was to report the incidence and clinical course of a series of patients who were misdiagnosed with Bell's palsy and were eventually proven to have occult neoplasms.</AbstractText Two hundred forty patients with unilateral facial paralysis who were assessed at the facial nerve reanimation clinic, Victoria Hospital, London Health Science Centre, from 2008 through 2017 were reviewed. Persistent paralysis without recovery was the presenting complaint.</AbstractText Nine patients (3.8%) who were proven to have occult neoplasms initially presented with a diagnosis of Bell's palsy. The mean diagnostic delay was 43.5&#xa0;months. Four patients were proven to have skin cancers, 3 patients had parotid cancers, and 2 patients had facial nerve schwannomas as a final diagnosis. Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in all 9 patients and 8 underwent a follow-up MRI. An occult tumor was identified upon review of the original MRI in one patient and at follow-up MRI in 8 patients. The mean time interval between the initial and follow-up imaging was 30.8&#xa0;months. The disease status at most recent follow-up were no evidence of disease in 2 patients (22%) and alive with disease in 7 patients (78%). An irreversible, progressive pattern of facial paralysis combined with pain, multiple cranial neuropathies or history of skin cancer were predictable risk factors for occult tumors. Seven out of the 9 patients (77.8%) underwent at least one type of facial reanimation surgery, and the final subjective results by the surgeon were available for 5 patients. Three out of the 5 (60%) patients who were available for final subjective analysis were reported as Grade III according to the modified House-Brackmann scale.</AbstractText Occult facial nerve neoplasm should be suspected in patients with progressive and irreversible facial paralysis but the diagnosis may only become evident with follow-up imaging. Facial reanimation surgery is a satisfactory option for these patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "30170700", "Surgical Management of Acute Facial Palsy.", "Bell palsy and traumatic facial nerve injury are two common causes of acute facial palsy. Most patients with Bell palsy recover favorably with medical therapy alone. However, those with complete paralysis (House-Brackmann 6/6), greater than 90% degeneration on electroneurography, and absent electromyography activity may benefit from surgical decompression via a middle cranial fossa (MCF) approach. Patients with acute facial palsy from traumatic temporal bone fracture who meet these same criteria may be candidates for decompression via an MCF or translabyrinthine approach based on hearing status.</AbstractText" ], [ "35071987", "Sub-acute Onset of Guillain-Barré Syndrome Post-mRNA-1273 Vaccination: a Case Report.", "Ever since the start of the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has taken the lives of millions of people around the globe. Several COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with rapidity to prevent acquiring COVID-19 infection, hospitalizations, and deaths. The routine side effects of these vaccines are commonly known and non-severe. Few serious side effects such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (GBS) are increasingly reported particularly after inoculation with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford/AstraZeneca) and Ad26.COV 2.S (Johnson &amp; Johnson's Janssen). Rare cases of GBS after BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), an mRNA vaccine, are also reported. However, the true association of these cases to COVID-19 continues to be unclear and the safety of these vaccines continues to be great in preventing deaths from COVID-19 infection. We report a case of middle-aged female who had a gradual onset of lower extremity weakness with a nadir of symptoms reached 10 and 12 weeks after the onset. This protracted course (sub-acute) is atypical for a \"classical\" GBS. The presence of an antecedent event, autonomic symptoms such as hypotension, and the need for ventilator support favored the diagnosis of GBS than chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). This is the first known case to be reported of sub-acute onset of Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome after receiving the mRNA-1273 vaccine.</AbstractText The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42399-022-01124-1.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37079314", "Age-Dependent Changes in the Water Content and Optical Power of the In Vivo Mouse Lens Revealed by Multi-Parametric MRI and Optical Modeling.", "The purpose of this study was to utilize in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical modeling to investigate how changes in water transport, lens curvature, and gradient refractive index (GRIN) alter the power of the mouse lens as a function of age.</AbstractText Lenses of male C57BL/6 wild-type mice aged between 3 weeks and 12 months (N = 4 mice per age group) were imaged using a 7T MRI scanner. Measurements of lens shape and the distribution of T2 (water-bound protein ratios) and T1 (free water content) values were extracted from MRI images. T2 values were converted into the refractive index (n) using an age-corrected calibration equation to calculate the GRIN at different ages. GRIN maps and shape parameters were inputted into an optical model to determine ageing effects on lens power and spherical aberration.</AbstractText The mouse lens showed two growth phases. From 3 weeks to 3 months, T2 decreased, GRIN increased, and T1 decreased. This was accompanied by increased lens thickness, volume, and surface radii of curvatures. The refractive power of the lens also increased significantly, and a negative spherical aberration was developed and maintained. Between 6 and 12 months of age, all physiological, geometrical, and optical parameters remained constant, although the lens continued to grow.</AbstractText In the first 3 months, the mouse lens power increased as a result of changes in shape and in the GRIN, the latter driven by the decreased water content of the lens nucleus. Further research into the mechanisms regulating this decrease in mouse lens water could improve our understanding of how lens power changes during emmetropization in the developing human lens.</AbstractText" ], [ "37648189", "Meniere's disease: Pathogenesis, treatments, and emerging approaches for an idiopathic bioenvironmental disorder.", "Meniere's disease (MD) is a severe inner ear condition known by debilitating symptoms, including spontaneous vertigo, fluctuating and progressive hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural fullness or pressure within the affected ear. Prosper Meniere first described the origins of MD in the 1860s, but its underlying mechanisms remain largely elusive today. Nevertheless, researchers have identified a key histopathological feature called Endolymphatic Hydrops (ELH), which refers to the excessive buildup of endolymph fluid in the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear. The exact root of ELH is not fully understood. Still, it is believed to involve several biological and bioenvironmental etiological factors such as genetics, autoimmunity, infection, trauma, allergy, and new theories, such as saccular otoconia blocking the endolymphatic duct and sac. Regarding treatment, there are no reliable and definitive cures for MD. Most therapies focus on managing symptoms and improving the overall quality of patients' life. To make significant advancements in addressing MD, it is crucial to gain a fundamental understanding of the disease process, laying the groundwork for more effective therapeutic approaches. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the pathophysiology of MD with a focus on old and recent theories. Current treatment strategies and future translational approaches (with low-level evidence but promising results) related to MD are also discussed, including patents, drug delivery, and nanotechnology, that may provide future benefits to patients suffering from MD.</AbstractText" ], [ "37342462", "Classification of human chronotype based on fMRI network-based statistics.", "Chronotype-the relationship between the internal circadian physiology of an individual and the external 24-h light-dark cycle-is increasingly implicated in mental health and cognition. Individuals presenting with a late chronotype have an increased likelihood of developing depression, and can display reduced cognitive performance during the societal 9-5 day. However, the interplay between physiological rhythms and the brain networks that underpin cognition and mental health is not well-understood. To address this issue, we use rs-fMRI collected from 16 people with an early chronotype and 22 people with a late chronotype over three scanning sessions. We develop a classification framework utilizing the Network Based-Statistic methodology, to understand if differentiable information about chronotype is embedded in functional brain networks and how this changes throughout the day. We find evidence of subnetworks throughout the day that differ between extreme chronotypes such that high accuracy can occur, describe rigorous threshold criteria for achieving 97.3% accuracy in the Evening and investigate how the same conditions hinder accuracy for other scanning sessions. Revealing differences in functional brain networks based on extreme chronotype suggests future avenues of research that may ultimately better characterize the relationship between internal physiology, external perturbations, brain networks, and disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "37302917", "Sensorimotor foundations of speech perception in infancy.", "The perceptual system for speech is highly organized from early infancy. This organization bootstraps young human learners' ability to acquire their native speech and language from speech input. Here, we review behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that perceptual systems beyond the auditory modality are also specialized for speech in infancy, and that motor and sensorimotor systems can influence speech perception even in infants too young to produce speech-like vocalizations. These investigations complement existing literature on infant vocal development and on the interplay between speech perception and production systems in adults. We conclude that a multimodal speech and language network is present before speech-like vocalizations emerge.</AbstractText" ], [ "37505157", "Trends and hotspots in gene research of epilepsy in children: A review and bibliometric analysis from 2010 to 2022.", "About 70% to 80% of epilepsy cases are related to genetic factors. Genetic research has revealed the genetic etiology and molecular mechanisms of childhood epilepsy, which has increased our understanding of childhood epilepsy.</AbstractText We searched the core collection of Web of Science for relevant papers on genetic research on childhood epilepsy published since 2010 on November 30, 2022. In this study, original articles and reviews in English were included. Using CiteSpace and VOSviewer online tools, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the countries, institutions, journals, co-cited journals, co-cited references, keywords, and research hotspots.</AbstractText We evaluated 2500 literatures on epilepsy genomics in children. Among them, 96 countries published relevant articles, with the United States ranking the most. A total of 389 institutions have contributed relevant publications, and the University of Melbourne has published the most papers. Epilepsy journals were the most commonly cited. The references of papers were clustered into 9 categories: gene testing, epileptic encephalopathy, Dravet syndrome, focal cortical dysplasia, Rolandic epilepsy, copy number variation, ketogenic diet, monogenic epilepsy, and ptt2 mutation. Burst keywords represent the frontier of research, including developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (2021-2022), neurodevelopmental disorders (2020-2022), gene testing (2020-2022), and whole-exome sequencing (2019-2022).</AbstractText This study conducted a systematic and objective bibliometric analysis of the literature on epilepsy gene research in children. More importantly, it revealed the hot spot, frontier, and future developmental trends in the field. It will help pediatricians and geneticists further understand the dynamic evolution of genetic research on pediatric epilepsy.</AbstractText" ] ]
40532802
Zhen-wu-tang alleviates nephrotic syndrome by upregulating 5-HTR1B to activate AMPK/PGC-1α-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis.
Zhen-wu-tang (ZWT) as a classic herbal formula is widely recognized for its therapeutic efficacy in treating nephropathy. It is commonly used to alleviate edema, improve renal function, and manage symptoms associated with kidney yang deficiency. However, its therapeutic efficacy and mechanism for nephrotic syndrome (NS) is not yet clear.</AbstractText To investigate the underlying mechanism of ZWT in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis (MB) to treat NS.</AbstractText An adriamycin (ADR)-induced NS animal model and a renal tubular epithelial cell injury model were used, followed by intervention with three concentrations of ZWT. The location of 5-HTR1B in kidney cells was observed using immunofluorescence co-localization. Protein levels of the MB-related proteins, including recombinant transcription factor A (TFAM), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &#x3b3; coactivator 1&#x3b1; (PGC-1&#x3b1;), adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and p-AMPK, were determined by western blotting after administration of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1B (5-HTR1B) agonist and inhibitor interventions. The bioactive compounds of ZWT-containing serum were determined using ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.</AbstractText ZWT treatment ameliorated renal dysfunction and pathological damage in NS rats by attenuating podocyte and tubular cell damage. Additionally, ZWT reduced NS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species levels. Immunofluorescence revealed that 5-HTR1B was predominantly expressed in the collecting ducts and proximal tubule cells. In ADR-induced models, ZWT upregulated the levels of PGC-1&#x3b1;, TFAM, AMPK and p-AMPK proteins involved in MB. In addition, a novel finding was that both gene and protein levels of 5-HTR1B were downregulated in these injury models, whereas ZWT intervention upregulated them. Studies on 5-HTR1B agonists and antagonists indicated that ZWT regulates AMPK/PGC-1&#x3b1; through 5-HTR1B-mediated mechanisms. Furthermore, 24 bioactive compounds were identified in ZWT-containing serum, of which paeoniflorin bound best to 5-HTR1B and acted similarly to 5-HTR1B agonists.</AbstractText Overall, this study demonstrated that ZWT alleviates NS by upregulating MB via the 5-HTR1B/AMPK/PGC-1&#x3b1; signaling. This novel mechanism enriches the reference of ZWT for NS therapy.</AbstractText
[ [ "17450135", "Serotonin modulates the response of embryonic thalamocortical axons to netrin-1.", "Modifying serotonin (5-HT) abundance in the embryonic mouse brain disrupts the precision of sensory maps formed by thalamocortical axons (TCAs), suggesting that 5-HT influences their growth. We investigated the mechanism by which 5-HT influences TCAs during development. 5-HT(1B) and 5-HT(1D) receptor expression in the fetal forebrain overlaps with that of the axon guidance receptors DCC and Unc5c. In coculture assays, axons originating from anterior and posterior halves of the embryonic day 14.5 dorsal thalamus responded differently to netrin-1, reflecting the patterns of DCC and Unc5c expression. 5-HT converts the attraction exerted by netrin-1 on posterior TCAs to repulsion. Pharmacological manipulation of 5-HT(1B/1D) receptors and intracellular cAMP showed the signaling cascade through which this modulation occurs. An in vivo correlate of altered TCA pathfinding was obtained by transient manipulation of 5-HT(1B/1D) receptor expression abundance in the dorsal thalamus by in utero electroporation. These data demonstrate that serotonergic signaling has a previously unrecognized role in the modulation of axonal responsiveness to a classic guidance cue.</AbstractText" ], [ "31501571", "Immediate and deferred epigenomic signatures of in vivo neuronal activation in mouse hippocampus.", "Activity-driven transcription plays an important role in many brain processes, including those underlying memory and epilepsy. Here we combine genetic tagging of nuclei and ribosomes with RNA sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing, assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing and Hi-C to investigate transcriptional and chromatin changes occurring in mouse hippocampal excitatory neurons at different time points after synchronous activation during seizure and sparse activation by novel context exploration. The transcriptional burst is associated with an increase in chromatin accessibility of activity-regulated genes and enhancers, de novo binding of activity-regulated transcription factors, augmented promoter-enhancer interactions and the formation of gene loops that bring together the transcription start site and transcription termination site of induced genes and may sustain the fast reloading of RNA polymerase complexes. Some chromatin occupancy changes and interactions, particularly those driven by AP1, remain long after neuronal activation and could underlie the changes in neuronal responsiveness and circuit connectivity observed in these neuroplasticity paradigms, perhaps thereby contributing to metaplasticity in the adult brain.</AbstractText" ], [ "34354572", "Increasing Serotonin to Reduce Parkinsonian Tremor.", "While current dopamine-based drugs seem to be effective for most Parkinson's disease (PD) motor dysfunctions, they produce variable responsiveness for resting tremor. This lack of consistency could be explained by considering recent evidence suggesting that PD resting tremor can be divided into different partially overlapping phenotypes based on the dopamine response. These phenotypes may be associated with different pathophysiological mechanisms produced by a cortical-subcortical network involving even non-dopaminergic areas traditionally not directly related to PD. In this study, we propose a bio-constrained computational model to study the neural mechanisms underlying a possible type of PD tremor: the one mainly involving the serotoninergic system. The simulations run with the model demonstrate that a physiological serotonin increase can partially recover dopamine levels at the early stages of the disease before the manifestation of overt tremor. This result suggests that monitoring serotonin concentration changes could be critical for early diagnosis. The simulations also show the effectiveness of a new pharmacological treatment for tremor that acts on serotonin to recover dopamine levels. This latter result has been validated by reproducing existing data collected with human patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "30034327", "A Comprehensive Overview on Stress Neurobiology: Basic Concepts and Clinical Implications.", "Stress is recognized as an important issue in basic and clinical neuroscience research, based upon the founding historical studies by Walter Canon and Hans Selye in the past century, when the concept of stress emerged in a biological and adaptive perspective. A lot of research after that period has expanded the knowledge in the stress field. Since then, it was discovered that the response to stressful stimuli is elaborated and triggered by the, now known, <i" ], [ "35850212", "The potent α(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist RS 79948 also inhibits dopamine D(2) -receptors: Comparison with atipamezole and raclopride.", "Neurochemical, electrophysiological and behavioral evidence indicate that the potent &#x3b1;<sub" ] ]
[ [ "40669172", "Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation therapy for refractory epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation in sleep.", "The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the efficacy of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) in drug-resistant epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation in sleep (EE-SWAS) pediatric patients.</AbstractText We prospectively reviewed 11 drug-resistant epilepsy pediatric patients who underwent a 3-month t-VNS. We used a weighted phase lag index (wPLI) measure to assess the change in connectivity measures that quantify electroencephalogram (EEG) synchronization before and after stimulation. We measured the change in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and seizure frequency following t-VNS, and cognitive functions were assessed before and after stimulation using the Chinese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC) and the Chinese Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (C-WPPSI).</AbstractText Our results show that 63.63% of EE-SWAS patients were responders to the 3- month t-VNS, with 4 being seizure-free, and resulted in a reduction of NREM, seizure frequency, and coupling strength. More specifically, there was a significant decrease in coupling strength in the frontal-occipital and central-occipital regions in the theta band; frontal-parietal, central-parietal, parietal, parietal-occipital, parietal-temporal, occipital-temporal, and temporal regions in the alpha band; and lastly, frontal-occipital, central-parietal, parietal-occipital, and occipital-temporal regions in the beta band. There were no statistically significant changes in total intelligence before and after t-VNS.</AbstractText This study presents evidence that t-VNS is a safe and effective non-invasive treatment for refractory EE-SWAS. Despite the relatively short stimulation period, t-VNS resulted in a decrease in NREM, seizure frequency, and in an alteration in brain functional connectivity strength. Future studies with a larger cohort and longer stimulation duration may be necessary to substantiate our findings.</AbstractText" ], [ "40761869", "Primary bladder diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a rare case report and literature review.", "Primary bladder diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PB-DLBCL) is an exceedingly rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, accounting for only 0.2% of all extranodal lymphomas. Here we report a case of PB-DLBCL in a woman presenting with hematuria. To determine the disease stage, an <sup" ], [ "40714868", "Interthalamic Adhesion Thickness and Its Ratio to Cerebral Height in Canine Brain MRI: Influence of Body Weight, MRI Sequence (T1W/T2W), and Imaging Plane.", "Canine brain MRI facilitates the quantitative assessment of changes, such as edema or atrophy. The measurement of interthalamic adhesion thickness (ITAt) potentially enables the evaluation of brain atrophy. In this study, we aimed to measure the ITA thickness and the ITA-to-cerebral height ratio (ITAr) in various small dog breeds to analyze differences and correlations with age, body weight, sex, and breed. Among 260 dogs without lesions, such as Chiari malformation, hydrocephalus, or brain atrophy, the ITAt was measured in the sagittal and transverse planes using T1-weighted (T1W) and T2-weighted (T2W) MRI sequences. Correlations with breed, age, weight, and sex variables were then analyzed. The results showed significant variations in ITAt between breeds, with a negative correlation with age and a positive correlation with body weight. ITAt showed significant differences across different body-weight ranges, and ITAr demonstrated consistency regardless of breed, body weight, and sex, suggesting its potential as an objective metric. The ITAr was lowest in the axial plane, T2W (0.15&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;0.02), and highest in the sagittal plane, T1W (0.18&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;0.02). Furthermore, ITAt values were higher in T1W than in T2W, which demonstrated a noticeable difference. This finding confirms the necessity of establishing sequence- and plane-specific reference ranges. This study provides reference ranges for ITAt and ITAr across various dog breeds, confirming that ITAt may be influenced by age and body weight, whereas the ITAr remains consistent across a wide range of body types and weights, which indicates its promise as a more objective assessment metric.</AbstractText" ], [ "40157435", "Social interaction as a unique form of reward - Insights from healthy ageing and frontotemporal dementia.", "The drive for positive social interactions, or \"social rewards\", is an important motivator of human behaviour, conferring several adaptive benefits. Social motivation fluctuates across the lifespan, reflecting changes in goals and priorities at different developmental stages. In older adulthood, for instance, priorities tend to shift toward maintaining emotional wellbeing and resources over seeking novel gains. Contemporary theories of social interaction must account for such motivational shifts, addressing the enhancement of social processing in ageing and its decline in dementia. Here, we propose a framework to track the evolution of social motivation across the lifespan, focusing on three mechanisms: (i) social interactions as rewards, (ii) learning from social interactions, and (iii) the effort required for social interactions. We posit that social rewards hold equivalent or increased value later in life, enhancing older adults' social connections. Conversely, social rewards become devalued in neurodegenerative disorders such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD), resulting in social withdrawal. This integrative framework serves as a foundation for understanding adaptive and maladaptive trajectories of social motivation throughout the adult lifespan.</AbstractText" ], [ "39253521", "Focused Ultrasound Augments the Delivery and Penetration of Model Therapeutics into Cerebral Cavernous Malformations.", "Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are vascular neoplasms in the brain that can cause debilitating symptoms. Current treatments pose significant risks to some patients, motivating the development of new nonsurgical options. We recently discovered that focused ultrasound-microbubble treatment (FUS) arrests CCM formation and growth. Here, we build on this discovery and assess the ability of FUS to deliver model therapeutics into CCMs.</AbstractText Quantitative T1 mapping MRI sequences were used with 1 kDa (MultiHance; MH) and 17 kDa (GadoSpin D; GDS) contrast agents to assess the FUS-mediated delivery and penetration of model small molecule drugs and biologics, respectively, into CCMs of Krit1 mutant mice.</AbstractText FUS elevated the rate of MH delivery to both the lesion core (4.6-fold) and perilesional space (6.7-fold). Total MH delivery more than doubled in the lesion core and tripled in the perilesional space when FUS was applied immediately prior to MH injection. For the model biologic drug (i.e. GDS), FUS was of greater relative benefit, resulting in 21.7-fold and 3.8-fold delivery increases to the intralesional and perilesional spaces, respectively.</AbstractText FUS augments the delivery and penetration of therapeutics into the complex and disorganized CCM microenvironment. Benefits to small molecule drug delivery are more evident in the perilesional space, while benefits to biologic delivery are more evident in CCM cores. These findings, when combined with ability of FUS alone to control CCMs, highlight the potential of FUS to serve as a powerful non-invasive therapeutic platform for CCM.</AbstractText" ] ]
40790736
Risk factors for tuberculosis treatment outcomes: a statistical learning-based exploration using the SINAN database with incomplete observations.
Understanding early predictors of treatment outcomes allows better outcome prediction and resource allocation for efficient tuberculosis (TB) management.</AbstractText This study aimed to predict treatment outcomes of TB patients from a real-world population-wide health record dataset with a significant rate of incomplete observations. In addition, potential risk factors associated with death during TB treatment were investigated.</AbstractText We exploited the upweighting approach and multiple imputation analysis (MIA) to address the extreme imbalance in responses and missing data. Three algorithms were employed for TB treatment outcome prediction, including logistic regression (LOGIT), random forest, and stochastic gradient boosting. The three models exhibited similar performance in predicting the treatment outcomes. Moreover, an interpretation of LOGIT was conducted, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were computed, and the interpretation results were compared between MIA and complete case analysis (CCA).</AbstractText MIA was an appropriate method for coping with missing data. In addition, compared to CCA, the interpretation results of the MIA-derived LOGIT showed more statistically significant covariates associated with TB treatment outcomes. In MIA, factors such as TB clinical form involving both pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB [aOR&#x2009;=&#x2009;3.077, 95% confidence interval (CI)&#x2009;=&#x2009;2.994-3.163], retreatment after abandonment (aOR&#x2009;=&#x2009;2.272, 95% CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;2.209-2.338), and the absence of isoniazid (aOR&#x2009;=&#x2009;2.072, 95% CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.892-2.269) or rifampicin (aOR&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.968, 95% CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.746-2.218) in the treatment regimen were associated with increased odds of death.</AbstractText In conclusion, our results shed light on the potential risk factors for death during TB treatment and suggest the use of simple yet interpretable LOGIT for the prediction of TB treatment outcomes.</AbstractText
[ [ "32902347", "Continuous reports of sensed hand position during sensorimotor adaptation.", "Sensorimotor learning is thought to entail multiple learning processes, some volitional and others automatic. A new method to isolate implicit learning involves the use of a \"clamped\" visual perturbation in which, during a reaching movement, visual feedback is limited to a cursor that follows an invariant trajectory offset from the target by a fixed angle. Despite full awareness that the cursor movement is not contingent on their behavior, as well as explicit instructions to ignore the cursor, systematic changes in motor behavior are observed, and these changes have the signatures of motor adaptation observed in studies using classic visuomotor perturbations. Although it is clear that the response to clamped feedback occurs automatically, it remains unknown whether participants are sensitive to the large deviations in hand position that occur during adaptation. To address this question, we used the clamp method and asked participants to report their hand position after each reach. As expected, we observed robust deviations in hand angle away from the target (average of &#x223c;18&#xb0;). The hand reports also showed systematic deviations over the course of adaptation, initially attracted toward the visual feedback and then in the opposite direction, paralleling the shift in hand position. However, the shift in perceived hand position was subtle, reaching only &#x223c;2&#xb0; at asymptote. These results confirm that participants have limited awareness of the behavioral changes that occur during sensorimotor adaptation while revealing the impact of feedforward and feedback signals on their subjective experience.<b" ], [ "36549147", "Multiple mechanisms regulate statistical learning of orthographic regularities in school-age children: Neurophysiological evidence.", "Using event-related potentials (ERPs), this study investigated how the brains of Chinese children of different ages extract and encode relational patterns contained in orthographic input.&#xa0;Ninety-nine Chinese children in Grades 1-3 performed an artificial orthography statistical learning task that comprised logographic components embedded in characters with high (100%), moderate (80%), and low (60%) positional consistency. The behavioral results indicated that across grades, participants more accurately recognized characters with high rather than low consistency. The neurophysiological results revealed that in each grade, the amplitude of some ERP components differed, with a larger P1 effect in the high consistency condition and a larger N170 and left-lateralized P300 effect in the low consistency condition. A smaller N170 effect occurred in Grade 3 than in Grade 1, and a larger P300 effect occurred in Grade 1 than in either Grade 2 or 3. These findings suggest the dynamic nature of statistical learning by showing that neural adaptation associated with N170, and attention and working memory related to P1 and P300, regulate different types of structural input, and that children's abilities to prioritize these mechanisms vary with context and age.</AbstractText" ], [ "33667219", "Reexposure to a sensorimotor perturbation produces opposite effects on explicit and implicit learning processes.", "The motor system demonstrates an exquisite ability to adapt to changes in the environment and to quickly reset when these changes prove transient. If similar environmental changes are encountered in the future, learning may be faster, a phenomenon known as savings. In studies of sensorimotor learning, a central component of savings is attributed to the explicit recall of the task structure and appropriate compensatory strategies. Whether implicit adaptation also contributes to savings remains subject to debate. We tackled this question by measuring, in parallel, explicit and implicit adaptive responses in a visuomotor rotation task, employing a protocol that typically elicits savings. While the initial rate of learning was faster in the second exposure to the perturbation, an analysis decomposing the 2 processes showed the benefit to be solely associated with explicit re-aiming. Surprisingly, we found a significant decrease after relearning in aftereffect magnitudes during no-feedback trials, a direct measure of implicit adaptation. In a second experiment, we isolated implicit adaptation using clamped visual feedback, a method known to eliminate the contribution of explicit learning processes. Consistent with the results of the first experiment, participants exhibited a marked reduction in the adaptation function, as well as an attenuated aftereffect when relearning from the clamped feedback. Motivated by these results, we reanalyzed data from prior studies and observed a consistent, yet unappreciated pattern of attenuation of implicit adaptation during relearning. These results indicate that explicit and implicit sensorimotor processes exhibit opposite effects upon relearning: Explicit learning shows savings, while implicit adaptation becomes attenuated.</AbstractText" ], [ "33483935", "Prolonged response time helps eliminate residual errors in visuomotor adaptation.", "One persistent curiosity in visuomotor adaptation tasks is that participants often do not reach maximal performance. This incomplete asymptote has been explained as a consequence of obligatory computations within the implicit adaptation system, such as an equilibrium between learning and forgetting. A body of recent work has shown that in standard adaptation tasks, cognitive strategies operate alongside implicit learning. We reasoned that incomplete learning in adaptation tasks may primarily reflect a speed-accuracy tradeoff on time-consuming motor planning. Across three experiments, we find evidence supporting this hypothesis, showing that hastened motor planning may primarily lead to under-compensation. When an obligatory waiting period was administered before movement start, participants were able to fully counteract imposed perturbations (Experiment 1). Inserting the same delay between trials - rather than during movement planning - did not induce full compensation, suggesting that the motor planning interval influences the learning asymptote (Experiment 2). In the last experiment (Experiment 3), we asked participants to continuously report their movement intent. We show that emphasizing explicit re-aiming strategies (and concomitantly increasing planning time) also lead to complete asymptotic learning. Findings from all experiments support the hypothesis that incomplete adaptation is, in part, the result of an intrinsic speed-accuracy tradeoff, perhaps related to cognitive strategies that require parametric attentional reorienting from the visual target to the goal.</AbstractText" ], [ "31402882", "Implicit Learning, Bilingualism, and Dyslexia: Insights From a Study Assessing AGL With a Modified Simon Task.", "This paper presents an experimental study investigating artificial grammar learning in monolingual and bilingual children, with and without dyslexia, using an original methodology. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon task, in which the sequence of the stimuli was manipulated according to the rules of a simple Lindenmayer grammar (more specifically, a Fibonacci grammar). By ensuring that the subjects focused on the correct response execution at the motor stage in presence of congruent or incongruent visual stimuli, we could meet the two fundamental criteria for implicit learning: the absence of an intention to learn and the lack of awareness at the level of resulting knowledge. The participants of our studies were four groups of 10-year-old children: 30 Italian monolingual typically developing children, 30 bilingual typically developing children with Italian L2, 24 Italian monolingual dyslexic children, and 24 bilingual dyslexic children with Italian L2. Participants were administered the modified Simon task developed according to the rules of the Fibonacci grammar and tested with respect to the implicit learning of three regularities: (i) a red is followed by a blue, (ii) a sequence of two blues is followed by a red, and (iii) a blue can be followed either by a red or by a blue. Results clearly support the hypothesis that learning took place, since participants of all groups became increasingly sensitive to the structure of the input, implicitly learning the sequence of the trials and thus appropriately predicting the occurrence of the relevant items, as manifested by faster reaction times in predictable trials. Moreover, group differences were found, with bilinguals being overall faster than monolinguals and dyslexics less accurate than controls. Finally, an advantage of bilingualism in dyslexia was found, with bilingual dyslexics performing consistently better than monolingual dyslexics and, in some conditions, at the level of the two control groups. These results are taken to suggest that bilingualism should be supported also among linguistically impaired individuals.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40640943", "Acceptability of a personalised single-session feedback intervention for eating disorders: a qualitative content analysis.", "Eating disorders (EDs) are serious and common, but accessing treatment is difficult due to cost, location, waitlists, and reservation of care for the most severe cases. Single-session interventions (SSIs) are one-session treatments that hold promise for improving access to healthcare, especially for those in earlier stages of illness. Personalised SSIs could address individual needs to provide the most help as efficiently as possible. However, it is important to understand whether people with EDs are receptive to personalisation and SSIs. This study interviewed 16 people with EDs about whether they would be interested in a personalised SSI. The SSI would provide feedback on a person&#x2019;s ED symptoms and strategies to better understand their experience and support their recovery. Participants were receptive, stating they valued detailed information, that they would like actionable recommendations to care for their health, and that feedback could be shared with doctors and therapists to better support them. They were concerned that feedback could bring up shameful emotions, which for some, might trigger ED behaviours. Participants recommended that feedback be offered in various formats and conveyed in a gentle tone to accommodate different learning styles and reduce potential distress.</AbstractText" ], [ "40739288", "Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of oxygen therapy among emergency nurses.", "This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding oxygen therapy among emergency nurses in Sichuan Province, China. From November to December 2023, data were collected from 410 qualified emergency nurses (response rate: 63.08%) across 15 tertiary hospitals using a validated, self-developed questionnaire. Participants were predominantly female (83.9%), with mean scores of 16.74&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;8.44 (range 0-26) for knowledge, 23.85&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.73 (range 5-25) for attitude, and 55.29&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;5.26 (range 12-60) for practice. Scores exceeding 70% in each domain were considered satisfactory. Notable knowledge gaps emerged regarding two critical aspects: 21.95% of respondents expressed uncertainty about oxygen administration in myocardial infarction patients with SpO<sub" ], [ "40159841", "Dynamic Plasma Membrane Topography Linked With Arp2/3 Actin Network Induction During Cell Shape Change.", "Recent studies show the importance of mesoscale changes to plasma membrane (PM) topography during cell shape change. Local folding and flattening of the cell surface is mechanosensitive, changing in response to both microenvironment structural elements and intracellular cytoskeletal activities. These topography changes elicit local mechanical signaling events that act in conjunction with molecular signal transduction pathways to remodel the cell cortex. Experimental manipulations of local PM curvature show its sufficiency for recruiting Arp2/3 actin network induction pathways. Additionally, studies of diverse cell shape changes-ranging from neutrophil migration to early Drosophila embryo cleavage to neural stem cell asymmetric division-show that local generation of PM folding is linked with local Arp2/3 actin network induction, which then remodels the PM topography during dynamic control of cell structure. These examples are reviewed in detail, together with known and potential causes of PM topography changes, downstream effects, and higher-order feedback.</AbstractText" ], [ "40693371", "Rapid and simplified post-processing for simultaneous B0 and B1 mapping in the application of CEST.", "<mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" A direct relationship was derived between <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" The proposed approach, called RAbi DIstance SearcH (RADISH), accelerated post-processing by two orders of magnitude, with improved estimation across all brain slices. Maps produced with RADISH were consistent with those produced by unartifacted areas in the original approach, with agreements within 1 Hz and 0.5% for <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" Improvement in speed and robustness provided by RADISH allows for reliable generation of <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ], [ "40522072", "Plasmonic Field-Enhanced Zeeman Splitting in Ag-CsPbBr(3) Hybrid Nanostructures: A Step toward Tunable Magneto-Optical Devices.", "We present a systematic study of plasmon-enhanced magneto-optical (MO) effects in hybrid nanostructures composed of CsPbBr<sub" ] ]
40214437
Huntingtin-Interacting Protein 1-Related (HIP1R) Regulates Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovial Fibroblast Invasiveness.
Huntingtin-interacting protein 1-related (HIP1R) shares some function similarities with HIP1, and HIP1 regulates arthritis and RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) invasiveness. Therefore, we hypothesized that HIP1R might be involved in the regulation of FLS phenotypes and molecular processes relevant to RA. siRNA was used to knockdown HIP1R, HIP1 or control in RA FLS, followed by cell studies for invasion in Matrigel, migration, proliferation, and adhesion. RNA was sequenced and analyzed. HIP1R knockdown significantly reduced RA FLS invasiveness and migration (<i
[ [ "25288117", "Myelination of the nervous system: mechanisms and functions.", "Myelination of axons in the nervous system of vertebrates enables fast, saltatory impulse propagation, one of the best-understood concepts in neurophysiology. However, it took a long while to recognize the mechanistic complexity both of myelination by oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells and of their cellular interactions. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of myelin biogenesis, its lifelong plasticity, and the reciprocal interactions of myelinating glia with the axons they ensheath. In the central nervous system, myelination is also stimulated by axonal activity and astrocytes, whereas myelin clearance involves microglia/macrophages. Once myelinated, the long-term integrity of axons depends on glial supply of metabolites and neurotrophic factors. The relevance of this axoglial symbiosis is illustrated in normal brain aging and human myelin diseases, which can be studied in corresponding mouse models. Thus, myelinating cells serve a key role in preserving the connectivity and functions of a healthy nervous system.</AbstractText" ], [ "34448373", "Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Patients with Prostate Cancer is Associated with the Risk of Subsequent Alzheimer's Disease but Not with Vascular Dementia.", "We aimed to investigate the association between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and the risk of dementia according to subtypes of dementia in men with prostate cancer.</AbstractText We performed a nationwide population-based cohort study using the nationwide claims database in Korea. A total of 195,308 men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer were identified between January 2008 and December 2017, and 132,700 men were selected for analysis after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were divided into ADT and non-ADT groups. To adjust for imbalances in relevant comorbidities between the groups, exact matching was performed. Study events included newly developed Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and overall dementia. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used.</AbstractText After exact matching, 44,854 men with prostate cancer were selected for the main analysis. In age-adjusted Cox regression analysis, the ADT group was significantly associated with increased risks for overall dementia (hazard ratio [HR], 1.070; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.009-1.134; p=0.0232) and Alzheimer's disease (HR, 1.086; 95% CI, 1.018-1.160; p=0.0127), compared to the non-ADT group. No difference in vascular dementia risk was observed between the two groups (HR, 0.990; 95% CI, 0.870-1.126; p=0.8792).</AbstractText The risk of overall dementia increased in men who received ADT. According to dementia subtypes, ADT was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, but not with vascular dementia.</AbstractText" ], [ "34199470", "Astrocyte Networks as Therapeutic Targets in Glaucomatous Neurodegeneration.", "Astrocytes are intimately involved in the response to neurodegenerative stress and have become an attractive target for the development of neuroprotective therapies. However, studies often focus on astrocytes as single-cell units. Astrocytes are densely interconnected by gap junctions that are composed primarily of the protein connexin-43 (Cx43) and can function as a broader network of cells. Such networks contribute to a number of important processes, including metabolite distribution and extracellular ionic buffering, and are likely to play an important role in the progression of neurodegenerative disease. This review will focus on the pro-degenerative and pro-survival influence of astrocyte Cx43 in disease progression, with a focus on the roles of gap junctions and hemichannels in the spread of degenerative stress. Finally, we will highlight the specific evidence for targeting these networks in the treatment of glaucomatous neurodegeneration and other optic neuropathies.</AbstractText" ], [ "33523395", "Satellite Glial Cells and Astrocytes, a Comparative Review.", "Astroglia are neural cells, heterogeneous in form and function, which act as supportive elements of the central nervous system; astrocytes contribute to all aspects of neural functions in health and disease. Through their highly ramified processes, astrocytes form close physical contacts with synapses and blood vessels, and are integrated into functional syncytia by gap junctions. Astrocytes interact among themselves and with other cells types (e.g., neurons, microglia, blood vessel cells) by an elaborate repertoire of chemical messengers and receptors; astrocytes also influence neural plasticity and synaptic transmission through maintaining homeostasis of neurotransmitters, K<sup" ], [ "31718551", "C-fibers may modulate adjacent Aδ-fibers through axon-axon CGRP signaling at nodes of Ranvier in the trigeminal system.", "Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) towards CGRP or the CGRP receptor show good prophylactic antimigraine efficacy. However, their site of action is still elusive. Due to lack of passage of mAbs across the blood-brain barrier the trigeminal system has been suggested a possible site of action because it lacks blood-brain barrier and hence is available to circulating molecules. The trigeminal ganglion (TG) harbors two types of neurons; half of which store CGRP and the rest that express CGRP receptor elements (CLR/RAMP1).</AbstractText With specific immunohistochemistry methods, we demonstrated the localization of CGRP, CLR, RAMP1, and their locations related to expression of the paranodal marker contactin-associated protein 1 (CASPR). Furthermore, we studied functional CGRP release separately from the neuron soma and the part with only nerve fibers of the trigeminal ganglion, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</AbstractText Antibodies towards CGRP and CLR/RAMP1 bind to two different populations of neurons in the TG and are found in the C- and the myelinated A&#x3b4;-fibers, respectively, within the dura mater and in trigeminal ganglion (TG). CASPR staining revealed paranodal areas of the different myelinated fibers inhabiting the TG and dura mater. Double immunostaining with CASPR and RAMP1 or the functional CGRP receptor antibody (AA58) revealed co-localization of the two peptides in the paranodal region which suggests the presence of the CGRP-receptor. Double immunostaining with CGRP and CASPR revealed that thin C-fibers have CGRP-positive boutons which often localize in close proximity to the nodal areas of the CGRP-receptor positive A&#x3b4;-fibers. These boutons are pearl-like synaptic structures, and we show CGRP release from fibers dissociated from their neuronal bodies. In addition, we found that adjacent to the CGRP receptor localization in the node of Ranvier there was PKA immunoreactivity (kinase stimulated by cAMP), providing structural possibility to modify conduction activity within the A&#x3b4;-fibers.</AbstractText We observed a close relationship between the CGRP containing C-fibers and the A&#x3b4;-fibers containing the CGRP-receptor elements, suggesting a point of axon-axon interaction for the released CGRP and a site of action for gepants and the novel mAbs to alleviate migraine.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40756587", "An \"Arcipilago\" as an Intellectual Ecosystem: In Search of Jean Piaget's Library Through a Visual History.", "Divided into three parts, this article highlights the spatial and temporal boundaries of Jean Piaget's library through a visual history of his office based on photographs taken since the late 1960s. First, we showed how Piaget's library, as part of an intellectual ecosystem, sedimented along a spatial boundary into a horizontalized space, the \"archipilago,\" consisting of an archipelago of book stacks and files, and a vertical space, the wall-mounted bookcases. This division of space corresponded to two donations of works to the Piaget Archives made at different times. It also highlights the fact that Piaget's writing space became <i" ], [ "40264799", "Synthesis of versatile neuromodulatory molecules by a gut microbial glutamate decarboxylase.", "Dysbiosis of the microbiome correlates with many neurological disorders, yet very little is known about the chemistry that controls the production of neuromodulatory molecules by gut microbes. Here, we found that an enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (<i" ], [ "40533110", "Role of video review for sport-related concussion identification: a systematic review.", "To determine the frequency and diagnostic utility of visible signs identified through video review for sport-related concussion detection and to evaluate the role of injury mechanism in predicting concussions.</AbstractText Systematic review.</AbstractText MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science and Cochrane Library from 2001 to June 2024.</AbstractText Original, peer-reviewed studies focusing on sport-related concussion, where video review identified visible signs or the mechanism of injury relevant to clinical decision-making. Studies were included irrespective of study design but had to be published in English and use a clinical diagnosis or consensus definition of sport-related concussion as a reference standard.</AbstractText Out of 1001 records screened, 29 studies involving 3281 sport-related concussions were included for quantitative synthesis. Only eight studies had a low risk of bias. All studies used clinical diagnosis as a reference standard; 26 were conducted in professional competitions, with two studies including female athletes. The most frequently observed visible sign was 'slow to get up' (37.6%), followed by 'motor incoordination' (26.7%). Sensitivity of visible signs was generally low (&lt;50%), while specificity was high (&gt;90%) across most studies. Four studies across three sports examined mechanism of injury characteristics, identifying common themes, such as high speed of impact, potentially associated with sport-related concussion occurrence. Inter-rater and intrarater reliability varied, with indications of higher reliability among expert raters.</AbstractText Expert video review can reliably identify visible signs of sport-related concussion. However, due to their low frequency and limited diagnostic sensitivity, the diagnosis of sport-related concussion should be supported by a multimodal assessment.</AbstractText" ], [ "40791585", "Cytokines unveiled: their impact on oral and multisystem features of lupus erythematosus.", "Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a multifaceted autoimmune disorder characterized by widespread inflammation and immune dysregulation, impacting various organ systems and generating autoantibodies. Oral lesions are a common and distressing manifestation of SLE, significantly affecting patients' quality of life. Cytokines, key mediators of immune responses, play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of both systemic and oral manifestations of SLE. This review sheds the light on current research on the involvement of various cytokines, including interleukins different interferon types, and growth factors in SLE. The intricate interplay between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines contributes to the disease's initiation, progression, and diverse clinical presentations. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines exacerbate inflammation, promote apoptosis, and drive autoantibody production. Understanding the specific roles of these cytokines offers potential therapeutic targets for managing SLE and improving patient outcomes.</AbstractText" ], [ "40051443", "Phantom limb experience after brachial plexus anaesthesia.", "There are more than two million amputees in the USA, and almost all will experience phantom limb sensations (PLS), describing the missing limb as still present. They may also experience intense pain, known as phantom limb pain (PLP), a considerable factor in poor quality of life. In some upper extremity amputees and following brachial plexus avulsion injury (BPAI), hand digits can be detected and mapped to distinct facial skin areas, termed hand-to-face remapping. In this study, we analysed PLS following brachial plexus anaesthesia (BPA) administered prior to upper limb surgeries. Our 39 participants had planned shoulder, wrist or hand surgery. We sought to determine the time course for the emergence of phantom limb experiences after BPA up to the following 24&#x2005;hours in participants with intact limbs. We also investigated whether there was hand-to-face remapping, suggesting potential cortical reorganization, or changes in proprioception before and after the induction of BPA. Twenty (54%) participants reported PLS immediately after the onset of BPA (T2), and 28 (72%) participants altered proprioception (AP) after surgery (T3). However, neither PLP nor hand mapping onto the face was reported or evoked. PLS were seen earlier than AP. We conclude that PLS arise rapidly after BPA-induced temporary deafferentation of the upper limb and might serve as a model for the permanent deafferentation experienced in individuals with a major upper limb amputation or BPAI. These results contribute to defining a time course for changes after BPA and increase our understanding of how phantom limb phenomena might arise following limb amputation or BPAI.</AbstractText" ] ]
30499600
Early metabolic characterization of brain tissues after whole body radiation based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in a rat model.
Radiation-induced brain injury involves acute, early delayed and late delayed damage based on the time-course and clinical manifestations. The acute symptoms are mostly transient and reversible, whereas the late delayed radiation-induced changes are progressive and irreversible. Therefore, evaluation of the organ-specific early response to ionizing radiation exposure is necessary for improving treatment strategies and minimizing possible damage at an early stage after radiation exposure. In the current study, the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique based on metabolomics coupled with metabolic correlation network was applied to investigate the early metabolic characterization of rat brain tissues following irradiation. Our findings showed that the metabolic response to irradiation was not just limited to the variations of individual metabolite levels, but also accompanied by alterations of network correlations among various metabolites. Metabolite clustering indicated that energy metabolism disorder and inflammation response were induced following radiation exposure. The correlation networks revealed that the strong positive correlations of differential metabolites were highly reduced and significant negative linkages were highlighted in irradiated groups even without statistical changes in metabolic levels. Our findings provided new insights into our understanding of the radiation-induced acute brain injury mechanism and clues as to the therapy target for clinical applications.</AbstractText
[ [ "27272052", "Whole-brain changes in white matter microstructure after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a diffusion tensor imaging study.", "Radiation-induced local white matter (WM) damage has been observed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) within a priori-defined regions of interest following radiotherapy (RT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we aimed to detect WM changes throughout the brain of NPC patients by DTI. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to analyze DTI data from 81 NPC patients. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were quantified across the whole brain in separate groups: pre-RT, and &lt;6, 6-12, and &gt;12&#xa0;months post-RT. We found that fractional anisotropy values were significantly lower in the right frontal, parietal, and occipital WM &lt;6&#xa0;months post-RT compared with pre-RT and remained significantly lower in the right frontal and parietal WM at &gt;12&#xa0;months. MD values were significantly higher in the right occipital, bilateral temporal, right occipital-temporal junction, left parietal, left centrum semiovale, and left frontal-parietal junction WM &lt;6&#xa0;months post-RT and remained higher in the right occipital WM at &gt;12&#xa0;months. This study suggests that changes in white matter microstructure following RT for NPC were widespread, complex, and dynamic. Diffusion tensor imaging with TBSS analysis allows for early non-invasive detection of RT-induced WM damage.</AbstractText" ], [ "26610477", "Molecular, Cellular and Functional Effects of Radiation-Induced Brain Injury: A Review.", "Radiation therapy is the most effective non-surgical treatment of primary brain tumors and metastases. Preclinical studies have provided valuable insights into pathogenesis of radiation-induced injury to the central nervous system. Radiation-induced brain injury can damage neuronal, glial and vascular compartments of the brain and may lead to molecular, cellular and functional changes. Given its central role in memory and adult neurogenesis, the majority of studies have focused on the hippocampus. These findings suggested that hippocampal avoidance in cranial radiotherapy prevents radiation-induced cognitive impairment of patients. However, multiple rodent studies have shown that this problem is more complex. As the radiation-induced cognitive impairment reflects hippocampal and non-hippocampal compartments, it is of critical importance to investigate molecular, cellular and functional modifications in various brain regions as well as their integration at clinically relevant doses and schedules. We here provide a literature overview, including our previously published results, in order to support the translation of preclinical findings to clinical practice, and improve the physical and mental status of patients with brain tumors.</AbstractText" ], [ "31427956", "Sex and Age Dependencies of Aqueductal Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics Parameters in Healthy Subjects.", "To assess the influence of age and sex on 10 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow dynamics parameters measured with an MR phase contrast (PC) sequence within the cerebral aqueduct at the level of the intercollicular sulcus.</AbstractText 128 healthy subjects (66 female subjects with a mean age of 52.9 years and 62 male subjects with a mean age of 51.8 years) with a normal Evans index, normal medial temporal atrophy (MTA) score, and without known disorders of the CSF circulation were included in the study. A PC MR sequence on a 3T MR scanner was used. Ten different flow parameters were analyzed using postprocessing software. Ordinal and linear regression models were calculated.</AbstractText The parameters stroke volume (sex: <i CSF flow dynamics parameters measured in the cerebral aqueduct are partly age and sex dependent. For establishment of reliable reference values for clinical use in future studies, the impact of sex and age should be considered and incorporated.</AbstractText" ], [ "36281538", "Chiari Type III : Experience of Outcome for 15 Cases.", "Chiari III malformations are extremely rare hindbrain malformations that are associated with a high early mortality rate, or severe neurologic deficits in the survivors. The treatment is early operative closure and cerebrospinal fluid diversion (CSF) shunting.</AbstractText We operated on 15 patients by repair and excision between July 2014 till June 2020 and retrospective data collection was done. Only one patient doesn't need ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt and the other 14 patients need a VP shunt. We described stepwise dissection and untethering of the cerebellum from the bony edge to regrowth and herniation of cerebellum again into this potential space and simple dural closure or repair with graft was done.</AbstractText We started with VP in eight patients (53%) and the other seven patients (46.7%) started with excision and then six patients need VP shunt later on because four patients developed CSF leak and two patients developed increased high intracranial tension. Only four patients (26.7%) needed a blood transfusion.</AbstractText There are variations in the outcome and not all cases of Chiari malformation III will die and severe developmental delay is not a must. Proper management and repair carry a good prognosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "32041423", "Forced running exercise mitigates radiation-induced cognitive deficits via regulated DNA hydroxymethylation.", "<b" ] ]
[ [ "30613170", "Mindfulness training enhances flow state and mental health among baseball players in Taiwan.", "To examine the effect of mindfulness-based training on performance and mental health among a group of elite athletes.</AbstractText This study aimed to evaluate the effect of mindful sport performance enhancement (MSPE) on mental health, flow state, and competitive state anxiety using a 4-week workshop. We recruited an amateur baseball team (N=21) in Taiwan, and collected information by self-reported questionnaires administered before, immediately after, and at a 4-week follow-up. The primary outcome was to evaluate sports performance by flow state and competitive state anxiety, which included self-confidence, somatic anxiety, and cognitive anxiety. The secondary outcome was to explore whether MSPE intervention can improve anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and eating disorders.</AbstractText After the workshop and follow-up 1 month later, we found improvements in flow state (<i This is the first mindfulness intervention to enhance athletes' performance in Taiwan, and also the first application of MSPE for team sports. Our study results suggested that mindfulness ability is associated with flow state, and that MSPE is a promising training program for strengthening flow state and mental health.</AbstractText" ], [ "31448207", "Machine-learning based classification of glioblastoma using delta-radiomic features derived from dynamic susceptibility contrast enhanced magnetic resonance images: Introduction.", "Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study is to improve the tissue characterization of these highly heterogeneous tumors using delta-radiomic features of images from dynamic susceptibility contrast enhanced (DSC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).</AbstractText Twenty-five patients with histopathologically confirmed to be 13 high-grade (HG) and 12 low-grade (LG) gliomas who underwent the standard brain tumor MRI protocol, including DSC MRI, were included. Tumor regions on all DSC MRI images were registered to and contoured in T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images. These contours and its contralateral regions of the normal tissue were used to extract delta-radiomic features before applying feature selection. The most informative and non-redundant features were selected to train a random forest to differentiate HG and LG gliomas. Then a leave-one-out cross-validation random forest was applied to classify these tumors for grading. Finally, a majority-voting method was applied to reduce binarization bias and to combine the results of various feature lists.</AbstractText Analysis of the predictions showed that the reported method consistently predicted the tumor grade of 24 out of 25 patients correctly (0.96). Finally, the mean prediction accuracy was 0.950&#xb1;0.091 for HG and 0.850&#xb1;0.255 for LG. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.94.</AbstractText This study shows that delta-radiomic features derived from DSC MRI data can be used to characterize and determine the tumor grades. The radiomic features from DSC MRI may be used to elucidate the underlying tumor biology and response to therapy.</AbstractText" ], [ "30887860", "Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity Rate in Vegetative or Minimally Conscious State after Acquired Brain Injury Evaluated by Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity Assessment Measure.", "The rate of paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) was retrospectively assessed using the Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity-Assessment Measure (PSH-AM) scale in patients with disorders of consciousness attributed to traumatic and non-traumatic acquired brain injury during the rehabilitation phase. These results were compared with previous studies carried out in the same clinical scenario, in order to verify the prevalence of PSH signs from 1998 to 2014. The entire sample consisted of 140 patients in vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or minimally conscious state admitted to a neurorehabilitation subacute unit from June 2010 to December 2014. PSH-AM revealed the presence of PSH in 16% of traumatic and 12% of non-traumatic younger patients. In the non-traumatic group, the rate was higher in patients with anoxia-hypoxia (37.5%) etiology than those with vascular brain injury (6.7%). A comparison with previous studies revealed a reduction in the number of PSH cases in traumatic patients. This study provides evidence that PSH-AM can be used prospectively to detect the rate of PSH and stratify severity of signs. Further longitudinal analysis is warranted to confirm the prevalence of PSH signs in non-traumatic brain injured patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "31998179", "Persistent Effects of Musical Training on Mathematical Skills of Children With Developmental Dyscalculia.", "Musical training (MT) is perceived as a multi-sensory program that simultaneously integrates visual, aural, oral, and kinesthetic senses. Furthermore, MT stimulates cognitive functions in a ludic way instead of tapping straight into the traditional context of school learning, including mathematics. Nevertheless, the efficacy of MT over mathematics remains understudied, especially concerning longstanding effects. For this reason, this longitudinal study explored the impact of MT on numerical cognition and abstract visual reasoning using a double-blind and quasi-experimental design. We assessed two groups of children from primary schools, namely one with developmental dyscalculia [DD; <i" ], [ "31595920", "Local dynamics in LiCl-CsCl-D(2)O water-in-salt solutions according to NMR relaxation.", "The main purpose of this study was to investigate the local structure and dynamics in 'water-in-salt' solutions, namely the ternary concentrated LiCl-CsCl-D2O electrolytes. Water based electrolyte solutions are components of natural waters, they are very widespread and possess many practical abilities. NMR was applied as the main technique to study the local structure of the solutions as well as ion and solvent dynamics. The characteristic reorientation times (&#x3c4;c) were calculated from spin-lattice relaxation times for 2H, 7Li, and 133Cs nuclei. The diffusion coefficients (D) for 1H, 7Li, and 133Cs nuclei were also obtained. We have confirmed that most of the molecules and ions are combined into dynamic clusters, 'cybotactic groups', with lifetimes long enough for them to diffuse as a whole unit. Thus, the results provide direct experimental confirmation of the existence of 'cybotactic groups' predicted earlier for concentrated electrolyte solutions. The precise self-diffusion coefficients show the state of ions in the system and can be used as a reference for modelling of such systems.</AbstractText" ] ]
40795171
Modular Enzymatic Construction of Glycan Libraries via SWITCH: A Solid-Phase Platform with Temperature-Controlled Phase Transition.
Carbohydrates are among the most essential biomolecules for human survival, and their synthesis has garnered considerable research attention. Enzymatic synthesis provides significant advantages by addressing the challenges in controlling stereoselectivity and regioselectivity. However, broader application is hindered by labor-intensive purification procedures and substantial product loss during repeated vessel transfers. The implementation of solid-phase strategies in enzymatic carbohydrate synthesis reduces material transfer losses and streamlines downstream purification. Nevertheless, integrating enzymatic reactions with solid-phase systems presents significant compatibility issues, such as steric hindrance and restricted substrate accessibility, which diminish enzymatic efficiency and reduce productivity. To address these limitations, we developed a universal and efficient platform termed SWITCH (<u
[ [ "35155260", "Emerging Roles of m(6)A RNA Methylation Regulators in Gynecological Cancer.", "Gynecological cancers seriously affect the reproductive system of females; diseases include ovarian tumors, uterine tumors, endometrial cancers, cervical cancers, and vulva and vaginal tumors. At present, the diagnosis methods of gynecological cancer are insufficiently sensitive and specific, leading to failure of early disease detection. N<sup" ], [ "32646854", "Nasa dugo ('It's in the blood'): lay conceptions of hypertension in the Philippines.", "Understanding explanatory models is important for hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. This article aims to determine what adult patients with hypertension in the Philippines attribute their condition to, how these views might be explained and what the implications are for hypertension management.</AbstractText This is a qualitative study drawing on 71 semistructured interviews (40 initial and 31 follow-up) and four focus group discussions with patients diagnosed with hypertension. The setting was urban and rural low-income communities in the Philippines.</AbstractText Four prominent perceived causes were identified-genetics, heat, stress and diet-for what patients refer to as 'high blood'. We propose a 'folk physiology' that rests on local understandings of blood and blood flow, draws from broader cultural notions of illness causation and accounts for a dynamic, non-chronic view of hypertension that in turn informs the health behaviours of those affected.</AbstractText By understanding that hypertension is frequently seen not as a chronic constant condition but rather as an episodic one triggered by external influences, although in those genetically predisposed to it, it may be possible to address patient's beliefs and thus adherence to treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "31397331", "The neuro-glial coagulonome: the thrombin receptor and coagulation pathways as major players in neurological diseases.", "The neuro-glial interface extends far beyond mechanical support alone and includes interactions throu-gh coagulation cascade proteins. Here, we systematically review the evidence indicating that synaptic and node of Ranvier glia cell components modulate synaptic transmission and axonal conduction by a coagulation cascade protein system, leading us to propose the concept of the neuro-glial coagulonome. In the peripheral nervous system, the main thrombin receptor protease activated receptor 1 (PAR1) is located on the Schwann microvilli at the node of Ranvier and at the neuromuscular junction. PAR1 activation effects can be both neuroprotective or harmful, depending on thrombin activity levels. Low physiological levels of thrombin induce neuroprotective effects in the Schwann cells which are mediated by the endothelial protein C receptor. High levels of thrombin induce conduction deficits, as found in experimental autoimmune neuritis, the animal model for Guillaine-Barre syndrome. In the central nervous system, PAR1 is located on the peri-synaptic astrocyte end-feet. Its activation by high thrombin levels is involved in the pathology of primary inflammatory brain diseases such as multiple sclerosis, as well as in other central nervous system insults, including trauma, neoplasms, epilepsy and vascular injury. Following activation of PAR1 by high thrombin levels the seizure threshold is lowered. On the other hand, PAR1 activation by lower levels of thrombin in the central nervous system protects against a future ischemic insult. This review presents the known structure and function of the neuro-glial coagulonome, focusing on coagulation, thrombin and PAR1 in a pathway which may be either physiological (neuroprotective) or detrimental in peripheral nervous system and central nervous system diseases. Understanding the neuro-glial coagulonome may open opportunities for novel pharmacological interventions in neurological diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "39327419", "Continuous evolution of Fermi arcs in a minimal ideal photonic Weyl medium.", "Propagation properties of electromagnetic waves in an optical medium are mainly determined by the contour of equal-frequency states in <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ], [ "39696422", "Accurate RNA velocity estimation based on multibatch network reveals complex lineage in batch scRNA-seq data.", "RNA velocity, as an extension of trajectory inference, is an effective method for understanding cell development using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) experiments. However, existing RNA velocity methods are limited by the batch effect because they cannot directly correct for batch effects in the input data, which comprises spliced and unspliced matrices in a proportional relationship. This limitation can lead to an incorrect velocity stream. This paper introduces VeloVGI, which addresses this issue innovatively in two key ways. Firstly, it employs an optimal transport (OT) and mutual nearest neighbor (MNN) approach to construct neighbors in batch data. This strategy overcomes the limitations of existing methods that are affected by the batch effect. Secondly, VeloVGI improves upon VeloVI's velocity estimation by incorporating the graph structure into the encoder for more effective feature extraction. The effectiveness of VeloVGI is demonstrated in various scenarios, including the mouse spinal cord and olfactory bulb tissue, as well as on several public datasets. The results show that VeloVGI outperformed other methods in terms of metric performance.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40186904", "Efficacy of multi-cycle Efgartigimod in achieving minimal symptom expression in myasthenia gravis: A comparative multi-center study.", "Efgartigimod has been approved as an effective and safe treatment for myasthenia gravis (MG). However, real-world experience on multi-cycle efgartigimod treatment and its comparison with Standard of Care (SoC) remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate minimal symptom expression (MSE) as the treatment goal and compared the proportion and time to achieving it between two groups.</AbstractText Patients receiving multi-cycle efgartigimod and contemporaneous counterparts treated with SoC were included. The rate of MSE achievement were compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression. Subgroup analysis focused on efgartigimod group, observing involved muscles and oral medication for further insights.</AbstractText A total of 76 and 124 MG patients were enrolled in the efgartigimod and SoC groups, respectively. Efgartigimod group demonstrated a higher rate (73.3&#xa0;% vs. 22.6&#xa0;%, p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001) and shorter time [0.7 (0.5, 3.1) vs. 3.3 (3, 6.1), months, p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001] to achieving MSE compared to SoC group. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed efgartigimod group had a higher MSE probability with a median time of 2.27 (95&#xa0;%CI, 0.70, 4.39) months. MG Patients had a 9.69 fold (95&#xa0;%CI, 5.54, 16.92) greater chance of achieving MSE compared to SoC group, remaining significant at 9.44 fold (95&#xa0;%CI, 5.36, 16.60) after adjusting for ADL scores. After treatment, respiratory and bulbar symptoms improved significantly, with average scores from 0.57&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;0.87 to zero, and 2.62&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;2.56 to 0.37&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;0.96. Additionally, the daily dosage of corticosteroid dropped from 20(10, 25) mg to 10(10,20) mg, with only 7 (9.2&#xa0;%) patients requiring over 20&#xa0;mg/day.</AbstractText Multi-cycle efgartigimod treatment achieves early MSE more effectively than SoC, serving as a fast-acting therapy for MG.</AbstractText" ], [ "40350111", "Born with Silurian global warming: Defensive role of TRPV1 in caudal neurosecretory system (CNSS) in flounder.", "The caudal neurosecretory system (CNSS), unique to fish, emerged during the Silurian global warming period and appears to have an inevitable connection with \"heat.\" Although TRPV1 is known to be a key molecule mediating high-temperature perception in fish, its role in CNSS remains unknown. Here, we found that TRPV1 located on Dahlgren cells in CNSS, is involved in sensing high-temperatures and helps flounder to respond correctly. Specifically, in the context of mild high-temperatures, Dahlgren cells expressing Urotensin I (UI) are the main active cell subpopulation. TRPV1 promotes the activation of the UI cell subpopulation by activating excitatory receptors, which in turn facilitates freezing behavior in flounder. When the accumulated temperature in the abdomen reaches avoidance high-temperatures, the firing activity of the UI cell subpopulation is inhibited, which is related to the TRPV1-mediated activation of NR3A. Accordingly, a subpopulation of Urotensin II (UII) cells was activated. Meanwhile, the expression of genes related to dopamine receptors and acetylcholine synthesis are significantly elevated, thereby mediating the avoidance behavior of flounder to escape from injury. Overall, these studies collectively elucidate the complex adaptive mechanisms employed by flounder in response to high-temperature fluctuations, with a special emphasis on the importance of CNSS temperature sensing.</AbstractText" ], [ "39821862", "Delayed Progression of Ataxia with a Static Cerebellar Lesion- Consider SCA27B.", "Repeat expansions in the fibroblast growth factor 14 gene (FGF14), associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 27B (SCA27B), have emerged as a prevalent cause of previously unexplained late-onset cerebellar ataxia. Here, we present a patient with residual symptom of gait ataxia after complicated meningioma surgery, who presented with progressive symptoms of oculomotor disturbances, speech difficulties, vertigo and worsening of gait imbalance, twelve years post-resection. Neuroimaging revealed a surgical resection cavity in the dorsolateral side of the left cerebellar hemisphere, accompanied by gliosis in left cerebellar hemisphere extending into the vermis, extensive non-specific supratentorial periventricular white matter abnormalities, and mild atrophy of the cerebellar vermis. Initially, her symptoms were attributed to re-emergence of her cerebellar symptoms related to the static cerebellar lesion, and due to a failure of compensatory mechanisms with aging. However, the progressive nature of her cerebellar symptoms and the emergence of novel downbeat nystagmus prompted genetic testing for FGF14 repeat expansion, confirming SCA27B as a significant contributor to her delayed, progressive cerebellar symptoms. This case highlights the significance of considering SCA27B in the differential diagnosis of delayed progressive cerebellar ataxia with oculomotor abnormalities in the presence of a static cerebellar lesion.</AbstractText" ], [ "40427097", "Deep Learning for Automated Ventricle and Periventricular Space Segmentation on CT and T1CE MRI in Neuro-Oncology Patients.", "This study aims to create a deep learning (DL) model capable of accurately delineating the ventricles, and by extension, the periventricular space (PVS), following the 2021 EPTN Neuro-Oncology Atlas guidelines on T1-weighted contrast-enhanced MRI scans (T1CE). The performance of this DL model was quantitatively and qualitatively compared with an off-the-shelf model.</AbstractText An nnU-Net was trained for ventricle segmentation using both CT and T1CE MRI images from 78 patients. Its performance was compared to that of a publicly available pretrained segmentation model, SynthSeg. The evaluation was conducted on both internal (N = 18) and external (n = 18) test sets, with each consisting of paired CT and T1CE MRI images and expert-delineated ground truths (GTs). Segmentation accuracy was assessed using the volumetric Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95), surface DSC, and added path length (APL). Additionally, a local evaluation of ventricle segmentations quantified differences between manual and automatic segmentations across both test sets. All segmentations were scored by radiotherapy technicians for clinical acceptability using a 4-point Likert scale.</AbstractText The nnU-Net significantly outperformed the SynthSeg model on the internal test dataset in terms of median [range] DSC, 0.93 [0.86-0.95] vs. 0.85 [0.67-0.91], HD95, 0.9 [0.7-2.5] mm vs. 2.2 [1.7-4.8] mm, surface DSC, 0.97 [0.90-0.98] vs. 0.84 [0.70-0.89], and APL, 876 [407-1298] mm vs. 2809 [2311-3622] mm, all with <i The nnU-Net model outperformed the SynthSeg model on the internal dataset in both segmentation metrics and clinician ratings. While segmentation metrics showed no significant differences between the models on the external set, clinician ratings favored nnU-Net, suggesting enhanced clinical acceptability. This suggests that nnU-Net could contribute to more time-efficient and streamlined radiotherapy planning workflows.</AbstractText" ], [ "40465517", "Topological Insulators Boost Ultralow-Power Neuromorphic Spintronics: Advancing Handwritten Digit Recognition with High SOT Efficiency.", "Neuromorphic spintronics devices driven by spin-orbit torque (SOT) offer advantages in integration density, durability, and scalability for high-performance artificial intelligence systems. However, the development of ultralow-power neuromorphic computing is hindered by the low SOT efficiency (<i" ] ]
40743238
Uncovering locomotor learning dynamics in people with Parkinson's disease.
Locomotor learning is important for improving gait and balance impairments in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). While PD disrupts neural networks involved in motor learning, there is a limited understanding of how PD influences the time course of locomotor learning and retention. Here, we used a virtual obstacle negotiation task to investigate whether the early stages of PD affect the acquisition and retention of locomotor skills. On Day 1, 15 participants with PD (Hoehn and Yahr Stage 1-2) and 20 age-matched controls were instructed to achieve a specified level of foot clearance while repeatedly stepping over two different virtual obstacles on a treadmill. We assessed online performance improvement on Day 1 and overnight retention after at least 24 hours on Day 2. We used a hierarchical Bayesian state-space model to estimate the learning rate and the degree of interference between the two obstacles. There was a 93% probability that people with PD learned the locomotor skill faster than controls, but there was limited evidence of group differences in interference between the two heights of obstacles. Both groups improved their performance to a similar magnitude during skill acquisition and performed similarly during retention on Day 2. Notably, a slower learning rate was associated with greater online performance improvement, while lower interference was linked to better overnight retention, and this effect was strongest for the control group. These results highlight that people with early-stage PD retain the ability to use multisensory information to acquire and retain locomotor skills. In particular, our finding that people with early-stage PD learned faster than age-matched controls may reflect the emergence of compensatory motor learning strategies used to offset early motor impairments in people with PD.</AbstractText
[ [ "40310654", "Altered blood-brain barrier permeability is associated with abnormal distant connectivity and regional homogeneity in covert hepatic encephalopathy-A cross-sectional study.", "Covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) is clinically underrecognized. Using MRI, we explored the relationship between functional connectivity as a marker of executive dysfunction and the blood-brain barrier permeability marker K TRANS in a cross-sectional cohort of CHE, no hepatic encephalopathy (NHE), and healthy controls (HCs).</AbstractText This study was a single-center prospective cohort study conducted between 2018 and 2021. CHE was diagnosed using the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) with an abnormality threshold of &lt;-4. Blood-brain barrier permeability was determined using MRI K TRANS , based on cerebral efflux of gadolinium from blood plasma to the extravascular space. Resting-state functional MRI determined the intrinsic dynamics of regions of the brain.Three cohorts were recruited: cirrhosis and CHE (n=17); cirrhosis with NHE (n=13); and HCs (n=10). There was a significant negative correlation ( r =-0.59, p =0.003) between K TRANS and components of the Default Mode Network (DMN). Group-level ANOVA ( F test) revealed a significant difference between groups in functional connectivity within the Salience Network (SN) (cluster-level significance, F (4, 62)=8.45, pcorrected =0.000005) and the DMN (cluster-level significance, F (4, 62)=6.20, pcorrected =0.0004). The analysis revealed significant differences in regional homogeneity between the CHE and HCs.</AbstractText There was a strong association between disrupted blood-brain barrier integrity and attenuated functional connectivity, with reductions in functional connectivity within the DMN and Frontoparietal Network (FPN), circuits closely linked to executive control. This attenuation was evident both in local regional and in distant connectivity within these networks.</AbstractText" ], [ "33682568", "Clinical development of valbenazine for tics associated with Tourette syndrome.", "<b" ], [ "38812995", "Correlation of metal ions with specific brain region volumes in neurodegenerative diseases.", "There are reports stating that deteriorations in metal homeostasis in neurodegenerative diseases promote abnormal protein accumulation. In this study, the serum metal levels in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) and its relationship with the cortical regions of the brain were investigated.</AbstractText The patients were divided into 3 groups consisting of the AD group, PD group, and healthy control group (n = 15 for each). The volumes of specific brain regions were measured over the participants' 3<b The volumes of left hippocampus and right substantia nigra were lower in the AD and PD groups, while the volume of the left nucleus caudatus (CdN) and bilateral insula were lower in the AD group compared to the control group. Serum zinc levels were lower in the AD and PD groups, while the iron level was lower in the PD group in comparison to the control group. In addition, the serum ferritin level was higher in the AD group than in the control group. Serum zinc and copper levels in the AD group were positively correlated with the volumes of the right entorhinal cortex, thalamus, CdN, and insula. Serum zinc and copper levels in the PD group showed a negative correlation with the left nucleus accumbens (NAc), right putamen, and right insula volumes. While the serum ferritin level in the PD group displayed a positive correlation with the bilateral CdN, putamen, and NAc, as well as the right hippocampus and insula volumes, no area was detected that showed a correlation with the serum ferritin level in the AD group.</AbstractText A relationship was determined between the serum metal levels in the AD and PD groups and certain brain cortical regions that showed volumetric changes, which can be important for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "32346791", "Intraoperative imaging findings in transcranial MR imaging-guided focused ultrasound treatment at 1.5T may accurately detect typical lesional findings correlated with sonication parameters.", "To assess the intraoperative neuroimaging findings in patients treated with transcranial MR-guided focused ultrasound (tcMRgFUS) thalamotomy using 1.5T equipment in comparison with the 48-h follow-up.</AbstractText Fifty prospectively enrolled patients undergoing unilateral tcMRgFUS thalamotomy for either medication-refractory essential tremor (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;39) or Parkinson tremor (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11) were included. Two radiologists evaluated the presence and size of concentric lesional zones (zone I, zone II, and zone III) on 2D T2-weighted sequences acquired intraoperatively after the last high-energy sonication and at 48&#xa0;h. Sonication parameters including number of sonications, delivered energy, and treatment temperatures were also recorded. Differences in lesion pattern and size were assessed using the McNemar test and paired t test, respectively.</AbstractText Zones I, II, and III were visualized in 34 (68%), 50 (100%), and 44 (88%) patients, and 31 (62%), 50 (100%), and 45 (90%) patients after the last high-energy sonication for R1 and R2, respectively. All three concentric zones were visualized intraoperatively in 56-58% of cases. Zone I was significantly more commonly visualized at 48&#xa0;h (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Diameter of zones I and II and the thickness of zone III significantly increased at 48&#xa0;h (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Diameters of zones I and II measured intraoperatively demonstrated significant correlation with thermal map temperatures (p&#x2009;&#x2264;&#x2009;0.001). Maximum temperature significantly correlated with zone III thickness at 48&#xa0;h. A threshold of 60.5&#xb0; had a sensitivity of 56.5-66.7% and a specificity of 70.5-75.5% for thickness &gt;&#x2009;6&#xa0;mm at 48&#xa0;h.</AbstractText Intraoperative imaging may accurately detect typical lesional findings, before completing the treatment. These imaging characteristics significantly correlate with sonication parameters and 48-h follow-up.</AbstractText &#x2022; Intraoperative T2-weighted images allow the visualization of the zone I (coagulation necrosis) in most of the treated patients, while zone II (cytotoxic edema) is always detected. &#x2022; Lesion size depicted with intraoperative transcranial MRgFUS imaging correlates well with procedure parameters. &#x2022; Intraoperative transcranial MRgFUS imaging may have a significant added value for treating physicians.</AbstractText" ], [ "36680361", "Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Northern Tasmania.", "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare and incurable form of rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease. The disease is fatal, and most patients die within 1 year of diagnosis. Clinical features include progressive cognitive dysfunction, delusions or hallucinations, cerebellar ataxia, myoclonus, visual disturbances, extrapyramidal signs and eventually akinetic mutism. Most patients present with varied clinical presentation, hence making it difficult to diagnose at an early stage. We report five cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting to a Tasmanian hospital in Australia over a period of 52 months. We highlight significant clinical features in all our patients including few atypical presentations, emphasise on relevant clinical biomarkers and illustrate characteristic abnormalities on electroencephalogram and neuroimaging.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40595297", "Post-mortem human Alzheimer´s brain metallome depends on Braak stages and brain regions.", "Limited studies have evaluated the influence of redox-related metals on Alzheimer&#xb4;s brain. We determined 15 metals in 241 human brain samples obtained from five biobanks. We examined the levels of metals in the frontal cortex (CTX) and the basal ganglia (BG) of Alzheimer&#xb4;s brains of different stages, ranging from Braak stages I and II to Braak stages V and VI. ICP-MS. Imbalances measured metals in the Alzheimer&#xb4;s brain metallome of different Braak stages and different regions compared to controls and associations in the other areas were estimated by the Krustall-Wallis Test and Spearman correlations, respectively. The metallomes of brain regions compared to the controls were significantly different for most of the metals in the CTX and BG samples. We observed higher levels of Mn, Cu, Mo, and Se and lower levels of Co in Alzheimer&#xb4;s CTX compared to the controls and higher levels of V and Cr and lower levels of Co in BG. Different associations were found in the Braak stages compared to the control group in CTX and BG samples. Metals may differ in Braak stages across different human brain regions.</AbstractText" ], [ "40087778", "A motor unit action potential-based method for surface electromyography decomposition.", "Surface electromyography (EMG) decomposition is crucial for identifying motor neuron activities by analyzing muscle-generated electrical signals. This study aims to develop and validate a novel motor unit action potential (MUAP)-based method for surface EMG decomposition, addressing the limitations of traditional blind source separation (BSS)-based techniques in computation complexity and motor unit (MU) tracking.</AbstractText Within the framework of the convolution kernel compensation algorithm, we developed a MUAP-based decomposition algorithm by reconstructing the MU filters from MUAPs and evaluated its performance using both simulated and experimental datasets. A systematic analysis was conducted on various factors affecting decomposition performance, including MU filter reconstruction methods, EMG covariance matrices, MUAP extraction techniques, and extending factors. The proposed method was subsequently compared to representative BSS-based techniques, such as convolution kernel compensation.</AbstractText The MUAP-based method significantly outperformed traditional BSS-based techniques in identifying more MUs and achieving better accuracy, particularly under noisy conditions. It demonstrated superior performance with increased signal complexity and effectively tracked motor units consistently across decompositions. In addition, directly applying the MU filters reconstructed from MUAPs to decomposition exhibited marked computational efficiency.</AbstractText The MUAP-based method enhances EMG decomposition accuracy, robustness, and efficiency, offering reliable motor unit tracking and real-time processing capabilities. These advancements highlight its potential for clinical diagnostics and neurorehabilitation, representing a promising step forward in non-invasive motor neuron analysis.</AbstractText" ], [ "40609240", "Evaluating commercial game design decisions via the scientification of games: Asymmetrical task switching errors predict self-reported fun in Ghost Blitz.", "By decomposing the structure, rule set and stimuli of games, it becomes possible to examine the impact of specific choices made by designers and publishers: not the 'gamification of science' but rather the 'scientification of games.' Here, the card game Ghost Blitz was analysed using both commercialized (cartoon illustrations) and a more 'experiment-like' (abstract shapes) format, where each card required players to search according to either the presence (Task A) or absence (Task B) of visual features. Thus, this game can be used to both demonstrate and study the cognitive phenomena of visual search asymmetry and task switching. The commercial format generated more fun and produced faster reaction times than the 'experiment-like' format, demonstrating the importance of surface characteristics. The original version of Ghost Blitz (where Task B was more frequent) was rated as less fun than an inversed version (where Task A was more frequent), highlighting the importance of structural characteristics. This surprising result was explained via multiple regression, where the frequency with which players experience accuracy loss during Task B to Task A switching predicted the reduction in self-reported fun. By meeting people where they are, games allow the public to have increased connection with psychological theory and enable the empirical validation of choices made during commercial game design.</AbstractText" ], [ "39979255", "Precise targeting of transcriptional co-activators YAP/TAZ annihilates chemoresistant brCSCs by alteration of their mitochondrial homeostasis.", "Persistence of drug-resistant breast cancer stem cells (brCSCs) after a chemotherapeutic regime correlates with disease recurrence and elevated mortality. Therefore, deciphering mechanisms that dictate their drug-resistant phenotype is imperative for designing targeted and more effective therapeutic strategies. The transcription factor SOX2 has been recognized as a protagonist in brCSC maintenance, and previous studies have confirmed that inhibition of SOX2 purportedly eliminated these brCSCs. However, pharmacological targeting of transcription factors like SOX2 is challenging due to their structural incongruities and intrinsic disorders in their binding interfaces. Therefore, transcriptional co-activators may serve as a feasible alternative for effectively targeting the brCSCs. Incidentally, transcriptional co-activators YAP/TAZ were found to be upregulated in CD44<sup" ], [ "40719957", "Interaction characteristics of bacterial communities in water and sediment in the Yellow River based on high-throughput absolute quantification.", "Bacterial communities are crucial for connecting aquatic and sediment ecosystems. Water and sediment samples were collected from the Jinan section of the lower Yellow River, and absolute abundances of bacterial taxa were obtained via high-throughput absolute quantification. Integrating physicochemical properties, the water-sediment bacterial communities exhibited interactive characteristics of \"high connectivity and strong heterogeneity\". High connectivity was manifested in similar community and functional compositions and assembly mechanisms, along with shared core genera, in which high-concentration suspended particulates played a key role. Strong heterogeneity was reflected in distinct taxa abundances, diversity, co-occurrence network topologies, and functional specializations, all regulated by environmental factors. Sediments harbored total bacterial abundances and abundances of dominant phyla 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than those in water. Water community showed higher &#x3b1;-diversity and co-occurrence network complexity (edges, average degree, graph density). Eighteen shared genera (belonging to Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota etc.) with cross-medium survival adaptability were identified. Functional connectivity was supported by 99.1% shared KOs, despite sediments had greater carbon/nitrogen cycling potential than that in water. Stochastic processes, mainly drift, dominated community assembly, contributing more in water (93.6%) than in sediment (75.5%). This study provides microbiological quantitative indicators for Yellow River ecological assessment, identifies cross-medium adaptive genera as potential bioremediation resources, and offers a microbiological perspective on ecosystem maintenance in adjacent river habitats.</AbstractText" ] ]
39368350
An algorithmic account for how humans efficiently learn, transfer, and compose hierarchically structured decision policies.
Learning structures that effectively abstract decision policies is key to the flexibility of human intelligence. Previous work has shown that humans use hierarchically structured policies to efficiently navigate complex and dynamic environments. However, the computational processes that support the learning and construction of such policies remain insufficiently understood. To address this question, we tested 1026 human participants, who made over 1 million choices combined, in a decision-making task where they could learn, transfer, and recompose multiple sets of hierarchical policies. We propose a novel algorithmic account for the learning processes underlying observed human behavior. We show that humans rely on compressed policies over states in early learning, which gradually unfold into hierarchical representations via meta-learning and Bayesian inference. Our modeling evidence suggests that these hierarchical policies are structured in a temporally backward, rather than forward, fashion. Taken together, these algorithmic architectures characterize how the interplay between reinforcement learning, policy compression, meta-learning, and working memory supports structured decision-making and compositionality in a resource-rational way.</AbstractText
[ [ "34957854", "Computational validity: using computation to translate behaviours across species.", "We propose a new conceptual framework (computational validity) for translation across species and populations based on the computational similarity between the information processing underlying parallel tasks. Translating between species depends not on the superficial similarity of the tasks presented, but rather on the computational similarity of the strategies and mechanisms that underlie those behaviours. Computational validity goes beyond construct validity by directly addressing questions of information processing. Computational validity interacts with circuit validity as computation depends on circuits, but similar computations could be accomplished by different circuits. Because different individuals may use different computations to accomplish a given task, computational validity suggests that behaviour should be understood through the subject's point of view; thus, behaviour should be characterized on an individual level rather than a task level. Tasks can constrain the computational algorithms available to a subject and the observed subtleties of that behaviour can provide information about the computations used by each individual. Computational validity has especially high relevance for the study of psychiatric disorders, given the new views of psychiatry as identifying and mediating information processing dysfunctions that may show high inter-individual variability, as well as for animal models investigating aspects of human psychiatric disorders. This article is part of the theme issue 'Systems neuroscience through the lens of evolutionary theory'.</AbstractText" ], [ "34307791", "Individual Subject Approaches to Mapping Sensory-Biased and Multiple-Demand Regions in Human Frontal Cortex.", "Sensory modality, widely accepted as a key factor in the functional organization of posterior cortical areas, also shapes the organization of human frontal lobes. 'Deep imaging,' or the practice of collecting a sizable amount of data on individual subjects, offers significant advantages in revealing fine-scale aspects of functional organization of the human brain. Here, we review deep imaging approaches to mapping multiple sensory-biased and multiple-demand regions within human lateral frontal cortex. In addition, we discuss how deep imaging methods can be transferred to large public data sets to further extend functional mapping at the group level. We also review how 'connectome fingerprinting' approaches, combined with deep imaging, can be used to localize fine-grained functional organization in individual subjects using resting-state data. Finally, we summarize current 'best practices' for deep imaging.</AbstractText" ], [ "38585483", "Improved clinical outcome prediction in depression using neurodynamics in an emotional face-matching functional MRI task.", "Approximately one in six people will experience an episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) in their lifetime. Effective treatment is hindered by subjective clinical decision-making and a lack of objective prognostic biomarkers. Functional MRI (fMRI) could provide such an objective measure but the majority of MDD studies has focused on static approaches, disregarding the rapidly changing nature of the brain. In this study, we aim to predict depression severity changes at 3 and 6 months using dynamic fMRI features.</AbstractText For our research, we acquired a longitudinal dataset of 32 MDD patients with fMRI scans acquired at baseline and clinical follow-ups 3 and 6 months later. Several measures were derived from an emotion face-matching fMRI dataset: activity in brain regions, static and dynamic functional connectivity between functional brain networks (FBNs) and two measures from a wavelet coherence analysis approach. All fMRI features were evaluated independently, with and without demographic and clinical parameters. Patients were divided into two classes based on changes in depression severity at both follow-ups.</AbstractText The number of coherence clusters (nCC) between FBNs, reflecting the total number of interactions (either synchronous, anti-synchronous or causal), resulted in the highest predictive performance. The nCC-based classifier achieved 87.5% and 77.4% accuracy for the 3- and 6-months change in severity, respectively. Furthermore, regression analyses supported the potential of nCC for predicting depression severity on a continuous scale. The posterior default mode network (DMN), dorsal attention network (DAN) and two visual networks were the most important networks in the optimal nCC models. Reduced nCC was associated with a poorer depression course, suggesting deficits in sustained attention to and coping with emotion-related faces. An ensemble of classifiers with demographic, clinical and lead coherence features, a measure of dynamic causality, resulted in a 3-months clinical outcome prediction accuracy of 81.2%.</AbstractText The dynamic wavelet features demonstrated high accuracy in predicting individual depression severity change. Features describing brain dynamics could enhance understanding of depression and support clinical decision-making. Further studies are required to evaluate their robustness and replicability in larger cohorts.</AbstractText" ], [ "27707964", "Functional Subdomains within Scene-Selective Cortex: Parahippocampal Place Area, Retrosplenial Complex, and Occipital Place Area.", "Functional MRI studies suggest that at least three brain regions in human visual cortex-the parahippocampal place area (PPA), retrosplenial complex (RSC), and occipital place area (OPA; often called the transverse occipital sulcus)-represent large-scale information in natural scenes. Tuning of voxels within each region is often assumed to be functionally homogeneous. To test this assumption, we recorded blood oxygenation level-dependent responses during passive viewing of complex natural movies. We then used a voxelwise modeling framework to estimate voxelwise category tuning profiles within each scene-selective region. In all three regions, cluster analysis of the voxelwise tuning profiles reveals two functional subdomains that differ primarily in their responses to animals, man-made objects, social communication, and movement. Thus, the conventional functional definitions of the PPA, RSC, and OPA appear to be too coarse. One attractive hypothesis is that this consistent functional subdivision of scene-selective regions is a reflection of an underlying anatomical organization into two separate processing streams, one selectively biased toward static stimuli and one biased toward dynamic stimuli.</AbstractText Visual scene perception is a critical ability to survive in the real world. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the human brain contains neural circuitry selective for visual scenes. Here we show that responses in three scene-selective areas-identified in previous studies-carry information about many object and action categories encountered in daily life. We identify two subregions in each area: one that is selective for categories of man-made objects, and another that is selective for vehicles and locomotion-related action categories that appear in dynamic scenes. This consistent functional subdivision may reflect an anatomical organization into two processing streams, one biased toward static stimuli and one biased toward dynamic stimuli.</AbstractText" ], [ "28483974", "A Neural Mechanism of Social Categorization.", "Humans readily sort one another into multiple social categories from mere facial features. However, the facial features used to do so are not always clear-cut because they can be associated with opponent categories (e.g., feminine male face). Recently, computational models and behavioral studies have provided indirect evidence that categorizing such faces is accomplished through dynamic competition between parallel, coactivated social categories that resolve into a stable categorical percept. Using a novel paradigm combining fMRI with real-time hand tracking, the present study examined how the brain translates diverse social cues into categorical percepts. Participants (male and female) categorized faces varying in gender and racial typicality. When categorizing atypical faces, participants' hand movements were simultaneously attracted toward the unselected category response, indexing the degree to which such faces activated the opposite category in parallel. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPAs) provided evidence that such social category coactivation manifested in neural patterns of the right fusiform cortex. The extent to which the hand was simultaneously attracted to the opposite gender or race category response option corresponded to increased neural pattern similarity with the average pattern associated with that category, which in turn associated with stronger engagement of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. The findings point to a model of social categorization in which occasionally conflicting facial features are resolved through competition between coactivated ventral-temporal cortical representations with the assistance of conflict-monitoring regions. More broadly, the results offer a promising multimodal paradigm to investigate the neural basis of \"hidden\", temporarily active representations in the service of a broad range of cognitive processes.<b" ] ]
[ [ "39997153", "Validation of the Second Version of the LittlEARS(®) Early Speech Production Questionnaire (LEESPQ) in Romanian-Speaking Children with Normal Hearing.", "<b" ], [ "40762500", "Social status in zebrafish modulates the behavioral response to 5-HT2C receptor agonists and antagonists.", "The effects of previous social experiences on social behavior have been demonstrated across species both in cooperative and competitive contexts. In dominance-subordinate hierarchies, differences across social ranks have been observed in many different mechanisms. Dominance hierarchies interfere in defensive behavior, where subordinate animals present a greater defensive behavior, regarding potential threats (\"anxiety-like behavior\"), than dominant animals. The serotonergic system plays a key role in regulating and mediating threat responses, including 5-HT2 receptors in the types of proximal threat responses modulated by the stress of social defeat. We separated 148 adult zebrafish in pairs and allowed them to interact for five days; after that, the dominant-subordinate rank was determined, and animals were treated with a 5-HT<sub" ], [ "40653592", "Central nervous system stimulants in recreational and medical use.", "Stimulants that act on the central nervous system have been used since antiquity for ritual and other uses. Organic chemistry techniques, especially those developed in Germany in the late 1800s, resulted in the isolation and structural determination of several important stimulants. Synthetic pathways for amphetamine and related stimulants were developed in the first half of the 19th century, and these new drugs were widely marketed. Awareness of abuse potential emerged soon after but was contested. Stimulants have been used to counteract fatigue and promote wakefulness during military operations, as well as to treat sleep disorders, since the 1930s. Methylphenidate was approved to treat children with behavioral problems in 1962, predating the recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Stimulant abuse became a political concern in the post-war period, initially with the use of \"pep-pills\" by long-haul truck drivers and later as drug dealing became common in night clubs, with new laws limiting availability passed in the early 1960s. They have also been used to increase athletic and cognitive performance. Stimulants are still first-line therapies for ADHD and some sleep disorders; however, newer-generation drugs have been developed with better safety profiles and lower abuse potential. Illicit stimulant use continues to be common in many countries.</AbstractText" ], [ "39621870", "Relevance of Prostatic Fluid on the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient: An Inversion Recovery Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Investigation.", "Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is pivotal for prostate magnetic resonance imaging. This is rooted in the generally reduced apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) observed in prostate cancer in comparison to healthy prostate tissue. This difference originates from microstructural tissue composition changes, including a potentially decreased fluid-containing lumen volume. This study explored the nature of the observed ADC contrast in prostate tissue through inversion recovery-prepared DWI examinations that generated varying levels of fluid suppression.</AbstractText This institutional review board-approved, single-center, prospective study was conducted from 2023 to 2024; all participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging including DWI with b-values of 50 and 800 s/mm 2 at 16 inversion times (TI; 60-4000 milliseconds). The measured ADC was interpreted with a 2-compartment model (compartments: tissue and fluid). Descriptive statistics were computed for all analyzed parameters.</AbstractText Twelve healthy male volunteers (45 &#xb1; 17 years) and 1 patient with prostate adenocarcinoma (66 years) were evaluated. The ADC map appearance depended heavily on the TI, and we observed a feature-rich ADC(TI) curve. The ADC in the transition zone (TZ) of healthy volunteers increased between TI = 60 milliseconds and approximately 1100 milliseconds, then dropped drastically before increasing again, stabilizing at a very high TI. This effect was greatly reduced in the patient's prostate cancer lesion. The 2-compartment model described this behavior well. After the inversion, tissue magnetization recovers faster, decreasing its signal contribution in absolute terms and resulting in an increase in the ADC. At the tipping point, the total magnetization is zero at b = 0, when the positive tissue magnetization and still-inverted fluid magnetization cancel out. A small diffusion encoding leads to a positive signal, thus generating an infinite ADC. After the tipping point, the fluid magnetization remains negative and thereby reduces the ADC.</AbstractText Prostate fluid appears to contribute significantly to prostate ADCs. Its contribution could be adjusted by choosing an appropriate inversion recovery preparation, potentially enhancing contrast for prostate cancer lesions.</AbstractText" ], [ "40619819", "Remaining Burden of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Among Treated Patients: A Survey of Patients and Caregivers.", "Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) significantly impacts motor function. This study aimed to assess the persistent burden and unmet needs among currently treated patients with SMA and their caregivers.</AbstractText Two complementary web-based surveys were distributed in August 2024 among patients with SMA and their caregivers. Non-ambulant patients with SMA currently receiving risdiplam or nusinersen, and/or their primary, informal caregivers were eligible to participate. Survey modules captured clinical, humanistic, productivity, and caregiver-related burden of disease. The PROMIS Fatigue and EQ-5D-5L were used to assess fatigue and quality of life.</AbstractText 40 pediatric (mean age 8.3&#x2009;years; represented by caregiver proxies) and 68 adult patients (mean age 37.5&#x2009;years) were included, of which the majority were on SMN-targeted treatment for &#x2265;&#x2009;2&#x2009;years (82.5% and 94.1%, respectively), and nearly half were on treatment for &#x2265;&#x2009;4&#x2009;years. Despite continued treatment, muscle weakness was reported in 95% of pediatric and 100% of adult patients, with 63% of pediatric and 68% of adult patients reporting \"severe\" or \"very severe\" muscle weakness that substantially impacted motor function and performance of activities of daily living. Increased fatigue and muscle weakness were associated with worse overall health. Findings also demonstrated impacts of SMA on patient quality of life and well-being. Most participants reported mobility limitations and muscle weakness as being least improved by current treatment.</AbstractText Despite the use of current treatments, there remains a significant burden of SMA on patients and their caregivers. Muscle weakness and mobility limitations remain key areas of unmet need.</AbstractText" ] ]
36608530
Compound muscle action potential duration ratio for differentiation between Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and CIDP.
To elucidate the utility of the proximal to distal compound muscle action potential (CMAP) duration ratio to distinguish between demyelinating Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) compared with nerve ultrasound.</AbstractText Thirty-nine demyelinating CMT patients and 19 CIDP patients underwent nerve conduction studies (NCS) and nerve ultrasound. NCS parameters including CMAP duration ratio calculated by dividing the value at the proximal site by that at the distal site and nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) measured by ultrasound were compared between the two groups. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of each parameter were analysed.</AbstractText CMT patients showed a significantly lower CMAP duration ratio than CIDP patients (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) value of the CMAP duration ratio exceeded 0.95 when CMT was considered "positive", and a cut-off value of 1.13 resulted in high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity (84.6 and 100&#xa0;% for median nerve, 97.4 and 85.7&#xa0;% for ulnar nerve, respectively), whereas the AUC value of nerve CSA ranged from 0.70 to 0.81.</AbstractText The CMAP duration ratio could effectively distinguish between demyelinating CMT and CIDP.</AbstractText Adding the CMAP duration ratio to a routine NCS may improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of demyelinating CMT.</AbstractText
[ [ "34617581", "Efficacy of long-term prednisone therapy in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP): a retrospective cohort study.", "Patients with CIDP respond adequately to steroid therapy and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). However, few patients have access to IVIG in developing countries. Little information exists about the clinical response to steroid therapy in Latin American countries.</AbstractText to describe the long-term functional clinical response (24 months) to prednisone therapy in CIDP patients.</AbstractText A retrospective cohort was conducted. Selection included patients with definitive CIDP diagnosis according to European criteria from the Neuromuscular Diseases clinic of the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery between January 2016 and December 2020. Good response to steroid therapy was defined as with improvement in at least one point on the GBS disability score. Poor response to steroid therapy was defined as patients who did not show improvement in at least one point on the GBS disability score. Patients were evaluated at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months.</AbstractText Forty-seven patients with CIDP were included. Half of them were male and mean age was 46&#xb1;15 years. Mean time since symptom onset to diagnosis was 6 (IQR 2-12) months. The most common clinical variant was sensory-motor 57.4%, followed by acute-onset CIDP 21.3% and atypical variants 21.2%. At diagnosis our patients presented: mean GBS disability score of 3 (2.25-4) points, MRC score 39.5 &#xb1; 12 points, independent gait in 17%, mean prednisone dose of 50 mg (32.5-50). Twenty-four months after prednisone therapy, a less mean GBS disability score -1(0-2) points-, mean MRC score 56.3 &#xb1; 5.1 points, independent gait 93% and prednisone dose 1 (0-5) mg. Patients with poor three-month functional clinical response had a delay in diagnosis &gt; 6 months (64.7% vs 27.5%) and atypical clinical variants (47% vs 6.8%).</AbstractText CIDP patients treated with prednisone have good long-term functional clinical response. Delay in diagnosis and atypical variant are common clinical characteristics for poor functional clinical response in treatment with prednisone.</AbstractText Eficacia del uso de prednisona como terapia a largo plazo en pacientes con polineuropat&#xed;a desmielinizante inflamatoria cr&#xf3;nica (PDIC): una cohorte retrospectiva.</AbstractText Introducci&#xf3;n. Los pacientes con polineuropat&#xed;a desmielinizante inflamatoria cr&#xf3;nica (PDIC) responden adecuadamente a la terapia con esteroides y a la inmunoglobulina intravenosa (IgIV). Sin embargo, pocos pacientes tienen acceso a la IgIV en los pa&#xed;ses en desarrollo. Existe poca informaci&#xf3;n sobre la respuesta cl&#xed;nica a la terapia con esteroides en los pa&#xed;ses de Latinoam&#xe9;rica. Objetivo. Describir la respuesta cl&#xed;nica funcional a largo plazo (24 meses) a la terapia con prednisona en pacientes con PDIC. Material y m&#xe9;todos. Se realiz&#xf3; una cohorte retrospectiva. La selecci&#xf3;n incluy&#xf3; a pacientes con diagn&#xf3;stico definitivo de PDIC seg&#xfa;n los criterios europeos de la Cl&#xed;nica de Enfermedades Neuromusculares del Instituto Nacional de Neurolog&#xed;a y Neurocirug&#xed;a entre enero de 2016 y diciembre de 2020. La buena respuesta a la terapia con esteroides se defini&#xf3; como una mejor&#xed;a al menos en un punto de la Guillain-Barre Disability Score (GBS). La mala respuesta a la terapia con esteroides se defini&#xf3; como pacientes que no mostraron mejor&#xed;a al menos en un punto en la GBS. Los pacientes fueron evaluados a los 3, 6, 12, 18 y 24 meses. Resultados. Se incluy&#xf3; a 47 pacientes con PDIC. La mitad de ellos eran varones y la edad media fue de 46 &#xb1; 15 a&#xf1;os. El tiempo medio desde el inicio de los s&#xed;ntomas hasta el diagn&#xf3;stico fue de 6 (rango intercuart&#xed;lico: 2-12) meses. La variante cl&#xed;nica m&#xe1;s com&#xfa;n fue la sensomotora (57,4%), seguida de la PDIC de inicio agudo (21,3%) y de variantes at&#xed;picas (21,2%). En el momento del diagn&#xf3;stico, nuestros pacientes presentaban: GBS media de 3 (2,25-4) puntos, puntuaci&#xf3;n de la escala del Medical Research Council (MRC) de 39,5 &#xb1; 12 puntos, marcha independiente en el 17% y dosis media de prednisona de 50 mg (32,5-50). Veinticuatro meses despu&#xe9;s de la terapia con prednisona, la GBS media era menor &#x2013;1 (0-2) puntos&#x2013;, la puntuaci&#xf3;n media del MRC era de 56,3 &#xb1; 5,1 puntos, hab&#xed;a marcha independiente en el 93% y la dosis de prednisona era de 1 mg (0-5). Los pacientes con mala respuesta cl&#xed;nica funcional a los tres meses tuvieron un retraso en el diagn&#xf3;stico &gt; 6 meses (64,7% frente a 27,5%) y variantes cl&#xed;nicas at&#xed;picas (47% frente a 6,8%). Conclusi&#xf3;n. Los pacientes con PDIC tratados con prednisona tienen una buena respuesta cl&#xed;nica funcional a largo plazo. El retraso en el diagn&#xf3;stico y la variante at&#xed;pica son caracter&#xed;sticas cl&#xed;nicas frecuentes de la respuesta cl&#xed;nica funcional deficiente en el tratamiento con prednisona.</AbstractText" ], [ "34960248", "Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination.", "Recently several patients, who developed Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome characterized by prominent bifacial weakness after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, were described from different centers. We recently observed a patient who developed a similar syndrome, later in the follow up he showed worsening of the neuropathy two months after the initial presentation. Repeat EMG showed reduced nerve sensory and motor conduction velocities of both upper and lower limbs, and a diagnosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (typical CIDP) was made according to established criteria. Our report expands on the possible outcomes in patients who develop Guillain-Barr&#xe8; syndrome after COVID-19 vaccinations and suggest that close monitoring after the acute phase is needed in these patients to exclude a chronic evolution of the disease, which has important implications for long-term treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "34920107", "Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin in autoimmune neurological diseases. Literature systematic review and meta-analysis.", "Corticosteroids are the first-line treatment for several common autoimmune neurological diseases. Other therapeutic approaches, including intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and plasmapheresis, have shown mixed results in patient improvement.</AbstractText To compare the efficacy of IVIg administration with that of corticosteroids, plasmapheresis, and placebo in autoimmune neurological diseases like Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome, myasthenia gravis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, optic neuritis, and multiple sclerosis.</AbstractText A systematic review was performed on the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane. Controlled, randomized studies comparing the efficacy of IVIg with placebo, plasmapheresis, and/or glucocorticoid administration were selected. Only studies reporting the number of patients who improved after treatment were included, irrespective of language or publication year. In total, 23 reports were included in the meta-analysis study.</AbstractText Our meta-analysis showed a beneficial effect of IVIg administration on patient improvement over placebo (OR&#xa0;=&#xa0;2.79, CI [95%]&#xa0;=&#xa0;1.40-5.55, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.01). Meanwhile, IVIg administration showed virtually identical effects to plasmapheresis (OR&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.83, CI [95%]&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.45-1.55, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.01). Finally, no significant differences were found in the efficacy of IVIg and glucocorticoid administration (OR&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.98, Cl [95%]&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.58-1.68, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.13).</AbstractText IVIg can be regarded as a viable therapeutic approach, either as a first- or second-line therapy, and as an adjuvant therapy for autoimmune neurological diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "35507446", "Assessing deterioration using impairment and functional outcome measures in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy: A post-hoc analysis of the immunoglobulin overtreatment in CIDP trial.", "It is unclear whether frequently used cutoff values for outcome measures defining minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) can accurately identify meaningful deterioration in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). We used data from the immunoglobulin overtreatment in CIDP (IOC) trial, in which 60 clinically stable patients with CIDP were randomized to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) withdrawal or continuation. We calculated change scores of the Inflammatory Rasch-Built Overall Disability Scale (I-RODS), grip strength, and Medical Research Council-sum score (MRC-SS) and classified visits based on a treatment anchor (ie, decision to restart/increase treatment after reaching a predefined early endpoint of deterioration). The variability of scores in patients without deterioration was calculated using the limits of agreement. We defined optimized MCIDs for deterioration and specific combinations of MCIDs from different outcome measures, and subsequently calculated the accuracies of the (combined) MCIDs. Substantial variability was found in scores of the I-RODS, grip strength and MRC-SS in patients without deterioration over time, and most MCIDs were within the limits of the variability observed in patients without deterioration. Some MCID cut-offs were insensitive but highly specific for detecting deterioration, for example, the MCID-SE of -1.96 of the I-RODS and -2 point on the MRC-SS. Others were sensitive, but less specific, for example, -4 centiles of the I-RODS. Some combined MCIDs resulted in high specificities and moderate sensitivities. Our results suggest that clinically important deterioration cannot be distinguished from variability over time with currently used MCIDs on the individual level. Combinations of MCIDs might improve the accuracy of determining deterioration, but this needs validation.</AbstractText" ], [ "37170791", "Efficacy of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation treatment in refractory chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.", "Treatment options for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) are intravenous immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis, corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. However, a substantial proportion of patients with CIDP remain refractory to treatment and develop severe functional disability. A systematic review and a meta-analysis of the efficacy of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) treatment in refractory CIDP patients was performed.</AbstractText The study is based on queries in the PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Web of Science and clinicaltrials.gov databases on 4 December 2022. Articles that met our eligibility criteria were included after screening. Patients' characteristics, treatment regime and outcome measures were extracted.</AbstractText Eighty-nine patients in 11 studies were included. The pooled estimate of responsiveness amongst the four included studies was 87.04% (95% confidence interval 66.7%-99.5%) and the pooled estimate of freedom of all immune modulating or suppressive drugs was 80.75% (95% confidence interval 71.2%-90.2%).</AbstractText This meta-analysis and systematic review suggested that HSCT can be effective in the treatment of refractory CIDP. Whilst there are risks involved, HSCT may be a beneficial and viable therapy for refractory CIDP when carefully evaluated.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37240480", "Assessing the Relationship between LAMS and CT Perfusion Parameters in Acute Ischemic Stroke Secondary to Large Vessel Occlusion.", "The Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS) is a rapid pre-hospital scale used to predict stroke severity which has also been shown to accurately predict large vessel occlusions (LVOs). However, to date there is no study exploring whether LAMS correlates with the computed tomography perfusion (CTP) parameters in LVOs.</AbstractText Patients with LVO between September 2019 and October 2021 were retrospectively reviewed and included if the CTP data and admission neurologic exams were available. The LAMS was documented based on emergency personnel exams or scored retrospectively using an admission neurologic exam. The CTP data was processed by RAPID (IschemaView, Menlo Park, CA, USA) with an ischemic core volume (relative cerebral blood flow [rCBF] &lt; 30%), time-to-maximum (Tmax) volume (Tmax &gt; 6 s delay), hypoperfusion index (HI), and cerebral blood volume (CBV) index. Spearman's correlations were performed between the LAMS and CTP parameters.</AbstractText A total of 85 patients were included, of which there were 9 intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA), 53 proximal M1 branch middle cerebral artery M1, and 23 proximal M2 branch occlusions. Overall, 26 patients had LAMS 0-3, and 59 had LAMS 4-5. In total, LAMS positively correlated with CBF &lt; 30% (Correlation Coefficient (CC): 0.32, <i The results of our preliminary study indicate that the LAMS is positively correlated with the estimated ischemic core, perfusion deficit, and HI, and negatively correlated with the CBV index in patients with anterior circulation LVO, with stronger relationships in the M1 and M2 occlusions. This is the first study showing that the LAMS may be correlated with the collateral status and estimated ischemic core in patients with LVO.</AbstractText" ], [ "37765936", "Cortical Response Variation with Social and Non-Social Affective Touch Processing in the Glabrous and Hairy Skin of the Leg: A Pilot fMRI Study.", "Despite the crucial role of touch in social development and its importance for social interactions, there has been very little functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research on brain mechanisms underlying social touch processing. Moreover, there has been very little research on the perception of social touch in the lower extremities in humans, even though this information could expand our understanding of the mechanisms of the c-tactile system. Here, variations in the neural response to stimulation by social and non-social affective leg touch were investigated using fMRI. Participants were subjected to slow a (at 3-5 cm/s) stroking social touch (hand, skin-to-skin) and a non-social touch (peacock feather) to the hairy skin of the shin and to the glabrous skin of the foot sole. Stimulation of the glabrous skin of the foot sole, regardless of the type of stimulus, elicited a much more widespread cortical response, including structures such as the medial segment of precentral gyri, left precentral gyrus, bilateral putamen, anterior insula, left postcentral gyrus, right thalamus, and pallidum. Stimulation of the hairy skin of the shin elicited a relatively greater response in the left middle cingulate gyrus, left angular gyrus, left frontal eye field, bilateral anterior prefrontal cortex, and left frontal pole. Activation of brain structures, some of which belong to the \"social brain\"-the pre- and postcentral gyri bilaterally, superior and middle occipital gyri bilaterally, left middle and superior temporal gyri, right anterior cingulate gyrus and caudate, left middle and inferior frontal gyri, and left lateral ventricle area, was associated with the perception of non-social stimuli in the leg. The left medial segment of pre- and postcentral gyri, left postcentral gyrus and precuneus, bilateral parietal operculum, right planum temporale, left central operculum, and left thalamus proper showed greater activation for social tactile touch. There are regions in the cerebral cortex that responded specifically to hand and feather touch in the foot sole region. These areas included the posterior insula, precentral gyrus; putamen, pallidum and anterior insula; superior parietal cortex; transverse temporal gyrus and parietal operculum, supramarginal gyrus and planum temporale. Subjective assessment of stimulus ticklishness was related to activation of the left cuneal region. Our results make some contribution to understanding the physiology of the perception of social and non-social tactile stimuli and the CT system, including its evolution, and they have clinical impact in terms of environmental enrichment.</AbstractText" ], [ "36307551", "Fully-automated deep learning-based flow quantification of 2D CINE phase contrast MRI.", "Time-resolved, 2D-phase-contrast MRI (2D-CINE-PC-MRI) enables in vivo blood flow analysis. However, accurate vessel contour delineation (VCD) is required to achieve reliable results. We sought to evaluate manual analysis (MA) compared to the performance of a deep learning (DL) application for fully-automated VCD and flow quantification and corrected semi-automated analysis (corSAA).</AbstractText We included 97 consecutive patients (age = 52.9 &#xb1; 16 years, 41 female) with 2D-CINE-PC-MRI imaging on 1.5T MRI systems at sinotubular junction (STJ), and 28/97 also received 2D-CINE-PC at main pulmonary artery (PA). A cardiovascular radiologist performed MA (reference) and corSAA (built-in tool) in commercial software for all cardiac time frames (median: 20, total contours per analysis: 2358 STJ, 680 PA). DL-analysis automatically performed VCD, followed by net flow (NF) and peak velocity (PV) quantification. Contours were compared using Dice similarity coefficients (DSC). Discrepant cases (&gt; &#xb1; 10 mL or &gt; &#xb1; 10 cm/s) were reviewed in detail.</AbstractText DL was successfully applied to 97% (121/125) of the 2D-CINE-PC-MRI series (STJ: 95/97, 98%, PA: 26/28, 93%). Compared to MA, mean DSC were 0.91 &#xb1; 0.02 (DL), 0.94 &#xb1; 0.02 (corSAA) at STJ, and 0.85 &#xb1; 0.08 (DL), 0.93 &#xb1; 0.02 (corSAA) at PA; this indicated good to excellent DL-performance. Flow quantification revealed similar NF at STJ (p = 0.48) and PA (p &gt; 0.05) between methods while PV assessment was significantly different (STJ: p &lt; 0.001, PA: p = 0.04). A detailed review showed noisy voxels in MA and corSAA impacted PV results. Overall, DL analysis compared to human assessments was accurate in 113/121 (93.4%) cases.</AbstractText Fully-automated DL-analysis of 2D-CINE-PC-MRI provided flow quantification at STJ and PA at expert level in &gt; 93% of cases with results being available instantaneously.</AbstractText &#x2022; Deep learning performed flow quantification on clinical 2D-CINE-PC series at the sinotubular junction and pulmonary artery at the expert level in &gt; 93% of cases. &#x2022; Location detection and contouring of the vessel boundaries were performed fully-automatic with results being available instantaneously compared to human assessments which approximately takes three minutes per location. &#x2022; The evaluated tool indicates usability in daily practice.</AbstractText" ], [ "37015822", "Predictive Value of Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis.", "Determinants of disease activity and prognosis are limited in anti-NMDA receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. Neurofilament light chains (NfL) are markers of axonal damage and have been identified as valuable biomarkers for neurodegenerative and other neuroinflammatory disorders. We aimed to investigate serum NfL levels in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis as a biomarker for disease severity and outcome.</AbstractText In this retrospective study, NfL values were measured in all available pretreatment serum and paired CSF samples of the nationwide anti-NMDAR encephalitis cohort. The values were analyzed in duplicate using single-molecule array and compared with measurements in healthy references. Follow-up sera were tested to analyze longitudinal responsiveness, if at least available from 2 time points after diagnosis. Serum NfL levels were compared with data on disease activity (seizures, MRI, and CSF findings), severity (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score, admission days, and intensive care unit admission), and outcome (mRS score and relapses), using regression analysis.</AbstractText We have included 71 patients (75% female; mean age 31.4 years, range 0-85 years) of whom pretreatment serum samples were analyzed. Paired CSF samples were available of 33 patients, follow-up serum samples of 20 patients. Serum NfL levels at diagnosis were higher in patients (mean 19.5 pg/mL, 95% CI 13.7-27.7) than in references (mean 6.4 pg/mL, 95% CI 5.8-7.2, <i Increased serum NfL levels reflect neuroaxonal damage in anti-NMDAR encephalitis. No relationship was identified with disease severity, whereas the association with outcome was confounded by age. The implied role of sampling timing on NfL levels also limits the applicability of NfL as a prognostic marker.</AbstractText" ], [ "37891767", "Brain MRI Biomarkers in Isolated Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder: Where Are We? A Systematic Review.", "The increasing number of MRI studies focused on prodromal Parkinson's Disease (PD) demonstrates a strong interest in identifying early biomarkers capable of monitoring neurodegeneration. In this systematic review, we present the latest information regarding the most promising MRI markers of neurodegeneration in relation to the most specific prodromal symptoms of PD, namely isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). We reviewed structural, diffusion, functional, iron-sensitive, neuro-melanin-sensitive MRI, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies conducted between 2000 and 2023, which yielded a total of 77 relevant papers. Among these markers, iron and neuromelanin emerged as the most robust and promising indicators for early neurodegenerative processes in iRBD. Atrophy was observed in several regions, including the frontal and temporal cortices, limbic cortices, and basal ganglia, suggesting that neurodegenerative processes had been underway for some time. Diffusion and functional MRI produced heterogeneous yet intriguing results. Additionally, reduced glymphatic clearance function was reported. Technological advancements, such as the development of ultra-high field MRI, have enabled the exploration of minute anatomical structures and the detection of previously undetectable anomalies. The race to achieve early detection of neurodegeneration is well underway.</AbstractText" ] ]
24598147
Number Processing and Heterogeneity of Developmental Dyscalculia: Subtypes With Different Cognitive Profiles and Deficits.
This study investigated if developmental dyscalculia (DD) in children with different profiles of mathematical deficits has the same or different cognitive origins. The defective approximate number system hypothesis and the access deficit hypothesis were tested using two different groups of children with DD (11-13 years old): a group with arithmetic fact dyscalculia (AFD) and a group with general dyscalculia (GD). Several different aspects of number magnitude processing were assessed in these two groups and compared with age-matched typically achieving children. The GD group displayed weaknesses with both symbolic and nonsymbolic number processing, whereas the AFD group displayed problems only with symbolic number processing. These findings provide evidence that the origins of DD in children with different profiles of mathematical problems diverge. Children with GD have impairment in the innate approximate number system, whereas children with AFD suffer from an access deficit. These findings have implications for researchers' selection procedures when studying dyscalculia, and also for practitioners in the educational setting.</AbstractText
[ [ "32081940", "Extending the Spectrum of Dysgraphia: A Data Driven Strategy to Estimate Handwriting Quality.", "This paper proposes new ways to assess handwriting, a critical skill in any child's school journey. Traditionally, a pen and paper test called the BHK test (Concise Evaluation Scale for Children's Handwriting) is used to assess children's handwriting in French-speaking countries. Any child with a BHK score above a certain threshold is diagnosed as 'dysgraphic', meaning that they are then eligible for financial coverage for therapeutic support. We previously developed a version of the BHK for tablet computers which provides rich data on the dynamics of writing (acceleration, pressure, and so forth). The underlying model was trained on dysgraphic and non-dysgraphic children. In this contribution, we deviate from the original BHK for three reasons. First, in this instance, we are interested not in a binary output but rather a scale of handwriting difficulties, from the lightest cases to the most severe. Therefore, we wish to compute how far a child's score is from the average score of children of the same age and gender. Second, our model analyses dynamic features that are not accessible on paper; hence, the BHK is useful in this instance. Using the PCA (Principal Component Analysis) reduced the set of 53 handwriting features to three dimensions that are independent of the BHK. Nonetheless, we double-checked that, when clustering our data set along any of these three axes, we accurately detected dysgraphic children. Third, dysgraphia is an umbrella concept that embraces a broad variety of handwriting difficulties. Two children with the same global score can have totally different types of handwriting difficulties. For instance, one child could apply uneven pen pressure while another one could have trouble controlling their writing speed. Our new test not only provides a global score, but it also includes four specific score for kinematics, pressure, pen tilt and static features (letter shape). Replacing a global score with a more detailed profile enables the selection of remediation games that are very specific to each profile.</AbstractText" ], [ "30058838", "Developmental Dyscalculia is Characterized by Order Processing Deficits: Evidence from Numerical and Non-Numerical Ordering Tasks.", "This study tested the hypothesis that individuals with dyscalculia have an order processing deficit. The ordering measures included both numerical and non-numerical ordering tasks, and ordering of both familiar and novel sequences was assessed. Magnitude processing/estimation tasks and measures of inhibition skills were also administered. The participants were 20 children with developmental dyscalculia, and 20 children without maths difficulties. The two groups were closely matched on age, gender, socio-economic status, educational experiences, IQ and reading ability. The findings revealed differences between the groups in both ordering and magnitude processing skills. Nevertheless, diagnostic status was best predicted by order processing abilities.</AbstractText" ], [ "28613104", "A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies of Mathematics Difficulty.", "Some students may be diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics or dyscalculia, whereas other students may demonstrate below-grade-level mathematics performance without a disability diagnosis. In the literature, researchers often identify students in both groups as experiencing math difficulty. To understand the performance of students with math difficulty, we examined 35 studies that reported longitudinal results of mathematics achievement (i.e., mathematics performance measured across at least a 12-month span). Our primary goal was to conduct a systematic review of these studies and to understand whether the growth of students with math difficulty was comparable or stagnant when compared with that of students without math difficulty. We also analyzed whether identification of math difficulty was predictive of mathematics achievement in later grades and whether a diagnosis of math difficulty was stable across grade levels. Results indicate that students with math difficulty demonstrate growth on mathematics measures, but this growth still leads to lower performance than that of students without math difficulty. Identification of math difficulty is strongly related to math performance in subsequent grades, and this diagnosis is often stable. Collectively, this literature indicates that students with math difficulty continue to struggle with mathematics in later grades.</AbstractText" ], [ "28320968", "Numerosity representation is encoded in human subcortex.", "Certain numerical abilities appear to be relatively ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, including the ability to recognize and differentiate relative quantities. This skill is present in human adults and children, as well as in nonhuman primates and, perhaps surprisingly, is also demonstrated by lower species such as mosquitofish and spiders, despite the absence of cortical computation available to primates. This ubiquity of numerical competence suggests that representations that connect to numerical tasks are likely subserved by evolutionarily conserved regions of the nervous system. Here, we test the hypothesis that the evaluation of relative numerical quantities is subserved by lower-order brain structures in humans. Using a monocular/dichoptic paradigm, across four experiments, we show that the discrimination of displays, consisting of both large (5-80) and small (1-4) numbers of dots, is facilitated in the monocular, subcortical portions of the visual system. This is only the case, however, when observers evaluate larger ratios of 3:1 or 4:1, but not smaller ratios, closer to 1:1. This profile of competence matches closely the skill with which newborn infants and other species can discriminate numerical quantity. These findings suggest conservation of ontogenetically and phylogenetically lower-order systems in adults' numerical abilities. The involvement of subcortical structures in representing numerical quantities provokes a reconsideration of current theories of the neural basis of numerical cognition, inasmuch as it bolsters the cross-species continuity of the biological system for numerical abilities.</AbstractText" ], [ "18793076", "Developmental change in the acuity of the \"Number Sense\": The Approximate Number System in 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds and adults.", "Behavioral, neuropsychological, and brain imaging research points to a dedicated system for processing number that is shared across development and across species. This foundational Approximate Number System (ANS) operates over multiple modalities, forming representations of the number of objects, sounds, or events in a scene. This system is imprecise and hence differs from exact counting. Evidence suggests that the resolution of the ANS, as specified by a Weber fraction, increases with age such that adults can discriminate numerosities that infants cannot. However, the Weber fraction has yet to be determined for participants of any age between 9 months and adulthood, leaving its developmental trajectory unclear. Here we identify the Weber fraction of the ANS in 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children and in adults. We show that the resolution of this system continues to increase throughout childhood, with adultlike levels of acuity attained surprisingly late in development.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "26523712", "Detection and Differentiation of Frontotemporal Dementia and Related Disorders From Alzheimer Disease Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.", "The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening tool used by practitioners worldwide. The efficacy of the MoCA for screening frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and related disorders is unknown. The objectives were: (1) to determine whether the MoCA detects cognitive impairment (CI) in FTD subjects; (2) to determine whether Alzheimer disease (AD) and FTD subtypes and related disorders can be parsed using the MoCA; and (3) describe longitudinal MoCA performance by subtype. We extracted demographic and testing data from a database of patients referred to a cognitive neurology clinic who met criteria for probable AD or FTD (N=192). Logistic regression was used to determine whether dementia subtypes were associated with overall scores, subscores, or combinations of subscores on the MoCA. Initial MoCA results demonstrated CI in the majority of FTD subjects (87%). FTD subjects (N=94) performed better than AD subjects (N=98) on the MoCA (mean scores: 18.1 vs. 16.3; P=0.02). Subscores parsed many, but not all subtypes. FTD subjects had a larger decline on the MoCA within 13 to 36 months than AD subjects (P=0.02). The results indicate that the MoCA is a useful tool to identify and track progression of CI in FTD. Further, the data informs future research on scoring models for the MoCA to enhance cognitive screening and detection of FTD patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "27096402", "Effect of the Motion Correction Technique on Image Quality at 320-Detector Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.", "Adaptive motion correction (AMC) is a new technique that can suppress blurring of the coronary arteries. We evaluated its effect on the image quality of coronary computed tomography angiography in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).</AbstractText Twenty-five patients with persistent AF underwent coronary computed tomography angiography. Axial image data sets were reconstructed with and without AMC and the image noise in the perivascular tissue of the coronary arteries was measured. Two radiologists visually evaluated the overall image quality of the coronary artery segment using a 4-point scale (1, uninterpretable; 4, good).</AbstractText The mean image noise in the perivascular tissue of the right, but not the left coronary artery, was reduced by AMC (43.8 vs 52.5 Hounsfield units; P &lt; 0.01) and the mean image quality score for the right, but not the left coronary artery, was improved by AMC (3.01 vs 2.74; P &lt; 0.01). The image quality scores in patients with a heart rate of 75 to 114 beats per minute tended to be improved by AMC (75-94 beats per minute: P = 0.06; 95-114 beats per minute: P &lt; 0.01); in patients with a heart rate up to 74 or above 115 beats per minute, they were not improved (P = 0.46 and P = 0.13, respectively).</AbstractText Adaptive motion correction reduced motion artifacts and improved image quality of the right coronary artery in some patients with AF.</AbstractText" ], [ "26928214", "Early cerebral volume reductions and their associations with reduced lupus disease activity in patients with newly-diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus.", "We examined if cerebral volume reduction occurs very early during the course of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and observed prospectively whether gray (GMV) and white matter volumes (WMV) of the brain would improve with lowered SLE disease activity. T1-weighted MRI brain images were obtained from 14 healthy controls (HC) and 14 newly-diagnosed SLE patients within 5 months of diagnosis (S1) and after achieving low disease activity (S2). Whole brain voxel-based morphometry was used to detect differences in the GMV and WMV between SLE patients and HC and those between SLE patients at S1 and S2. SLE patients were found to have lower GMV than HC in the middle cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus and right supplementary motor area, and lower WMV in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum cingulate gyrus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus at both S1 and S2. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed increased GMV chiefly in the prefrontal regions at S2 compared to S1 in SLE patients. The GMV increase in the left superior frontal gyrus was significantly associated with lowered SLE disease activity. In conclusion, GMV and WMV reduced very early in SLE patients. Reduction of SLE disease activity was accompanied by region-specific GMV improvement in the prefrontal regions.</AbstractText" ], [ "26729050", "Task-Dependent Changes in Frontal-Parietal Activation and Connectivity During Visual Search.", "Visual search is an important skill in navigating and locating objects (a target) among distractors in our environment. Efficient and faster target detection involves reciprocal interaction between a viewer's attentional resources as well as salient target characteristics. The neural correlates of visual search have been extensively investigated over the last decades, suggesting the involvement of a frontal-parietal network comprising the frontal eye fields (FEFs) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). In addition, activity and connectivity of these network changes as the visual search become complex and more demanding. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the modulation of the frontal-parietal network in response to cognitive demand in 22 healthy adult participants. In addition to brain activity, changes in functional connectivity and effective connectivity in this network were examined in response to easy and difficult visual search. Results revealed significantly increased activation in FEF, IPS, and supplementary motor area, more so in difficult search than in easy search. Functional and effective connectivity analyses showed enhanced connectivity in the frontal-parietal network during difficult search and enhanced information transfer from left to right hemisphere during the difficult search process. Our overall findings suggest that cognitive demand significantly increases brain resources across all three measures of brain processing. In sum, we found that goal-directed visual search engages a network of frontal-parietal areas that are modulated in relation to cognitive demand.</AbstractText" ], [ "27032972", "T1 Signal-Intensity Increase in the Dentate Nucleus after Multiple Exposures to Gadodiamide: Intraindividual Comparison between 2 Commonly Used Sequences.", "Different T1-weighted sequences have been used for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of T1 signal intensity related to gadolinium deposition in the dentate nucleus in patients who underwent several enhanced MR imaging studies. Our purpose was to perform an intraindividual qualitative and quantitative comparison between T1-weighted spin-echo and 3D magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition of gradient echo sequences in patients who had multiple exposures to gadodiamide.</AbstractText Our retrospectively selected population included 18 patients who underwent at least 3 administrations of gadodiamide and had a baseline and a final MR imaging performed with both T1-weighted sequences. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were independently performed. Dentate nucleus/middle cerebellar peduncle signal-intensity ratios and signal changes between the baseline and final examinations were compared by using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Correlation between quantitative and qualitative evaluations was assessed by using a polyserial correlation test.</AbstractText The differences between the 2 sequences for both baseline and last examination dentate nucleus/middle cerebellar peduncle ratios were statistically significant (P = .008 and P = .006, respectively); however, the signal-intensity changes of the ratios with time were not (P = .64). The correlation between the qualitative and quantitative analysis was very strong (near-perfect) (r = 0.9) for MPRAGE and strong (r = 0.63) for spin-echo sequences.</AbstractText T1-weighted spin-echo and MPRAGE sequences cannot be used interchangeably for qualitative or quantitative analysis of signal intensity in the dentate nucleus in patients who received gadodiamide. Baseline and final examination ratios should be evaluated across time by using the same sequence. Qualitative analysis performed with MPRAGE correlated better with quantitative analysis and may offer advantages over spin-echo sequences for research purposes.</AbstractText" ] ]
40432425
The association between disordered eating and psychosis in clinical and non-clinical populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Eating disorders and psychotic disorders represent two of the most serious psychiatric conditions. Emerging lines of evidence from genetic and epidemiological studies suggest that these disorders may commonly co-occur. This systematic review investigated the association between these disorders across community and clinical populations.</AbstractText A systematic review was preregistered (CRD42021231771) and conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Web of Science, PsycINFO and Medline were searched for articles on the association and comorbidity between psychosis and eating disorders up to the 26th February 2024. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted for studies reporting comorbidity of eating disorders and psychotic disorders based on clinical diagnosis or interview measures, to estimate prevalence of the comorbidity between these disorders. A narrative synthesis was conducted for all other studies and grouped by sample (general population, eating disorders or psychotic disorders).</AbstractText In total 43 studies met inclusion criteria for the systematic review and 16 were included in the meta-analysis. Findings suggest substantial comorbidity between eating disorders and psychotic disorders, with a pooled comorbidity prevalence of 8% (CI: 3, 14) based on clinical diagnosis or interview measures. Studies using self-report questionnaires also highlight the association between eating disorders and psychosis across clinical and community populations.</AbstractText Eating disorders and psychotic disorders frequently co-occur. Further research should investigate the temporal order of symptom development and consider the need for novel interventions targeted at overlapping psychotic and eating disorder symptoms and associated phenomena.</AbstractText
[ [ "34188475", "Exploring Neural Mechanisms Related to Cognitive Control, Reward, and Affect in Eating Disorders: A Narrative Review of FMRI Studies.", "Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have contributed to our understanding of possible neural abnormalities among individuals with eating disorders. Many of these studies have focused on three domains: 1) cognitive control, 2) reward processing, and 3) affective processing. This review attempts to summarize the recent fMRI findings across these domains among the most well-characterized eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Though the literature is a bit murky, a few major themes have emerged. Cognitive control systems are affected among individuals across eating disorder diagnoses, but effects seem least pronounced in AN. Specifically, individuals with all eating disorders appear to show decreased prefrontal activation during cognitive control, but there is less evidence in AN linking decreased prefrontal activation with behavior. There is some evidence that the reinforcing value of food is reduced in AN, but individuals with BN and BED show hyperactivation to rewarding food-related stimuli, suggesting the reinforcing value of food may be enhanced. However, more complex reward processing paradigms show that individuals with BN and BED exhibit hypoactivation to reward anticipation and provide mixed results with regards to reward receipt. There are fewer neuroimaging findings related to affective processing, yet behavioral findings suggest affective processing is important in understanding eating disorders. Though the extant literature is complicated, these studies represent a foundation from which to build and provide insight into potential neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the pathophysiology of eating disorders.</AbstractText" ], [ "36442070", "Childhood Lead Poisoning 1970-2022: Charting Progress and Needed Reforms.", "Childhood lead poisoning prevention in the United States was marked by a largely failed medical approach from 1971 to 1990; an emergent (but small) healthy housing primary prevention strategy from 1991 to 2015; and implementation of large-scale proven interventions since then.</AbstractText Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention &amp; Healthy Housing.</AbstractText Historic and recent health and housing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the American Healthy Homes Survey (AHHS) were retrieved to analyze trends and associated policy gaps.</AbstractText Approximately 590 000 US children aged 1 through 5 years had elevated blood lead levels of 3.5 &#x3bc;g/dL and greater in 2016, and 4.3 million children resided in homes with lead paint in 2019. Despite large improvements, racial and other disparities remain stubbornly and statistically significant. The NHANES and the AHHS require larger sample sizes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not published children's blood lead surveillance and NHANES data in several years; the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has no analogous housing surveillance system; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have not updated training, Superfund, and occupational standards in decades.</AbstractText The nation has been without a plan and an associated budget for more than 2 decades. Congress has not reformed the nation's main lead poisoning prevention laws in more than 30 years. Such reforms include stopping US companies from producing new residential lead paint in other countries; enabling the disclosure law to identify all residential lead hazards; closing loopholes in federally assisted housing regulations and mortgage insurance standards; harnessing tax policy to help homeowners mitigate lead hazards; streamlining training requirements; increasing the size of health and housing surveys and surveillance systems; and updating housing codes, medical guidance, dust lead standards, training, Superfund, and worker exposure limits. Congress and the president should reauthorize a cabinet-level task force (dormant since 2010) to develop a new strategic plan with an interagency budget to implement it. These reforms will scale and optimize markets, subsidies, enforcement, and other proven interventions to end ineffective, costly, harmful, and irrational cost shifting that threatens children, workers, and affordable housing.</AbstractText" ], [ "33342555", "Psychotherapy and Medications for Eating Disorders: Better Together?", "Eating disorders are prevalent public health problems associated with broad psychosocial impairments and with elevated rates of psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Critical reviews of the treatment literature for eating disorders indicate that although certain specialized psychological treatments and specific medications show efficacy to varying degrees across the different eating disorders, many patients fail to derive sufficient benefit from existing treatments. This article addresses whether combining psychological and pharmacologic interventions confers any additional benefits for treating eating disorders.</AbstractText This study was a critical review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing combined psychological and pharmacologic treatment approaches for eating disorders with a focus on anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED).</AbstractText For AN, 3 of the 4 RCTs reported no significant advantage for combining treatments; the fourth reported a statistically significant, albeit clinically modest, advantage. For BN, 10 of the 12 RCTs reported no significant advantage for combining treatments; 2 RCTs found that combining fluoxetine with specific psychological treatments enhanced outcomes relative to medication only but not relative to the psychological treatments only. For BED, of the 12 RCTs, only 2 (both with antiseizure medications) significantly enhanced both binge-eating and weight outcomes, and only 2 (with orlistat, a weight-loss medication) enhanced weight loss but not binge-eating outcomes.</AbstractText Despite the public health significance of eating disorders, the scope of research performed on the utility of combining treatments is limited. To date, the few RCTs testing combined pharmacologic plus psychological treatments for eating disorders have yielded mostly nonsignificant findings. Future RCTs should focus on testing additive benefits of medications with relevant mechanisms of action to available effective psychological interventions. In addition, future RCTs that test additive effects should use adaptive designs, which could inform treatment algorithms to enhance outcomes among both responders and nonresponders to initial interventions.</AbstractText" ], [ "24343793", "Reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and disordered eating among adolescent girls and boys: a multiwave, prospective study.", "Symptoms of depression and eating disorders increase during adolescence, particularly among girls, and they tend to co-occur. Despite this evidence, there is meager research on whether depression increases the risk of future eating pathology, or vice versa, and we do not know whether these processes are different for adolescent girls and boys. Accordingly, this study explored the prospective reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and disordered eating at different time points from preadolescence to mid-adolescence and tested the moderator effect of gender on these associations. A community-based sample of Spanish youth (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;942, 49&#xa0;% female) was assessed at ages of approximately 10-11 (T1), 12-13 (T2), 14-15 (T3), and 16-17 (T4) years. The bidirectional relationships between depressive symptoms and disordered eating were estimated in an autoregressive cross-lagged model with latent variables. A unidirectional, age-specific association between depressive symptoms at T1 and disordered eating at T2 was found. No other significant cross-lagged effect emerged, but the stability of the constructs was considerable. Gender did not moderate any of the links examined. Regardless of gender, the transition from childhood to adolescence appears to be a key period when depressive symptoms foster the development of disordered eating. These findings suggest that early prevention and treatment of depression targeting both girls and boys may result in lower levels of depressive symptoms and disordered eating in adolescence.</AbstractText" ], [ "38318140", "Economic evaluation of management strategies for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).", "<b" ] ]
[ [ "40401016", "Rapid Absorption of a Spontaneous Primary Intraventricular Hemorrhage.", "Spontaneous primary intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a rare type of intracranial hemorrhage that can be concentrated in one or more ventricles. The clinical symptoms after bleeding are diverse, if there is significant bleeding or hydrocephalus, external ventricular drainage (EVD) treatment is often required. Absorption of the hematoma after ventricular hemorrhage usually takes several weeks, and there are very few articles in the literature on hematoma absorption. As far as we know early spontaneous disappearance of spontaneous primary IVH has not previously been reported in the literature. Herein, we describe a rare case of spontaneous primary IVH that rapidly disappeared without surgical intervention. The patient, a 73-year-old male, was admitted to the hospital for \"unclear speech for 16&#xa0;hours\". An initial head computed tomography (CT) scan showed significant accumulation of blood in both lateral ventricles, the third ventricle, midbrain aqueduct, and fourth ventricle, as well as acute hydrocephalus. The patient was conscious and did not undergo EVD treatment. After 24&#xa0;hours, head CT re-examination showed that the accumulated blood had been significantly absorbed, and hydrocephalus had improved. Three days later, head CT re-examination showed that the accumulated blood in the ventricles had been absorbed, and the patient did not experience any discomfort. Following observation for a few more days, he was discharged from the hospital.</AbstractText" ], [ "40780961", "Organization of brainwide inputs to discrete lateral septum projection populations.", "The lateral septum (LS) is anatomically positioned to play a critical role in directing information from the hippocampus and cortex to downstream subcortical structures, such as the hypothalamus. In fact, early anatomical tracing studies investigated the organization of hippocampal inputs to the LS and its hypothalamic outputs to begin to understand how its structure might relate to its function. These studies also characterized the cellular anatomy of the LS and its organization of different molecular markers. However, little is known about the organization of non-hypothalamic projection populations within the LS and what types of input these different projection populations receive. We used retrograde tracing to determine the organization of LS projections to six brain regions that mediate various social behaviors in male mice, specifically, the basolateral amygdala (BLA), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), nucleus accumbens (NAc), periaqueductal gray (PAG), ventromedial hypothalamus (vmH) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). We found that these projection populations occupy discrete anatomical compartments within the LS. We then used a monosynaptic rabies tracing strategy in male mice to map brainwide inputs to these six discrete LS projection populations and examine how different brain regions innervate them. We identified unique region-dependent patterns of inputs to individual LS projection populations. In particular, we observed differences in cortical, hippocampal and thalamic innervation of the six different LS projection populations, while the hypothalamic inputs were largely similar across projection populations. Thus, this study provides insight into the anatomical connectivity that may underlie the functional heterogeneity of the LS.<b" ], [ "40276746", "T(1) Relaxation Time for the Prediction of Renal Transplant Dysfunction.", "Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is emerging as a non-invasive tool to measure tissue scarring in renal allografts. However, whether prolonged T<sub" ], [ "40767004", "Beyond Anesthesia: Ketamine's Expanding Role in Chronic Pain and Psychiatric Disorders.", "This review explores ketamine's expanding role in managing both chronic pain and mental health conditions, focusing on its pharmacologic mechanisms, clinical applications, and therapeutic potential. We assess its analgesic properties, FDA-approved application in the form of Spravato (esketamine) for depression, and off-label use for analgesia and psychiatric disorders.</AbstractText A systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases identified studies on ketamine's efficacy and safety in chronic pain and psychiatric disorders. The analysis included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies, and systematic reviews.</AbstractText Ketamine has demonstrated significant efficacy in managing chronic pain in neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), especially in treatment-resistant cases. Mental health comorbidities are common in chronic pain populations, with up to 50% experiencing depression or anxiety. Ketamine's N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism not only underlies its analgesic effects but also contributes to rapid antidepressant responses in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and acute suicidal ideation, as evidenced by its FDA-approved formulation, Spravato (esketamine). Beyond depression, emerging evidence supports ketamine's potential use in anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and certain substance use disorders. However, its psychomimetic effects, safety concerns, and unclear long-term impact warrant careful clinical oversight.</AbstractText Ketamine presents a versatile therapeutic strategy for managing chronic pain and a wide range of mental health disorders, signifying its potential to bridge the gap in treatment-resistant cases. Ongoing research is needed to optimize dosing strategies, assess long-term safety, and integrate ketamine into multidisciplinary care models. This approach emphasizes personalized patient care and comprehensive monitoring to navigate the complexities of coexisting chronic pain and mental health challenges.</AbstractText" ], [ "38899773", "What I think she thinks about my paralysed body: Social inferences about disability-related content in anosognosia for hemiplegia.", "The neuropsychological disorder of anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) can offer unique insights into the neurocognitive processes of body consciousness and representation. Previous studies have found associations between selective social cognition deficits and anosognosia. In this study, we examined how such social cognition deficits may directly interact with representations of one's body as disabled in AHP. We used a modified set of previously validated Theory of Mind (ToM) stories to create disability-related content that was related to post-stroke paralysis and to investigate differences between right hemisphere damage patients with (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;19) and without (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;19) AHP. We expected AHP patients to perform worse than controls when trying to infer paralysis-related mental states in the paralysis-related ToM stories and explored whether such differences depended on the inference patients were asked to perform (e.g. self or other referent perspective-taking). Using an advanced structural neuroimaging technique, we expected selective social cognitive deficits to be associated with posterior parietal cortex lesions and deficits in self-referent perspective-taking in paralysis-related mentalising to be associated with frontoparietal disconnections. Group- and individual-level results revealed that AHP patients performed worse than HP controls when trying to infer paralysis-related mental states. Exploratory lesion analysis results revealed some of the hypothesised lesions, but also unexpected white matter disconnections in the posterior body and splenium of the corpus collosum associated with a self-referent perspective-taking in paralysis-related ToM stories. The study has implications for the multi-layered nature of body awareness, including abstract, social perspectives and beliefs about the body.</AbstractText" ] ]
40735513
Trends in antibiotic dispensing for children in Belgian ambulatory care: time series analysis before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aim of this study is to analyse trends in paediatric antibiotic use in Belgian ambulatory care across three COVID-19 pandemic-related periods.</AbstractText We conducted a retrospective time series analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average modelling. The analysis is based on anonymized pharmacy dispensing data for antibiotics delivered to Belgian children aged 0-12&#x2005;years, retrieved from Farmanet for the period from 2014 until 2023. The outcome measures were the number of packages, expenditures and DDDs. Outcomes were analysed for all antibiotics collectively and for subgroups based on patient characteristics, prescriber specialty, geographic region and antibiotic characteristics.</AbstractText Antibiotic use among children in Belgian ambulatory care sharply declined during the COVID-19 pandemic (-42.7%), followed by a gradual return to pre-pandemic levels (+66.9%), which was primarily driven by prescriptions of antibiotics commonly used for respiratory tract infections. The initial reduction exceeded expected seasonal variations. The largest decreases during the pandemic and subsequent increases were observed among children aged 7-12&#x2005;years, those with standard reimbursement, in prescriptions by general practitioners and in rural areas of Flanders and the Walloon region.</AbstractText The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted paediatric antibiotic prescribing patterns in Belgian ambulatory care. These findings highlight the importance of sustained antimicrobial stewardship efforts, not only in routine healthcare settings but also during periods of altered care delivery.</AbstractText
[ [ "36327273", "Reliability of COVID-19 data: An evaluation and reflection.", "The rapid proliferation of COVID-19 has left governments scrambling, and several data aggregators are now assisting in the reporting of county cases and deaths. The different variables affecting reporting (e.g., time delays in reporting) necessitates a well-documented reliability study examining the data methods and discussion of possible causes of differences between aggregators.</AbstractText To statistically evaluate the reliability of COVID-19 data across aggregators using case fatality rate (CFR) estimates and reliability statistics.</AbstractText Cases and deaths were collected daily by volunteers via state and local health departments, as primary sources and newspaper reports, as secondary sources. In an effort to begin comparison for reliability statistical analysis, BroadStreet collected data from other COVID-19 aggregator sources, including USAFacts, Johns Hopkins University, New York Times, The COVID Tracking Project.</AbstractText COVID-19 cases and death counts at the county and state levels.</AbstractText Lower levels of inter-rater agreement were observed across aggregators associated with the number of deaths, which manifested itself in state level Bayesian estimates of COVID-19 fatality rates.</AbstractText A national, publicly available data set is needed for current and future disease outbreaks and improved reliability in reporting.</AbstractText" ], [ "25610780", "Brain metabolic maps in Mild Cognitive Impairment predict heterogeneity of progression to dementia.", "[(18)F]FDG-PET imaging has been recognized as a crucial diagnostic marker in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), supporting the presence or the exclusion of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology. A clinical heterogeneity, however, underlies MCI definition. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the predictive role of single-subject voxel-based maps of [(18)F]FDG distribution generated through statistical parametric mapping (SPM) in the progression to different dementia subtypes in a sample of 45 MCI. Their scans were compared to a large normal reference dataset developed and validated for comparison at single-subject level. Additionally, A&#x3b2;42 and Tau CSF values were available in 34 MCI subjects. Clinical follow-up (mean 28.5&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;7.8&#xa0;months) assessed subsequent progression to AD or non-AD dementias. The SPM analysis showed: 1) normal brain metabolism in 14 MCI cases, none of them progressing to dementia; 2) the typical temporo-parietal pattern suggestive for prodromal AD in 15 cases, 11 of them progressing to AD; 3) brain hypometabolism suggestive of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) subtypes in 7 and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in 2 subjects (all fulfilled FTLD or DLB clinical criteria at follow-up); and 4) 7 MCI cases showed a selective unilateral or bilateral temporo-medial hypometabolism without the typical AD pattern, and they all remained stable. In our sample, objective voxel-based analysis of [(18)F]FDG-PET scans showed high predictive prognostic value, by identifying either normal brain metabolism or hypometabolic patterns suggestive of different underlying pathologies, as confirmed by progression at follow-up. These data support the potential usefulness of this SPM [(18)F]FDG PET analysis in the early dementia diagnosis and for improving subject selection in clinical trials based on MCI definition.</AbstractText" ], [ "30983979", "White Matter Connectome Correlates of Auditory Over-Responsivity: Edge Density Imaging and Machine-Learning Classifiers.", "Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) commonly involves auditory and/or tactile domains, and can affect children with or without additional neurodevelopmental challenges. In this study, we examined white matter microstructural and connectome correlates of auditory over-responsivity (AOR), analyzing prospectively collected data from 39 boys, aged 8-12 years. In addition to conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) maps - including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD); we used DTI and high-resolution T1 scans to develop connectome Edge Density (ED) maps. The tract-based spatial statistics was used for voxel-wise comparison of diffusion and ED maps. Then, stepwise penalized logistic regression was applied to identify independent variable (s) predicting AOR, as potential imaging biomarker (s) for AOR. Finally, we compared different combinations of machine learning algorithms (i.e., na&#xef;ve Bayes, random forest, and support vector machine (SVM) and tract-based DTI/connectome metrics for classification of children with AOR. In direct sensory phenotype assessment, 15 (out of 39) boys exhibited AOR (with or without neurodevelopmental concerns). Voxel-wise analysis demonstrates extensive impairment of white matter microstructural integrity in children with AOR on DTI maps - evidenced by lower FA and higher MD and RD; moreover, there was lower connectome ED in anterior-superior corona radiata, genu and body of corpus callosum. In stepwise logistic regression, the average FA of left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) was the single independent variable distinguishing children with AOR (<i" ], [ "28765227", "Determination of an Optimal Pharmacokinetic Model of (18)F-FET for Quantitative Applications in Rat Brain Tumors.", "<i" ], [ "28570101", "MR Elastography Demonstrates Unique Regional Brain Stiffness Patterns in Dementias.", "The purpose of this study was to investigate age-corrected brain MR elastography (MRE) findings in four dementia cohorts (Alzheimer disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, and normal pressure hydrocephalus) and determine the potential use as a differentiating biomarker in dementia subtypes.</AbstractText Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained to perform MRE on 84 subjects: 20 patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus, eight with Alzheimer disease, five with dementia with Lewy bodies, five with frontotemporal dementia, and 46 cognitively normal control subjects. Shear waves of 60-Hz vibration frequency were transmitted into the brain using a pillowlike passive driver, and brain stiffness was determined in eight different regions (cerebrum, frontal, occipital, parietal, temporal, deep gray matter-white matter, sensorimotor cortex, and cerebellum). All stiffness values were age-corrected and compared with control subjects. The Wilcoxon rank sum test and linear regression were used for statistical analysis.</AbstractText Regional stiffness patterns unique to each dementing disorder were observed. Patients with Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia showed decreased cerebral stiffness (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively) with regional softening of the frontal and temporal lobes. Patients with Alzheimer disease additionally showed parietal lobe and sensorimotor region softening (p = 0.039 and p = 0.018, respectively). Patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus showed stiffening of the parietal, occipital, and sensorimotor regions (p = 0.007, p &lt; 0.001, and p &lt; 0.0001, respectively). Patients with dementia with Lewy bodies did not show significant stiffness changes in any of the regions.</AbstractText Quantitative MRE of changes in brain viscoelastic structure shows unique regional brain stiffness patterns between common dementia subtypes.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40270245", "Diagnostic Accuracy of Finger-Like Projections and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage for Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Pathological Validation From Lobar Hematoma Evacuation or Brain Biopsy.", "Diagnosing cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) after spontaneous lobar intracerebral hemorrhage has significant clinical implications. A previous postmortem study found that the presence of both subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and hematoma finger-like projections (FLP) on acute-stage computed tomography strongly rules in CAA. In the present study, we assessed the diagnostic value of these imaging markers against histopathologic diagnosis in less severe presentations.</AbstractText This retrospective (2002-2022) multicenter study included patients aged &#x2265;45 years with lobar intracerebral hemorrhage of unknown cause, for whom acute-stage computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging and neuropathological samples from hematoma evacuation or biopsy were available. Centralized consensus reading (2 raters) of imaging and neuropathological data (including A&#x3b2; immunohistochemistry) were performed. Analysis was restricted to samples containing at least 10 vessels. The diagnostic performance was evaluated against the neuropathological reference, that is, CAA/no CAA.</AbstractText We analyzed data from 66 patients (age, 65&#xb1;9 years; men, 33%; hematoma volume, 45&#xb1;26 mL; death within 1 year, 14%) from 6 French centers. Neuropathological material included samples from hematoma evacuation (n=48) and biopsy (n=18). CAA was present in 38 (58%) patients, and FLP and SAH were observed in 29 (44%) and 50 (76%) patients, respectively. FLP had a sensitivity of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.41-0.74) and a specificity of 0.74 (95% CI, 0.54-0.89) for the diagnosis of CAA. SAH demonstrated a high sensitivity of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.78-0.98; negative predictive value=0.80 [0.52-0.96]) but moderate specificity of 0.43 (95% CI, 0.24-0.63). The combined presence of FLP and SAH had a specificity of 0.54 (95% CI, 0.37-0.71) and a sensitivity of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.59-0.92).</AbstractText This study is the first to evaluate the diagnostic performance of FLP and SAH with histopathologic reference in nonautopsied patients. The results suggest these markers have lower diagnostic performance than previously reported in severe hematomas leading to early death. However, the high sensitivity of SAH suggests its potential clinical utility in ruling out CAA when absent.</AbstractText" ], [ "40352019", "High-Dose Corticosteroid Therapy in Facial Nerve Palsy: A Retrospective Study.", "Objectives The difference in therapeutic efficacy between an initial dosage of 200 mg and 100 mg prednisolone (PSL)&#xa0;with a taper&#xa0;for Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome was retrospectively investigated. Methods A total of 259 patients (172 with Bell's palsy and 87 with Ramsay Hunt syndrome) were treated with high-dose corticosteroid therapy (HDCT) with PSL (the standard HDCT: 200 mg/day for three days with a seven-day taper, or the reduced HDCT: 100 mg/day for three days with a seven-day taper) and evaluated once a month by the Yanagihara facial nerve grading system until facial nerve paralysis was cured or six months after the onset. Results The therapeutic efficacy of the standard HDCT was not significantly improved, compared to the reduced HDCT, in Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and even in less than 20.0% of electroneuronography in Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Conclusion HDCT with more than an initial dosage of 100 mg/day PSL with a taper for Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome does not increase the therapeutic efficacy.</AbstractText" ], [ "39987961", "Cognitive remediation in breast cancer survivors: A study protocol.", "Cancer treatment-related cognitive impairment, also known as \"Chemobrain,\" is frequently reported among cancer survivors. This condition can persist for months after the end of cancer treatment and can affect various aspects of a patients' quality of life. Despite growing evidence, research into effective treatments remains an emerging field. This project aims to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive remediation protocol called Oncogite in reducing cancer treatment-related cognitive impairment. The primary outcomes are self-reported functional and emotional well-being. The secondary outcomes include measures of executive function (working memory, inhibition, shifting), episodic memory, perceived cognitive function and perceived quality of life. One hundred sixty-four breast cancer survivors will be recruited from an existing cohort. Patients will be randomized to either a cognitive remediation group or a no intervention group. Participation in the workshops will be via videoconferencing, led by a neuropsychologist. Patients in the experimental group will also have access to an internet platform with the exercises practiced between the group workshops. The intervention will last four months at a rate of one workshop per week. The following data will be collected: emotional and functional well-being, neurocognitive performance, switching, inhibition, cognitive complaints, episodic memory, fatigue and depression. We will conclude that the intervention is effective if there is 4-month improvement in both emotional and functional well-being to find in the experimental group in their cognitive functioning. This research will contribute to the development of new clinical tools for cancer treatment-related cognitive impairment and facilitate the return to work in cancer survivors.</AbstractText" ], [ "39570700", "Mechanistic complexity is fundamental: Evidence from judgments, attention, and memory.", "What makes an object <i" ], [ "40573350", "Development of a Noninfectious Japanese Encephalitis Virus Replicon for Antiviral Drug Screening and Gene Function Studies.", "Viral replicons are efficient tools to understand the mechanisms of viral replication and screen antiviral drugs. In this study, a viral-cDNA-based replicon of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), which is the causative agent of Japanese encephalitis, was constructed by replacing the viral structural proteins with a green fluorescent protein (JEV-GFP replicon). The resulting JEV-GFP replicon was used as a tool to screen antiviral drugs targeting JEV nonstructural proteins, and the five compounds JNJ-A07, HZ-1157, NITD-2, quinine, and NITD008 were obtained, which significantly inhibited the replication of the JEV-GFP replicon and JEV in vitro, and the properties of these five compounds were also analyzed. The CC<sub" ] ]
40108251
Reusability challenges of livestock production data to improve animal health.
In veterinary epidemiology, using data routinely generated by stakeholders of the livestock production chains offers an opportunity for researchers to access a large amount of information that could be used to improve animal health. However, (re)using these non-scholarly data doesn't come without challenges. This study assesses the reusability for research purposes of 30 European datasets generated by the livestock sector to meet legislative or operational needs. Information about each dataset was collected through a questionnaire survey filled by the data owner or the data user (researchers). Datasets were described, and their compliance with the FAIR principles, a data-sharing standard, and the principle of accountability defined in the General Data Protection Regulation were assessed. The study highlighted major gaps in terms of compliance with data regulations and implementation of good data management practices, specifically considering the rare use of metadata and standard vocabularies. Filling these gaps is essential to reap the full benefits offered by the rapidly growing volume of heterogeneous data available in livestock production systems.</AbstractText
[ [ "32437350", "Ten simple rules for making training materials FAIR.", "Everything we do today is becoming more and more reliant on the use of computers. The field of biology is no exception; but most biologists receive little or no formal preparation for the increasingly computational aspects of their discipline. In consequence, informal training courses are often needed to plug the gaps; and the demand for such training is growing worldwide. To meet this demand, some training programs are being expanded, and new ones are being developed. Key to both scenarios is the creation of new course materials. Rather than starting from scratch, however, it's sometimes possible to repurpose materials that already exist. Yet finding suitable materials online can be difficult: They're often widely scattered across the internet or hidden in their home institutions, with no systematic way to find them. This is a common problem for all digital objects. The scientific community has attempted to address this issue by developing a set of rules (which have been called the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable [FAIR] principles) to make such objects more findable and reusable. Here, we show how to apply these rules to help make training materials easier to find, (re)use, and adapt, for the benefit of all.</AbstractText" ], [ "37703089", "Data sharing and re-use in the traumatic stress field: An international survey of trauma researchers.", "The FAIR data principles aim to make scientific data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. In the field of traumatic stress research, FAIR data practices can help accelerate scientific advances to improve clinical practice and can reduce participant burden. Previous studies have identified factors that influence data sharing and re-use among scientists, such as normative pressure, perceived career benefit, scholarly altruism, and availability of data repositories. No prior study has examined researcher views and practices regarding data sharing and re-use in the traumatic stress field.</AbstractText To investigate the perspectives and practices of traumatic stress researchers around the world concerning data sharing, re-use, and the implementation of FAIR data principles in order to inform development of a FAIR Data Toolkit for traumatic stress researchers.</AbstractText A total of 222 researchers from 28 countries participated in an online survey available in seven languages, assessing their views on data sharing and re-use, current practices, and potential facilitators and barriers to adopting FAIR data principles.</AbstractText The majority of participants held a positive outlook towards data sharing and re-use, endorsing strong scholarly altruism, ethical considerations supporting data sharing, and perceiving data re-use as advantageous for improving research quality and advancing the field. Results were largely consistent with prior surveys of scientists across a wide range of disciplines. A significant proportion of respondents reported instances of data sharing and re-use, but gold standard practices such as formally depositing data in established repositories were reported as infrequent. The study identifies potential barriers such as time constraints, funding, and familiarity with FAIR principles.</AbstractText These results carry crucial implications for promoting change and devising a FAIR Data Toolkit tailored for traumatic stress researchers, emphasizing aspects such as study planning, data preservation, metadata standardization, endorsing data re-use, and establishing metrics to assess scientific and societal impact.</AbstractText Traumatic stress researchers worldwide responding to a survey held generally positive views on data sharing, endorsing scholarly altruism and pro-sharing ethical considerations, and rating data re-use as useful for advancing the field.While many respondents reported instances of sharing or re-using data, gold standard practices such as formally depositing data in established repositories were reported as infrequent.Barriers to data sharing and re-use included time constraints, funding, and a lack of familiarity with practices to make data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR).</AbstractText <b <b" ], [ "29875648", "Brain-CODE: A Secure Neuroinformatics Platform for Management, Federation, Sharing and Analysis of Multi-Dimensional Neuroscience Data.", "Historically, research databases have existed in isolation with no practical avenue for sharing or pooling medical data into high dimensional datasets that can be efficiently compared across databases. To address this challenge, the Ontario Brain Institute's \"Brain-CODE\" is a large-scale neuroinformatics platform designed to support the collection, storage, federation, sharing and analysis of different data types across several brain disorders, as a means to understand common underlying causes of brain dysfunction and develop novel approaches to treatment. By providing researchers access to aggregated datasets that they otherwise could not obtain independently, Brain-CODE incentivizes data sharing and collaboration and facilitates analyses both within and across disorders and across a wide array of data types, including clinical, neuroimaging and molecular. The Brain-CODE system architecture provides the technical capabilities to support (1) consolidated data management to securely capture, monitor and curate data, (2) privacy and security best-practices, and (3) interoperable and extensible systems that support harmonization, integration, and query across diverse data modalities and linkages to external data sources. Brain-CODE currently supports collaborative research networks focused on various brain conditions, including neurodevelopmental disorders, cerebral palsy, neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy and mood disorders. These programs are generating large volumes of data that are integrated within Brain-CODE to support scientific inquiry and analytics across multiple brain disorders and modalities. By providing access to very large datasets on patients with different brain disorders and enabling linkages to provincial, national and international databases, Brain-CODE will help to generate new hypotheses about the biological bases of brain disorders, and ultimately promote new discoveries to improve patient care.</AbstractText" ], [ "30527132", "Pros and cons of ultra-high-field MRI/MRS for human application.", "Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopic techniques are widely used in humans both for clinical diagnostic applications and in basic research areas such as cognitive neuroimaging. In recent years, new human MR systems have become available operating at static magnetic fields of 7&#x202f;T or higher (&#x2265;300&#x202f;MHz proton frequency). Imaging human-sized objects at such high frequencies presents several challenges including non-uniform radiofrequency fields, enhanced susceptibility artifacts, and higher radiofrequency energy deposition in the tissue. On the other side of the scale are gains in signal-to-noise or contrast-to-noise ratio that allow finer structures to be visualized and smaller physiological effects to be detected. This review presents an overview of some of the latest methodological developments in human ultra-high field MRI/MRS as well as associated clinical and scientific applications. Emphasis is given to techniques that particularly benefit from the changing physical characteristics at high magnetic fields, including susceptibility-weighted imaging and phase-contrast techniques, imaging with X-nuclei, MR spectroscopy, CEST imaging, as well as functional MRI. In addition, more general methodological developments such as parallel transmission and motion correction will be discussed that are required to leverage the full potential of higher magnetic fields, and an overview of relevant physiological considerations of human high magnetic field exposure is provided.</AbstractText" ], [ "34831724", "The Quality Evaluation of Rare Disease Registries-An Assessment of the Essential Features of a Disease Registry.", "Rare disease (RD) registries aim to promote data collection and sharing, and facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration with the overall aim of improving patient care. Recommendations relating to the minimum standards necessary to develop and maintain high quality registries are essential to ensure high quality data and sustainability of registries. The aim of this international study was to survey RD registry leaders to ascertain the level of consensus amongst the RD community regarding the quality criteria that should be considered essential features of a disease registry. Of 35 respondents representing 40 RD registries, over 95% indicated that essential quality criteria should include establishment of a good governance system (ethics approval, registry management team, standard operating protocol and long-term sustainability plan), data quality (personnel responsible for data entry and procedures for checking data quality) and construction of an IT infrastructure complying with Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) principles to maintain registries of high quality, with procedures for authorized user access, erasing personal data, data breach procedures and a web interface. Of the 22 registries that performed a self-assessment, over 80% stated that their registry had a leader, project management group, steering committee, active funding stream, website, and user access policies. This survey has acceptability amongst the RD community for the self-quality evaluation of RD registries with high levels of consensus for the proposed quality criteria.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40119448", "Long-read sequencing identifies copy-specific markers of SMN gene conversion in spinal muscular atrophy.", "The complex 2&#xa0;Mb survival motor neuron (SMN) locus on chromosome 5q13, including the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)-causing gene SMN1 and modifier SMN2, remains incompletely resolved due to numerous segmental duplications. Variation in SMN2 copy number, presumably influenced by SMN1 to SMN2 gene conversion, affects disease severity, though SMN2 copy number alone has insufficient prognostic value due to limited genotype-phenotype correlations. With advancements in newborn screening and SMN-targeted therapies, identifying genetic markers to predict disease progression and treatment response is crucial. Progress has thus far been limited by methodological constraints.</AbstractText To address this, we developed HapSMA, a method to perform polyploid phasing of the SMN locus to enable copy-specific analysis of SMN and its surrounding genes. We used HapSMA on publicly available Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing data of 29 healthy controls and performed long-read, targeted ONT sequencing of the SMN locus of 31 patients with SMA.</AbstractText In healthy controls, we identified single nucleotide variants (SNVs) specific to SMN1 and SMN2 haplotypes that could serve as gene conversion markers. Broad phasing including the NAIP gene allowed for a more complete view of SMN locus variation. Genetic variation in SMN2 haplotypes was larger in SMA patients. Forty-two percent of SMN2 haplotypes of SMA patients showed varying SMN1 to SMN2 gene conversion breakpoints, serving as direct evidence of gene conversion as a common genetic characteristic in SMA and highlighting the importance of inclusion of SMA patients when investigating the SMN locus.</AbstractText Our findings illustrate that both methodological advances and the analysis of patient samples are required to advance our understanding of complex genetic loci and address critical clinical challenges.</AbstractText" ], [ "40482382", "Concentration-dependent structural transition of huntingtin protein in Huntington's disease.", "Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder caused by the abnormal expansion of the polyglutamine (polyQ) tract (&gt; 35Q) in the first exon of the huntingtin (Htt), HttEx1. This N-terminal fragment tends to form fibrillar inclusions, which constitute a key pathological hallmark of HD. Although polyQ expansion is commonly understood to be a primary cause of HttEx1 pathology, the molecular mechanism of aggregations of non-pathogenic polyQ tract with the N-terminally flanking region of N17 in HttEx1 (HttEx1-17Q) remains largely unknown. In this study, we exclusively investigated the effect of the protein concentration on the structural transition of HttEx1-17Q and its relation to the amyloid fibril formation by employing biophysical techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence. Complementary analyses showed that monomeric HttEx1-17Q undergoes a multiple structural transition from largely unfolded structures to &#x3b2; structures via helical structures in a concentration-dependent manner in the early stages of aggregation. This structural rearrangement accelerates kinetically the formation of short amyloid fibrils of HttEx1-17Q by facilitating nucleation. Our findings provide new insights into the amyloid formation of HttEx1 by highlighting the critical role of a structural conversion into an amyloidogenic structure, of which mechanism is helpful to understand amyloidogenesis of other amyloid-forming molecules.</AbstractText" ], [ "40538396", "Application of intravoxel incoherent motion imaging in the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome.", "To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters in ovarian stroma changes in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients.</AbstractText This prospective study included 58 PCOS patients and 60 healthy controls. Both groups underwent conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and IVIM scans. The diagnostic efficacy of IVIM parameters and conventional MRI was investigated and compared by using area under the curves (AUC). Binary logistic regression analysis, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were also used to assess the improvement in diagnosis of PCOS when combining IVIM parameters with conventional MRI features.</AbstractText The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and D values were significantly lower, while the D* and <i The D* and <i" ], [ "40778948", "Spider venom peptides with unique fold selectively block Shaker-type potassium channels.", "Natural toxins are highly effective at targeting ion channels with high selectivity and potency. To date, all identified spider venom peptide toxins that modulate voltage-gated potassium (K<sub" ], [ "40689515", "Paravertebral and Brachial Plexus Neurolysis as Analgesic Tools in Stage IV Breast Cancer: A Case Report.", "Chemical neurolysis of the brachial plexus and paravertebral space have been sparsely reported. This case involves a patient with refractory pain from stage IV breast cancer, characterized by severe discomfort in the right axilla, shoulder, and pectoral region. A diagnostic block with local anesthetics at T2 and T4 paravertebral spaces and interscalene brachial plexus provided 80% pain relief for 12 hours. Subsequent phenol neurolysis at the same sites achieved 70% sustained pain relief and reduced opioid use for 4 weeks. Chemical neurolysis remains a critical tool in the palliative care arsenal, offering substantial relief in the final stages of life.</AbstractText" ] ]
35888695
Protective Effects of Bee Pollen on Multiple Propionic Acid-Induced Biochemical Autistic Features in a Rat Model.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders that clinically presented as impaired social interaction, repetitive behaviors, and weakened communication. The use of bee pollen as a supplement rich in amino acids amino acids, vitamins, lipids, and countless bioactive substances may lead to the relief of oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, glutamate excitotoxicity, and impaired neurochemistry as etiological mechanisms autism. Thirty young male Western albino rats were randomly divided as: Group I-control; Group II, in which autism was induced by the oral administration of 250 mg propionic acid/kg body weight/day for three days followed by orally administered saline until the end of experiment and Group III, the bee pollen-treated group, in which the rats were treated with 250 mg/kg body weight of bee pollen for four weeks before autism was induced as described for Group II. Markers related to oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, glutamate excitotoxicity, and neurochemistry were measured in the brain tissue. Our results indicated that while glutathione serotonin, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), GABA/Glutamate ratio, and vitamin C were significantly reduced in propionic acid-treated group (p &lt; 0.05), glutamate, IFN-&#x3b3;, IL-1A, IL-6, caspase-3, and lipid peroxide levels were significantly elevated (p &lt; 0.05). Bee pollen supplementation demonstrates protective potency presented as amelioration of most of the measured variables with significance range between (p &lt; 0.05)&#x2212;(p &lt; 0.001).</AbstractText
[ [ "26745823", "Gibbs-ringing artifact removal based on local subvoxel-shifts.", "To develop a fast and stable method for correcting the gibbs-ringing artifact.</AbstractText Gibbs-ringing is a well-known artifact which manifests itself as spurious oscillations in the vicinity of sharp image gradients at tissue boundaries. The origin can be seen in the truncation of k-space during MRI data-acquisition. Correction techniques like Gegenbauer reconstruction or extrapolation methods aim at recovering these missing data. Here, we present a simple and robust method which exploits a different view on the Gibbs-phenomenon: The truncation in k-space can be interpreted as a convolution of the underlying image with a sinc-function. As the image is reconstructed on a discretized grid, the severity of the ringing artifacts depends on how this grid is located with respect to the edge and the oscillation pattern of the function. We propose to reinterpolate the image based on local, subvoxel-shifts to sample the ringing pattern at the zero-crossings of the oscillating sinc-function.</AbstractText With the proposed method, the artifact can simply, effectively, and robustly be removed with a minimal amount of image smoothing.</AbstractText The robustness of the method suggests it as a suitable candidate for an implementation in the standard image processing pipeline in clinical routine. Magn Reson Med 76:1574-1581, 2016. &#xa9; 2015 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.</AbstractText" ], [ "33723403", "The genetic architecture of structural left-right asymmetry of the human brain.", "Left-right hemispheric asymmetry is an important aspect of healthy brain organization for many functions including language, and it can be altered in cognitive and psychiatric disorders. No mechanism has yet been identified for establishing the human brain's left-right axis. We performed multivariate genome-wide association scanning of cortical regional surface area and thickness asymmetries, and subcortical volume asymmetries, using data from 32,256 participants from the UK Biobank. There were 21 significant loci associated with different aspects of brain asymmetry, with functional enrichment involving microtubule-related genes and embryonic brain expression. These findings are consistent with a known role of the cytoskeleton in left-right axis determination in other organs of invertebrates and frogs. Genetic variants associated with brain asymmetry overlapped with those associated with autism, educational attainment and schizophrenia. Comparably large datasets will likely be required in future studies, to replicate and further clarify the associations of microtubule-related genes with variation in brain asymmetry, behavioural and psychiatric traits.</AbstractText" ], [ "31527485", "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of B Vitamin Supplementation on Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety, and Stress: Effects on Healthy and 'At-Risk' Individuals.", "A systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken to examine and quantify the effects of B vitamin supplementation on mood in both healthy and 'at-risk' populations. A systematic search identified all available randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of daily supplementation with &#x2265;3 B group vitamins with an intervention period of at least four weeks. Random effects models for a standardized mean difference were used to test for overall effect. Heterogeneity was tested using the I<sup" ], [ "23735699", "Imaging of heme/hemeproteins in nucleus of the living cells expressing heme-binding nuclear receptors.", "Several factors involved in the core circadian rhythm are PAS domain proteins, one of which, neuronal PAS2 (NPAS2), contains a heme-binding motif. It is thought that heme controls the transcriptional activity of core circadian factors BMAL1-NPAS2, and that the heme-binding nuclear receptor REV-erb&#x3b1; negatively regulates the expression of BMAL1. To examine the role of heme in the nucleus, we expressed nuclear hemeproteins including the nuclear localization signal-added cytoglobin, NPAS2 and REV-erb&#x3b1;. Then, the living cells expressing these proteins were treated with 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA). The fluorescent signal derived from DCFH-DA was observed in the nucleus. When the cells were cultured with hemin, the signal of heme in the nucleus increased. Considering that DCFH-DA reacted with heme, we propose that the use of DCFH-DA could be useful in detection of the heme moiety of hemeprotein in vivo.</AbstractText" ], [ "27956209", "Methods for cleaning the BOLD fMRI signal.", "Blood oxygen-level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) has rapidly become a popular technique for the investigation of brain function in healthy individuals, patients as well as in animal studies. However, the BOLD signal arises from a complex mixture of neuronal, metabolic and vascular processes, being therefore an indirect measure of neuronal activity, which is further severely corrupted by multiple non-neuronal fluctuations of instrumental, physiological or subject-specific origin. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of existing methods for cleaning the BOLD fMRI signal. The description is given from a methodological point of view, focusing on the operation of the different techniques in addition to pointing out the advantages and limitations in their application. Since motion-related and physiological noise fluctuations are two of the main noise components of the signal, techniques targeting their removal are primarily addressed, including both data-driven approaches and using external recordings. Data-driven approaches, which are less specific in the assumed model and can simultaneously reduce multiple noise fluctuations, are mainly based on data decomposition techniques such as principal and independent component analysis. Importantly, the usefulness of strategies that benefit from the information available in the phase component of the signal, or in multiple signal echoes is also highlighted. The use of global signal regression for denoising is also addressed. Finally, practical recommendations regarding the optimization of the preprocessing pipeline for the purpose of denoising and future venues of research are indicated. Through the review, we summarize the importance of signal denoising as an essential step in the analysis pipeline of task-based and resting state fMRI studies.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "35894012", "Non-Invasive Modalities in the Assessment of Vulnerable Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques.", "Coronary atherosclerosis is a complex, multistep process that may lead to critical complications upon progression, revolving around plaque disruption through either rupture or erosion. Several high-risk features are associated with plaque vulnerability and may add incremental prognostic information. Although invasive imaging modalities such as optical coherence tomography or intravascular ultrasound are considered to be the gold standard in the assessment of vulnerable coronary atherosclerotic plaques (VCAPs), contemporary evidence suggests a potential role for non-invasive methods in this context. Biomarkers associated with deleterious pathophysiologic pathways, including inflammation and extracellular matrix degradation, have been correlated with VCAP characteristics and adverse prognosis. However, coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography has been the most extensively investigated technique, significantly correlating with invasive method-derived VCAP features. The estimation of perivascular fat attenuation as well as radiomic-based approaches represent additional concepts that may add incremental information. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has also been evaluated in clinical studies, with promising results through the various image sequences that have been tested. As far as nuclear cardiology is concerned, the implementation of positron emission tomography in the VCAP assessment currently faces several limitations with the myocardial uptake of the radiotracer in cases of fluorodeoxyglucose use, as well as with motion correction. Moreover, the search for the ideal radiotracer and the most adequate combination (CT or MRI) is still ongoing. With a look to the future, the possible combination of imaging and circulating inflammatory and extracellular matrix degradation biomarkers in diagnostic and prognostic algorithms may represent the essential next step for the assessment of high-risk individuals.</AbstractText" ], [ "35839300", "Prospective comparative analysis for application and selection of FIESTA sequence and SSFSE sequence in MRI for prenatal diagnosis of placenta previa accreta.", "Placenta previa accreta patients were examined using fast-imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) and single-shot fast spin echo (SSFSE) sequence. The diagnostic value of the two sequences was compared. FIESTA was better than the SSFSE sequence in displaying outline-boundary (excellent: 82 <i" ], [ "35639012", "Neurosyphilis Mimicking Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia in a 59-Year-Old Man.", "We present the case of a man exhibiting a clinical phenotype of behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). The man had developed psychiatric disturbances with verbal aggressiveness over a few months, followed by cognitive and frontal behavioral disorders, fulfilling the clinical criteria for bvFTD. Atrophy and hypometabolism in frontotemporal regions were consistent with the diagnosis. However, serum-screening exams for syphilis infection were positive, and CSF analysis, despite a negative Venereal Disease Research Laboratory Test, suggested the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. After specific antibiotic therapy, the man's behavioral abnormalities and cognitive deficits notably improved, confirming neurosyphilis as the cause of the clinical phenotype. The cognitive deficits completely recovered 1 year post therapy and remained stable for 2 years. After &#x223c;2&#xbd; years from the first treatment, the man's behavioral disorders mildly worsened, at which time we re-evaluated him. His cognition was stable, and a positive Venereal Disease Research Laboratory Test confirmed the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. With this case, we demonstrated that in some instances, neurosyphilis can mimic frontotemporal dementia. As a cause of treatable dementia, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of bvFTD, particularly when psychiatric symptoms and a rapid cognitive decline are noted, even in the presence of brain atrophy and/or hypometabolism.</AbstractText" ], [ "36402844", "The link between liver fat and cardiometabolic diseases is highlighted by genome-wide association study of MRI-derived measures of body composition.", "Obesity and associated morbidities, metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) included, constitute some of the largest public health threats worldwide. Body composition and related risk factors are known to be heritable and identification of their genetic determinants may aid in the development of better prevention and treatment strategies. Recently, large-scale whole-body MRI data has become available, providing more specific measures of body composition than anthropometrics such as body mass index. Here, we aimed to elucidate the genetic architecture of body composition, by conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of these MRI-derived measures. We ran both univariate and multivariate GWAS on fourteen MRI-derived measurements of adipose and muscle tissue distribution, derived from scans from 33,588 White European UK Biobank participants (mean age of 64.5 years, 51.4% female). Through multivariate analysis, we discovered 100 loci with distributed effects across the body composition measures and 241 significant genes primarily involved in immune system functioning. Liver fat stood out, with a highly discoverable and oligogenic architecture and the strongest genetic associations. Comparison with 21 common cardiometabolic traits revealed both shared and specific genetic influences, with higher mean heritability for the MRI measures (h<sup" ], [ "38800466", "FiNN: A toolbox for neurophysiological network analysis.", "Recently, neuroscience has seen a shift from localist approaches to network-wide investigations of brain function. Neurophysiological signals across different spatial and temporal scales provide insight into neural communication. However, additional methodological considerations arise when investigating network-wide brain dynamics rather than local effects. Specifically, larger amounts of data, investigated across a higher dimensional space, are necessary. Here, we present FiNN (<i" ] ]
39040633
Sex differences in motor learning flexibility are accompanied by sex differences in mushroom spine pruning of the mouse primary motor cortex during adolescence.
Although males excel at motor tasks requiring strength, females exhibit greater motor learning flexibility. Cognitive flexibility is associated with low baseline mushroom spine densities achieved by pruning which can be triggered by &#x3b1;4&#x3b2;&#x3b4; GABAA receptors (GABARs); defective synaptic pruning impairs this process.</AbstractText We investigated sex differences in adolescent pruning of mushroom spine pruning of layer 5 pyramidal cells of primary motor cortex (L5M1), a site essential for motor learning, using microscopic evaluation of Golgi stained sections. We assessed &#x3b1;4GABAR expression using immunohistochemical and electrophysiological techniques (whole cell patch clamp responses to 100 nM gaboxadol, selective for &#x3b1;4&#x3b2;&#x3b4; GABARs). We then compared performance of groups with different post-pubertal mushroom spine densities on motor learning (constant speed) and learning flexibility (accelerating speed following constant speed) rotarod tasks.</AbstractText Mushroom spines in proximal L5M1 of female mice decreased &gt;60% from PND35 (puberty onset) to PND56 (Pubertal: 2.23 &#xb1; 0.21 spines/10 &#x3bc;m; post-pubertal: 0.81 &#xb1; 0.14 spines/10 &#x3bc;m, <i These results suggest that optimal motor learning flexibility of female mice is associated with low baseline levels of post-pubertal mushroom spine density in L5M1 compared to male and female &#x3b1;4 -/- mice.</AbstractText
[ [ "30705335", "The cell type resolved mouse transcriptome in neuron-enriched brain tissues from the hippocampus and cerebellum during prion disease.", "Multiple cell types and complex connection networks are an intrinsic feature of brain tissue. In this study we used expression profiling of specific microscopic regions of heterogeneous tissue sections isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM) to determine insights into the molecular basis of brain pathology in prion disease. Temporal profiles in two mouse models of prion disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and a mouse-adapted strain of scrapie (RML) were performed in microdissected regions of the CA1 hippocampus and granular layer of the cerebellum which are both enriched in neuronal cell bodies. We noted that during clinical disease the number of activated microglia and astrocytes that occur in these areas are increased, thereby likely diluting the neuronal gene expression signature. We performed a comparative analysis with gene expression profiles determined from isolated populations of neurons, microglia and astrocytes to identify transcripts that are enriched in each of these cell types. Although the incubation periods of these two models are quite different, over 300 days for BSE and ~160 days for RML scrapie, these regional microdissections revealed broadly similar profiles. Microglial and astrocyte-enriched genes contributed a profound inflammatory profile consisting of inflammatory cytokines, genes related to phagocytosis, proteolysis and genes coding for extracellular matrix proteins. CA1 pyramidal neurons displayed a net upregulation of transcription factors and stress induced genes at pre-clinical stages of disease while all tissues showed profound decrease of overlapping genes related to neuronal function, in particular transcripts related to neuronal communication including glutamate receptors, phosphatase subunits and numerous synapse-related markers. Of note, we found a small number of genes expressed in neurons that were upregulated during clinical disease including, COX6A2, FZD9, RXRG and SOX11, that may be biomarkers of neurodegeneration.</AbstractText" ], [ "37517574", "High-intensity interval training improves long-term memory and increases hippocampal antioxidant activity and BDNF levels in ovariectomized Wistar rats.", "Menopause is the period in which women cease to produce the hormone estrogen, which can trigger physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes. In this context, alternatives are needed that can reduce the effects provided by menopause, specifically in terms of cognitive and behavioral aspects. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an exercise protocol that has shown the potential to improve cognition by promoting an increase in antioxidant defenses and BDNF levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of HIIT on behavior and hippocampal neurochemistry in ovariectomized adult rats. Four groups of rats were divided into: females without ovariectomy surgery and sedentary (SHAM-SED); females with ovariectomy surgery and sedentary (OVX-SED); females without ovariectomy surgery and trained (SHAM-HIIT); females with ovariectomy surgery and trained (OVX-HIIT). After the surgical procedure and the HIIT protocol, the animals underwent anxiety (elevated plus maze and open field) and memory (novel object recognition) tests. Corticosterone was measured in blood and BDNF levels and redox status were evaluated in the hippocampus. The OVX-SED group showed low BDNF levels and antioxidant enzymes, which may be linked to the observed memory impairments. The HIIT protocol (SHAM-HIIT and OVX-HIIT groups) increased the BDNF levels and antioxidant enzymes in the hippocampus, improving the animals' memory. However, HIIT also led to increased plasma corticosterone and anxiety-like behaviors. The ovariectomy procedure induced memory impairment probably due to reductions in hippocampal BDNF levels and redox imbalance. The HIIT protocol demonstrates promising results as an alternative to improve memory in ovariectomized rats.</AbstractText" ], [ "35679625", "Visual Attention in the Prefrontal Cortex.", "Voluntary attention selects behaviorally relevant signals for further processing while filtering out distracter signals. Neural correlates of voluntary visual attention have been reported across multiple areas of the primate visual processing streams, with the earliest and strongest effects isolated in the prefrontal cortex. In this article, I review evidence supporting the hypothesis that signals guiding the allocation of voluntary attention emerge in areas of the prefrontal cortex and reach upstream areas to modulate the processing of incoming visual information according to its behavioral relevance. Areas located anterior and dorsal to the arcuate sulcus and the frontal eye fields produce signals that guide the allocation of spatial attention. Areas located anterior and ventral to the arcuate sulcus produce signals for feature-based attention. Prefrontal microcircuits are particularly suited to supporting voluntary attention because of their ability to generate attentional template signals and implement signal gating and their extensive connectivity with the rest of the brain.</AbstractText" ], [ "32642709", "Radiation-induced brain injury: current concepts and therapeutic strategies targeting neuroinflammation.", "Continued improvements in cancer therapies have increased the number of long-term cancer survivors. Radiation therapy remains one of the primary treatment modalities with about 60% of newly diagnosed cancer patients receiving radiation during the course of their disease. While radiation therapy has dramatically improved patient survival in a number of cancer types, the late effects remain a significant factor affecting the quality of life particularly in pediatric patients. Radiation-induced brain injury can result in cognitive dysfunction, including hippocampal-related learning and memory dysfunction that can escalate to dementia. In this article, we review the current understanding of the mechanisms behind radiation-induced brain injury focusing on the role of neuroinflammation and reduced hippocampal neurogenesis. Approaches to prevent or ameliorate treatment-induced side effects are also discussed along with remaining challenges in the field.</AbstractText" ], [ "38212373", "EF1α-associated protein complexes affect dendritic spine plasticity by regulating microglial phagocytosis in Fmr1 knock-out mice.", "Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. There is no specific treatment for FXS due to the lack of therapeutic targets. We report here that Elongation Factor 1&#x3b1; (EF1&#x3b1;) forms a complex with two other proteins: Tripartite motif-containing protein 3 (TRIM3) and Murine double minute (Mdm2). Both EF1&#x3b1;-Mdm2 and EF1&#x3b1;-TRIM3 protein complexes are increased in the brain of Fmr1 knockout mice as a result of FMRP deficiency, which releases the normal translational suppression of EF1&#x3b1; mRNA and increases EF1&#x3b1; protein levels. Increased EF1&#x3b1;-Mdm2 complex decreases PSD-95 ubiquitination (Ub-PSD-95) and Ub-PSD-95-C1q interaction. The elevated level of TRIM3-EF1&#x3b1; complex is associated with decreased TRIM3-Complement Component 3 (C3) complex that inhibits the activation of C3. Both protein complexes thereby contribute to a reduction in microglia-mediated phagocytosis and dendritic spine pruning. Finally, we created a peptide that disrupts both protein complexes and restores dendritic spine plasticity and behavioural deficits in Fmr1 knockout mice. The EF1&#x3b1;-Mdm2 and EF1&#x3b1;-TRIM3 complexes could thus be new therapeutic targets for FXS.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39378184", "The expectations humans have of a pleasurable sensation asymmetrically shape neuronal responses and subjective experiences to hot sauce.", "Expectations shape our perception, profoundly influencing how we interpret the world. Positive expectations about sensory stimuli can alleviate distress and reduce pain (e.g., placebo effect), while negative expectations may heighten anxiety and exacerbate pain (e.g., nocebo effect). To investigate the impact of the (an)hedonic aspect of expectations on subjective experiences, we measured neurobehavioral responses to the taste of hot sauce among participants with heterogeneous taste preferences. By identifying participants who \"liked\" versus those who strongly \"disliked\" spicy flavors and by providing contextual cues about the spiciness of the sauce to be tasted, we dissociated the effects of positive and negative expectations from sensory stimuli (i.e., visual and gustatory stimuli), which were the same across all participants. Our results indicate that positive expectations lead to modulations in the intensity of subjective experience. These modulations were accompanied by increased activity in brain regions previously linked to information integration and the placebo effect, including the anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, as well as a predefined \"pleasure signature.\" In contrast, negative expectations decreased hedonic experience and increased neural activity in the previously validated \"Neurological Pain Signature\" network. These findings demonstrate that hedonic aspects of one's expectations asymmetrically shape how the brain processes sensory input and associated behavioral reports of one's subjective experiences of intensity, pleasure, and pain. Our results suggest a dissociable impact of hedonic information: positive expectations facilitate higher-level information integration and reward processing, while negative expectations prime lower-level nociceptive and affective processes. This study demonstrates the powerful role of hedonic expectations in shaping subjective reality and suggests potential avenues for consumer and therapeutic interventions targeting expectation-driven neural processes.</AbstractText" ], [ "40529249", "Sleep is enhanced in aged male mice that overexpress calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV.", "The dysregulation of sleep-wake patterns that occurs during aging is well documented and coincides with changes in intracellular signaling pathways that regulate sleep, such as the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKII)/cyclic-AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) pathway. However, much less is known about the relationship between other CREB-activating members of the CaMK family, such as calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV), and the regulation of sleep. Using 2- to 4-month-old (young adult) and 22- to 24-month-old (aged) male and female CaMKIV-overexpressing (CaMKIV-OE) mice, we observed that overexpression of CaMKIV in the forebrain decreased wakefulness and increased the amount of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in aged male mice, but not young adult male mice, in comparison to age- and sex-matched controls. Conversely, female mice overexpressing CaMKIV displayed no significant differences in the percentage of time spent in each vigilance state compared to their wild-type counterparts, regardless of age. While CaMKIV overexpression also led to more sleep-wake fragmentation in young adult and aged male mice, aged female mice displayed more consolidated NREM sleep. Overall, our results suggest that CaMKIV overexpression enhances sleep in aged male mice, and differentially affects sleep-wake architecture based on sex and age, providing insights into the potential mechanism by which CaMKIV overexpression enhances memory.</AbstractText" ], [ "38069553", "Higher-order sensorimotor circuit of the whole-brain functional network involved in pruritus regulation in atopic dermatitis.", "Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying pruritus regulation in Atopic dermatitis (AD).</AbstractText To investigate the functional changes of the resting-state whole brain network of AD participants and the mechanisms by which they were involved in pruritus regulation.</AbstractText Based on the functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 19&#x2009;AD participants and 37 healthy controls (HC), a graph-theoretical measure of degree centrality (DC) conjoined with a voxel-level seed-based functional connectivity (FC) method was used to identify abnormal higher-order nodes and the functionally relevant circuit in AD participants compared to healthy controls (HC).</AbstractText Of 64 participants screened, 19&#x2009;AD participants (12M/7F, median [IQR] age, 27 [14] years) and 36 HCs (13M/23F, median [IQR] age, 20 [1] years) were enrolled. DC values of the left superior frontal gyrus (LSFG) increased in AD participants and exhibited a negative correlation with the SCORAD score (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;-0.561, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.012) compared with HC. In the FC analysis with LSFG as the seed, FC values of several sensory and motor regions increased in AD participants, highly overlapping with the anatomical distribution of the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle (IFOF). AD participants with severe pruritus exhibited lower levels of DC (T&#x2009;=&#x2009;-2.316, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.033) and FC between the LSFG and left insula (T&#x2009;=&#x2009;-2.203, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.042) than those with mild-to- moderate pruritus.</AbstractText LSFG was involved in pruritus regulation in AD by forming a high-order sensorimotor circuit through the IFOF, a white matter fascicle that proved to provide multimodal integration in motor control and sensory information processing. These results offer more mechanism-guided treatment targets for severe pruritus in AD.</AbstractText" ], [ "38352229", "Small effects of electric field on motor cortical excitability following anodal tDCS.", "The dose-response characteristics of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) remain uncertain but may be related to variability in brain electric fields due to individual anatomical factors. Here, we investigated whether the electric fields influence the responses to motor cortical tDCS. In a randomized cross-over design, 21 participants underwent 10&#xa0;min of anodal tDCS with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 mA or sham. Compared to sham, all active conditions increased the size of motor evoked potentials (MEP) normalized to the pre-tDCS baseline, irrespective of anterior or posterior magnetic test stimuli. The electric field calculated in the motor cortex of each participant had a nonlinear effect on the normalized MEP size, but its effects were small compared to those of other participant-specific factors. The findings support the efficacy of anodal tDCS in enhancing the MEP size but do not demonstrate any benefits of personalized electric field modeling in explaining tDCS response variability.</AbstractText" ], [ "39349740", "Activity of the hypothalamic neuropeptide Y increases in adult and decreases in old rats.", "Middle-aged obesity and aging anorexia with muscle loss (sarcopenia) of old people present public health burden. These alterations may appear both in humans and rodents suggesting the role for regulatory alterations. Previously, we demonstrated that biphasic changes in the weight-reducing (catabolic) effects of neuropeptides of the hypothalamus-adipose tissue axis (e.g. leptin) may contribute to both trends. With regard to the anabolic effects of the hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) inhibited by leptin, we hypothesized non-linear age-related changes with shifts in the opposite directions. We investigated the orexigenic and hypometabolic effects of intracerebroventricularly administered NPY (hyperphagia induced by NPY injection or changes in food intake, body weight, heart rate, body temperature, locomotor activity during a 7-day NPY infusion), the immunoreactivity and gene expression of NPY in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus of male Wistar rats of five age groups from young to old. The orexigenic/hypometabolic efficacy and the immunoreactivity of NPY increased in middle-aged animals preceding the peak of adiposity observed in aging rats, then decreased preceding anorexia and weight loss in old rats. These shifts may contribute to the development of both age-related obesity and aging anorexia, sarcopenia, and should be considered in future drug development targeting the NPY system.</AbstractText" ] ]
36654859
Spatial proximity to others induces plastic changes in the neural representation of the peripersonal space.
Peripersonal space (PPS) is a highly plastic "invisible bubble" surrounding the body whose boundaries are mapped through multisensory integration. Yet, it is&#xa0;unclear how the spatial proximity to others alters PPS boundaries. Across five experiments (N&#xa0;= 80), by recording behavioral and electrophysiological responses to visuo-tactile stimuli, we demonstrate that the proximity to others induces plastic changes in the neural PPS representation. The spatial proximity to someone else's hand shrinks the portion of space within which multisensory responses occur, thus reducing the PPS boundaries. This suggests that PPS representation, built from bodily and multisensory signals, plastically adapts to the presence of conspecifics to define the self-other boundaries, so that what is usually coded as "my space" is recoded as "your space". When the space is shared with conspecifics, it seems adaptive to move the other-space away from the self-space to discriminate whether external events pertain to the self-body or to other-bodies.</AbstractText
[ [ "29280393", "Internet gaming disorder and online gambling disorder: Clinical and personality correlates.", "Background and aims The recent growth of Internet use has led to an increase of potentially problematic behaviors that can be engaged online, such as online gambling or Internet gaming. The aim of this study is to better conceptualize Internet gaming disorder (IGD) by comparing it with gambling disorder (GD) patients who only gamble online (online GD). Methods A total of 288 adult patients (261 online GD and 27 IGD) completed self-reported questionnaires for exploring psychopathological symptoms, food addiction (FA), and personality traits. Results Both clinical groups presented higher psychopathological scores and less functional personality traits when compared with a normative Spanish population. However, when comparing IGD to online GD, some singularities emerged. First, patients with IGD were younger, more likely single and unemployed, and they also presented lower age of disorder onset. In addition, they displayed lower somatization and depressive scores together with lower prevalence of tobacco use but higher FA scores and higher mean body mass index. Finally, they presented lower novelty seeking and persistence traits. Discussion GD is fully recognized as a behavioral addiction, but IGD has been included in the Appendix of DSM-5 as a behavioral addiction that needs further study. Our findings suggest that IGD and online GD patients share some emotional distress and personality traits, but patients with IGD also display some differential characteristics, namely younger age, lower novelty seeking scores and higher BMI, and FA scores. Conclusions IGD presents some characteristics that are not extensive to online GD. These specificities have potential clinical implications and they need to be further studied.</AbstractText" ], [ "29541539", "The crossed frontal aslant tract: A possible pathway involved in the recovery of supplementary motor area syndrome.", "Supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome is a constellation of temporary symptoms that may occur following tumors of the frontal lobe. Affected patients develop akinesia and mutism but often recover within weeks to months. With our own case examples and with correlations to fiber tracking validated by gross anatomical dissection as ground truth, we describe a white matter pathway through which recovery may occur.</AbstractText Diffusion spectrum imaging from the Human Connectome Project was used for tractography analysis. SMA outflow tracts were mapped in both hemispheres using a predefined seeding region. Postmortem dissections of 10 cadaveric brains were performed using a modified Klingler technique to verify the tractography results.</AbstractText Two cases were identified in our clinical records in which patients sustained permanent SMA syndrome after complete disconnection of the SMA and corpus callosum (CC). After investigating the postoperative anatomy of these resections, we identified a pattern of nonhomologous connections through the CC connecting the premotor area to the contralateral premotor and SMAs. The transcallosal fibers have projections from the previously described frontal aslant tract (FAT) and thus, we have termed this path the \"crossed FAT.\"</AbstractText We hypothesize that this newly described tract may facilitate recovery from SMA syndrome by maintaining interhemispheric connectivity through the supplementary motor and premotor areas.</AbstractText" ], [ "35869996", "Unravelling the etiology of sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia in a cohort of 205 patients: a prospective study.", "Despite recent progress in the field of genetics, sporadic late-onset (&gt;&#x2009;40&#xa0;years) cerebellar ataxia (SLOCA) etiology remains frequently elusive, while the optimal diagnostic workup still needs to be determined. We aimed to comprehensively describe the causes of SLOCA and to discuss the relevance of the investigations.</AbstractText We included 205 consecutive patients with SLOCA seen in our referral center. Patients were prospectively investigated using exhaustive clinical assessment, biochemical, genetic, electrophysiological, and imaging explorations.</AbstractText We established a diagnosis in 135 (66%) patients and reported 26 different causes for SLOCA, the most frequent being multiple system atrophy cerebellar type (MSA-C) (41%). Fifty-one patients (25%) had various causes of SLOCA including immune-mediated diseases such as multiple sclerosis or anti-GAD antibody-mediated ataxia; and other causes, such as alcoholic cerebellar degeneration, superficial siderosis, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. We also identified 11 genetic causes in 20 patients, including SPG7 (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;4), RFC1-associated CANVAS (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;3), SLC20A2 (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;3), very-late-onset Friedreich's ataxia (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;2), FXTAS (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;2), SCA3 (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), SCA17 (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), DRPLA (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), MYORG (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), MELAS (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1), and a mitochondriopathy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1) that were less severe than MSA-C (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001). Remaining patients (34%) had idiopathic late-onset cerebellar ataxia which was less severe than MSA-C (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01).</AbstractText Our prospective study provides an exhaustive picture of the etiology of SLOCA and clues regarding yield of investigations and diagnostic workup. Based on our observations, we established a diagnostic algorithm for SLOCA.</AbstractText" ], [ "36518334", "Stimulation of distinct parietal locations differentiates frontal versus hippocampal network involvement in memory formation.", "Adjacent regions of parietal cortex are thought to affiliate with distinct large-scale networks and thereby make different contributions to memory formation. We directly tested this putative functional segregation within parietal cortex by perturbing activity of anterior versus posterior parietal areas. We applied noninvasive theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to these locations immediately before a semantic encoding task, and subsequently tested recollection memory. Consistent with previous findings, fMRI activity in left inferior frontal gyrus during semantic encoding correlated with subsequent high memory accuracy and strong subjective recollection. Stimulation of the posterior parietal cortex decoupled its network - the hippocampal-cortical network - from left inferior frontal gyrus. Furthermore, posterior parietal stimulation reduced highly accurate subjective recollection. Critically, both of these changes occurred relative to stimulation of the anterior parietal cortex. Stimulating anterior versus posterior parietal cortex therefore differentiated hippocampal network involvement in episodic memory. This provides direct evidence that distinct territories within close proximity of each other in parietal cortex make functionally distinct contributions to memory formation. Further, noninvasive stimulation has the spatial resolution required to differentially modulate the interaction of these adjacent parietal locations with distributed large-scale brain networks.</AbstractText" ], [ "28778834", "Susceptibility to traumatic stress sensitizes the dopaminergic response to cocaine and increases motivation for cocaine.", "Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder have a heightened vulnerability to developing substance use disorders; however, the biological underpinnings of this vulnerability remain unresolved. We used the predator odor stress model of post-traumatic stress disorder with segregation of subjects as susceptible or resilient based on elevated plus maze behavior and context avoidance. We then determined behavioral and neurochemical differences across susceptible, resilient, and control populations using a panel of behavioral and neurochemical assays. Susceptible subjects showed a significant increase in the motoric and dopaminergic effects of cocaine, and this corresponded with heightened motivation to self-administer cocaine. Resilient subjects did not show differences in the motoric effects of cocaine, in dopamine signaling in vivo, or in any measure of cocaine self-administration. Nonetheless, we found that these animals displayed elevations in both the dopamine release-promoting effects of cocaine and dopamine autoreceptor sensitivity ex&#xa0;vivo. Our results suggest that the experience of traumatic stress may produce alterations in dopamine systems that drive elevations in cocaine self-administration behavior in susceptible subjects, but may also produce both active and passive forms of resilience that function to prevent gross changes in cocaine's reinforcing efficacy in resilient subjects.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36571511", "OnabotulinumtoxinA discontinuation in patients with prior nerve stimulation.", "The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of patients who discontinue onabotulinumtoxinA treatment for overactive bladder (OAB) and to determine the impact of prior sacroneuromodulation or peripheral nerve stimulation on the discontinuation rates of onabotulinumtoxinA.</AbstractText This is a retrospective cohort study of women with at least two onabotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A) treatments for OAB with a Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive surgeon at a referral center between January 2014 and July 2019. Patients were excluded if they underwent BTX-A treatment in the operating room or utilized clean intermittent catheterization at baseline. Women who continued injections throughout the study period were compared to those who did not. Discontinuation was defined as stopping BTX-A during the study period. Treatment failure was defined as a documented failure in the chart and/or moving to other OAB treatments. Loss to follow-up was defined as no follow-up greater than 12 months after the last injection. Discontinuation-free and failure-free survival were estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis.</AbstractText A total of 214 women met the inclusion criteria with a mean age of 62.9&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;14 years. Fifty percent were Black. Eighty-six (40.2%) discontinued onabotulinumtoxinA treatment during the study period. There were no demographic differences between patients who discontinued BTX-A and those who continued with the following exceptions: patients who discontinued had higher rates of prior pelvic reconstructive surgery (19.8% vs. 10.2%, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.04) and were more likely to have the concurrent diagnosis of painful bladder syndrome (9.3% vs. 2.3%, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.03). Patients diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (UTI) after &#x2265;50% of treatments were more likely to discontinue (27.9% vs. 14.1%, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.01). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients with recurrent UTIs after treatment were significantly more likely to discontinue than those who do not (odds ratio: 2.61, [1.17, 5.82]). Of the cohort, 54 (25%) patients had previously undergone nerve stimulation. A total of 27.8% of patients with prior nerve stimulation discontinued BTX-A compared to 44.4% of those without prior third line treatment (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.03). Patients with prior nerve stimulation had a higher discontinuation-free survival rate (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.013) but there was no difference in failure-free survival.</AbstractText Patients who have recurrent UTIs after onabotulinumtoxinA injections are 2.6 times more likely to discontinue treatment than those who do not have infections. Patients with prior exposure to nerve stimulation have a significantly lower onabotulinumtoxinA discontinuation rate, but there is no difference in failure rates.</AbstractText" ], [ "36668820", "Sleep-Based Memory Consolidation Stabilizes Perceptual Learning of Noise-Vocoded Speech.", "Sleep-based memory consolidation has been shown to facilitate perceptual learning of atypical speech input including nonnative speech sounds, accented speech, and synthetic speech. The current research examined the role of sleep-based memory consolidation on perceptual learning for noise-vocoded speech, including maintenance of learning over a 1-week time interval. Because comprehending noise-vocoded speech requires extensive restructuring of the mapping between the acoustic signal and prelexical representations, sleep consolidation may be critical for this type of adaptation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of sleep-based memory consolidation on adaptation to noise-vocoded speech in listeners without hearing loss as a foundational step toward identifying parameters that can be useful to consider for auditory training with clinical populations.</AbstractText Two groups of normal-hearing listeners completed a transcription training task with feedback for noise-vocoded sentences in either the morning or the evening. Learning was assessed through transcription accuracy before training, immediately after training, 12 hr after training, and 1 week after training for both trained and novel sentences.</AbstractText Both the morning and evening groups showed improved comprehension of noise-vocoded sentences immediately following training. Twelve hours later, the evening group showed stable gains (following a period of sleep), whereas the morning group demonstrated a decline in gains (following a period of wakefulness). One week after training, the morning and evening groups showed equivalent performance for both trained and novel sentences.</AbstractText Sleep-consolidated learning helps stabilize training gains for degraded speech input, which may hold clinical utility for optimizing rehabilitation recommendations.</AbstractText" ], [ "37343860", "Application of airborne geophysical survey data in a logistic regression model to improve the predictive power of geogenic radon maps. A case study in Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland.", "In this study, a novel methodology was investigated to improve the spatial resolution and predictive power of geogenic radon maps. The data inputs comprise indoor radon measurements and seven geogenic factors including geological data (i.e. bedrock and Quaternary geology, aquifer type and soil permeability) and airborne geophysical parameters (i.e. magnetic field strength, gamma-ray radiation and electromagnetic resistivity). The methodology was tested in Castleisland southwest Ireland, a radon-prone area identified based on the results of previous indoor radon surveys. The developed model was capable of justifying almost 75&#xa0;% of the variation in geogenic radon potential. It was found that the attributes with the greatest statistical significance were equivalent uranium content (EqU) and soil permeability. A new radon potential map was produced at a higher spatial resolution compared with the original map, which did not include geophysical parameter data. In the final step, the activity of radon in soil gas was measured at 87 sites, and the correlation between the observed soil gas radon and geophysical properties was evaluated. The results indicate that any model using only geophysical data cannot accurately predict soil radon activity and that geological information should be integrated to achieve a successful prediction model. Furthermore, we found that EqU is a better indicator for predicting indoor radon potential than the measured soil radon concentrations.</AbstractText" ], [ "36376607", "Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel Triazole-Pyrimidine Hybrids as Potential Neuroprotective and Anti-neuroinflammatory Agents.", "Neuroprotection is a precise target for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Pyrimidine and its derivatives have been proven to use antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity prompting us to study the neuroprotection and anti-inflammatory activity of the triazole-pyrimidine hybrid on human microglia and neuronal cell model.</AbstractText A series of novel triazole-pyrimidine-based compounds were designed, synthesized and characterized by mass spectra, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and a single X-Ray diffraction analysis. Further, the neuroprotective, anti-neuroinflammatory activity was evaluated by cell viability assay (MTT), Elisa, qRT-PCR, western blotting, and molecular docking.</AbstractText The molecular results revealed that triazole-pyrimidine hybrid compounds have promising neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties. Among the&#xa0;14&#xa0;synthesized compounds,&#xa0;ZA3-ZA5, ZB2-ZB6,&#xa0;and intermediate&#xa0;S5&#xa0;showed significant&#xa0;anti-neuroinflammatory properties&#xa0;through inhibition of&#xa0;nitric oxide (NO)&#xa0;and tumor necrosis factor-&#x3b1; (TNF-&#x3b1;) production in LPS-stimulated human microglia cells. From 14 compounds, six (ZA2&#xa0;to&#xa0;ZA6&#xa0;and intermediate&#xa0;S5)&#xa0;exhibited promising neuroprotective activity by reduced expression of&#xa0;the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone, BIP, and apoptosis marker cleaved caspase-3 in human neuronal&#xa0;cells.&#xa0;Also,&#xa0;a molecular docking study&#xa0;showed that&#xa0;lead compounds have&#xa0;favorable interaction&#xa0;with&#xa0;active residues of&#xa0;ATF4 and NF-kB proteins.</AbstractText The possible mechanism of action was observed through the inhibition of ER stress, apoptosis, and&#xa0;the NF-kB inflammatory pathway. Thus, our study strongly indicates that the novel scaffolds of triazole-pyrimidine-based compounds can potentially be developed as neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory agents.</AbstractText" ], [ "37710058", "Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI shows altered blood-brain barrier function of deep gray matter structures in neuroborreliosis: a case-control study.", "Main aim was assessment of regional blood-brain barrier (BBB) function by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in patients with neuroborreliosis. Secondary aim was to study the correlation of BBB function with biochemical, clinical, and cognitive parameters.</AbstractText Regional ethical committee approved this prospective single-center case-control study. Within 1&#xa0;month after diagnosis of neuroborreliosis, 55 patients underwent DCE-MRI. The patient group consisted of 25 males and 30 females with mean age 58&#xa0;years, and the controls were 8 males and 7 females with mean age 57&#xa0;years. Pharmacokinetic compartment modelling with Patlak fit was applied, providing estimates for capillary leakage rate and blood volume fraction. Nine anatomical brain regions were sampled with auto-generated binary masks. Fatigue, severity of clinical symptoms and findings, and cognitive function were assessed in the acute phase and 6&#xa0;months after treatment.</AbstractText Leakage rates and blood volume fractions were lower in patients compared to controls in the thalamus (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.027 and p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.018, respectively), caudate nucleus (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.009 for both), and hippocampus (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.054 and p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.009). No correlation of leakage rates with fatigue, clinical disease severity or cognitive function was found.</AbstractText In neuroborreliosis, leakage rate and blood volume fraction in the thalamus, caudate nucleus, and hippocampus were lower in patients compared to controls. DCE-MRI provided new insight to pathophysiology of neuroborreliosis, and can serve as biomarker of BBB function and regulatory mechanisms of the neurovascular unit in infection and inflammation.</AbstractText DCE-MRI provided new insight to pathophysiology of neuroborreliosis, and can serve as biomarker of blood-brain barrier function and regulatory mechanisms of the neurovascular unit in infection and inflammation.</AbstractText &#x2022; Neuroborreliosis is an infection with disturbed BBB function. &#x2022; Microvessel leakage can be studied with DCE-MRI. &#x2022; Prospective case-control study showed altered microvessel properties in thalamus, caudate, and hippocampus.</AbstractText" ] ]
35840583
Making marine image data FAIR.
Underwater images are used to explore and monitor ocean habitats, generating huge datasets with unusual data characteristics that preclude traditional data management strategies. Due to the lack of universally adopted data standards, image data collected from the marine environment are increasing in heterogeneity, preventing objective comparison. The extraction of actionable information thus remains challenging, particularly for researchers not directly involved with the image data collection. Standardized formats and procedures are needed to enable sustainable image analysis and processing tools, as are solutions for image publication in long-term repositories to ascertain reuse of data. The FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) provide a framework for such data management goals. We propose the use of image FAIR Digital Objects (iFDOs) and present an infrastructure environment to create and exploit such FAIR digital objects. We show how these iFDOs can be created, validated, managed and stored, and which data associated with imagery should be curated. The goal is to reduce image management overheads while simultaneously creating visibility for image acquisition and publication efforts.</AbstractText
[ [ "28093558", "Glutamatergic synapses are structurally and biochemically complex because of multiple plasticity processes: long-term potentiation, long-term depression, short-term potentiation and scaling.", "Synapses are complex because they perform multiple functions, including at least six mechanistically different forms of plasticity. Here, I comment on recent developments regarding these processes. (i) Short-term potentiation (STP), a Hebbian process that requires small amounts of synaptic input, appears to make strong contributions to some forms of working memory. (ii) The rules for long-term potentiation (LTP) induction in CA3 have been clarified: induction does not depend obligatorily on backpropagating sodium spikes but, rather, on dendritic branch-specific N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) spikes. (iii) Late LTP, a process that requires a dopamine signal (and is therefore neoHebbian), is mediated by trans-synaptic growth of the synapse, a growth that occurs about an hour after LTP induction. (iv) LTD processes are complex and include both homosynaptic and heterosynaptic forms. (v) Synaptic scaling produced by changes in activity levels are not primarily cell-autonomous, but rather depend on network activity. (vi) The evidence for distance-dependent scaling along the primary dendrite is firm, and a plausible structural-based mechanism is suggested.Ideas about the mechanisms of synaptic function need to take into consideration newly emerging data about synaptic structure. Recent super-resolution studies indicate that glutamatergic synapses are modular (module size 70-80 nm), as predicted by theoretical work. Modules are trans-synaptic structures and have high concentrations of postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) and &#x3b1;-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor. These modules function as quasi-independent loci of AMPA-mediated transmission and may be independently modifiable, suggesting a new understanding of quantal transmission.This article is part of the themed issue 'Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity.'</AbstractText" ], [ "32729828", "A unified computational model for cortical post-synaptic plasticity.", "Signalling pathways leading to post-synaptic plasticity have been examined in many types of experimental studies, but a unified picture on how multiple biochemical pathways collectively shape neocortical plasticity is missing. We built a biochemically detailed model of post-synaptic plasticity describing CaMKII, PKA, and PKC pathways and their contribution to synaptic potentiation or depression. We developed a statistical AMPA-receptor-tetramer model, which permits the estimation of the AMPA-receptor-mediated maximal synaptic conductance based on numbers of GluR1s and GluR2s predicted by the biochemical signalling model. We show that our model reproduces neuromodulator-gated spike-timing-dependent plasticity as observed in the visual cortex and can be fit to data from many cortical areas, uncovering the biochemical contributions of the pathways pinpointed by the underlying experimental studies. Our model explains the dependence of different forms of plasticity on the availability of different proteins and can be used for the study of mental disorder-associated impairments of cortical plasticity.</AbstractText" ], [ "27594820", "COINSTAC: A Privacy Enabled Model and Prototype for Leveraging and Processing Decentralized Brain Imaging Data.", "The field of neuroimaging has embraced the need for sharing and collaboration. Data sharing mandates from public funding agencies and major journal publishers have spurred the development of data repositories and neuroinformatics consortia. However, efficient and effective data sharing still faces several hurdles. For example, open data sharing is on the rise but is not suitable for sensitive data that are not easily shared, such as genetics. Current approaches can be cumbersome (such as negotiating multiple data sharing agreements). There are also significant data transfer, organization and computational challenges. Centralized repositories only partially address the issues. We propose a dynamic, decentralized platform for large scale analyses called the Collaborative Informatics and Neuroimaging Suite Toolkit for Anonymous Computation (COINSTAC). The COINSTAC solution can include data missing from central repositories, allows pooling of both open and \"closed\" repositories by developing privacy-preserving versions of widely-used algorithms, and incorporates the tools within an easy-to-use platform enabling distributed computation. We present an initial prototype system which we demonstrate on two multi-site data sets, without aggregating the data. In addition, by iterating across sites, the COINSTAC model enables meta-analytic solutions to converge to \"pooled-data\" solutions (i.e., as if the entire data were in hand). More advanced approaches such as feature generation, matrix factorization models, and preprocessing can be incorporated into such a model. In sum, COINSTAC enables access to the many currently unavailable data sets, a user friendly privacy enabled interface for decentralized analysis, and a powerful solution that complements existing data sharing solutions.</AbstractText" ], [ "31120982", "TB DEPOT (Data Exploration Portal): A multi-domain tuberculosis data analysis resource.", "The NIAID TB Portals Program (TBPP) established a unique and growing database repository of socioeconomic, geographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and genomic data from patient cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). Currently, there are 2,428 total cases from nine country sites (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, China, India, Kazakhstan, and South Africa), 1,611 (66%) of which are multidrug- or extensively-drug resistant and 1,185 (49%), 863 (36%), and 952 (39%) of which contain X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan, and genomic data, respectively. We introduce the Data Exploration Portal (TB DEPOT, https://depot.tbportals.niaid.nih.gov) to visualize and analyze these multi-domain data. The TB DEPOT leverages the TBPP integration of clinical, socioeconomic, genomic, and imaging data into standardized formats and enables user-driven, repeatable, and reproducible analyses. It furthers the TBPP goals to provide a web-enabled analytics platform to countries with a high burden of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) but limited IT resources and inaccessible data, and enables the reusability of data, in conformity with the NIH's Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles. TB DEPOT provides access to \"analysis-ready\" data and the ability to generate and test complex clinically-oriented hypotheses instantaneously with minimal statistical background and data processing skills. TB DEPOT is also promising for enhancing medical training and furnishing well annotated, hard to find, MDR-TB patient cases. TB DEPOT, as part of TBPP, further fosters collaborative research efforts to better understand drug-resistant tuberculosis and aid in the development of novel diagnostics and personalized treatment regimens.</AbstractText" ], [ "30201843", "Geppetto: a reusable modular open platform for exploring neuroscience data and models.", "Geppetto is an open-source platform that provides generic middleware infrastructure for building both online and desktop tools for visualizing neuroscience models and data and managing simulations. Geppetto underpins a number of neuroscience applications, including Open Source Brain (OSB), Virtual Fly Brain (VFB), NEURON-UI and NetPyNE-UI. OSB is used by researchers to create and visualize computational neuroscience models described in NeuroML and simulate them through the browser. VFB is the reference hub for <i" ] ]
[ [ "34704461", "Comparative Performance of Whole-Body MRI and FDG PET/CT in Evaluation of Multiple Myeloma Treatment Response: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.", "<b" ], [ "35193890", "Individualized Assays of Temporal Coding in the Ascending Human Auditory System.", "Neural phase-locking to temporal fluctuations is a fundamental and unique mechanism by which acoustic information is encoded by the auditory system. The perceptual role of this metabolically expensive mechanism, the neural phase-locking to temporal fine structure (TFS) in particular, is debated. Although hypothesized, it is unclear whether auditory perceptual deficits in certain clinical populations are attributable to deficits in TFS coding. Efforts to uncover the role of TFS have been impeded by the fact that there are no established assays for quantifying the fidelity of TFS coding at the individual level. While many candidates have been proposed, for an assay to be useful, it should not only intrinsically depend on TFS coding, but should also have the property that individual differences in the assay reflect TFS coding per se over and beyond other sources of variance. Here, we evaluate a range of behavioral and electroencephalogram (EEG)-based measures as candidate individualized measures of TFS sensitivity. Our comparisons of behavioral and EEG-based metrics suggest that extraneous variables dominate both behavioral scores and EEG amplitude metrics, rendering them ineffective. After adjusting behavioral scores using lapse rates, and extracting latency or percent-growth metrics from EEG, interaural timing sensitivity measures exhibit robust behavior-EEG correlations. Together with the fact that unambiguous theoretical links can be made relating binaural measures and phase-locking to TFS, our results suggest that these \"adjusted\" binaural assays may be well suited for quantifying individual TFS processing.</AbstractText" ], [ "36699954", "A Multi-Frequency 3D Printed Hand Phantom for Electromagnetic Measurements.", "It has been shown that the presence of a hand holding a wireless handset (cell phone) can influence antenna efficiency and the measurement of specific absorption rate (SAR) and electromagnetic compatibility. Head phantoms, used in handset compliance testing to estimate SAR in the head, have achieved low cost and multi-frequency use. Head phantoms typically consist of a thin plastic shell, open on the top, holding a tissue simulating fluid. The specific simulant fluid used is determined by the radio frequency of the test. IEC 62209-1 has recipes, using safe nontoxic materials, for all the required frequency bands. Thus, head phantoms can be reused at different frequencies simply by changing the tissue simulating fluid. However, standards have not adopted the use of hand phantoms because SAR limits in limbs are less restrictive than the head, the tissue depth in a hand is insufficient to make accurate measurements with current electric field probes, and the cost of a solid hand phantom is limited to a single frequency band. Our goal was to determine whether 3D printing techniques would allow the construction of a hand phantom with the same utility as existing head phantoms. We developed this phantom based on computer simulations to determine how much human anatomy needed to be included in the phantom to obtain results consistent with actual use. Electric field scans of a handset alone, and held by the hand phantom, were performed. Comparison of handset scans using the phantom and human subjects was planned, but not performed due to Covid-19 restrictions and subsequent changes in priorities. We feel a fluid-filled 3D printed hand phantom is viable and practical. The 3D print files are available on GitHub.</AbstractText" ], [ "34546449", "Microsurgical anatomy of safe entry zones on the ventrolateral brainstem: a morphometric study.", "Surgery of the brainstem is challenging due to the complexity of the area with cranial nerve nuclei, reticular formation, and ascending and descending fibers. Safe entry zones are required to reach the intrinsic lesions of the brainstem. The aim of this study was to provide detailed measurements for anatomical landmark zones of the ventrolateral surface of the human brainstem related to previously described safe entry zones. In this study, 53 complete and 34 midsagittal brainstems were measured using a stainless caliper with an accuracy of 0.01&#xa0;mm. The distance between the pontomesencephalic and bulbopontine sulci was measured as 26.94&#xa0;mm. Basilar sulcus-lateral side of pons (origin of the fibers of the trigeminal nerve) distance was 17.23&#xa0;mm, transverse length of the pyramid 5.42&#xa0;mm, and vertical length of the pyramid 21.36&#xa0;mm. Lateral mesencephalic sulcus was 12.73&#xa0;mm, distance of the lateral mesencephalic sulcus to the oculomotor nerve 13.85&#xa0;mm, and distance of trigeminal nerve to the upper tip of pyramid 17.58&#xa0;mm. The transverse length for the inferior olive at midpoint and vertical length were measured as 5.21&#xa0;mm and 14.77&#xa0;mm, consequently. The thickness of the superior colliculus was 4.36&#xa0;mm, and the inferior colliculus 5.06&#xa0;mm; length of the tectum was 14.5&#xa0;mm and interpeduncular fossa 11.26&#xa0;mm. Profound anatomical knowledge and careful analysis of preoperative imaging are mandatory before surgery of the brainstem lesions. The results presented in this study will serve neurosurgeons operating in the brainstem region.</AbstractText" ], [ "35431789", "Spectrally Matched Near-Threshold Noise for Subjective Tinnitus Loudness Attenuation Based on Stochastic Resonance.", "Recently, we proposed a model of tinnitus development based on a physiological mechanism of permanent optimization of information transfer from the auditory periphery to the central nervous system by means of neuronal stochastic resonance utilizing neuronal noise to be added to the cochlear input, thereby improving hearing thresholds. In this view, tinnitus is a byproduct of this added neuronal activity. Interestingly, in healthy subjects auditory thresholds can also be improved by adding external, near-threshold acoustic noise. Based on these two findings and a pilot study we hypostatized that tinnitus loudness (TL) might be reduced, if the internally generated neuronal noise is substituted by externally provided individually adapted acoustic noise. In the present study, we extended the data base of the first pilot and further optimized our approach using a more fine-grained adaptation of the presented noise to the patients' audiometric data. We presented different spectrally filtered near-threshold noises (-2 dB to +6 dB HL, 2 dB steps) for 40 s each to 24 patients with tonal tinnitus and a hearing deficit not exceeding 40 dB. After each presentation, the effect of the noise on the perceived TL was obtained by patient's response to a 5-scale question. In 21 out of 24 patients (13 women) TL was successfully subjectively attenuated during acoustic near-threshold stimulation using noise spectrally centered half an octave below the individual's tinnitus pitch (TP). Six patients reported complete subjective silencing of their tinnitus percept during stimulation. Acoustic noise is able to reduce TL, but the TP has to be taken into account. Based on our findings, we speculate about a possible future treatment of tinnitus by near-threshold bandpass filtered acoustic noise stimulation, which could be implemented in hearing aids with noise generators.</AbstractText" ] ]
27557041
LOW-FIELD MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPEARANCE OF POSTARTHROSCOPIC MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY ARTIFACTS IN HORSES.
An awareness of magnetic susceptibility artifacts is important for interpreting prepurchase and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in horses. These artifacts occur when a metallic or a paramagnetic substance creates a local magnetic field deformity. Aims of the current experimental study were to determine prevalence of these artifacts after arthroscopy in a sample of nonlame horses, and to describe effects of time and type of pulse sequence on low-field MRI signal intensity and detection of the artifacts. Ten, nonlame Standardbred horses were prospectively recruited. All horses underwent arthroscopy of both metacarpophalangeal joints for purposes unrelated to the study. Serial low-Field MRI examinations were performed on each horse and each joint (before, and 6 and 12 weeks postsurgery). In two horses, more detailed longitudinal evaluations were performed with additional MRI examinations. Magnetic susceptibility artifacts were detected postoperatively at the surgical access sites in eight metacarpophalangeal joints at both 6 and 12 weeks after surgery (40% prevalence). Neither of the two longitudinally followed horses had artifacts at any time. Artifacts were only detected on gradient echo (GRE) sequences. Findings indicated that magnetic susceptibility artifacts can be present in postarthroscopy MRI studies in horses and can persist up to 12 weeks after arthroscopy. For this sample of horses, the artifacts did not interfere with evaluation of the joint. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine the full duration of magnetic susceptibility artifact persistence in affected tissues.</AbstractText
[ [ "30734388", "Highly-accelerated volumetric brain examination using optimized wave-CAIPI encoding.", "Rapid volumetric imaging protocols could better utilize limited scanner resources.</AbstractText To develop and validate an optimized 6-minute high-resolution volumetric brain MRI examination using Wave-CAIPI encoding.</AbstractText Prospective.</AbstractText Ten healthy subjects and 20 patients with a variety of intracranial pathologies.</AbstractText At 3&#x2009;T, MPRAGE, T<sub Extensive simulations were performed to optimize the Wave-CAIPI protocol and minimize both g-factor noise amplification and potential T<sub A noninferiority test was used to test whether the diagnostic quality of Wave-CAIPI was noninferior to the GRAPPA acquisition, with a 15% noninferiority margin.</AbstractText Among all sequences, Wave-CAIPI achieved negligible g-factor noise amplification (g<sub The proposed volumetric brain exam retained comparable image quality when compared with the much longer conventional protocol.</AbstractText 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:961-974.</AbstractText" ], [ "35594851", "Iterative metal artifact reduction on a clinical photon counting system-technical possibilities and reconstruction selection for optimal results dependent on the metal scenario.", "<i" ], [ "34014817", "Simultaneous Head and Spine MR Imaging in Children Using a Dedicated Multichannel Receiver System at 3T.", "The purpose of this work was to enable simultaneous head and spine Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) in children at 3T by using a dedicated multichannel radiofrequency coil array system.</AbstractText A 24-channel head and spine pediatric coil system was developed and constructed. The coil's performance was compared with a commercially available 24-channel adult head-neck coil and a spine coil (1-4 spine of 16-channel were selected). Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and parallel imaging capability were quantitatively evaluated by phantom studies and in vivo imaging experiments. With Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee approval, the designed coil was used to acquire head and spine images on 27 children in clinical settings.</AbstractText The pediatric coil provided substantial SNR improvements with an increase of 32% to 40% in the brain region and up to a two-fold increase in the surface. SNR increased by at least 18% in the spine region. The coil enabled higher resolution and a faster imaging speed, owing to significantly improved SNR. Extensive coverage of the coil enabled high-quality fast imaging from head-neck to the whole spine. Good image quality with an average score 4.63 out of 5 was achieved using the developed pediatric coil in clinical studies.</AbstractText Simultaneous head and spine MRI with superior performance have been successfully acquired in children subjects at 3T using the dedicated 24-channel head and spine pediatric coil system.</AbstractText The 24-channel pediatric coil system potentially can enhance pediatric head and spine MRI in clinical research and diagnosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "25996443", "Accelerated motion corrected three-dimensional abdominal MRI using total variation regularized SENSE reconstruction.", "Develop a nonrigid motion corrected reconstruction for highly accelerated free-breathing three-dimensional (3D) abdominal images without external sensors or additional scans.</AbstractText The proposed method accelerates the acquisition by undersampling and performs motion correction directly in the reconstruction using a general matrix description of the acquisition. Data are acquired using a self-gated 3D golden radial phase encoding trajectory, enabling a two stage reconstruction to estimate and then correct motion of the same data. In the first stage total variation regularized iterative SENSE is used to reconstruct highly undersampled respiratory resolved images. A nonrigid registration of these images is performed to estimate the complex motion in the abdomen. In the second stage, the estimated motion fields are incorporated in a general matrix reconstruction, which uses total variation regularization and incorporates k-space data from multiple respiratory positions. The proposed approach was tested on nine healthy volunteers and compared against a standard gated reconstruction using measures of liver sharpness, gradient entropy, visual assessment of image sharpness and overall image quality by two experts.</AbstractText The proposed method achieves similar quality to the gated reconstruction with nonsignificant differences for liver sharpness (1.18 and 1.00, respectively), gradient entropy (1.00 and 1.00), visual score of image sharpness (2.22 and 2.44), and visual rank of image quality (3.33 and 3.39). An average reduction of the acquisition time from 102 s to 39 s could be achieved with the proposed method.</AbstractText In vivo results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method showing similar image quality to the standard gated reconstruction while using data corresponding to a significantly reduced acquisition time. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance.</AbstractText" ], [ "38714192", "Unsupervised MRI motion artifact disentanglement: introducing MAUDGAN.", "<i" ] ]
[ [ "26821757", "Probable involvement of p11 with interferon alpha induced depression.", "Depression is one of the major side effects of interferon alpha (IFN-&#x3b1;) treatment, but the molecular mechanism underlying IFN-&#x3b1;-induced depression remains unclear. Several studies have shown that the serotonin receptors 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 play key roles in the anti-depression effects associated with p11 (S100A10). We investigated the effects of IFN-&#x3b1; on the regulation of p11, 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 in mice and human neuroblastoma cells (SH-sy5y). We found that intraperitoneal injection with IFN-&#x3b1; in Balb/c mice resulted in an increased immobility in FST and TST, and potently lowered the protein levels of p11, 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 in the hippocampus or cingulate gyrus. IFN-&#x3b1; significantly down-regulated the protein levels of p11, 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 in SH-sy5y cells, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Our study revealed that over-expression of p11 could prevent the IFN-&#x3b1;-induced down-regulation of 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4. The results indicated that IFN-&#x3b1; treatment resulted in p11 down-regulation, which subsequently decreased 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 in vitro or in vivo. Our findings suggested that p11 might be a potential regulator on 5-HTR1b and 5-HTR4 as well as a predictor of or a therapeutic target for IFN-&#x3b1;-induced depression.</AbstractText" ], [ "26754953", "Conceptual convergence: increased inflammation is associated with increased basal ganglia glutamate in patients with major depression.", "Inflammation and altered glutamate metabolism are two pathways implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. Interestingly, these pathways may be linked given that administration of inflammatory cytokines such as interferon-&#x3b1; to otherwise non-depressed controls increased glutamate in the basal ganglia and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Whether increased inflammation is associated with increased glutamate among patients with major depression is unknown. Accordingly, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 50 medication-free, depressed outpatients using single-voxel MRS, to measure absolute glutamate concentrations in basal ganglia and dACC. Multivoxel chemical shift imaging (CSI) was used to explore creatine-normalized measures of other metabolites in basal ganglia. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory markers were assessed along with anhedonia and psychomotor speed. Increased log plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) was significantly associated with increased log left basal ganglia glutamate controlling for age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking status and depression severity. In turn, log left basal ganglia glutamate was associated with anhedonia and psychomotor slowing measured by the finger-tapping test, simple reaction time task and the Digit Symbol Substitution Task. Plasma CRP was not associated with dACC glutamate. Plasma and CSF CRP were also associated with CSI measures of basal ganglia glutamate and the glial marker myoinositol. These data indicate that increased inflammation in major depression may lead to increased glutamate in the basal ganglia in association with glial dysfunction and suggest that therapeutic strategies targeting glutamate may be preferentially effective in depressed patients with increased inflammation as measured by CRP.</AbstractText" ], [ "27688968", "Hyperbrain features of team mental models within a juggling paradigm: a proof of concept.", "Research on cooperative behavior and the social brain exists, but little research has focused on real-time motor cooperative behavior and its neural correlates. In this proof of concept study, we explored the conceptual notion of shared and complementary mental models through EEG mapping of two brains performing a real-world interactive motor task of increasing difficulty. We used the recently introduced participative \"juggling paradigm,\" and collected neuro-physiological and psycho-social data. We were interested in analyzing the between-brains coupling during a dyadic juggling task, and in exploring the relationship between the motor task execution, the jugglers'skill level and the task difficulty. We also investigated how this relationship could be mirrored in the coupled functional organization of the interacting brains.</AbstractText To capture the neural schemas underlying the notion of shared and complementary mental models, we examined the functional connectivity patterns and hyperbrain features of a juggling dyad involved in cooperative motor tasks of increasing difficulty. Jugglers' cortical activity was measured using two synchronized 32-channel EEG systems during dyadic juggling performed with 3, 4, 5 and 6 balls. Individual and hyperbrain functional connections were quantified through coherence maps calculated across all electrode pairs in the theta and alpha bands (4-8 and 8-12 Hz). Graph metrics were used to typify the global topology and efficiency of the functional networks for the four difficulty levels in the theta and alpha bands.</AbstractText Results indicated that, as task difficulty increased, the cortical functional organization of the more skilled juggler became progressively more segregated in both frequency bands, with a small-world organization in the theta band during easier tasks, indicative of a flow-like state in line with the neural efficiency hypothesis. Conversely, more integrated functional patterns were observed for the less skilled juggler in both frequency bands, possibly related to cognitive overload due to the difficulty of the task at hand (reinvestment hypothesis). At the hyperbrain level, a segregated functional organization involving areas of the visuo-attentional networks of both jugglers was observed in both frequency bands and for the easier task only.</AbstractText These results suggest that cooperative juggling is supported by integrated activity of specialized cortical areas from both brains only during easier tasks, whereas it relies on individual skills, mirrored in uncorrelated individual brain activations, during more difficult tasks. These findings suggest that task difficulty and jugglers' personal skills may influence the features of the hyperbrain network in its shared/integrative and complementary/segregative tendencies.</AbstractText" ], [ "26307944", "Utility of real-time field control in T2 *-Weighted head MRI at 7T.", "Real-time field control can serve to reduce respiratory field perturbations during T2 * imaging at high fields. This work investigates the effectiveness of this approach in relation to key variables such as patient physique, breathing patterns, slice location, and the choice of sequence.</AbstractText To cover variation in physical constitution and breathing behavior, volunteers with a wide range of body-mass-indices were asked to breathe either normally or deeply during T2 *-weighted image acquisition at 7T. Ensuing field fluctuation was countered by real-time field control or merely recorded in reference experiments. The impact of the control system on image quality was assessed by classifying and grading artifacts related to field fluctuation.</AbstractText The amplitude of respiratory field changes and related artifacts were generally stronger for subjects with higher body-mass-index and for lower slices. Field control was found effective at mitigating all five types of artifacts that were studied. Overall image quality was systematically improved. Residual artifacts in low slices are attributed to insufficient spatial order of the control system.</AbstractText Real-time field control was found to be a robust means of countering respiratory field perturbations in variable conditions encountered in high-field brain imaging. Reducing net fluctuation, it generally expands the feasibility of high-field T2 * imaging toward challenging patients and brain regions. Magn Reson Med 76:430-439, 2016. &#xa9; 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</AbstractText" ], [ "27604751", "Sleep and Breathing … and Cancer?", "Sleep, like eating and breathing, is an essential part of the daily life cycle. Although the science is still emerging, sleep plays an important role in immune, cardiovascular, and neurocognitive function. Despite its great importance, nearly 40% of U.S. adults experience problems with sleep ranging from insufficient total sleep time, trouble initiating or maintaining sleep (Insomnia), circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-related movement disorders, and sleep-related breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Herein, we discuss new evidence that suggests that sleep may also affect carcinogenesis. Specifically, we review recent epidemiologic data suggesting links between cancer and OSA. As OSA is a common, underdiagnosed, and undertreated condition, this has public health implications. Intriguing animal model data support a link between cancer and sleep/OSA, although mechanisms are not yet clear. Leaders in the fields of sleep medicine, pulmonology, and oncology recently met to review and discuss these data, as well as to outline future directions of study. We propose a multidisciplinary, three-pronged approach to studying the associations between cancer and sleep, utilizing mutually interactive epidemiologic studies, preclinical models, and early-phase clinical trials. Cancer Prev Res; 9(11); 821-7. &#xa9;2016 AACR.</AbstractText" ] ]
29972619
Episodic memory and executive functions in cognitively healthy individuals display distinct neuroanatomical correlates which are differentially modulated by aging.
The neuroanatomical bases of episodic memory (EM) and executive functions (EFs) have been widely addressed in patients with brain damage and in individuals with neurologic disorders. These studies reported that larger brain structures support better outcomes in both cognitive domains, thereby supporting the "bigger is better" account. However, relatively few studies have explored the cerebral morphological properties underlying EM and EFs in cognitively healthy individuals and current findings indicate no unitary theoretical explanation for the structure-function relationship. Moreover, existing studies have typically restricted the analyses to a priori defined regions of interest. Here we conducted unbiased voxel-wise analysis of the associations between regional gray as well as white matter volumes (GMv; WMv) and performance in both cognitive domains in a sample of 463 cognitively intact individuals. We found that efficiency in EM was predicted by lower GMv in brain areas belonging to the default-mode network (DMN). By contrast, EFs performance was predicted by larger GMv in a distributed set of regions, which overlapped with the executive control network (ECN). Volume of white matter bundles supporting both cross-cortical and interhemispheric connections was positively related to processing speed. Furthermore, aging modulated the relationship between regional volumes and cognitive performance in several areas including the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Our data extend the critical role of the DMN and ECN by showing that variability in their morphological properties, and not only their activation patterns, affects EM and EFs, respectively. Moreover, our finding that aging reverts these associations supports previously advanced theories of cognitive neurodevelopment.</AbstractText
[ [ "28653648", "Gadolinium deposition in the brain: summary of evidence and recommendations.", "Emerging evidence has linked MRI signal changes in deep nuclei of the brain with repeated administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents. Gadolinium deposits have been confirmed in brain tissue, most notably in the dentate nuclei and globus pallidus. Although some linear contrast agents appear to cause greater MRI signal changes than some macrocyclic agents, deposition of gadolinium has also been observed with macrocyclic agents. However, the extent of gadolinium deposition varies between agents. Furthermore, the clinical significance of the retained gadolinium in the brain, if any, remains unknown. No data are available in human beings or animals to show adverse clinical effects due to the gadolinium deposition in the brain. On behalf of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, we present recommendations for the clinical and research use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. These recommendations might evolve as new evidence becomes available.</AbstractText" ], [ "24753286", "Comparison of R2' measurement methods in the normal brain at 3 Tesla.", "R2', the reversible component of transverse relaxation, is an important susceptibility measurement for studies of brain physiology and pathologies. In existing literature, different R2' measurement methods are used with assumption of equivalency. This study explores the choice of measurement method in healthy, young subjects at 3T.</AbstractText In this study, a modified gradient-echo sampling of free induction decay and echo (GESFIDE) sequence was used to compare four standard R2' measurement methods: asymmetric spin echo (ASE), standard GESFIDE, gradient echo sampling of the spin echo (GESSE), and separate R2 and R2* mapping.</AbstractText GESSE returned lower R2' measurements than other methods (P &lt; 0.05). Intersubject mean R2' in gray matter was found to be 2.7 s(-1) using standard GESFIDE and GESSE, versus 3.4-3.8 s(-1) using other methods. In white matter, mean R2' from GESSE was 2.3 s(-1) while other methods produced 3.7-4.3 s(-1) . R2 correction was applied to partially reduce the discrepancies between the methods, but significant differences remained, likely due to violation of the fundamental assumption of a single-compartmental tissue model, and hence monoexponential decay.</AbstractText R2' measurements are influenced significantly by the choice of method. Awareness of this issue is important when designing and interpreting studies that involve R2' measurements.</AbstractText" ], [ "26666747", "In vivo molecular neuroimaging of glucose utilization and its association with fibrillar amyloid-β load in aged APPPS1-21 mice.", "Radioligand imaging is a powerful in vivo method to assess the molecular basis of Alzheimer's Disease. We therefore aimed to visualize the pathological deposition of fibrillar amyloid-&#x3b2; and neuronal dysfunction in aged double transgenic mice.</AbstractText Using non-invasive positron emission tomography (PET) we assessed brain glucose utilization with [(18)F]FDG and fibrillar amyloidosis with [(11)C]PiB and [(18)F]AV45 in 12&#xa0;month old APPPS1-21 (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;10) mice and their age-matched wild-type controls (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;15). PET scans were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM) to detect significant differences in tracer uptake between genotypes. After imaging, mice were sacrificed and ex vivo measures of amyloid-&#x3b2; burden with immunohistochemistry as well as glucose utilization with [(14)C]-2DG autoradiography were obtained as gold standards.</AbstractText Voxel-wise SPM analysis revealed significantly decreased [(18)F]FDG uptake in aged APPPS1-21 mice in comparison to WT with the thalamus (96.96&#xa0;%, maxT&#x2009;=&#x2009;3.35) and striatum (61.21&#xa0;%, maxT&#x2009;=&#x2009;3.29) demonstrating the most widespread reductions at the threshold of p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01. [(11)C]PiB binding was significantly increased in APPPS1-21 mice, most notably in the hippocampus (87.84&#xa0;%, maxT&#x2009;=&#x2009;7.15) and cortex (69.08&#xa0;%, maxT&#x2009;=&#x2009;7.95), as detected by SPM voxel-wise analysis at the threshold of p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01. Using the same threshold [(18)F]AV45 uptake was comparably lower with less significant differences. Compared to their respective ex vivo equivalents [(18)F]FDG demonstrated significant positive correlation to [(14)C]2-DG autoradiography (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.67, p &lt;0.0001) while [(11)C]PiB and [(18)F]AV45 binding did not correlate to ex vivo immunohistochemistry for amyloid-&#x3b2; (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.25, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.07 and r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.17, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.26 respectively). Lastly no correlation was observed between regions of high amyloid burden and those with decreased glucose utilization (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.99).</AbstractText Our findings support that fibrillar amyloid-&#x3b2; deposition and reduced glucose utilization can be visualized and quantified with in vivo &#x3bc;PET imaging in aged APPPS1-21 mice. Therefore, the combined use of [(18)F]FDG and amyloid &#x3bc;PET imaging can shed light on the underlying relationship between fibrillar amyloid-&#x3b2; pathology and neuronal dysfunction.</AbstractText" ], [ "30661372", "White Matter Connectome Edge Density in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Potential Imaging Biomarkers Using Machine-Learning Models.", "Prior neuroimaging studies have reported white matter network underconnectivity as a potential mechanism for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we examined the structural connectome of children with ASD using edge density imaging (EDI), and then applied machine-learning algorithms to identify children with ASD based on tract-based connectivity metrics. Boys aged 8-12 years were included: 14 with ASD and 33 typically developing children. The edge density (ED) maps were computed from probabilistic streamline tractography applied to high angular resolution diffusion imaging. Tract-based spatial statistics was used for voxel-wise comparison and coregistration of ED maps in addition to conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and radial diffusivity (RD). Tract-based average DTI/connectome metrics were calculated and used as input for different machine-learning models: na&#xef;ve Bayes, random forest, support vector machines (SVMs), and neural networks. For these models, cross-validation was performed with stratified random sampling (&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;1,000 permutations). The average accuracy among validation samples was calculated. In voxel-wise analysis, the body and splenium of corpus callosum, bilateral superior and posterior corona radiata, and left superior longitudinal fasciculus showed significantly lower ED in children with ASD; whereas, we could not find significant difference in FA, MD, and RD maps between the two study groups. Overall, machine-learning models using tract-based ED metrics had better performance in identification of children with ASD compared with those using FA, MD, and RD. The EDI-based random forest models had greater average accuracy (75.3%), specificity (97.0%), and positive predictive value (81.5%), whereas EDI-based polynomial SVM had greater sensitivity (51.4%) and negative predictive values (77.7%). In conclusion, we found reduced density of connectome edges in the posterior white matter tracts of children with ASD, and demonstrated the feasibility of connectome-based machine-learning algorithms in identification of children with ASD.</AbstractText" ], [ "22699524", "Assessment of response of brain metastases to radiotherapy by PET imaging of apoptosis with ¹⁸F-ML-10.", "Early assessment of tumor response to therapy is vital for treatment optimization for the individual cancer patient. Induction of apoptosis is an early and nearly universal effect of anticancer therapies. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of (18)F-ML-10, a novel PET radiotracer for apoptosis, as a tool for the early detection of response of brain metastases to whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT).</AbstractText Ten patients with brain metastases treated with WBRT at 30 Gy in ten daily fractions were enrolled in this trial. Each patient underwent two (18)F-ML-10 PET scans, one prior to the radiation therapy (baseline scan), and the second after nine or ten fractions of radiotherapy (follow-up scan). MRI was performed at 6-8 weeks following completion of the radiation therapy. Early treatment-induced changes in tumor (18)F-ML-10 uptake on the PET scan were measured by voxel-based analysis, and were then evaluated by correlation analysis as predictors of the extent of later changes in tumor anatomical dimensions as seen on MRI scans 6-8 weeks after completion of therapy.</AbstractText In all ten patients, all brain lesions were detected by both MRI and the (18)F-ML-10 PET scan. A highly significant correlation was found between early changes on the (18)F-ML-10 scan and later changes in tumor anatomical dimensions (r = 0.9).</AbstractText These results support the potential of (18)F-ML-10 PET as a novel tool for the early detection of response of brain metastases to WBRT.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "30015807", "Structural and functional brain scans from the cross-sectional Southwest University adult lifespan dataset.", "Recently, the field of developmental neuroscience has aimed to uncover the developmental trajectory of the human brain and to understand the changes that occur as a function of ageing. Here, we present a dataset of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data covering the adult lifespan that includes structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI. Four hundred ninety-four healthy adults (age range: 19-80 years; Males=187) were recruited and completed two multi-modal MRI scan sessions at the Brain Imaging Center of Southwest University, Chongqing, China. The goals of the dataset are to give researchers the opportunity to map the developmental trajectories of structural and functional changes in the human brain and to replicate previous findings.</AbstractText" ], [ "29570456", "Computer-aided diagnosis of prostate cancer using multi-parametric MRI: comparison between PUN and Tofts models.", "Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are increasingly being used in clinical settings to report multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) of the prostate. Usually, CAD systems automatically highlight cancer-suspicious regions to the radiologist, reducing reader variability and interpretation errors. Nevertheless, implementing this software requires the selection of which mp-MRI parameters can best discriminate between malignant and non-malignant regions. To exploit functional information, some parameters are derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) acquisitions. In particular, much CAD software employs pharmacokinetic features, such as K <sup" ], [ "37721369", "Sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping for assessing whole-brain magnetic susceptibility from ages 4 to 80.", "The evolution of magnetic susceptibility of the brain is mainly determined by myelin in white matter (WM) and iron deposition in deep gray matter (DGM). However, existing imaging techniques have limited abilities to simultaneously quantify the myelination and iron deposition within a voxel throughout brain development and aging. For instance, the temporal trajectories of iron in the brain WM and myelination in DGM have not been investigated during the aging process. This study aimed to map the age-related iron and myelin changes in the whole brain, encompassing myelin in DGM and iron deposition in WM, using a novel sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) method. To achieve this, a cohort of 494 healthy adults (18-80&#x2009;years old) was studied. The sub-voxel QSM method was employed to obtain the paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibility based on the approximated <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ], [ "39945316", "Contribution of Glutamatergic and GABAergic Mechanisms to the Plasticity-Modulating Effects of Dopamine in the Human Motor Cortex.", "Dopamine, a key neuromodulator in the central nervous system, regulates cortical excitability and plasticity by interacting with glutamate and GABA receptors, which are affected by dopamine receptor subtypes (D1- and D2-like). Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques can induce plasticity and monitor cortical facilitation and inhibition in humans. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study, we investigated how dopamine and D1- and D2-like receptors impact transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-induced plasticity concerning glutamatergic and GABAergic mechanisms. Eighteen healthy volunteers received 1&#x2009;mA anodal (13&#x2009;min) and cathodal tDCS (9&#x2009;min) over the left motor cortex combined with the dopaminergic agents l-dopa (general dopamine activation), bromocriptine (D2-like receptor agonist), combined D2 antagonism via sulpiride and general dopaminergic activation via l-dopa to activate D1-like receptors, and placebo medication. Glutamate-related cortical facilitation and GABA-related cortical inhibition were monitored using transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques, including I-O curve, intracortical facilitation (ICF), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and I-wave facilitation protocols. Our results indicate that anodal tDCS alone enhanced the I-O curve and ICF while decreasing SICI. Conversely, cathodal tDCS decreased the I-O curve and ICF while increasing SICI. General dopamine and D2 receptor activation combined with anodal tDCS decreased the I-O curve and ICF, but enhanced SICI compared to tDCS alone. When paired with cathodal tDCS, general Dopamine and D2-like receptor activity enhancement prolonged the cathodal tDCS effect on excitability. After anodal tDCS, D1-like receptor activation increased the I-O curve and ICF while reducing SICI. These effects were abolished with cathodal tDCS. Dopaminergic substances combined with anodal and cathodal tDCS did not have a significant effect on I-wave facilitation. These results suggest that D1-like receptor activation enhanced LTP-like plasticity and abolished LTD-like plasticity via glutamatergic NMDA receptor enhancement, while global dopaminergic and D2-like receptor enhancement weakened LTP-like but strengthened LTD-like plasticity primarily via glutamatergic NMDA receptor activity diminution.</AbstractText" ], [ "29702098", "Does Post-Void Residual Volume Predict Worsening Urological Symptoms in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis?", "Our goal was to examine how post-void residual urine volume relates to urinary symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis.</AbstractText We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients with multiple sclerosis who had lower urinary tract symptoms and presented to a tertiary neurourology clinic. Patients for whom post-void residual volume was recorded at the initial urological assessment were included in our analysis. Results of the AUA (American Urological Association) SI (Symptom Index) and the M-ISI (Michigan Incontinence Symptom Index) completed at this visit were analyzed to assess the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms and incontinence. A chart review was performed to obtain information on demographics and documented urinary tract infections.</AbstractText Between 2014 and 2017, 110 patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis underwent post-void residual volume measurement at our clinic. Average post-void residual volume was 123.4 cc (range 0 to 650 cc). The mean AUA symptom score was 19.1 with an average bother score of 4.1. Analysis of post-void residual volume as a continuous variable did not show an association between increasing post-void residual volume and an increasing AUA SI or bother score (p&#xa0;= 0.53 and 0.44, respectively). When evaluated by post-void residual volume tertile, no relationship was found between post-void residual volume, and the AUA SI and the M-ISI (p = 0.54 and 0.57, respectively). No correlation was also found between increasing post-void residual volume and a recent history of recurrent urinary tract infections (p = 0.27).</AbstractText Post-void residual volume was not associated with worsening obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms as assessed by the AUA SI, worsening incontinence as measured by the M-ISI score or an increased risk of recurrent urinary tract infections in select patients with multiple sclerosis and lower urinary tract symptoms.</AbstractText" ] ]
38132092
Imidacloprid Induces Lysosomal Dysfunction and Cell Death in Human Astrocytes and Fibroblasts-Environmental Implication of a Clinical Case Report.
Imidacloprid (IMI), a neonicotinoid insecticide, has potential cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on human and experimental models, respectively. While being an emerging environmental contaminant, occupational exposure and related cellular mechanisms are unknown. Herein, we were motivated by a specific patient case where occupational exposure to an IMI-containing plant protection product was associated with the diagnosis of Bell's palsy. The aim was to investigate the toxic effects and cellular mechanisms of IMI exposure on glial cells (D384 human astrocytes) and on human fibroblasts (AG01518). IMI-treated astrocytes showed a reduction in cell number and dose-dependent cytotoxicity at 24 h. Lower doses of IMI induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lysosomal membrane permeabilisation (LMP), causing apoptosis and autophagic dysfunction, while high doses caused significant necrotic cell death. Using normal fibroblasts, we found that IMI-induced autophagic dysfunction and lysosomal damage, activated lysophagy, and resulted in a compensatory increase in lysosomes. In conclusion, the observed IMI-induced effects on human glial cells and fibroblasts provide a possible link between IMI cytotoxicity and neurological complications observed clinically in the patient exposed to this neonicotinoid insecticide.</AbstractText
[ [ "36742807", "Seasonal Distribution of Bell's Palsy.", "Bell's palsy (BP) is the most frequently diagnosed acute partial or complete paralysis of the facial nerve which has an unclear etiology and mostly affects one side of the face. Adverse weather conditions are considered to increase the likelihood of developing BP. The retrospective study included 199 BP patients aged 2-82&#xa0;years that presented to the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinics at Kumluca State Hospital and Serik State Hospital, Antalya, Turkey and received treatment between January 2017 and December 2020. The 199 patients comprised 106 (53.3%) men and 93 (46.7%) women with a mean age of 42.23&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;12.99&#xa0;years. The highest incidence of BP was observed in winter (December-February) (35%), followed by fall (23%), summer (22%), and spring (20%) (<i The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-021-02796-2.</AbstractText" ], [ "34200467", "Lyme Neuroborreliosis in Children.", "Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) is an infectious disease, developing after a tick bite and the dissemination of <i" ], [ "31372902", "Infectious causes of peripheral facial nerve palsy in children-a retrospective cohort study with long-term follow-up.", "The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of children with peripheral facial nerve palsy (pFP) with a focus on identifying infectious etiology and long-term outcome. We conducted an ICD-10-based retrospective chart review on children hospitalized with pFP between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2016. Furthermore, a telephone-based follow-up survey was performed. A total of 158 patients were identified, with a median age of 10.9&#xa0;years (interquartile range 6.4-13.7). An infectious disease was associated with pFP in 82 patients (51.9%); 73 cases were classified as idiopathic pFP (46.2%). Three cases occurred postoperatively or due to a peripheral tumor. Among the infectious diseases, we identified 33 cases of neuroborreliosis and 12 viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS), caused by the varicella-zoster virus, human herpesvirus 6, herpes simplex virus, enterovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus. Other infections were mainly respiratory tract infections (RTIs; 37 cases). Children with an associated CNS infection had more often headache and nuchal rigidity, a higher cerebrospinal fluid cell count, and a longer length of hospital stay. Long-term follow-up revealed an associated lower risk of relapse in CNS infection-associated pFP. Among all groups, permanent sequelae were associated with female sex, a shorter length of hospitalization, and a lower white blood cell count at presentation. pFP is frequently caused by an CNS infection or is associated with concurrent RTIs, with a potential impact on the short- and long-term clinical course.</AbstractText" ], [ "38689877", "Effects of acupuncture for Bell's palsy patients in the acute phase and its impact on facial nerve edema: a study protocol for a randomized, controlled trial.", "Bell's palsy is an acute peripheral facial neuropathy, which is one of the most common causes of facial palsy of lower motor neurons. Facial nerve swelling is commonly observed in Bell's palsy. Acupuncture therapy has been widely used in the treatment of Bell's palsy. However, whether acupuncture can be effectively used in the acute stage is still controversial. There are no clinical trials conducted previously to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on facial nerve edema in Bell's palsy patients. The study aims to evaluate the potential efficacy of different acupuncture modalities on Bell's palsy patients in the acute phase, its effect on facial nerve edema, and to preliminarily explore its possible mechanism.</AbstractText In this randomized, controlled trial, 165 Bell's palsy patients with unilateral onset within 3&#x2009;days will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the electroacupuncture group (<i The trial will evaluate the efficacy and facial nerve edema of acupuncture for Bell's palsy patients in the acute phase and preliminarily explore its possible mechanism. The results thus may provide evidence for clinical application.</AbstractText https://www.chictr.org.cn/bin/project/edit?pid=133211, identifier ChiCTR2100050815.</AbstractText" ], [ "37899861", "Predicting synkinesis caused by Bell's palsy or Ramsay Hunt syndrome using machine learning-based logistic regression.", "To investigate whether machine learning (ML)-based algorithms, namely logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbor (k-NN), and gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT), utilizing early post-onset parameters can predict facial synkinesis resulting from Bell's palsy or Ramsay Hunt syndrome more accurately than the conventional statistics-based LR.</AbstractText This retrospective study included 362 patients who presented to a facial palsy outpatient clinic. Median follow-up of synkinesis-positive and -negative patients was 388 (range, 177-1922) and 198 (range, 190-3021) days, respectively. Electrophysiological examinations were performed, and the rate of synkinesis in Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome was evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity were assessed using statistics-based LR; and electroneurography (ENoG) value, the difference in the nerve excitability test (NET), and scores of the subjective Yanagihara scaling system were evaluated using early post-onset parameters with ML-based LR, RF, <i Synkinesis rate in Bell's palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome was 20.2% (53/262) and 40.0% (40/100), respectively. Sensitivity and specificity obtained with statistics-based LR were 0.796 and 0.806, respectively, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.87. AUCs measured using ML-based LR of \"ENoG,\" \"difference in NET,\" \"Yanagihara,\" and all three components (\"all\") were 0.910, 0.834, 0.711, and 0.901, respectively.</AbstractText ML-based LR model shows potential in predicting facial synkinesis probability resulting from Bell's palsy or Ramsay Hunt syndrome and has comparable reliability to the conventional statistics-based LR.</AbstractText 3.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36993287", "SMASH: Scalable Method for Analyzing Spatial Heterogeneity of genes in spatial transcriptomics data.", "In high-throughput spatial transcriptomics (ST) studies, it is of great interest to identify the genes whose level of expression in a tissue covaries with the spatial location of cells/spots. Such genes, also known as spatially variable genes (SVGs), can be crucial to the biological understanding of both structural and functional characteristics of complex tissues. Existing methods for detecting SVGs either suffer from huge computational demand or significantly lack statistical power. We propose a non-parametric method termed SMASH that achieves a balance between the above two problems. We compare SMASH with other existing methods in varying simulation scenarios demonstrating its superior statistical power and robustness. We apply the method to four ST datasets from different platforms revealing interesting biological insights.</AbstractText" ], [ "37292996", "Atypical connectome topography and signal flow in temporal lobe epilepsy.", "Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common pharmaco-resistant epilepsies in adults. While hippocampal pathology is the hallmark of this condition, emerging evidence indicates that brain alterations extend beyond the mesiotemporal epicenter and affect macroscale brain function and cognition. We studied macroscale functional reorganization in TLE, explored structural substrates, and examined cognitive associations. We investigated a multisite cohort of 95 patients with pharmaco-resistant TLE and 95 healthy controls using state-of-the-art multimodal 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We quantified macroscale functional topographic organization using connectome dimensionality reduction techniques and estimated directional functional flow using generative models of effective connectivity. We observed atypical functional topographies in patients with TLE relative to controls, manifesting as reduced functional differentiation between sensory/motor networks and transmodal systems such as the default mode network, with peak alterations in bilateral temporal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. TLE-related topographic changes were consistent in all three included sites and reflected reductions in hierarchical flow patterns between cortical systems. Integration of parallel multimodal MRI data indicated that these findings were independent of TLE-related cortical grey matter atrophy, but mediated by microstructural alterations in the superficial white matter immediately beneath the cortex. The magnitude of functional perturbations was robustly associated with behavioral markers of memory function. Overall, this work provides converging evidence for macroscale functional imbalances, contributing microstructural alterations, and their associations with cognitive dysfunction in TLE.</AbstractText" ], [ "36937669", "Visually evoked potentials (VEPs) across the visual field in hearing and deaf cats.", "Congenitally deaf cats perform better on visual localization tasks than hearing cats, and this advantage has been attributed to the posterior auditory field. Successful visual localization requires both visual processing of the target and timely generation of an action to approach the target. Activation of auditory cortex in deaf subjects during visual localization in the peripheral visual field can occur either <i In this study, we recorded visually evoked potentials (VEPs) in response to a reversing checkerboard stimulus presented in the hemifield contralateral to the recorded hemisphere in both hearing and deaf cats under light anesthesia.</AbstractText Although VEP amplitudes and latencies were systematically modulated by stimulus eccentricity, we found little evidence of changes in VEP in deaf cats that can explain their behavioral advantage. A statistical trend was observed, showing larger peak amplitudes and shorter peak latencies in deaf subjects for stimuli in the near- and mid-peripheral field. Additionally, latency of the P1 wave component had a larger inter-sweep variation in deaf subjects.</AbstractText Our results suggested that cross-modal plasticity following deafness does not play a major part in cortical processing of the peripheral visual field when the \"vision for action\" system is not recruited.</AbstractText" ], [ "36921663", "Expanding the use of homebase-related parameters to investigate how distinct stressful conditions affect zebrafish behaviors.", "Stress is a physiological reaction that allows the organisms to cope with challenging situations daily. Thus, elucidating the behavioral outcomes following different stressors is of great importance in translational research. Here, we aimed to characterize the main factors which explain similarities and differences of two stress protocols on zebrafish exploratory activity. To answer this point, we performed behavioral analyses aiming to simplify the data structure associated with homebase-related measurements in an integrated manner. Adult zebrafish were exposed to conspecific alarm substance for 5&#xa0;min (acute stress protocol - AS) or submitted to 7&#xa0;days of unpredictable chronic stress (UCS). Immediately after AS or in the subsequent day following UCS (8<sup" ], [ "38801385", "[Understanding Bipolar Disorder: Risk Factors & Protective Measures].", "Bipolar Affective Disorder (BD) is a severe mental pathology characterized by recurrent mood episodes that usually cycle between two opposite poles: mania or hypomania and depression. It has a high level of morbidity/mortality (i.e., cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, altered functionality, and absenteeism from work) and associated substantial socioeconomic costs. The most dramatic outcome is death by suicide, which occurs in 5% to 15% of patients. Early detection plays a vital role in modifying the natural course of the disease. It is essential to determine the disease's risk and specific protective factors to prevent its occurrence, delay its appearance, and reduce its deterioration effects. Characteristics such as genetic profile, cognitive reserve (partially explained by educational level and premorbid intelligence), chronotype (particularly morning chronotype), personality aspects (including resilience and hyperthymic temperament), the absence of substance use and childhood maltreatment, in addition to an adequate support network, have been associated with a lower impact in the onset and course of the disease. Once present, interventions -both in the early and late stages (i.e., specific pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, dietary factors, physical activity, and judicious use of antipsychotics)-can play a protective role against the appearance of the disease and the severity of its mood episodes.</AbstractText" ] ]
39229208
Vagal TRPV1 (+) sensory neurons regulate myeloid cell dynamics and protect against influenza virus infection.
Influenza viruses are a major global cause of morbidity and mortality. Vagal TRPV1 <sup
[ [ "31261700", "Photosensitive Melanopsin-Containing Retinal Ganglion Cells in Health and Disease: Implications for Circadian Rhythms.", "Melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs) represent a third class of retinal photoreceptors involved in regulating the pupillary light reflex and circadian photoentrainment, among other things. The functional integrity of the circadian system and melanopsin cells is an essential component of well-being and health, being both impaired in aging and disease. Here we review evidence of melanopsin-expressing cell alterations in aging and neurodegenerative diseases and their correlation with the development of circadian rhythm disorders. In healthy humans, the average density of melanopsin-positive cells falls after age 70, accompanied by age-dependent atrophy of dendritic arborization. In addition to aging, inner and outer retinal diseases also involve progressive deterioration and loss of mRGCs that positively correlates with progressive alterations in circadian rhythms. Among others, mRGC number and plexus complexity are impaired in Parkinson's disease patients; changes that may explain sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in this pathology. The key role of mRGCs in circadian photoentrainment and their loss in age and disease endorse the importance of eye care, even if vision is lost, to preserve melanopsin ganglion cells and their essential functions in the maintenance of an adequate quality of life.</AbstractText" ], [ "31841107", "Opioids modulate an emergent rhythmogenic process to depress breathing.", "How mammalian neural circuits generate rhythmic activity in motor behaviors, such as breathing, walking, and chewing, remains elusive. For breathing, rhythm generation is localized to a brainstem nucleus, the preB&#xf6;tzinger Complex (preB&#xf6;tC). Rhythmic preB&#xf6;tC population activity consists of strong inspiratory bursts, which drive motoneuronal activity, and weaker burstlets, which we hypothesize reflect an emergent rhythmogenic process. If burstlets underlie inspiratory rhythmogenesis, respiratory depressants, such as opioids, should reduce burstlet frequency. Indeed, in medullary slices from neonatal mice, the &#x3bc;-opioid receptor (&#x3bc;OR) agonist DAMGO slowed burstlet generation. Genetic deletion of &#x3bc;ORs in a glutamatergic preB&#xf6;tC subpopulation abolished opioid-mediated depression, and the neuropeptide Substance P, but not blockade of inhibitory synaptic transmission, reduced opioidergic effects. We conclude that inspiratory rhythmogenesis is an emergent process, modulated by opioids, that does not rely on strong bursts of activity associated with motor output. These findings also point to strategies for ameliorating opioid-induced depression of breathing.</AbstractText" ], [ "38307190", "Establishment of mouse model of neurotrophic keratopathy through TRPV1 neuronal ablation.", "Neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) is a challenging disease with the reduced innervation to the cornea. To establish a genetic and stable mouse model of NK, we utilized the TRPV1-DTR mice with intraperitoneal injection of diphtheria toxin (DT) to selectively eliminate TRPV1 neurons. After DT administration, the mice exhibited robust ablation of TRPV1 neurons in the trigeminal ganglion, accompanied with reduced corneal sensation and nerve density, as well as the decreased calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) and substance P levels. According to disease progression of TRPV1 neuronal ablation, tear secretion was reduced from day 3, which followed by corneal epithelial punctate lesions from day 7. From day 11 to day 16, the mice exhibited persistent corneal epithelial defects and stromal edema. By day 21, corneal ulceration and stromal melting were observed with the abundant inflammatory cell infiltration, corneal neovascularization, and enhanced cell apoptosis. Moreover, subconjunctival injection of CGRP delayed the NK progression with the characteristics of reduced severe corneal epithelial lesions and corneal inflammation. In addition, the impairments of conjunctival goblet cells, lacrimal gland, and meibomian gland were identified by the diminished expression of MUC5AC, AQP5, and PPAR&#x3b3;, respectively. Therefore, these results suggest that the TRPV1-DTR mice may serve as a reliable animal model for the research of NK pathogenesis.</AbstractText" ], [ "7644029", "Visualization and immunohistochemical characterization of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons in the male rat major pelvic ganglion.", "Pelvic ganglia contain a mixture of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons which are innervated by either lumbar (sympathetic) or sacral (parasympathetic) preganglionic axons, respectively. However, until recently no stain for these axon terminals has been available. In the present study of the male rat major pelvic ganglion, a ganglion which supplies axons to the lower urinary and digestive tracts and internal reproductive organs, the total population of preganglionic axon terminals was immunostained using an antiserum against synaptophysin, a protein associated with all small synaptic vesicles (such as the presumptive cholinergic vesicles present in all preganglionic terminals). Selective bilateral lesions of either the hypogastric or pelvic nerves, which carry the sympathetic and parasympathetic preganglionic axons, respectively, were carried out and three to seven days later ganglia were examined immunohistochemically for the distribution of residual synaptophysin-positive terminals. Neurons remaining innervated following hypogastric nerve lesion were therefore classified as parasympathetic and those innervated after pelvic nerve section were defined as sympathetic. These two cell groups are present in approximately equal proportions. Double-staining immunofluorescence to identify which transmitters or peptides are present in either sympathetic or parasympathetic neurons showed that the majority (approximately 75%) of sympathetic neurons are presumed to be noradrenergic (i.e. contain tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity) and are also immunoreactive for neuropeptide Y; the remainder contain vasoactive intestinal peptide-immunoreactivity but not tyrosine hydroxylase and may be cholinergic. Parasympathetic neurons were virtually all non-noradrenergic (tyrosine hydroxylase negative) and were also of two histochemical types, with some neurons containing neuropeptide Y- and others containing vasoactive intestinal peptide-immunoreactivity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)</AbstractText" ], [ "9443654", "Is glandular formation of nitric oxide a prerequisite for muscarinic secretion of fructose in the guinea-pig seminal vesicle?", "The significance of nitric oxide (NO) formation in seminal secretion was studied in guinea-pig seminal vesicles. The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity was estimated and reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase histochemistry was performed. Furthermore, cyclic guanosine 3,5-monophosphate (cGMP) concentration as well as fructose secretion from isolated vesicles was estimated. High Ca2+-dependent NOS activity as well as prominent glandular NADPH-diaphorase staining was found in the secretory epithelium. The NOS inhibitors N(G)-nitro L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and N(G)-nitro L-arginine (L-NNA) inhibited carbachol-induced fructose secretion but the D-isomer to L-NAME had no effect. When L-arginine was administered together with L-NAME, no inhibitory effect on the carbachol-induced fructose secretion could be seen. Nerve-induced fructose secretion was also inhibited by L-NAME. The NO donor glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) increased the fructose secretion. Carbachol or GTN did not increase cGMP levels, nor was fructose secretion inhibited by a guanylate cyclase inhibitor (ODQ). Our results suggests that glandular NO production is a prerequisite for muscarinic fructose secretion in the seminal vesicle via a cGMP-independent pathway.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38592234", "Drawing as a Way of Knowing: How a Mapping Model Assists Preoperative Evaluation of Patients with Thyroid Carcinoma.", "<b" ], [ "38973817", "Validation of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision-Clinical Modification Diagnostic Code for Essential Tremor.", "The positive predictive value (PPV) of the <i Patients in a tertiary health system with a primary care encounter associated with ICD-10-CM code G25.0 in 2022 underwent medical record review to determine if the consensus criteria from the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society for an ET diagnosis were met.</AbstractText 442 patients were included. The PPV of G25.0 in identifying probable ET cases was 74.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 70.4-78.5%). Among patients prescribed propranolol, the PPV improved to 87.8% (95% CI 78.0-93.6%).</AbstractText Compared to the ICD-9-CM code 333.1, G25.0 is superior for identifying ET cases. A potential limitation of this study is that the consensus criteria applied relies on nonspecific physical exam findings which may lead to an overestimation of the PPV of G25.0.</AbstractText The ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for essential tremor has not been previously validated. The objective of this study was to determine the PPV of the G25.0 code. The PPV in identifying essential tremor cases was 74.7%. The PPV improved among patients prescribed propranolol.</AbstractText" ], [ "39315308", "Investigating the prevalence of MFN2 mutations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: insights from an Italian cohort.", "The <i" ], [ "39768092", "A Hybrid Transformer-Convolutional Neural Network for Segmentation of Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Perihematomal Edema on Non-Contrast Head Computed Tomography (CT) with Uncertainty Quantification to Improve Confidence.", "Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and perihematomal edema (PHE) are key imaging markers of primary and secondary brain injury in hemorrhagic stroke. Accurate segmentation and quantification of ICH and PHE can help with prognostication and guide treatment planning. In this study, we combined Swin-Unet Transformers with nnU-NETv2 convolutional network for segmentation of ICH and PHE on non-contrast head CTs. We also applied test-time data augmentations to assess individual-level prediction uncertainty, ensuring high confidence in prediction. The model was trained on 1782 CT scans from a multicentric trial and tested in two independent datasets from Yale (n = 396) and University of Berlin Charit&#xe9; Hospital and University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (n = 943). Model performance was evaluated with the Dice coefficient and Volume Similarity (VS). Our dual Swin-nnUNET model achieved a median (95% confidence interval) Dice = 0.93 (0.90-0.95) and VS = 0.97 (0.95-0.98) for ICH, and Dice = 0.70 (0.64-0.75) and VS = 0.87 (0.80-0.93) for PHE segmentation in the Yale cohort. Dice = 0.86 (0.80-0.90) and VS = 0.91 (0.85-0.95) for ICH and Dice = 0.65 (0.56-0.70) and VS = 0.86 (0.77-0.93) for PHE segmentation in the Berlin/Hamburg-Eppendorf cohort. Prediction uncertainty was associated with lower segmentation accuracy, smaller ICH/PHE volumes, and infratentorial location. Our results highlight the benefits of a dual transformer-convolutional neural network architecture for ICH/PHE segmentation and test-time augmentation for uncertainty quantification.</AbstractText" ], [ "38994939", "Predicting Longitudinal Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer's Conversion in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients Based on Plasma Biomarkers.", "The increasing burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) emphasizes the need for effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Despite available treatments targeting amyloid beta (A&#x3b2;) plaques, disease-modifying therapies remain elusive. Early detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients at risk for AD conversion is crucial, especially with anti-A&#x3b2; therapy. While plasma biomarkers hold promise in differentiating AD from MCI, evidence on predicting cognitive decline is lacking. This study's objectives were to evaluate whether plasma protein biomarkers could predict both cognitive decline in non-demented individuals and the conversion to AD in patients with MCI. This study was conducted as part of the Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia (KLOSCAD), a prospective, community-based cohort. Participants were based on plasma biomarker availability and clinical diagnosis at baseline. The study included MCI (n = 50), MCI-to-AD (n = 21), and cognitively unimpaired (CU, n = 40) participants. Baseline plasma concentrations of six proteins-total tau (tTau), phosphorylated tau at residue 181 (pTau181), amyloid beta 42 (A&#x3b2;42), amyloid beta 40 (A&#x3b2;40), neurofilament light chain (NFL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-along with three derivative ratios (pTau181/tTau, A&#x3b2;42/A&#x3b2;40, pTau181/A&#x3b2;42) were analyzed to predict cognitive decline over a six-year follow-up period. Baseline protein biomarkers were stratified into tertiles (low, intermediate, and high) and analyzed using a linear mixed model (LMM) to predict longitudinal cognitive changes. In addition, Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to discern whether protein biomarkers could predict AD conversion in the MCI subgroup. This prospective cohort study revealed that plasma NFL may predict longitudinal declines in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. In participants categorized as amyloid positive, the NFL biomarker demonstrated predictive performance for both MMSE and total scores of the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-TS) longitudinally. Additionally, as a baseline predictor, GFAP exhibited a significant association with cross-sectional cognitive impairment in the CERAD-TS measure, particularly in amyloid positive participants. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis indicated predictive performance of NFL, GFAP, tTau, and A&#x3b2;42/A&#x3b2;40 on MCI-to-AD conversion. This study suggests that plasma GFAP in non-demented participants may reflect baseline cross-sectional CERAD-TS scores, a measure of global cognitive function. Conversely, plasma NFL may predict longitudinal decline in MMSE and CERAD-TS scores in participants categorized as amyloid positive. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis suggests that NFL, GFAP, tTau, and A&#x3b2;42/A&#x3b2;40 are potentially robust predictors of future AD conversion.</AbstractText" ] ]
40144367
Computer reconstruction of gene networks controlling anxiety levels in humans and laboratory mice.
Anxiety is a normotypic human condition, and like any other emotion has an adaptive value. But excessively high or low anxiety has negative consequences for adaptation, which primarily determines the importance of studying these two extreme conditions. At the same time, it is known that the perception of aversive stimuli associated with anxiety leads to changes in the activity of the brain's cingulate cortex. The advantage of animals as models in studying the genetic bases of anxiety in humans is in the ability to subtly control the external conditions of formation of a certain state, the availability of brain tissues, and the ability to create and study transgenic models, including through the use of differentially expressed genes of small laboratory animals from the family Muridae with low and high anxiety. Within the framework of the translational approach, a three-domain potential gene network, which is associated with generalized anxiety in humans, was reconstructed using mouse models with different levels of anxiety by automatically analyzing the texts of scientific articles. One domain is associated with reduced anxiety in humans, the second with increased anxiety, and the third is a dispatcher who activates one of the two domains depending on the status of the organism (genetic, epigenetic, physiological). Stages of work: (I) A list of genes expressed in the cingulate cortex of the wild type CD-1 mouse line from the NCBI GEO database (experiment GSE29014). Using the tools of this database, differences in gene expression levels were revealed in groups of mice with low and high (relatively normal) anxiety. (II) Search for orthologs of DEG in humans and mice associated with anxiety in the OMA Orthology database. (III) Computer reconstruction using the ANDSystem cognitive system based on (a) human orthologous genes from stage (III), (b) human genes from the MalaCards database associated with human anxiety. The proven methods of the translational approach for the reconstruction of gene networks for behavior regulation can be used to identify molecular genetic markers of human personality traits, propensity to psychopathology.</AbstractText &#x422;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x2013; &#x44d;&#x442;&#x43e; &#x43d;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x438;&#x43f;&#x438;&#x447;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x435; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x435; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430;, &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x435;, &#x43a;&#x430;&#x43a; &#x438; &#x43b;&#x44e;&#x431;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x434;&#x440;&#x443;&#x433;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x44d;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x44f;, &#x438;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x435;&#x442; &#x430;&#x434;&#x430;&#x43f;&#x442;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x435; &#x437;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x447;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x435;. &#x41d;&#x43e; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x435; &#x447;&#x440;&#x435;&#x437;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x440;&#x43d;&#x43e; &#x432;&#x44b;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x438;&#x43b;&#x438; &#x43d;&#x438;&#x437;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x432;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x447;&#x435;&#x442; &#x437;&#x430; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x431;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x43d;&#x435;&#x433;&#x430;&#x442;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x435; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x434;&#x441;&#x442;&#x432;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x434;&#x43b;&#x44f; &#x430;&#x434;&#x430;&#x43f;&#x442;&#x430;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;, &#x447;&#x442;&#x43e; &#x432; &#x43f;&#x435;&#x440;&#x432;&#x443;&#x44e; &#x43e;&#x447;&#x435;&#x440;&#x435;&#x434;&#x44c; &#x43e;&#x431;&#x443;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x43b;&#x438;&#x432;&#x430;&#x435;&#x442; &#x432;&#x430;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x438;&#x437;&#x443;&#x447;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x44d;&#x442;&#x438;&#x445; &#x434;&#x432;&#x443;&#x445; &#x43a;&#x440;&#x430;&#x439;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x445; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x439;. &#x41f;&#x440;&#x438; &#x44d;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x43c; &#x438;&#x437;&#x432;&#x435;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43d;&#x43e;, &#x447;&#x442;&#x43e; &#x432; &#x443;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x438;&#x44f;&#x445; &#x432;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x438;&#x44f;&#x442;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x430;&#x432;&#x435;&#x440;&#x441;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441;&#x442;&#x438;&#x43c;&#x443;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;, &#x430;&#x441;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e;, &#x438;&#x437;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x44f;&#x435;&#x442;&#x441;&#x44f; &#x430;&#x43a;&#x442;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x441;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x44b; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x433;&#x430;. &#x41f;&#x440;&#x435;&#x438;&#x43c;&#x443;&#x449;&#x435;&#x441;&#x442;&#x432;&#x43e; &#x436;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x43a;&#x430;&#x43a; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x439; &#x43f;&#x440;&#x438; &#x438;&#x437;&#x443;&#x447;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x438; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x442;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x438;&#x445; &#x43e;&#x441;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x439; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x443; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430; &#x441;&#x432;&#x44f;&#x437;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43e; &#x441; &#x432;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x442;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x43a;&#x43e; &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x442;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x432;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x448;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x435; &#x443;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x444;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43c;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x43e;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x435;&#x434;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x44f;, &#x434;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x443;&#x43f;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x442;&#x43a;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x439; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x433;&#x430; &#x438; &#x432;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x441;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x434;&#x430;&#x432;&#x430;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x438; &#x438;&#x437;&#x443;&#x447;&#x430;&#x442;&#x44c; &#x442;&#x440;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x435; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x438;, &#x432; &#x442;&#x43e;&#x43c; &#x447;&#x438;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x435; &#x441; &#x438;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x437;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x435;&#x43c; &#x434;&#x438;&#x444;&#x444;&#x435;&#x440;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x446;&#x438;&#x430;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x43d;&#x43e; &#x44d;&#x43a;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x435;&#x441;&#x441;&#x438;&#x440;&#x443;&#x44e;&#x449;&#x438;&#x445;&#x441;&#x44f; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x43c;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43a;&#x438;&#x445; &#x43b;&#x430;&#x431;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x430;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x436;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x438;&#x437; &#x441;&#x435;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x439;&#x441;&#x442;&#x432;&#x430; &#x43c;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x438;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441; &#x43d;&#x438;&#x437;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x438; &#x432;&#x44b;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e;. &#x412; &#x440;&#x430;&#x43c;&#x43a;&#x430;&#x445; &#x442;&#x440;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x44f;&#x446;&#x438;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x445;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x430; &#x431;&#x44b;&#x43b;&#x430; &#x440;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x442;&#x440;&#x443;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x430; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x445;&#x434;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x446;&#x438;&#x430;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x441;&#x435;&#x442;&#x44c;, &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x430;&#x441;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x430; &#x441; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x440;&#x430;&#x43b;&#x438;&#x437;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x443; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430;, &#x43f;&#x43e; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x44f;&#x43c; &#x43c;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x435;&#x439; &#x441; &#x440;&#x430;&#x437;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x43c; &#x443;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x43c; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x43f;&#x443;&#x442;&#x435;&#x43c; &#x430;&#x432;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x430;&#x442;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x430;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x43b;&#x438;&#x437;&#x430; &#x442;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x441;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x43d;&#x430;&#x443;&#x447;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441;&#x442;&#x430;&#x442;&#x435;&#x439;. &#x41e;&#x434;&#x438;&#x43d; &#x434;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d; &#x430;&#x441;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d; &#x441; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x436;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x443; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430;, &#x432;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x2013; &#x441; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439;, &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x442;&#x438;&#x439; &#x441;&#x43b;&#x443;&#x436;&#x438;&#x442; &#x434;&#x438;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x435;&#x442;&#x447;&#x435;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x43c;, &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x44b;&#x439; &#x430;&#x43a;&#x442;&#x438;&#x432;&#x438;&#x440;&#x443;&#x435;&#x442; &#x43e;&#x434;&#x438;&#x43d; &#x438;&#x437; &#x434;&#x432;&#x443;&#x445; &#x434;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x432; &#x437;&#x430;&#x432;&#x438;&#x441;&#x438;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x43e;&#x442; &#x441;&#x442;&#x430;&#x442;&#x443;&#x441;&#x430; &#x43e;&#x440;&#x433;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x437;&#x43c;&#x430; (&#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x442;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e;, &#x44d;&#x43f;&#x438;&#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x442;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e;, &#x444;&#x438;&#x437;&#x438;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e;). &#x42d;&#x442;&#x430;&#x43f;&#x44b; &#x440;&#x430;&#x431;&#x43e;&#x442;&#x44b;: (I) &#x438;&#x437; &#x431;&#x430;&#x437;&#x44b; &#x434;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; NCBI GEO &#x432;&#x437;&#x44f;&#x442; &#x441;&#x43f;&#x438;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x43a; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432;, &#x44d;&#x43a;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x435;&#x441;&#x441;&#x438;&#x440;&#x443;&#x44e;&#x449;&#x438;&#x445;&#x441;&#x44f; &#x432; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x44f;&#x441;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x435; &#x433;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x437;&#x433;&#x430; &#x43b;&#x438;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x438; &#x43c;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x435;&#x439; &#x434;&#x438;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x442;&#x438;&#x43f;&#x430; CD-1 (&#x44d;&#x43a;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x435;&#x440;&#x438;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x442; GSE29014). &#x421; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x449;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x438;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x442;&#x440;&#x443;&#x43c;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x44d;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x431;&#x430;&#x437;&#x44b; &#x432;&#x44b;&#x44f;&#x432;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x44b; &#x440;&#x430;&#x437;&#x43b;&#x438;&#x447;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x432; &#x443;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x44f;&#x445; &#x44d;&#x43a;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x435;&#x441;&#x441;&#x438;&#x438; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x432; &#x433;&#x440;&#x443;&#x43f;&#x43f;&#x430;&#x445; &#x43c;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x435;&#x439; &#x441; &#x43d;&#x438;&#x437;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x438; &#x432;&#x44b;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x439; (&#x43e;&#x442;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x438;&#x442;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x43d;&#x43e; &#x43d;&#x43e;&#x440;&#x43c;&#x430;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439;) &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e;; (II) &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x438;&#x441;&#x43a; &#x43e;&#x440;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x414;&#x42d;&#x413; &#x443; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430; &#x438; &#x43c;&#x44b;&#x448;&#x435;&#x439;, &#x430;&#x441;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x432; &#x431;&#x430;&#x437;&#x435; &#x434;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; OMA Orthology; (III) &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x43f;&#x44c;&#x44e;&#x442;&#x435;&#x440;&#x43d;&#x430;&#x44f; &#x440;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x442;&#x440;&#x443;&#x43a;&#x446;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x441; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x43c;&#x43e;&#x449;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x43a;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x442;&#x438;&#x432;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x439; &#x441;&#x438;&#x441;&#x442;&#x435;&#x43c;&#x44b; ANDSystem &#x43d;&#x430; &#x43e;&#x441;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432;-&#x43e;&#x440;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430; &#x438;&#x437; &#x44d;&#x442;&#x430;&#x43f;&#x430; (II), &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430; &#x438;&#x437; &#x431;&#x430;&#x437;&#x44b; &#x434;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; MalaCards, &#x430;&#x441;&#x441;&#x43e;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441; &#x442;&#x440;&#x435;&#x432;&#x43e;&#x436;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x44e; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430;. &#x410;&#x43f;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x431;&#x438;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x435; &#x43c;&#x435;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x44b; &#x442;&#x440;&#x430;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x43b;&#x44f;&#x446;&#x438;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x43e; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x445;&#x43e;&#x434;&#x430; &#x434;&#x43b;&#x44f; &#x440;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x441;&#x442;&#x440;&#x443;&#x43a;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438; &#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x44b;&#x445; &#x441;&#x435;&#x442;&#x435;&#x439; &#x440;&#x435;&#x433;&#x443;&#x43b;&#x44f;&#x446;&#x438;&#x438; &#x43f;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x434;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x443;&#x442; &#x438;&#x441;&#x43f;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x44c;&#x437;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x430;&#x442;&#x44c;&#x441;&#x44f; &#x434;&#x43b;&#x44f; &#x432;&#x44b;&#x44f;&#x432;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x438;&#x44f; &#x43c;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x443;&#x43b;&#x44f;&#x440;&#x43d;&#x43e;-&#x433;&#x435;&#x43d;&#x435;&#x442;&#x438;&#x447;&#x435;&#x441;&#x43a;&#x438;&#x445; &#x43c;&#x430;&#x440;&#x43a;&#x435;&#x440;&#x43e;&#x432; &#x447;&#x435;&#x440;&#x442; &#x43b;&#x438;&#x447;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x447;&#x435;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x432;&#x435;&#x43a;&#x430;, &#x441;&#x43a;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x43d;&#x43d;&#x43e;&#x441;&#x442;&#x438; &#x43a; &#x43f;&#x441;&#x438;&#x445;&#x43e;&#x43f;&#x430;&#x442;&#x43e;&#x43b;&#x43e;&#x433;&#x438;&#x438;.</AbstractText
[ [ "35671801", "Is there hemispheric specialization in the chronic pain brain?", "Organismal bilateral symmetry is associated with near-identical halves of the central nervous system, with certain functions displaying specialization through one brain hemisphere. The processing of pain in the brain as well as brain plasticity in the context of painful injuries have garnered much attention in recent decades. Noninvasive brain imaging studies in pain-free human subjects have identified multiple brain regions that are linked to the sensory and affective components of pain. Longlasting adaptations in brains of chronic pain sufferers have likewise been described, suggesting a mechanism for pain chronification. Invasive molecular and biochemical studies in animal models have expanded on these findings, with added emphasis on the role of specific genes and molecules involved. To date, the extent of hemispheric asymmetry in the context of pain is not well-understood. This topical review evaluates the evidence of hemispheric specialization observed in humans and rodent models of pain and compares it to findings where such asymmetry is absent. Our review shows conflicting information regarding the existence of pain-related asymmetry, and if so, the side to which it can be localized. This could be due to the heterogeneity of pain processing pathways, heterogeneity in study parameters, as well as differences in data reporting. With the advent of progressively sophisticated non-invasive tools that can be used in human subjects, in addition to more precise methods to visualize and control specific brain regions or neuronal ensembles in animal models, we predict that the next few decades will witness a better understanding of the supraspinal control and processing of chronic pain, including the role of each of its hemispheres.</AbstractText" ], [ "33079453", "JuSpace: A tool for spatial correlation analyses of magnetic resonance imaging data with nuclear imaging derived neurotransmitter maps.", "Recent studies have shown that drug-induced spatial alteration patterns in resting state functional activity as measured using magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) are associated with the distribution of specific receptor systems targeted by respective compounds. Based on this approach, we introduce a toolbox (JuSpace) allowing for cross-modal correlation of MRI-based measures with nuclear imaging derived estimates covering various neurotransmitter systems including dopaminergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, and GABAergic (gamma-aminobutric acid) neurotransmission. We apply JuSpace to two datasets covering Parkinson's disease patients (PD) and risperidone-induced changes in rsfMRI and cerebral blood flow (CBF). Consistently with the predominant neurodegeneration of dopaminergic and serotonergic system in PD, we find significant spatial associations between rsfMRI activity alterations in PD and dopaminergic (D2) and serotonergic systems (5-HT1b). Risperidone induced CBF alterations were correlated with its main targets in serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. JuSpace provides a biologically meaningful framework for linking neuroimaging to underlying neurotransmitter information.</AbstractText" ], [ "39254180", "Compressed cerebro-cerebellar functional gradients in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.", "Both cortical and cerebellar developmental differences have been implicated in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recently accumulating neuroimaging studies have highlighted hierarchies as a fundamental principle of brain organization, suggesting the importance of assessing hierarchy abnormalities in ADHD. A novel gradient-based resting-state functional connectivity analysis was applied to investigate the cerebro-cerebellar disturbed hierarchy in children and adolescents with ADHD. We found that the interaction of functional gradient between diagnosis and age was concentrated in default mode network (DMN) and visual network (VN). At the same time, we also found that the opposite gradient changes of DMN and VN caused the compression of the cortical main gradient in ADHD patients, implicating the co-occurrence of both low- (visual processing) and high-order (self-related thought) cognitive dysfunction manifesting in abnormal cerebro-cerebellar organizational hierarchy in ADHD. Our study provides a neurobiological framework to better understand the co-occurrence and interaction of both low-level and high-level functional abnormalities in the cortex and cerebellum in ADHD.</AbstractText" ], [ "32006946", "Mapping cognitive and emotional networks in neurosurgical patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.", "Neurosurgery has been at the forefront of a paradigm shift from a localizationist perspective to a network-based approach to brain mapping. Over the last 2 decades, we have seen dramatic improvements in the way we can image the human brain and noninvasively estimate the location of critical functional networks. In certain patients with brain tumors and epilepsy, intraoperative electrical stimulation has revealed direct links between these networks and their function. The focus of these techniques has rightfully been identification and preservation of so-called \"eloquent\" brain functions (i.e., motor and language), but there is building momentum for more extensive mapping of cognitive and emotional networks. In addition, there is growing interest in mapping these functions in patients with a broad range of neurosurgical diseases. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) is a noninvasive imaging modality that is able to measure spontaneous low-frequency blood oxygen level-dependent signal fluctuations at rest to infer neuronal activity. Rs-fMRI may be able to map cognitive and emotional networks for individual patients. In this review, the authors give an overview of the rs-fMRI technique and associated cognitive and emotional resting-state networks, discuss the potential applications of rs-fMRI, and propose future directions for the mapping of cognition and emotion in neurosurgical patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "28032008", "Effects of isoflurane anesthesia on resting-state fMRI signals and functional connectivity within primary somatosensory cortex of monkeys.", "Correlated low-frequency fluctuations of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) signals have been widely used for inferring intrinsic brain functional connectivity (FC). In animal studies, accurate estimate of anesthetic effects on rsfMRI signals is demanded for reliable interpretations of FC changes. We have previously shown that inter-regional FC can reliably delineate local millimeter-scale circuits within digit representations of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) subregions (areas 3a, 3b, and 1) in monkeys under isoflurane anesthesia. The goals of this study are to determine (1) the general effects of isoflurane on rsfMRI signals in the S1 circuit and (2) whether the effects are functional- and regional- dependent, by quantifying the relationships between isoflurane levels, power and inter-regional correlation coefficients in digit and face regions of distinct S1 subregions.</AbstractText Functional MRI data were collected from male adult squirrel monkeys at three different isoflurane levels (1.25%, 0.875%, and 0.5%). All scans were acquired on a 9.4T magnet with a 3-cm-diameter surface transmit-receive coil centered over the S1 cortex. Power and seed-based inter-regional functional connectivity analyses were subsequently performed.</AbstractText As anesthesia level increased, we observed (1) diminishing amplitudes of signal fluctuations, (2) reduced power of fluctuations in the low-frequency band used for connectivity measurements, (3) decreased inter-voxel connectivity around seed regions, and (4) weakened inter-regional FC across all pairs of regions of interest (digit-to-digit). The low-frequency power measures derived from rsfMRI signals from control muscle regions, however, did not exhibit any isoflurane level-related changes. Within the isoflurane dosage range we tested, the inter-regional functional connectivity differences were still detectable, and the effects of isoflurane did not differ across region-of-interest (ROI) pairs.</AbstractText Our data demonstrate that isoflurane induced similar dose-dependent suppressive effects on the power of rsfMRI signals and local fine-scale FC across functionally related but distinct S1 subregions.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40798177", "Restoration of X-ray backscatter images under low exposure time based on deep learning.", "Lobster-eye lenses are suitable for staring hard X-ray backscattering imaging, but achieving clear imaging typically requires a long exposure time. This study establishes a noise model for imaging under low-exposure conditions, investigates the causes of image degradation, and develops a method combining variance-stabilizing transformation and convolutional neural networks to simplify the noise model and achieve denoising. The proposed method uses paired low-exposure data for training without the need for ground-truth images. Compared to traditional non-local means filtering and the original noise2noise method, the proposed approach significantly improves denoising performance. Furthermore, compared to two other lobster-eye backscattering image restoration algorithms, the proposed method achieves an average SSIM improvement from 0.1798 to 0.8473 for the multiple target images. This technique not only enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of X-ray backscattering images, reduces exposure time to less than 20 seconds, and lowers radiation doses to improve imaging safety but also preserves target details and brightness changes. It provides an effective solution for low-exposure imaging in fields such as medical diagnostics and aviation.</AbstractText" ], [ "40354760", "Innovative neurovascular decompression for chronic intractable hiccups secondary to vertebral artery dolichoectasia: a novel surgical technique. Illustrative case.", "Chronic continuous hiccups can significantly impair quality of life and may lead to considerable psychological stress in affected patients. Although often idiopathic, hiccups can also be caused by local compression of the brainstem.</AbstractText The authors present the case of a female patient with refractory hiccups caused by brainstem compression by vertebral artery dolichoectasia. Complete recovery was achieved through an innovative surgical approach involving microsurgical decompression of the medulla oblongata, which enabled direct visualization of the vertebral artery at its transition from the extradural to intradural space.</AbstractText This case highlights the potential anatomical and structural causes of intractable hiccups, underscores the importance of thorough neuroradiological evaluation, and ultimately advocates for an individualized surgical approach in such cases. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE2552.</AbstractText" ], [ "38444154", "Speech Fluency Production and Perception in L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) Read Speech.", "Research on fluency in native (L1) and non-native (L2) speech production and perception helps us understand how individual L1 speaking style might affect perceived L2 fluency and how this relationship might be reflected in L1 versus L2 oral assessment. While the relationship between production and perception of fluency in spontaneous speech has been studied, the information provided by reading has been overlooked. We argue that reading provides a direct and controlled way to assess language proficiency that might complement information gained from spontaneous speaking. This work analyzes the relationship between speech fluency production and perception in passages of L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) read by 57 undergraduate Slovak students of English and rated for fluency by 15 English teachers who are Slovak natives. We compare acoustic production measures between L1 and L2 and analyze how their effect on perceived fluency differs for the two languages. Our main finding is that the articulation rate, the overall number of pauses, and the number of between-clause and mid-clause pauses predict ratings differently in L1 Slovak versus L2 English. The speech rate and durations of pauses predict ratings similarly in both languages. The contribution of our results to understanding fluency aspects of spontaneous and read speech, the relationship between L1 and L2, the relationship between production and perception, and to the teaching of L2 English are discussed.</AbstractText" ], [ "40744861", "Updates and advances for gynecologic imaging.", "A gynecologic malignancy is one of the most common cancers affecting females and is responsible for significant rates of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Early discovery and accurate staging, as well as early recurrence detection and correct assessment of therapeutic response, are important factors for patient management and survival. For detection and characterization, as well as staging and restaging of gynecologic conditions most commonly encountered, that is, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian malignancy, the usage of ultrasound, analysis of images obtained with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography-CT has critical roles. Recently, artificial intelligence used to extract quantitative information from radiological imaging has become an important factor for treatment decisions. The present review article provides important information related to recent advances in gynecologic malignancy imaging options, with a focus on findings related to cervical, endometrial, and ovarian neoplasms.</AbstractText" ], [ "40438331", "Association between GRIN2B DNA methylation and cognitive impairment: a cross-sectional study of patients with bipolar depression.", "Cognitive impairment is a prevalent feature throughout the course of bipolar disorder (BD) and may contribute to recurrent episodes and poor prognosis. Despite its significant clinical impact, the biological mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in BD remain poorly understood, complicating treatment efforts. The NR2B subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, encoded by the GRIN2B gene, plays a critical role in cognitive functions.</AbstractText In this study, we measured the methylation levels of the promoter region of the GRIN2B gene in peripheral blood samples from patients with bipolar depression and healthy controls using the MassARRAY method. Cognitive performance was assessed through a series of standardized neuropsychological tests. Subsequently, we analyzed the correlation between GRIN2B gene promoter methylation levels and cognitive performance in patients with bipolar depression.</AbstractText We identified aberrant methylation levels at multiple CpG sites within the GRIN2B gene promoter region in patients with bipolar depression compared to healthy controls. These methylation changes were significantly associated with impairments in several cognitive domains, including attention and executive function, even after adjusting for potential confounding factors. These findings suggest that aberrant methylation in the GRIN2B gene promoter region may play a critical role in cognitive impairment in bipolar depression.</AbstractText DNA methylation levels in the GRIN2B gene promoter region may represent a potential therapeutic target for addressing cognitive impairment in bipolar depression. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for future clinical diagnosis and the development of targeted treatment strategies.</AbstractText" ] ]
38736532
Imagination vs. routines: festive time, weekly time, and the predictive brain.
This paper examines the relationship between societal structures shaped by traditions, norms, laws, and customs, and creative expressions in arts and media through the lens of the predictive coding framework in cognitive science. The article proposes that both dimensions of culture can be viewed as adaptations designed to enhance and train the brain's predictive abilities in the social domain. Traditions, norms, laws, and customs foster shared predictions and expectations among individuals, thereby reducing uncertainty in social environments. On the other hand, arts and media expose us to simulated experiences that explore alternative social realities, allowing the predictive machinery of the brain to hone its skills through exposure to a wider array of potentially relevant social circumstances and scenarios. We first review key principles of predictive coding and active inference, and then explore the rationale of cultural traditions and artistic culture in this perspective. Finally, we draw parallels between institutionalized normative habits that stabilize social worlds and creative and imaginative acts that temporarily subvert established conventions to inject variability.</AbstractText
[ [ "30704846", "The hierarchically mechanistic mind: A free-energy formulation of the human psyche.", "This article presents a unifying theory of the embodied, situated human brain called the Hierarchically Mechanistic Mind (HMM). The HMM describes the brain as a complex adaptive system that actively minimises the decay of our sensory and physical states by producing self-fulfilling action-perception cycles via dynamical interactions between hierarchically organised neurocognitive mechanisms. This theory synthesises the free-energy principle (FEP) in neuroscience with an evolutionary systems theory of psychology that explains our brains, minds, and behaviour by appealing to Tinbergen's four questions: adaptation, phylogeny, ontogeny, and mechanism. After leveraging the FEP to formally define the HMM across different spatiotemporal scales, we conclude by exploring its implications for theorising and research in the sciences of the mind and behaviour.</AbstractText" ], [ "36864133", "Evidence of a predictive coding hierarchy in the human brain listening to speech.", "Considerable progress has recently been made in natural language processing: deep learning algorithms are increasingly able to generate, summarize, translate and classify texts. Yet, these language models still fail to match the language abilities of humans. Predictive coding theory offers a tentative explanation to this discrepancy: while language models are optimized to predict nearby words, the human brain would continuously predict a hierarchy of representations that spans multiple timescales. To test this hypothesis, we analysed the functional magnetic resonance imaging brain signals of 304 participants listening to short stories. First, we confirmed that the activations of modern language models linearly map onto the brain responses to speech. Second, we showed that enhancing these algorithms with predictions that span multiple timescales improves this brain mapping. Finally, we showed that these predictions are organized hierarchically: frontoparietal cortices predict higher-level, longer-range and more contextual representations than temporal cortices. Overall, these results strengthen the role of hierarchical predictive coding in language processing and illustrate how the synergy between neuroscience and artificial intelligence can unravel the computational bases of human cognition.</AbstractText" ], [ "35274296", "A neurobiological perspective on social influence: Serotonin and social adaptation.", "Humans are inherently social beings. Being suggestible to each other's expectations enables pro-social skills that are crucial for social learning and adaptation. Despite their high relevance for psychiatry, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social adaptation are still not well understood. This review, therefore, provides a conceptual framework covering various distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation and explores the neuropharmacology - in particular the role of the serotonin (5-HT) system - in modulating these mechanisms. This article reviews empirical results on social influence processing and reconciles them with recent findings from psychedelic research on social processing to elucidate neurobiological and neuropharmacological underpinnings of social adaptation. Various computational, neurobiological, and neurochemical processes are involved in distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation such as the multisensory process of social information integration that is crucial for the forming of self-representation and representations of social norms. This is again associated with self- and other-perception during social interactions as well as value-based decision-making that guides our behavior in daily interactions. We highlight the critical role of 5-HT in these processes and suggest that 5-HT can facilitate social learning and may represent an important target for treating psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social functioning. This framework also has important implications for psychedelic-assisted therapy as well as for the development of novel treatment approaches and future research directions.</AbstractText" ], [ "29259111", "Toward a unified theory of efficient, predictive, and sparse coding.", "A central goal in theoretical neuroscience is to predict the response properties of sensory neurons from first principles. To this end, \"efficient coding\" posits that sensory neurons encode maximal information about their inputs given internal constraints. There exist, however, many variants of efficient coding (e.g., redundancy reduction, different formulations of predictive coding, robust coding, sparse coding, etc.), differing in their regimes of applicability, in the relevance of signals to be encoded, and in the choice of constraints. It is unclear how these types of efficient coding relate or what is expected when different coding objectives are combined. Here we present a unified framework that encompasses previously proposed efficient coding models and extends to unique regimes. We show that optimizing neural responses to encode predictive information can lead them to either correlate or decorrelate their inputs, depending on the stimulus statistics; in contrast, at low noise, efficiently encoding the past always predicts decorrelation. Later, we investigate coding of naturalistic movies and show that qualitatively different types of visual motion tuning and levels of response sparsity are predicted, depending on whether the objective is to recover the past or predict the future. Our approach promises a way to explain the observed diversity of sensory neural responses, as due to multiple functional goals and constraints fulfilled by different cell types and/or circuits.</AbstractText" ], [ "34469467", "Holistic processing only? The role of the right fusiform face area in radiological expertise.", "Radiologists can visually detect abnormalities on radiographs within 2s, a process that resembles holistic visual processing of faces. Interestingly, there is empirical evidence using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for the involvement of the right fusiform face area (FFA) in visual-expertise tasks such as radiological image interpretation. The speed by which stimuli (e.g., faces, abnormalities) are recognized is an important characteristic of holistic processing. However, evidence for the involvement of the right FFA in holistic processing in radiology comes mostly from short or artificial tasks in which the quick, 'holistic' mode of diagnostic processing is not contrasted with the slower 'search-to-find' mode. In our fMRI study, we hypothesized that the right FFA responds selectively to the 'holistic' mode of diagnostic processing and less so to the 'search-to-find' mode. Eleven laypeople and 17 radiologists in training diagnosed 66 radiographs in 2s each (holistic mode) and subsequently checked their diagnosis in an extended (10-s) period (search-to-find mode). During data analysis, we first identified individual regions of interest (ROIs) for the right FFA using a localizer task. Then we employed ROI-based ANOVAs and obtained tentative support for the hypothesis that the right FFA shows more activation for radiologists in training versus laypeople, in particular in the holistic mode (i.e., during 2s trials), and less so in the search-to-find mode (i.e., during 10-s trials). No significant correlation was found between diagnostic performance (diagnostic accuracy) and brain-activation level within the right FFA for both, short-presentation and long-presentation diagnostic trials. Our results provide tentative evidence from a diagnostic-reasoning task that the FFA supports the holistic processing of visual stimuli in participants' expertise domain.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39680605", "Neuro-cognitive multilevel causal modeling: A framework that bridges the explanatory gap between neuronal activity and cognition.", "Explaining how neuronal activity gives rise to cognition arguably remains the most significant challenge in cognitive neuroscience. We introduce neuro-cognitive multilevel causal modeling (NC-MCM), a framework that bridges the explanatory gap between neuronal activity and cognition by construing cognitive states as (behaviorally and dynamically) causally consistent abstractions of neuronal states. Multilevel causal modeling allows us to interchangeably reason about the neuronal- and cognitive causes of behavior while maintaining a physicalist (in contrast to a strong dualist) position. We introduce an algorithm for learning cognitive-level causal models from neuronal activation patterns and demonstrate its ability to learn cognitive states of the nematode C. elegans from calcium imaging data. We show that the cognitive-level model of the NC-MCM framework provides a concise representation of the neuronal manifold of C. elegans and its relation to behavior as a graph, which, in contrast to other neuronal manifold learning algorithms, supports causal reasoning. We conclude the article by arguing that the ability of the NC-MCM framework to learn causally interpretable abstractions of neuronal dynamics and their relation to behavior in a purely data-driven fashion is essential for understanding biological systems whose complexity prohibits the development of hand-crafted computational models.</AbstractText" ], [ "40052171", "Sexual dimorphism in cortical theta rhythms relates to elevated internalizing symptoms during adolescence.", "Psychiatric disorders frequently emerge during adolescence, with girls at nearly twice the risk compared to boys. These sex differences have been linked to structural brain differences in association regions, which undergo profound development during childhood and adolescence. However, the relationship between functional activity in these cortical regions and the emergence of psychiatric disorders more broadly remains poorly understood. Herein, we investigated whether differences in internalizing and externalizing symptoms among youth are related to multispectral spontaneous neural activity. Spontaneous cortical activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 105 typically-developing youth (9-15 years-old; 54 female) during eyes-closed rest. The strength of spontaneous neural activity within canonical frequency bands was estimated at each cortical vertex. The resulting functional maps were submitted to vertex-wise regressions to identify spatially specific effects whereby sex moderated the relationship between externalizing and internalizing symptoms, age, and spontaneous neural activity. The interaction between sex, age, and internalizing symptoms was significant in the theta frequency band, wherein theta activity was weaker for older relative to younger girls (but not boys) with greater internalizing symptoms. This relationship was strongest in the temporoparietal junction, with areas of the cingulate cortex exhibiting a similar relationship. The moderating role of sex in the relationship between age, internalizing symptoms, and spontaneous theta activity predominantly implicated association cortices. The negative relationship between theta and internalizing symptoms may reflect negative rumination with anxiety and depression. The specificity of this effect to older girls may reflect the selective emergence of psychiatric symptoms during adolescence in this subgroup.</AbstractText" ], [ "40800335", "Arbitrary methodological decisions skew inter-brain synchronization estimates in hyperscanning-EEG studies.", "Over the past decade, hyperscanning has emerged as an important methodology to study neural processes underlying human interaction using fMRI, EEG, fNIRS, and MEG. However, many methodological decisions regarding preprocessing and analysis of hyperscanning data have not yet been standardized in the hyperscanning community, yet may affect inter-brain estimates. Here, we systematically investigate the effects common methodological choices can have on estimates of phase-based inter-brain synchronization (IBS) measures, using real and simulated hyperscanning (dual) EEG data. Notably, we introduce a new method to compute circular correlation coefficients in IBS studies, which performs more reliably in comparison to the standard approach, showing that the conventional circular correlation implementation leads to large fluctuations in IBS estimates due to fluctuations in circular mean directions. Furthermore, we demonstrate how short epoch durations (of 1 s or less) can lead to inflated IBS estimates in scenarios with no strong underlying interaction. Finally, we show how signal-to-noise ratios and temporal factors may confound IBS estimates, particularly when comparing, for example, resting states with conditions involving motor actions. For each of these investigated effects, we provide recommendations for future research employing hyperscanning-EEG techniques, aimed at increasing validity and replicability of inter-brain synchronization studies.</AbstractText" ], [ "39461163", "Implications of trinodal inhibitions and drug repurposing in MAPK pathway: A putative remedy for breast cancer.", "Breast cancer has been one of the supreme causes of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. To make the case even more compounded, due to innate or acquired causes, cancer cells often develop resistance against the available chemotherapy or monotargeted treatments. This resistance is concomitant with increased activation of the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway. This study simultaneously targets three imperative intermediates in this pathway using molecular docking and real-time simulation. Docking was performed via the integrated AutoDock Vina 1.1.2 &amp; 1.2.5 of the PyRx software, while the Discovery Studio (BIOVIA) v24.1.0.23298 was utilized to conduct the simulation. The aim is to investigate the therapeutic prospects of known potential inhibitors of the targeted intermediates and repurposable drugs to comprehend the effectiveness of targeting these trinodes simultaneously. The target points were deemed to be PDPK1 (3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1), ERK1/2 (extracellular signal-related protein kinases 1/2), and mTOR (mammalian target of Rapamycin). Our study reveals that out of the candidate inhibitors chosen for each node, MP7 exhibited the most superior binding affinities for all three: -10.918 kcal/mol for PDPK1, -10.224 kcal/mol for ERK1, -10.134 kcal/mol for ERK2, and -9.2 kcal/mol for mTOR (via AutoDock Vina 1, .2.5). Some scores with MP7 were often higher than the available single-targeted drugs for different nodes in the MAPK pathway. Additionally, a total of 1867 repurposed analgesic, antibiotic, and antiparasitic drugs, including Zavegepant (-13.399 kcal/mol for PDPK1), Adozelesin (-11.74 kcal/mol for mTOR) and Modoflaner (-11.29 kcal/mol for PDPK1), showed promising binding energetics while targeting our triad points than other compounds used. This approach prompts for mitigating not only breast cancer but other elusive diseases as well, with state-of-the-art multitargeted therapies coupled with bioinformatic strategies.</AbstractText" ], [ "38625104", "Spelling Facilitates Reading: A Tutorial on the Spell-to-Read Approach.", "According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), prevention, identification, assessment, and intervention of children who are learning to read and write are within the scope of practice for school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Furthermore, for SLPs who work in the school setting, it is not uncommon to have struggling readers and poor spellers on their caseloads. Importantly, for students who have difficulty in spelling, their spelling errors are among the early indicators of dyslexia and can provide a means for identifying readers who may benefit from early intervention. SLPs can both assess spelling skills and implement evidence-based spelling and literacy diagnosis and instruction. Spelling instruction in kindergarten through the high school grades that is heavily grounded in metalinguistic activities can provide access to mental representations of word spellings, pronunciations, and meanings; links between whole-word and phonics approaches to reading instruction; and a foundation for reading fluency and comprehension.</AbstractText Learning to spell is essential for learning to read. Accordingly, this tutorial aims to elucidate how to (a) assess and identify phases of spelling development and (b) teach spelling to facilitate reading through a listening-first approach.</AbstractText" ] ]
36901970
Mechanism of Action of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Chronic Pain: A Narrative Review.
The use of stimulation of peripheral nerves to test or treat various medical disorders has been prevalent for a long time. Over the last few years, there has been growing evidence for the use of peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) for treating a myriad of chronic pain conditions such as limb mononeuropathies, nerve entrapments, peripheral nerve injuries, phantom limb pain, complex regional pain syndrome, back pain, and even fibromyalgia. The ease of placement of a minimally invasive electrode via percutaneous approach in the close vicinity of the nerve and the ability to target various nerves have led to its widespread use and compliance. While most of the mechanism behind its role in neuromodulation is largely unknown, the gate control theory proposed by Melzack and Wall in the 1960s has been the mainstay for understanding its mechanism of action. In this review article, the authors performed a literature review to discuss the mechanism of action of PNS and discuss its safety and usefulness in treating chronic pain. The authors also discuss current PNS devices available in the market today.</AbstractText
[ [ "32353718", "Current methods and new directions in resting state fMRI.", "Resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rsfcMRI) has become a key component of investigations of neurocognitive and psychiatric behaviors. Over the past two decades, several methods and paradigms have been adopted to utilize and interpret data from resting-state fluctuations in the brain. These findings have increased our understanding of changes in many disease states. As the amount of resting state data available for research increases with big datasets and data-sharing projects, it is important to review the established traditional analysis methods and recognize areas where research methodology can be adapted to better accommodate the scale and complexity of rsfcMRI analysis. In this paper, we review established methods of analysis as well as areas that have been receiving increasing attention such as dynamic rsfcMRI, independent vector analysis, multiband rsfcMRI and network of networks.</AbstractText" ], [ "12237208", "The course of chronic pain in the community: results of a 4-year follow-up study.", "Little is known about the course of chronic pain in the community. Such information is needed for the prevention and management of chronic pain. We undertook a 4-year follow-up study of 2184 individuals living in Grampian, UK to describe patterns and predictors of change in chronic pain over time. In October 2000, participants completed a postal questionnaire including case definition questions, the chronic pain grade questionnaire, the SF-36 and socio-demographic questions. Information from this questionnaire was compared to information collected from a similar questionnaire in 1996. A response rate of 83% was achieved for the follow-up study. The overall prevalence of chronic pain (pain or discomfort present either all the time or on and off for 3 months or longer) increased from 45.5% at baseline to 53.8% at follow-up. Seventy-nine percent of those with chronic pain at baseline still had it at follow-up. The average annual incidence was 8.3% and the average annual recovery rate was 5.4%. Individuals in the study samples who are in lowest quartile of SF-36 domains--physical functioning, social functioning and bodily pain at baseline--were more likely to develop chronic pain at follow-up, and respondents who were retired were less likely to develop chronic pain. Individuals in the study samples in the lowest quartile of SF-36 domains, bodily pain and general health at baseline, were less likely to recover from their chronic pain, as were those aged 45-74 compared with those aged 25-34. We concluded that chronic pain is a common, persistent problem in the community with relatively high incidence and low recovery rates. The lack of association between onset or recovery from chronic pain and most traditional socio-demographic factors, highlights the need to broaden the range of factors included in studies of chronic pain aetiology.</AbstractText" ], [ "33173670", "TMRpni: Combining Two Peripheral Nerve Management Techniques.", "Amputee patients suffer high rates of chronic neuropathic pain, residual limb dysfunction, and disability. Recently, targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) and regenerative peripheral nerve interface (RPNI) are 2 techniques that have been advocated for such patients, given their ability to maximize intuitive prosthetic function while also minimizing neuropathic pain, such as residual and phantom limb pain. However, there remains room to further improve outcomes for our residual limb patients and patients suffering from symptomatic end neuromas. \"TMRpni\" is a nerve management technique that leverages beneficial elements described for both TMR and RPNI. TMRpni involves coaptation of a sensory or mixed sensory/motor nerve to a nearby motor nerve branch (ie, a nerve transfer), as performed in traditional TMR surgeries. Additionally, the typically mismatched nerve coaptation is wrapped with an autologous free muscle graft that is akin to an RPNI. The authors herein describe the \"TMRpni\" technique and illustrate a case where this technique was employed.</AbstractText" ], [ "31116597", "Pain management in new amputees: a nursing perspective.", "Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a widespread and challenging neuropathic pain problem, occurring after both surgical and traumatic amputation of a limb. It may occur immediately after surgery or some months later, however, most cases it presents within the first 7 postoperative days. Patients report a range of pain characteristics in the absent limb, including burning, cramping, tingling and electric shock sensation. The incidence of PLP has been reported to be between 50% and 85% following amputation. Its management is notoriously difficult, with no clear consensus on optimal treatment. It is often resistant to classic balanced analgesia and typical neuropathic pain medications. Taking into account these issues, the authors aimed to improve the management of patients undergoing amputation at their institution, by ensuring accurate and holistic assessment, the selection of suitable interventions through critical analysis and synthesis of available evidence, and the appropriate evaluation and adaptation of treatment plans, to ensure patients achieved their individualised goals.</AbstractText" ], [ "36780349", "Free Fillet Flap of Lower Extremity: 38 Amputations with Seven Examples of Targeted Muscle Reinnervation and Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces.", "Extremely high-level lower extremity amputations are rare procedures that require significant soft-tissue and bony reconstruction. This study describes the use of fillet flaps for oncologic reconstruction and the incorporation of targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) and regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces (RPNIs) for chronic pain prevention.</AbstractText The authors performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent lower extremity fillet flaps at MD Anderson Cancer Center from January of 2004 through April of 2021. Surgical outcomes were summarized and compared. Numeric rating scale and patient-reported outcomes measures were collected.</AbstractText Thirty-eight fillet flaps were performed for lower extremity reconstruction. Extirpative surgery included external hemipelvectomy (42%), external hemipelvectomy with sacrectomy (32%), and supratrochanteric above-knee amputation (26%). Median defect size was 600 cm 2 , and 50% included a bony component. Twenty-one patients (55%) experienced postoperative complications, with 16 requiring operative intervention. There was an increased trend toward complications in patients with preoperative radiotherapy, although this was not significant (44% versus 65%; P = 0.203). Seven patients underwent TMR or RPNI. In these patients, the mean numeric rating scale residual limb pain score was 2.8 &#xb1; 3.4 ( n = 5; range, 0 to 4/10) and phantom limb pain was 4 &#xb1; 3.2 ( n = 6; range, 0 to 7/10). The mean Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures Information Systems T scores were as follows: pain intensity, 50.8 &#xb1; 10.6 ( n = 6; range, 30.7 to 60.5); pain interference, 59.2 &#xb1; 12.1 ( n = 5; range, 40.7 to 70.1); and pain behavior, 62.3 &#xb1; 6.7 ( n = 3; range, 54.6 to 67.2).</AbstractText Lower limb fillet flaps are reliable sources of bone, soft tissue, and nerve for reconstruction of oncologic amputation. TMR or RPNI are important new treatment adjuncts that should be considered during every amputation.</AbstractText Therapeutic, IV.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40565187", "Lemon Verbena Extract Enhances Sleep Quality and Duration via Modulation of Adenosine A1 and GABA(A) Receptors in Pentobarbital-Induced and Polysomnography-Based Sleep Models.", "This study investigated the effects of lemon verbena extract (LVE) on sleep regulation using both a pentobarbital-induced sleep model and an EEG-based sleep assessment model in mice. To elucidate its potential mechanisms, mice were randomly assigned to five groups: control, positive control (diazepam, 2 mg/kg b.w.), and three LVE-treated groups receiving 40, 80, or 160 mg/kg b.w. via oral administration. In the pentobarbital-induced sleep model, mice underwent a two-week oral administration of LVE, followed by intraperitoneal pentobarbital injections. The results demonstrated that LVE significantly shortened sleep latency and prolonged sleep duration compared to the control group. Notably, adenosine A1 receptor expression, both at the mRNA and protein levels, was markedly upregulated in the brains of LVE-treated mice. Furthermore, LVE's administration led to a significant increase in the mRNA expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA<sub" ], [ "36861477", "In the fast lane: Receptor trafficking during status epilepticus.", "Status epilepticus (SE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and often is refractory to standard first-line treatments. A rapid loss of synaptic inhibition and development of pharmacoresistance to benzodiazepines (BZDs) occurs early during SE, while NMDA and AMPA receptor antagonists remain effective treatments after BZDs have failed. Multimodal and subunit-selective receptor trafficking within minutes to an hour of SE involves GABA-A, NMDA, and AMPA receptors and contributes to shifts in the number and subunit composition of surface receptors with differential impacts on the physiology, pharmacology, and strength of GABAergic and glutamatergic currents at synaptic and extrasynaptic sites. During the first hour of SE, synaptic GABA-A receptors containing &#x3b3;2 subunits move to the cell interior while extrasynaptic GABA-A receptors with &#x3b4; subunits are preserved. Conversely, NMDA receptors containing N2B subunits are increased at synaptic and extrasynaptic sites, and homomeric GluA1 (\"GluA2-lacking\") calcium permeant AMPA receptor surface expression also is increased. Molecular mechanisms, largely driven by NMDA receptor or calcium permeant AMPA receptor activation early during circuit hyperactivity, regulate subunit-specific interactions with proteins involved with synaptic scaffolding, adaptin-AP2/clathrin-dependent endocytosis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention, and endosomal recycling. Reviewed here is how SE-induced shifts in receptor subunit composition and surface representation increase the excitatory to inhibitory imbalance that sustains seizures and fuels excitotoxicity contributing to chronic sequela such as \"spontaneous recurrent seizures\" (SRS). A role for early multimodal therapy is suggested both for treatment of SE and for prevention of long-term comorbidities.</AbstractText" ], [ "37094932", "Coordination of Locomotion by Serotonergic Neurons in the Predatory Gastropod Pleurobranchaea californica.", "Similar design characterizes neuronal networks for goal-directed motor control across the complex, segmented vertebrates, insects, and polychaete annelids with jointed appendages. Evidence is lacking for whether this design evolved independently in those lineages, evolved in parallel with segmentation and appendages, or could have been present in a soft-bodied common ancestor. We examined coordination of locomotion in an unsegmented, ciliolocomoting gastropod, the sea slug <i" ], [ "37602262", "Cortical activation of neuromuscular electrical stimulation synchronized mirror neuron rehabilitation strategies: an fNIRS study.", "The mirror neuron system (MNS) plays a key role in the neural mechanism underlying motor learning and neural plasticity. Action observation (AO), action execution (AE), and a combination of both, known as action imitation (AI), are the most commonly used rehabilitation strategies based on MNS. It is possible to enhance the cortical activation area and amplitude by combining traditional neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) with other top-down and active rehabilitation strategies based on the MNS theory.</AbstractText This study aimed to explore the cortical activation patterns induced by NMES synchronized with rehabilitation strategies based on MNS, namely NMES+AO, NMES+AE, and NMES+AI. In addition, the study aimed to assess the feasibility of these three novel rehabilitative treatments in order to provide insights and evidence for the design, implementation, and application of brain-computer interfaces.</AbstractText A total of 70 healthy adults were recruited from July 2022 to February 2023, and 66 of them were finally included in the analysis. The cortical activation patterns during NMES+AO, NMES+AE, and NMES+AI were detected using the functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique. The action to be observed, executed, or imitated was right wrist and hand extension, and two square-shaped NMES electrodes were placed on the right extensor digitorum communis. A block design was adopted to evaluate the activation intensity of the left MNS brain regions.</AbstractText General linear model results showed that compared with the control condition, the number of channels significantly activated (<i The MNS was activated during neuromuscular electrical stimulation combined with an AO, AE, and AI intervention. The synchronous application of NMES and mirror neuron rehabilitation strategies is feasible in clinical rehabilitation. The fNIRS signal patterns observed in this study could be used to develop brain-computer interface and neurofeedback therapy rehabilitation devices.</AbstractText" ], [ "37668524", "Development of a Semiquantitative Whole-Body MRI Scoring System for Multiple Myeloma.", "Background In patients with multiple myeloma (MM), the serum marker &#x3b2;2-microglobulin does not always accurately reflect tumor load. In contrast, whole-body (WB) MRI has shown high sensitivity for detecting bone lesions. Purpose To develop and validate a semiquantitative WB MRI scoring system for newly diagnosed MM and to compare it with the International Staging System (ISS) and Revised ISS (R-ISS). Materials and Methods This study included two retrospective groups (group 1, July 2015 to September 2021; group 2, February 2020 to September 2021) and one prospective group (group 3, October 2021 to February 2022) of patients with newly diagnosed MM. A new scoring system for MM was developed using spine MRI scans in group 1 and WB MRI scans in group 2 that integrated three features: <i" ] ]
40616499
Multimodal Optical Imaging Combined with Radiomic Analysis for Fibrotic Cardiac Tissue Investigation.
Understanding the process of fibrotic scarring of the myocardium is critical for the diagnosis and risk stratification of life-threatening cardiac dysfunction. Complex changes in structure, composition, and conductivity occurring at different stages of fibrogenesis diversify the biomedical characteristics of the myocardium. We present a multimodal optical imaging approach including cardiac optical mapping (COM), optical coherence tomography (OCT), multiphoton microscopy (MPM), and line scan Raman microspectroscopy (LSRM) for multiparametric assessment of the myocardium with radiomic analysis to link electrophysiologic, morphologic, functional, and molecular changes in ischemic cardiac tissue and validate our results with histology. COM is used to map the electrical behavior across myocardial tissue. Second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging as MPM techniques provide additional unique contrast of collagen, the extracellular matrix, and cardiac cells, such as cardiomyocytes playing a critical role in cardiac fibrosis. Our machine learning model based on radiomic features extracted from MPM data addresses the need for automated fast high-throughput classification between healthy and pathologic cardiac tissues and achieved an accuracy of 0.99. In addition, LSRM assesses the molecular contrast and is used to evaluate the development stage of fibrotic scarring and multiclass classification by utilizing partial least-squares discriminant analysis, achieving sensitivity and specificity values of 0.94. OCT is used for fast navigation through the sample, for intermodal referencing, and easy coregistration between the complementary imaging techniques operating at different fields of view and resolutions ranging from cm<sup
[ [ "33480029", "DeepControl: 2DRF pulses facilitating B1+ inhomogeneity and B(0) off-resonance compensation in vivo at 7 T.", "Rapid 2DRF pulse design with subject-specific <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" The convolution neural network was trained on half a million single-channel transmit 2DRF pulses optimized with an optimal control method using artificial 2D targets, <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" Pulse prediction by the trained convolutional neural network was done on the fly during the MR session in approximately 9 ms for multiple hand-drawn regions of interest and the measured <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" The proposed convolutional neural network-based 2DRF pulse design method predicts 2DRF pulses with an excellent excitation pattern and compensated <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"" ], [ "31683262", "In silico evaluation of the thermal stress induced by MRI switched gradient fields in patients with metallic hip implant.", "This work focuses on the in silico evaluation of the energy deposed by MRI switched gradient fields in bulk metallic implants and the consequent temperature increase in the surrounding tissues. An original computational strategy, based on the subdivision of the gradient coil switching sequences into sub-signals and on the time-harmonic electromagnetic field solution, allows to realistically simulate the evolution of the phenomena produced by the gradient coils fed according to any MRI sequence. Then, Pennes' bioheat equation is solved through a Douglas-Gunn time split scheme to compute the time-dependent temperature increase. The procedure is validated by comparison with laboratory results, using a component of a realistic hip implant embedded within a phantom, obtaining an agreement on the temperature increase better than 5%, lower than the overall measurement uncertainty. The heating generated inside the body of a patient with a unilateral hip implant when undergoing an Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI) MRI sequence is evaluated and the role of the parameters affecting the thermal results (body position, coil performing the frequency encoding, effects of thermoregulation) is discussed. The results show that the gradient coils can generate local increases of temperature up to some kelvin when acting without radiofrequency excitation. Hence, their contribution in general should not be disregarded when evaluating patients' safety.</AbstractText" ], [ "39532997", "A versatile conformal circularly polarized quad-element antenna for X-band applications.", "This article presents a flexible four-element antenna for X-band applications. The proposed antenna covers the spectrum ranging from 10.6 to 11.9&#xa0;GHz, including a significant portion of the X-band. The single antenna element comprises a modified E-shaped radiating patch, which is fed by a unique feeding structure consisting of a 50-&#x3a9; feeding strip connected with two rectangular stubs on both sides. All antenna elements are printed on a flexible felt 60&#xa0;mm&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;60&#xa0;mm&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;1&#xa0;mm (2.12 &#x3bb;&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;2.12 &#x3bb;&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;0.035 &#x3bb; at 10.6&#xa0;GHz) substrate. The proposed antenna exhibits circular polarization over the desired bans of operation with an axial ratio (&lt;&#x2009;3&#xa0;dB) bandwidth of 1.2&#xa0;GHz, which is significant for X-band applications. The designed antenna is manufactured and practically tested. Both simulated and measured results agree well with each other, ensuring the optimal performance of the antenna. Moreover, the antenna achieves a maximum gain of up to 8 dBi in the desired band of operation. Further MIMO parameters, including envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), channel capacity loss (CCL), and mean effective gain (MEG), are calculated to validate the MIMO performance. Finally, a conformal analysis was carried out to study the robustness of the antenna in various bending scenarios. Results show that the antenna reported in this article is the correct choice for conformal X-band MIMO applications.</AbstractText" ], [ "36346311", "Quantitative Brain Morphometry of Portable Low-Field-Strength MRI Using Super-Resolution Machine Learning.", "Background Portable, low-field-strength (0.064-T) MRI has the potential to transform neuroimaging but is limited by low spatial resolution and low signal-to-noise ratio. Purpose To implement a machine learning super-resolution algorithm that synthesizes higher spatial resolution images (1-mm isotropic) from lower resolution T1-weighted and T2-weighted portable brain MRI scans, making them amenable to automated quantitative morphometry. Materials and Methods An external high-field-strength MRI data set (1-mm isotropic scans from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies data set) and segmentations for 39 regions of interest (ROIs) in the brain were used to train a super-resolution convolutional neural network (CNN). Secondary analysis of an internal test set of 24 paired low- and high-field-strength clinical MRI scans in participants with neurologic symptoms was performed. These were part of a prospective observational study (August 2020 to December 2021) at Massachusetts General Hospital (exclusion criteria: inability to lay flat, body habitus preventing low-field-strength MRI, presence of MRI contraindications). Three well-established automated segmentation tools were applied to three sets of scans: high-field-strength (1.5-3 T, reference standard), low-field-strength (0.064 T), and synthetic high-field-strength images generated from the low-field-strength data with the CNN. Statistical significance of correlations was assessed with Student <i" ], [ "28338509", "Patterns, Timing, and Predictors of Recurrence Following Pancreatectomy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.", "To describe accurately the pattern, timing, and predictors of disease recurrence after a potentially curative resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).</AbstractText After surgery for PDAC, most patients will develop disease recurrence. Understanding the patterns and timing of disease failure can help guide improvements in therapy.</AbstractText Patients who underwent pancreatectomy for PDAC at the Johns Hopkins Hospital between 2000 and 2010 were included. Exclusion criteria were incomplete follow-up records, follow-up &lt;24 months, and neoadjuvant therapy. The first recurrence site was recorded and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Predictive factors for specific recurrence patterns were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox-proportional hazard regression models.</AbstractText From the identified cohort of 1103 patients, 692 patients had comprehensive and detailed follow-up data available. At a median follow-up of 25.3 months, 531 (76.7%) of the 692 had recurred after a median RFS of 11.7 months. Most patients recurred at isolated distant sites (n = 307, 57.8%), while isolated local recurrence was seen in 126 patients (23.7%). Liver-only recurrence (n = 134, 25.2%) tended to occur early (median 6.9 mo), while lung-only recurrence (n = 78, 14.7%) occurred later (median 18.6 mo). A positive lymph node ratio &gt;0.2 was a strong predictor for all distant disease recurrence. Patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy had fewer recurrences and a longer RFS of 18.0 and 17.2 months, respectively.</AbstractText Specific recurrence locations have different predictive factors and possess distinct RFS curves, supporting the hypothesis that unique biological differences exist among tumors leading to distinct patterns of recurrence.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40620832", "Theobromine prevents affective symptoms of nicotine withdrawal by modulating the neuroendocrine and immune systems, as well as the glutathione mechanism in the hippocampus.", "Currently, nicotine withdrawal symptoms pose a significant challenge in tobacco cessation efforts, particularly withdrawal affective symptoms, such as anxiety and depression like behavior. However, the underlying mechanisms of these symptoms remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence implicates the hippocampus, a key region in the limbic system, involved in emotional regulation. In this study, we employed transcriptome sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and integrative multi-omics analysis to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying nicotine withdrawal-induced affective symptoms in the hippocampus of male C57BL/6J mice. Our findings corroborate previous research linking nicotine withdrawal symptoms to dysregulation of neuroendocrine pathways and inflammatory processes within the brain. Importantly, we identify impaired glutathione metabolism as a significant contributing factor to the development of these symptoms. Furthermore, our investigation reveals that theobromine, a principal psychoactive compound found in cocoa, exerts a potent therapeutic effect in alleviating nicotine withdrawal affective symptoms through diverse mechanisms. In addition to its modulation of neuroendocrine pathways and inflammation, theobromine's ability to restore glutathione metabolism in the hippocampus emerges as a pivotal aspect of its pharmacological action.</AbstractText" ], [ "40159649", "Modular Platform for Efficient Assembly of Multifunctional Antibodies Using Orthogonal Protein-Protein Interactions.", "Multifunctional antibodies, capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets, are a unique class of antibodies that have sparked growing interest. Current approaches for making multifunctional antibodies, including chemical conjugation or genetic modifications, suffer from low product yield, complex structure design, and complicated manufacturing processes. In this study, we report a modular post-translational platform with highly specific protein-protein interactions for multifunctional antibody assembly and an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) for easy purification. We generated and purified multifunctional antibodies with over 90% assembled scaffold and overall product purity. Additionally, we assembled antibodies with diverse applications, including detecting cancer, inhibiting cancer cell growth, and directing T cells to cancer cells for enhanced therapeutic efficacy. This platform offers high assembly efficiency, easy purification, and modularity for the redesign of antibody functions.</AbstractText" ], [ "40228056", "Saturation transfer MR fingerprinting for magnetization transfer contrast and chemical exchange saturation transfer quantification.", "The aim of this study was to develop a saturation transfer MR fingerprinting (ST-MRF) technique using a biophysics model-driven deep learning approach.</AbstractText A deep learning-based quantitative saturation transfer framework was proposed to estimate water, magnetization transfer contrast, and amide proton transfer (APT) parameters plus B<sub The proposed ST-MRF reconstruction network achieved a normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) of 9.3% when tested against numerical phantoms with a signal-to-noise ratio of 46&#x2009;dB, which outperformed conventional Bloch-McConnell fitting (nRMSE of 15.3%) and dictionary-matching approaches (nRMSE of 19.5%). Synthetic MRI analysis indicated excellent similarity (RMSE&#x2009;=&#x2009;3.2%) between acquired and synthesized ST-MRF images, demonstrating high in vivo reconstruction accuracy. In healthy human brains, the APT pool size ratios for gray and white matter were 0.16&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.02% and 0.13&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.02%, respectively, and the exchange rates for gray and white matter were 101&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;25&#x2009;Hz and 131&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;27&#x2009;Hz, respectively. The reconstruction network processed the eight tissue parameter maps in approximately 27&#x2009;s for ST-MRF data sized at 256&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;256&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;9&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;103.</AbstractText This study highlights the feasibility of the deep learning-based ST-MRF imaging for rapid and accurate quantification of free bulk water, magnetization transfer contrast, APT parameters, and B<sub" ], [ "40554990", "Corticomotor excitability of the pelvic floor muscles in females: Characteristics of motor evoked potentials and test-retest reliability.", "To (1) design an efficient TMS protocol to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from female pelvic floor muscles (PFMs), (2) describe the characteristics of PFM MEPs and silent periods (SPs), (3) compare PFM MEP characteristics with nearby muscles and (4) determine the test-retest reliability of PFM MEP characteristics and SP duration.</AbstractText Through a cross-sectional, observational design, adult females were tested at two sessions separated by one week. Single-pulse TMS was delivered over the motor cortex and motor responses were recorded from three PFMs, the lateral abdominal wall (LAW) and the hip adductors (ADD). MEP characteristics were compared among the PFMs and with those from the ADD and LAW. Test-retest reliability was examined using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs).</AbstractText Nearly all participants (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;40/41) exhibited measurable SPs in the pubovisceralis and at least one other PFM. PFM MEPs exhibited shorter onset latencies than those of ADD and LAW. ICCs ranged from good to excellent, except for peak latency, which was poor. Yet all measures displayed high between-participant variance.</AbstractText Investigating reliable TMS-induced motor responses in the PFMs of females is achievable using our protocol.</AbstractText Our findings highlight the possibility of extending TMS applications to investigate changes in corticomotor excitability that may contribute to conditions that are associated with high PFM tone, such as vulvovaginal pain.</AbstractText" ], [ "40779655", "Predictors of Conversion Total Hip Arthroplasty After Surgically Managed Acetabulum Fractures: A Prognostic Factor Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.", "Operative management of acetabular fractures can be complicated by the development of symptomatic post-traumatic arthritis, which may necessitate conversion total hip arthroplasty (THA). There is increased interest in treatment with THA for acute management, but optimal patient selection depends on identifying those at risk of later symptomatic post-traumatic arthritis requiring conversion THA.</AbstractText We systematically reviewed prognostic factors associated with conversion THA in adult patients with operatively managed acetabulum fractures. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE from inception to September 27, 2024. Screening, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and evidence grading were completed in duplicate. Data were pooled using a random-effects model to produce summary odds ratios (ORs), hazard ratios (HRs), and mean differences, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool. Certainty of evidence was evaluated using the Grade of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework.</AbstractText A total of 3,054 citations were screened, and 38 studies (6,931 fractures) met inclusion criteria. Eight factors were associated with conversion THA in unadjusted analyses: acetabular impaction (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.60-2.70, moderate certainty), femoral head impaction (OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.80-4.06, moderate certainty), dislocation (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.51-3.19, moderate certainty), nonanatomic reduction on radiography (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.58-3.51, moderate certainty), nonanatomic reduction on computed tomography (OR 3.46, 95% CI 1.25-9.57, moderate certainty), associated fracture type (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.29-2.41, moderate certainty), female sex (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.15-1.88, moderate certainty), and posterior wall involvement (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.18-2.80, moderate certainty). In multivariable analyses, age (adjusted OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.06, high certainty; adjusted HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03-1.05, high certainty) and femoral head impaction (adjusted HR 3.19, 95% CI 1.16-8.75, moderate certainty) were associated with conversion THA. The weighted proportion of patients requiring THA conversion was 17.6% (95% CI 15.2%-20.4%, low certainty).</AbstractText Older age and femoral head impaction were the only factors associated with conversion to THA in univariable and multivariable analyses.</AbstractText Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.</AbstractText" ] ]
40513337
Nicotine exposure in adolescence triggers the activation and subsequent damage of microglia in the dentate gyrus and promotes depression later in life.
Adolescence is a critical period of neuroplasticity during which the brain can be affected by various harmful factors such as nicotine. Nicotine abuse in adolescence can promote depression in adulthood, but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. The decline of microglia in the hippocampus, triggered by over-activation of microglia, is thought to be an important mechanism for the progression of depression. Since nicotine can also activate microglia, we speculate that the depression-like behavior triggered by nicotine exposure in adolescents may be related to the dynamic changes of microglia in the hippocampus. Our results show that 12&#xa0;days of nicotine exposure during adolescence, followed by 28&#xa0;days of nicotine withdrawal, triggered depression-like behavior and impaired neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult mice, accompanied by a significant decrease of microglia in the dentate gyrus, which might be due to pyroptosis triggered by their early activation and proliferation. Pre-treatment with minocycline before the start of nicotine stimulation, which suppressed the initial activation of microglia, simultaneously prevented the depression-like behavior and the impairment of neurogenesis and microglia in the dentate gyrus. Restoration of microglia function by injection of an innate immune system stimulant, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100&#xa0;&#x3bc;g/kg), reversed the depression-like behavior and decreased neurogenesis induced by nicotine exposure in adolescents. These results demonstrate a novel role of microglia in depression-like behavior induced by adolescent nicotine exposure and suggest that enhancing the function of microglia in the hippocampus may be a potential strategy for the treatment of depression induced by adolescent nicotine exposure.</AbstractText
[ [ "21300891", "Intramembrane cavitation as a unifying mechanism for ultrasound-induced bioeffects.", "The purpose of this study was to develop a unified model capable of explaining the mechanisms of interaction of ultrasound and biological tissue at both the diagnostic nonthermal, noncavitational (&lt;100 mW &#xb7; cm(-2)) and therapeutic, potentially cavitational (&gt;100 mW &#xb7; cm(-2)) spatial peak temporal average intensity levels. The cellular-level model (termed \"bilayer sonophore\") combines the physics of bubble dynamics with cell biomechanics to determine the dynamic behavior of the two lipid bilayer membrane leaflets. The existence of such a unified model could potentially pave the way to a number of controlled ultrasound-assisted applications, including CNS modulation and blood-brain barrier permeabilization. The model predicts that the cellular membrane is intrinsically capable of absorbing mechanical energy from the ultrasound field and transforming it into expansions and contractions of the intramembrane space. It further predicts that the maximum area strain is proportional to the acoustic pressure amplitude and inversely proportional to the square root of the frequency (&#x3b5; A,max &#x221d; P(A)(0.8f - 0.5) and is intensified by proximity to free surfaces, the presence of nearby microbubbles in free medium, and the flexibility of the surrounding tissue. Model predictions were experimentally supported using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of multilayered live-cell goldfish epidermis exposed in vivo to continuous wave (CW) ultrasound at cavitational (1 MHz) and noncavitational (3 MHz) conditions. Our results support the hypothesis that ultrasonically induced bilayer membrane motion, which does not require preexistence of air voids in the tissue, may account for a variety of bioeffects and could elucidate mechanisms of ultrasound interaction with biological tissue that are currently not fully understood.</AbstractText" ], [ "39770965", "Impact of Omega-3 on Endocannabinoid System Expression and Function, Enhancing Cognition and Behavior in Male Mice.", "<b" ], [ "35447949", "Keeping the Balance: GABA(B) Receptors in the Developing Brain and Beyond.", "The main neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for the inhibition of neuronal activity is &#x3b3;-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It plays a crucial role in circuit formation during development, both via its primary effects as a neurotransmitter and also as a trophic factor. The GABA<sub" ], [ "26496621", "Oral enclomiphene citrate raises testosterone and preserves sperm counts in obese hypogonadal men, unlike topical testosterone: restoration instead of replacement.", "To determine the effects of daily oral doses of enclomiphene citrate compared with topical testosterone gel treatment on serum total testosterone (TT), luteinising hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and sperm counts in men with secondary hypogonadism.</AbstractText Two parallel randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, multicentre, phase III studies were undertaken to evaluate two doses of enclomiphene citrate vs testosterone gel (AndroGel(&#xae;) 1.62%) on TT, LH, FSH, and sperm counts in overweight men aged 18-60 years with secondary hypogonadism. Men were screened and enrolled in the trials (ZA-304 and ZA-305). All enrolled men had early morning serum TT levels in the low or low normal range (&#x2264;300 ng/dL; &#x2264;10.4 nmol/L) and had low or normal LH (&lt;9.4 IU/L) levels measured on two separate occasions 2-10 days apart. Serum samples were obtained over the course of the study to determine relevant hormone levels at baseline and after 16 weeks of treatment. Men provided semen samples twice to enroll at the beginning and twice at the end of the study.</AbstractText TT levels increased between baseline and after 16 weeks of treatment in all the treatment groups. FSH and LH levels increased in the enclomiphene citrate groups and decreased in the testosterone gel group at 16 weeks. Enclomiphene citrate maintained sperm concentration in the normal range over the treatment period, while there was a marked reduction in spermatogenesis in the testosterone gel group.</AbstractText Enclomiphene citrate consistently increased serum TT, LH and FSH, restoring normal levels of serum TT. Enclomiphene citrate treatment maintained sperm concentrations in the normal range. The effects on TT were also seen with testosterone replacement via testosterone gel but sperm counts were not maintained.</AbstractText" ], [ "31885346", "Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation of primary motor cortex on cortical sensory deficits and hand dexterity in a patient with stroke: A case study.", "Fine motor and manual dexterity deficits are the main causes of significant physical and psychosocial impairments in stroke survivors. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique used to modulate brain activity and improve clinical outcomes. This study was performed to investigate the efficacy of dual-hemispheric tDCS of the primary motor cortex (M1) in a patient with stroke exhibiting cortical sensation deficits. A double-blind, sham-controlled, single-case study was conducted. The patient underwent 30 sessions of sham tDCS followed by 30 real-stimulation sessions over both M1 cortices. Each session involved 20 minutes of 2-mA stimulation (current density, 0.08&#x2009;mA/cm<sup" ] ]
[ [ "40537699", "Outcomes of heart surgery in neonates with trisomy 13 and 18: a systematic review with metanalysis.", "This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of cardiac surgery in neonates with trisomy 13 (T13) or trisomy 18 (T18) compared to those managed with palliative care. A literature search was conducted in PubMed&#xae; and EMBASE&#xae;, following PRISMA guidelines, and included five retrospective cohort studies (1627 patients). Outcomes analyzed included in-hospital mortality, survival at 12&#xa0;months, length of stay (LOS), hospital discharge rates, and the need for mechanical ventilation. The meta-analysis showed that cardiac surgery significantly reduced the odds of in-hospital mortality (OR 0.12, CI 95% 0.03-0.42, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01), increased survival at 12&#xa0;months (OR 19.77, CI 95% 5.12-76.36, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01), and improved discharge rates (OR 12.53, CI 95% 3.63-43.22, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01). However, limited data were available on quality of life and mechanical ventilation duration. Conclusion: Despite the positive impact of cardiac surgery on survival and discharge rates, the evidence remains low quality, as the included studies were primarily retrospective cohorts with moderate risk of bias. The findings highlight the importance of involving families in the decision-making process, given their differing perspectives on quality of life. Further high-quality studies, such as randomized controlled trials, are needed to provide stronger evidence on this topic.</AbstractText" ], [ "40301751", "Application of deep learning reconstruction combined with time-resolved post-processing method to improve image quality in CTA derived from low-dose cerebral CT perfusion data.", "To assess the effect of the combination of deep learning reconstruction (DLR) and time-resolved maximum intensity projection (tMIP) or time-resolved average (tAve) post-processing method on image quality of CTA derived from low-dose cerebral CTP.</AbstractText Thirty patients underwent regular dose CTP (Group A) and other thirty with low-dose (Group B) were retrospectively enrolled. Group A were reconstructed with hybrid iterative reconstruction (R-HIR). In Group B, four image datasets of CTA were gained: L-HIR, L-DLR, L-DLR<sub The low-dose group achieved reduction of radiation dose by 33% in single peak arterial phase and 18% in total compared to the regular dose group (single phase: 0.12 mSv vs 0.18 mSv; total: 1.91mSv vs 2.33mSv). The L-DLR<sub Combining DLR with tMIP or tAve allows for reduction in radiation dose by about 33% in single peak arterial phase and 18% in total in CTP scanning, while further improving image quality of CTA derived from CTP data when compared to HIR.</AbstractText" ], [ "39854199", "Altered Effective Connectivity Within a Thalamocortical Corollary Discharge Network in Individuals With Schizophrenia.", "Sequential saccade planning requires corollary discharge (CD) signals that provide information about the planned landing location of an eye movement. These CD signals may be altered among individuals with schizophrenia (SZ), providing a potential mechanism to explain passivity and anomalous self-experiences broadly. In healthy controls (HC), a key oculomotor CD network transmits CD signals from the thalamus to the frontal eye fields (FEF) and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and also remaps signals from FEF to IPS.</AbstractText Here, we modeled fMRI data using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to examine patient-control differences in effective connectivity evoked by a double-step (DS) task (30 SZ, 29 HC). The interrogated network was formed from a combination of (1) functionally identified FEF and IPS regions that robustly responded on DS trials and (2) anatomically identified thalamic regions involved in CD transmission. We also examined the relationship between clinical symptoms and effective connectivity parameters associated with task modulation of network pathways.</AbstractText Network connectivity was indeed modulated by the DS task, which involves CD transmission. More importantly, we found reduced effective connectivity from thalamus to IPS in SZ, which was further correlated with passivity symptom severity.</AbstractText These results reaffirm the importance of IPS and thalamocortical connections in oculomotor CD signaling and provide mechanistic insights into CD alterations and consequently agency disturbances in schizophrenia.</AbstractText" ], [ "40520068", "Vestibular rehabilitation in patients with stroke: A comprehensive review of past and current evidence.", "In 2016, the American Physical Therapy Association Neurology Section published clinical practice guidelines titled \"Vestibular Rehabilitation (VR) for Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction.\" These guidelines recommend that physicians should provide VR to individuals with peripheral vestibular hypofunction, emphasizing its importance in managing dysfunctions of the vestibular system. Previous systematic reviews or studies on vestibular function have concluded that VR has positive effects on central vestibular disorders. More recently, a systematic review has found that there are positive effects of VR on ambulatory performance in stroke patients. Evidence is consistently being added regarding the positive impact of VR in patients with a history of stroke who are currently living with dizziness, balance, and gait impairments. However, there are still many unanswered questions in this area. Most studies lack complementary quantitative vestibular function testing and uniform standards for the timing and frequency of the VR. Furthermore, the methods of VR are carried out in a general fashion without catering to the individual, resulting in a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of various VR approaches. In future, much work needs to be done to solve these questions. The objective of this review is to investigate and validate the impact of VR on stroke patients while assessing the associated methodologies for determining its effectiveness. In particular, this review aims to offer a thorough evaluation of the advantages and drawbacks of employing VR in stroke rehabilitation.</AbstractText" ], [ "40073716", "Excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter alterations with advancing age and injury in the mouse retina.", "Increasing age and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) are the two major risk factors for glaucoma, the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Accumulating evidence is pointing to metabolic failure predisposing to neuronal loss with advancing age and IOP injury. Many neurotransmitters are synthesized from endogenous metabolites and are essential for correct cell to cell signaling along the visual pathways. We performed detailed, small molecule metabolomic profiling of the aging mouse retina and further explored the impact of IOP elevation at different ages. The resultant metabolomic profiles showed clear discrimination between young and middle-aged retinas and these changes are accentuated following eye pressure elevation. Alterations in glutamate and Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) related metabolites were the most apparent changes with advancing age with further reductions in GABA and related pathways after IOP elevation. These changes were further confirmed using immunohistochemistry and patch-clamp electrophysiological recording experiments.</AbstractText" ] ]
39385469
Togaram1 is expressed in the neural tube and its absence causes neural tube closure defects.
Neural tube closure defect pathomechanisms in human embryonic development are poorly understood. Here we identified spina bifida patients expressing novel variants of the TOGARAM gene family. TOGARAM1 has been associated with the ciliopathy Joubert syndrome, but its connection to spina bifida and role in neural development is unknown. We show that Togaram1 is expressed in the neural tube and Togaram1 knockout mice have abnormal cilia, reduced sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, abnormal neural tube patterning, and display neural tube closure defects. Neural stem cells from Togaram1 knockout embryos showed reduced cilia and defects in Shh signaling. Overexpression in IMCD3 and HEK293 cells of TOGARAM1 carrying the variant found in the spina bifida patient resulted in cilia defect along with reduced pericentriolar material one (PCM1), a critical constituent of centriolar satellites involved in transporting proteins toward the centrosome and primary cilia. Our results demonstrate the role of TOGARAM1 in regulating Shh signaling during early neural development that is critical for neural tube closure and elucidates potential mechanisms whereby the ciliopathy-associated gene TOGARAM1 gives rise to spina bifida aperta in humans.</AbstractText
[ [ "38422087", "Cognition and emotional distress in middle-aged and older adults with spina bifida myelomeningocele.", "To investigate cognitive functioning and emotional distress in adults aged 55 to 68 years old with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM), both with and without hydrocephalus. A secondary aim was to explore the associations between psychosocial factors in relation to emotional distress.</AbstractText Cross-sectional study of eleven females and eight males with SBM, five with and twelve without hydrocephalus. Cognitive functioning was investigated with neuropsychological tests and self-report measures. Furthermore, participants completed questionnaires regarding resilience, access to social support, coping, and emotional distress. Descriptive statistics were applied, and Spearman Rho correlation coefficients were used to explore the relationships between psychosocial factors and emotional distress.</AbstractText Eleven exhibited normal cognitive functioning. An observed difference was seen between participants with and without hydrocephalus, where six and five persons reported clinical levels of depression and anxiety, respectively. Positive perceptions of self and future were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety.</AbstractText This study adds important information about cognitive functioning and emotional distress in an understudied population. The results indicated normal cognitive functioning in adults aged 55 to 68 years with SBM without hydrocephalus. Prevalence of emotional distress was comparable with previous studies of younger adults with SBM. There is a need for longitudinal studies investigating cognition and psychological health to fully capture important aspects of the life course of SBM with and without hydrocephalus.</AbstractText" ], [ "29559274", "Caring for urologic transition patients: Current practice patterns and opinions.", "Congenitalism is an emerging field that recognizes the complex needs of adult patients with congenital urologic issues. Despite the onset of transitional care clinics, these patients remain difficult to care for due to resource availability, insurance coverage, and multi-disciplinary needs.</AbstractText The current study sought to characterize practice patterns and opinions regarding care for urologic transition patients.</AbstractText An anonymous 20-question survey was sent to members of the Society of Pediatric Urology listserv. Questions pertained to physician background, practice demographics, clinic structure, and quality. Five-point Likert scales were used to assess quality markers (5&#xa0;=&#xa0;most/best). Data were analyzed in R, and subgroup analyses were performed. Subgroups included presence of formal transition clinic, city size, and practice type.</AbstractText The response rate was 53%, with 124 respondents. A formal transition clinic was reported by 32%. Those with formal clinics reported higher enthusiasm (3.9 vs 3.4, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.01) for care of these patients and believed they provided better care compared to other institutions (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001) Summart Table. There was no significant difference in perceived quality between respondents in academic vs other practices. There was a small trend towards higher-quality ratings in smaller cities (3.8 vs 3.5, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.13). The majority (64%) felt that transition patients are best cared for by specialized adult providers; however, these formalized clinics found to be staffed primarily by pediatric providers (54%).</AbstractText This study supported the general consensus in the literature that transition clinics improve care for urologic transition patients, while underlining discordance between current practice patterns and recommendations for optimal care.</AbstractText The majority of practices appeared to lack a formal transition clinic, and there was variation in their structure. Those with formal clinics tended to rate themselves as providing higher-quality care. The majority of respondents believed that adult specialists in either reconstructive or neuro-urology are best suited to care for these complex patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "32470933", "The incidence and effect of tethered cord release for tethered cord syndrome in patients with myelomeningocele: a population-based study.", "The goal of this study was to establish an incidence and assess the effect of tethered cord release for tethered cord syndrome in patients with myelomeningocele.</AbstractText The study population was based on the Western Denmark Myelomeningocele Database, which contains all patients born with myelomeningocele in western Denmark since 1970. The study population was cross-referenced in 2015 with a database for surgical procedures containing all surgical procedures performed in the central Denmark region since 1996. Patients alive between 1996 and 2015 were identified. Incidences was calculated and presented for year of age. File reviews were conducted for all patients who underwent the procedure. Follow-up was divided into short-term and long-term follow-up.</AbstractText One hundred sixty-six patients were alive during various time periods between 1996 and 2015. Of these, 45 patients underwent the procedure. Seven underwent reoperation. The median age for the procedure was 12 years and the highest incidence was found at 15 years of age. Incidence was bimodal with highest incidence in children and adolescents. The most common indications were progressive spine deformity (40%), deteriorating ambulation (38%), and deteriorating neurogenic bladder and/or bowel dysfunction (32%). The mean short-term follow-up was 4.7 months and the mean long-term follow-up was 72.6 months. Postoperatively, the majority had improved (27%) or stabilized (27%) at short-term follow-up. At long-term follow-up, most patients were stable (27%) or had deteriorated (24%). For both follow-up terms there was a loss of approximately one-third of all patients. Complications occurred in 17% of the procedures.</AbstractText In this population-based study, tethered cord release has the highest incidence in children and adolescents. The beneficial effect of the procedure seems to be short term. Due to the uncertainty of a long-term effect of the procedure in patients with myelomeningocele and the registered complications, the authors suggest that this surgical indication should be reserved for well-selected patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "38354913", "Urinary and Fecal Incontinence During Sexual Activity Is Common and Bothersome Among Adults With Spina Bifida.", "To evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for urinary fecal incontinence (UI, FI) during sexual activity (UIS, FIS) among adults with spina bifida (SB).</AbstractText An international online survey of adults with SB was administered through SB clinics and SB organizations via social media. Adults with a history of masturbation or partnered sexual activity were included. The primary outcome was ever experiencing UIS/FIS. Nonparametric tests and logistic regression were used for analysis.</AbstractText A total of 341 adults met inclusion criteria (median age: 36years, 59% female, 52% shunted, 48% community ambulators). Baseline UI in the last 4weeks was reported by 50% and FI by 41%. Nineteen (5%) had a urostomy. Eight (2%) had a colostomy. Overall, 93% had a history of partnered genital contact. Among adults without a diversion, UIS was more common than FIS (70% vs 45%, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001). Among adults without a urostomy, UIS was more common among women (76% vs 62%, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;.01) and those with baseline UI (84% vs 50%, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001). UIS was not associated with age, shunt, ambulatory, or catheterization status (P&#xa0;&gt;=.32). On bivariate analysis, female sex and baseline UI were independent predictors of UIS (P&#xa0;&lt;=.001). Among adults without a colostomy, FIS was associated with female sex (50% vs 39%, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;.046), baseline FI (59% vs 32%, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001), community ambulation (52% vs 40%, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;.04), but not age, shunt, or MACE status (P&#xa0;&gt;=.27). On multivariate analysis, baseline FI was independently associated with FIS (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001). Among adults with UIS/FIS, 29% experienced UIS \"almost always\" to \"always,\" compared to 5% for FIS (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001). Virtually all adults found UIS/FIS bothersome (&gt;=96% for each), even when incontinence occurred \"almost never.\" UIS/FIS mostly occurred before and/or during orgasm than afterward (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001). UIS was reported by 53% of adults with a urostomy (100% bothersome). FIS was reported by 38% of adults with a colostomy (100% bothersome).</AbstractText Incontinence during sexual activity is a common problem for men and women with SB. Baseline incontinence is an independent, but not absolute, predictor of both. While FIS is less frequent than UIS, both are virtually always bothersome.</AbstractText" ], [ "38362468", "Case report: Diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary choristoma in a newborn calf.", "A 4-day-old female Holstein calf presented with a large-sized, protruding mass in its back, at birth. Radiography identified the deformed spinous process in the second and third lumbar vertebras, suggesting spina bifida. Ultrasonography of the back mass revealed anechoic bronchi-like structures and large vessels with rich blood flow running parallel within the homogenous echogenic mass's parenchyma. Doppler ultrasonography also revealed pulsatile vessels entering into the deeper side of the transverse process of the lumbar vertebras at the right-sided base of the protruding mass. These imaging results were helpful for surgical planning, in which a large arterial vessel was sutured at the right-sided mass's base, followed by resection of the mass itself. The mass's resection could be carried out according to the planned surgical procedure, though its invasion was too deep to be resected completely. Histopathology for the resected specimens revealed that the mass mainly had lung-tissue-like structures comprised of bronchi-, bronchiole- and alveoli-like structures, and large vessels, allowing the diagnosis of pulmonary choristoma. Doppler ultrasonography could contribute to the differentiation between the bronchi-like tubular structure and the large arterial vessels on the same images, aiding diagnosis of this disease.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40261544", "Effects of Subchronic Manganese and Iron Exposure, Alone or in Combination, on Elemental Distribution in Rats.", "Overexposure to manganese (Mn) or iron (Fe) may lead to neurological damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of subchronic Mn and Fe exposure, alone or in combination, on the distribution of other elements and the relationship between Mn and Fe levels in whole blood and brain. Forty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into control, Mn-exposed, Fe-exposed, and combined Mn-Fe-exposed groups, with 10 rats assigned randomly to each group. The control, Mn-exposed, Fe-exposed group and the combined Mn-Fe-exposed groups were injected intraperitoneally with equal amounts of saline, 5 mg/kg MnCl<sub" ], [ "40790925", "Donanemab for Alzheimer's disease: from preclinical research to the clinical application.", "Donanemab (donanemab; Kisunla) is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody specifically targeting a modified form of &#x3b2;-amyloid found predominantly within plaques (characterized as N-terminal pyroglutamate A&#x3b2;). Recently, it has gained approval for the use in early -stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) encompassing mild cognitive impairment due to AD or mild AD with confirmed brain amyloid pathology.</AbstractText This drug profile discusses donanemab's function, clinical effectiveness, safety, tolerability, health economics, access challenges, and future prospects. This article is based on literature that was derived from PubMed.</AbstractText Donanemab is the third monoclonal antibody introduced for the treatment of individuals in the early stage of AD. While critical dialogue continues regarding the potential impacts and role of antibody therapies, its approval signifies considerable progress in addressing the underlying pathology of AD. The authors are confident in the potential of antibodies against A&#x3b2; as a promising treatment option and foresee exciting advancements. However, further research is needed on trials extending beyond 18&#x2009;months of follow-up, postmarketing surveillance, and the application of donanemab in combination with existing treatments and lifestyle interventions. Additionally, significant knowledge gaps and implementation limitations persist and must be addressed.</AbstractText" ], [ "40709970", "Validation of the Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ) in the Italian Context: A Measure for Assessing Alcohol Intake and Binge Drinking.", "An accurate assessment of alcohol consumption is essential for identifying at-risk individuals and informing prevention and intervention strategies. The present study aimed to validate the Italian version of the Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ), a self-report instrument designed to assess both general alcohol intake and binge drinking patterns. A sample of 378 Italian participants (54.5% female; <i" ], [ "40597134", "Turkish validity and reliability study of the simulation self-report cognitive load measurement tool 2.0.", "During simulations, a student's effort to perform the multiple tasks expected of them and the emotional burden arising from the nature of the simulation can create an excessive cognitive load for the student, negatively affecting learning results. Understanding and managing this cognitive load is crucial because it affects how well students can process information and achieve learning objectives.</AbstractText The aim of this study was to collect evidence of the validity and reliability of the use of the Turkish-adapted Simulation Self-Report Cognitive Load Measurement Tool 2.0, which measures three aspects of cognitive load in nursing students during simulation-based experiences.</AbstractText This was a cross-sectional methodological study of instrument translation and validation. The sample of the study consisted of 101 students in the second year of a nursing undergraduate program at a foundation university. The Turkish-adapted version of the tool was used for data collection. It measures intrinsic cognitive load (five items), extraneous cognitive load (five items), germane cognitive load (five items), and overall cognitive load (one item). Language validity was ascertained via ISPOR's ten-step translation and cultural adaptation guide. Expert opinion was obtained for content validity, and a confirmatory factor analysis for construct validity was performed. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the split-half method, and item analysis were used to assess the reliability of the tool, and Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate relationships between items. Significance was accepted at p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05.</AbstractText The tool measures a three-factor structure-intrinsic load, extraneous load, and germane load-and consists of 16 items. In the confirmatory factor analysis, all the factor loadings were greater than 0.30. The fit indices for the model were calculated as &#x3c7;2/df&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.423, with a root mean square error of approximation of 0.0643; the comparative fit index was 0.950; and the standardized root mean square residual was 0.084. The Cronbach's alpha for the tool was 0.822.</AbstractText The analysis provided evidence supporting the validity and reliability of the Turkish-adapted version of the tool for use with a Turkish sample. The use of this tool can aid in developing and enhancing strategies to achieve learning objectives in the design and implementation of clinical simulations.</AbstractText Not applicable.</AbstractText" ], [ "40395842", "Time-Lapse Super-Resolution Imaging and Optical Manipulation of Growth Cones in Elongating Axons and Migrating Neurons.", "The growth cone is a highly motile tip structure that guides axonal elongation and directionality in differentiating neurons. Migrating immature neurons also exhibit a growth cone-like structure (GCLS) at the tip of the leading process. However, it remains unknown whether the GCLS in migrating immature neurons shares the morphological and molecular features of axonal growth cones and can thus be considered equivalent to them. Here, we describe a detailed method for time-lapse imaging and optical manipulation of growth cones using a super-resolution laser-scanning microscope. To observe growth cones in elongating axons and migrating neurons, embryonic cortical neurons and neonatal ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ)-derived neurons, respectively, were transfected with plasmids encoding fluorescent protein-conjugated cytoskeletal probes and three-dimensionally cultured in Matrigel, which mimics the in vivo background. At 2-5 days in vitro, the morphology and dynamics of these growth cones and their associated cytoskeletal molecules were assessed by time-lapse super-resolution imaging. The use of photoswitchable cytoskeletal inhibitors, which can be reversibly and precisely controlled by laser illumination at two different wavelengths, revealed the spatiotemporal regulatory machinery and functional significance of growth cones in neuronal migration. Furthermore, machine learning-based methods enabled us to automatically segment growth cone morphology from elongating axons and the leading process. This protocol provides a cutting-edge methodology for studying the growth cone in developmental and regenerative neuroscience, being adaptable for various cell biology and imaging applications. Key features &#x2022; Three-dimensional primary culture of migrating and differentiating neurons in Matrigel. &#x2022; Visualization of fine morphology and dynamics of growth cones using super-resolution imaging. &#x2022; Optical manipulation of cytoskeletal molecules in growth cones using photoswitchable inhibitors. &#x2022; Machine learning-based extraction of growth cone morphology.</AbstractText" ] ]
35918154
Association Between Accelerometer-Derived Physical Activity Measurements and Brain Structure: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
While there is growing evidence that physical activity promotes neuronal health, studies examining the relation between physical activity and brain morphology remain inconclusive. We therefore examined whether objectively quantified physical activity is related to brain volume, cortical thickness, and gray matter density in a large cohort study. In addition, we assessed molecular pathways that may underlie the effects of physical activity on brain morphology.</AbstractText We used cross-sectional baseline data from 2,550 eligible participants (57.6% women; mean age: 54.7 years, range: 30-94 years) of a prospective cohort study. Physical activity dose (metabolic equivalent hours and step counts) and intensity (sedentary and light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous intensity activities) were recorded with accelerometers. Brain volumetric, gray matter density, and cortical thickness measures were obtained from 3T MRI scans using FreeSurfer and Statistical Parametric Mapping. The relation of physical activity (independent variable) and brain structure (outcome) was examined with polynomial multivariable regression, while adjusting for age, sex, intracranial volume, education, and smoking. Using gene expression profiles from the Allen Brain Atlas, we extracted molecular signatures associated with the effects of physical activity on brain morphology.</AbstractText Physical activity dose and intensity were independently associated with larger brain volumes, gray matter density, and cortical thickness of several brain regions. The effects of physical activity on brain volume were most pronounced at low physical activity quantities and differed between men and women and across age. For example, more time spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity activities was associated with greater total gray matter volume, but the relation leveled off with more activity (standardized &#x3b2; [95% CIs]: 1.37 [0.35-2.39] and -0.70 [-1.25 to -0.15] for the linear and quadratic terms, respectively). The strongest effects of physical activity were observed in motor regions and cortical regions enriched for genes involved in mitochondrial respiration.</AbstractText Our findings suggest that physical activity benefits brain health, with the strongest effects in motor regions and regions with a high oxidative demand. While young adults may particularly profit from additional high-intensity activities, older adults may already benefit from light-intensity activities. Physical activity and reduced sedentary time may be critical in the prevention of age-associated brain atrophy and neurodegenerative diseases.</AbstractText
[ [ "34483871", "Clinica: An Open-Source Software Platform for Reproducible Clinical Neuroscience Studies.", "We present Clinica (www.clinica.run), an open-source software platform designed to make clinical neuroscience studies easier and more reproducible. Clinica aims for researchers to (i) spend less time on data management and processing, (ii) perform reproducible evaluations of their methods, and (iii) easily share data and results within their institution and with external collaborators. The core of Clinica is a set of automatic pipelines for processing and analysis of multimodal neuroimaging data (currently, T1-weighted MRI, diffusion MRI, and PET data), as well as tools for statistics, machine learning, and deep learning. It relies on the brain imaging data structure (BIDS) for the organization of raw neuroimaging datasets and on established tools written by the community to build its pipelines. It also provides converters of public neuroimaging datasets to BIDS (currently ADNI, AIBL, OASIS, and NIFD). Processed data include image-valued scalar fields (e.g., tissue probability maps), meshes, surface-based scalar fields (e.g., cortical thickness maps), or scalar outputs (e.g., regional averages). These data follow the ClinicA Processed Structure (CAPS) format which shares the same philosophy as BIDS. Consistent organization of raw and processed neuroimaging files facilitates the execution of single pipelines and of sequences of pipelines, as well as the integration of processed data into statistics or machine learning frameworks. The target audience of Clinica is neuroscientists or clinicians conducting clinical neuroscience studies involving multimodal imaging, and researchers developing advanced machine learning algorithms applied to neuroimaging data.</AbstractText" ], [ "36056106", "Neuroimaging in schizophrenia: an overview of findings and their implications for synaptic changes.", "Over the last five decades, a large body of evidence has accrued for structural and metabolic brain alterations in schizophrenia. Here we provide an overview of these findings, focusing on measures that have traditionally been thought to reflect synaptic spine density or synaptic activity and&#xa0;that are relevant for understanding if there is lower synaptic density in the disorder. We conducted literature searches to identify meta-analyses or other relevant studies in patients with chronic or first-episode schizophrenia, or in people at high genetic or clinical risk for psychosis. We identified 18 meta-analyses including over 50,000 subjects in total, covering: structural MRI measures of gyrification index, grey matter volume, grey matter density and cortical thickness, neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging, PET imaging of regional glucose metabolism and magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of N-acetylaspartate. We also review preclinical evidence on the relationship between ex vivo synaptic measures and structural MRI imaging, and PET imaging of synaptic protein 2A (SV2A). These studies show that schizophrenia is associated with lower grey matter volumes and cortical thickness, accelerated grey matter loss over time, abnormal gyrification patterns, and lower regional SV2A levels and metabolic markers in comparison to controls (effect sizes from ~ -0.11 to -1.0). Key regions affected include frontal, anterior cingulate and temporal cortices and the hippocampi. We identify several limitations for the interpretation of these findings in terms of understanding synaptic alterations. Nevertheless, taken with post-mortem findings, they suggest that schizophrenia is associated with lower synaptic density in some brain regions. However, there are several gaps in evidence, in particular whether SV2A findings generalise to other cohorts.</AbstractText" ], [ "19254380", "Transcranial magnetic stimulation, synaptic plasticity and network oscillations.", "Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has quickly progressed from a technical curiosity to a bona-fide tool for neurological research. The impetus has been due to the promising results obtained when using TMS to uncover neural processes in normal human subjects, as well as in the treatment of intractable neurological conditions, such as stroke, chronic depression and epilepsy. The basic principle of TMS is that most neuronal axons that fall within the volume of magnetic stimulation become electrically excited, trigger action potentials and release neurotransmitter into the postsynaptic neurons. What happens afterwards remains elusive, especially in the case of repeated stimulation. Here we discuss the likelihood that certain TMS protocols produce long-term changes in cortical synapses akin to long-term potentiation and long-term depression of synaptic transmission. Beyond the synaptic effects, TMS might have consequences on other neuronal processes, such as genetic and protein regulation, and circuit-level patterns, such as network oscillations. Furthermore, TMS might have non-neuronal effects, such as changes in blood flow, which are still poorly understood.</AbstractText" ], [ "26754800", "Serum neurofilament light chain in early relapsing remitting MS is increased and correlates with CSF levels and with MRI measures of disease severity.", "Neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients correlate with the degree of neuronal injury. To date, little is known about NfL concentrations in the serum of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients and their relationship with CSF levels and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of disease severity. We aimed to validate the quantification of NfL in serum samples of RRMS, as a biofluid source easily accessible for longitudinal studies.</AbstractText A total of 31 RRMS patients underwent CSF and serum sampling. After a median time of 3.6&#x2009;years, 19 of these RRMS patients, 10 newly recruited RRMS patients and 18 healthy controls had a 3T MRI and serum sampling. NfL concentrations were determined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.</AbstractText NfL levels in serum were highly correlated to levels in CSF (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.62, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0002). Concentrations in serum were higher in patients than in controls at baseline (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.004) and follow-up (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.0009) and did not change over time (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.56). Serum NfL levels correlated with white matter (WM) lesion volume (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.68, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.0001), mean T1 (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.40, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.034) and T2* relaxation time (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.49, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.007) and with magnetization transfer ratio in normal appearing WM (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;-0.41, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.029).</AbstractText CSF and serum NfL levels were highly correlated, and serum concentrations were increased in RRMS. Serum NfL levels correlated with MRI markers of WM disease severity. Our findings further support longitudinal studies of serum NfL as a potential biomarker of on-going disease progression and as a potential surrogate to quantify effects of neuroprotective drugs in clinical trials.</AbstractText" ], [ "25712545", "Volume of olfactory bulb and depth of olfactory sulcus in 378 consecutive patients with olfactory loss.", "The aim of this study was to investigate the olfactory bulb (OB) and sulcus (OS) in a large group of patients who have been well-characterized in terms of olfactory function, with a specific focus on the comparison between patients with olfactory loss due to chronic rhinosinusitis, head trauma, or acute infections. A retrospective study of 378 patients with olfactory loss was performed. Orthonasal olfactory function was assessed with the\"Sniffin' Sticks\" test kit, including tests for odor threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification. Magnetic resonance imaging analyses were focused on OB volume and OS depth. Major results of the present study included the (1) demonstration of a correlation between olfactory function and OB volume across the various pathologies in a very large group of subjects; (2) the three functional tests exhibited a similar degree of correlation with OB volume. (3) The right, but not the left OS correlated with olfactory function; in addition, (4) OS was negatively correlated with age. In contrast to OS, (5) no side differences were found for the OB. Finally, (6) the three different causes of olfactory loss exhibited different patterns of results for the three olfactory tests. The present data suggest that the morphological assessment of the OB volume and OS depth produces useful clinical indicators of olfactory dysfunction.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "35324243", "Laterality in simple multiplication: Assessing hemispheric specialization of arithmetic fact retrieval in a visual hemifield paradigm.", "The prominent view in numerical cognition is that highly overlearned arithmetic facts are verbally mediated and unilaterally processed in a left-hemispheric network, including language areas. However, this view has recently been challenged. Here, we evaluated the hemispheric specialization of verbal arithmetic fact retrieval and number magnitude processing using two verification tasks (i.e., multiplication and number magnitude comparison) in a divided hemifield paradigm in healthy participants (n = 35). In the number comparison task, we replicated bilateral processing advantages for the unit-decade compatibility effect. Magnitude processing was facilitated after bilateral compared with a unilateral presentation. In the multiplication task, lateralized presentation to the left hemisphere yielded processing advantages in arithmetic fact retrieval when the required interhemispheric transitions from the input, processing, and output stages were considered. Crucially, we observed a systematic processing advantage in left visual hemifield stimuli presentation (i.e., initial right-hemisphere processing). Our findings corroborate the assumption that arithmetic fact retrieval is subserved by left-lateralized verbal/linguistic processing. Thereby, they suggest a distinction between unilateral left-hemispheric linguistic processing of arithmetic fact retrieval and bilateral number magnitude processing. Interestingly, however, our data present right-hemispheric processing advantages in identifying early processed visual symbolic numerical stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).</AbstractText" ], [ "35328408", "Melatonin Signaling Pathways Implicated in Metabolic Processes in Human Granulosa Cells (KGN).", "Female reproduction depends on the metabolic status, especially during the period of folliculogenesis. Even though it is believed that melatonin can improve oocyte competence, there is still limited knowledge of how it can modulate metabolic processes during folliculogenesis and which signaling pathways are involved in regulating gene expression. To investigate the effects of melatonin on metabolic signals during the antral stage of follicular development, human granulosa-like tumor cells (KGN) were treated with melatonin or forskolin, and gene expression was analyzed with RNA-seq technology. Following appropriate normalization and the application of a fold change cut-off of 1.5 (FC 1.5, <i" ], [ "35227307", "Compound genetic etiology in a patient with a syndrome including diabetes, intellectual deficiency and distichiasis.", "We studied a young woman with atypical diabetes associated with mild intellectual disability, lymphedema distichiasis syndrome (LDS) and polymalformative syndrome including distichiasis. We used different genetic tools to identify causative pathogenic mutations and/or copy number variations.</AbstractText Although proband's, diabetes mellitus occurred during childhood, type 1 diabetes was unlikely due to the absence of detectable autoimmunity. DNA microarray analysis first identified a de novo, heterozygous deletion at the chr16q24.2 locus. Previously, thirty-three pathogenic or likely pathogenic deletions encompassing this locus have been reported in patients presenting with intellectual deficiency, obesity and/or lymphedema but not with diabetes. Of note, the deletion encompassed two topological association domains, whose one included FOXC2 that is known to be linked with LDS. Via whole-exome sequencing, we found a heterozygous, likely pathogenic variant in WFS1 (encoding wolframin endoplasmic reticulum [ER] transmembrane glycoprotein) which was inherited from her father who also had diabetes. WFS1 is known to be involved in monogenic diabetes. We also found a likely pathogenic variant in USP9X (encoding ubiquitin specific peptidase 9 X-linked) that is involved in X-linked intellectual disability, which was inherited from her mother who had dyscalculia and dyspraxia.</AbstractText Our comprehensive genetic analysis suggested that the peculiar phenotypes of our patient were possibly due to the combination of multiple genetic causes including chr16q24.2 deletion, and two likely pathogenic variants in WFS1 and USP9X.</AbstractText" ], [ "35754726", "The role of ciliopathy-associated type 3 adenylyl cyclase in infanticidal behavior in virgin adult male mice.", "Virgin adult male mice often display killing of alien newborns, defined as infanticide, and this behavior is dependent on olfactory signaling. Olfactory perception is achieved by the main olfactory system (MOS) or vomeronasal system (VNS). Although it has been established that the VNS is crucial for infanticide in male mice, the role of the MOS in infanticide remains unknown. Herein, by producing lesions via ZnSO<sub" ], [ "35898410", "Involvement of White Matter Language Tracts in Glioma: Clinical Implications, Operative Management, and Functional Recovery After Injury.", "To achieve optimal survival and quality of life outcomes in patients with glioma, the extent of tumor resection must be maximized without causing injury to eloquent structures. Preservation of language function is of particular importance to patients and requires careful mapping to reveal the locations of cortical language hubs and their structural and functional connections. Within this language network, accurate mapping of eloquent white matter tracts is critical, given the high risk of permanent neurological impairment if they are injured during surgery. In this review, we start by describing the clinical implications of gliomas involving white matter language tracts. Next, we highlight the advantages and limitations of methods commonly used to identify these tracts during surgery including structural imaging techniques, functional imaging, non-invasive stimulation, and finally, awake craniotomy. We provide a rationale for combining these complementary techniques as part of a multimodal mapping paradigm to optimize postoperative language outcomes. Next, we review local and long-range adaptations that take place as the language network undergoes remodeling after tumor growth and surgical resection. We discuss the probable cellular mechanisms underlying this plasticity with emphasis on the white matter, which until recently was thought to have a limited role in adults. Finally, we provide an overview of emerging developments in targeting the glioma-neuronal network interface to achieve better disease control and promote recovery after injury.</AbstractText" ] ]
39268818
Compartmentalized signaling in the soma: Coordination of electrical and protein kinase A signaling at neuronal ER-plasma membrane junctions.
Neuronal information processing depends on converting membrane depolarizations into compartmentalized biochemical signals that can modify neuronal activity and structure. However, our understanding of how neurons translate electrical signals into specific biochemical responses remains limited, especially in the soma where gene expression and ion channel function are crucial for neuronal activity. Here, I emphasize the importance of physically compartmentalizing action potential-triggered biochemical reactions within the soma. Emerging evidence suggests that somatic endoplasmic reticulum-plasma membrane (ER-PM) junctions are specialized organelles that coordinate electrical and biochemical signaling. The juxtaposition of ion channels and signaling proteins at a prominent subset of these sites enables compartmentalized calcium and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) signaling. I explore the hypothesis that these PKA-containing ER-PM junctions serve as critical sites for translating membrane depolarizations into PKA signals and identify key gaps in knowledge of the assembly, regulation, and neurobiological functions of this somatic signaling system.</AbstractText
[ [ "23613615", "Thalamic atrophy is associated with development of clinically definite multiple sclerosis.", "To investigate the association between the development of thalamic and cortical atrophy and the conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS) in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS).</AbstractText This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Informed consent was given by 216 CIS patients, and patients were treated with 30 &#xb5;g of intramuscular interferon &#x3b2;1a once a week. They were assessed with a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examination at baseline, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Patients were evaluated within 4 months of an initial demyelinating event, had two or more brain lesions on MR images, and had two or more oligoclonal bands in cerebrospinal fluid. MR imaging measures of progression included cumulative number and volume of contrast agent-enhanced (CE) new and enlarged T2 lesions, and changes in whole-brain, tissue-specific global, and regional gray matter volumes. Regression and mixed-effect model analyses were used.</AbstractText Over 2 years, 92 of 216 patients (42.6%) converted to CDMS; 122 (56.5%) CIS patients fulfilled McDonald 2005 criteria and 153 (70.8%) fulfilled McDonald 2010 criteria for MR imaging dissemination in time and space. The mean time to first relapse was 3.1 months, and mean annual relapse rate was 0.46. In mixed-effect model analysis, the lateral ventricle volume (P = .005), accumulation of CE (P = .007), new total T2 (P = .009) and new enlarging T2 lesions (P = .01) increase, and thalamic (P = .009) and whole-brain (P = .019) volume decrease were associated with development of CDMS. In multivariate regression analysis, decrease in thalamic volumes and increase in lateral ventricle volumes (P = .009) were MR imaging variables associated with the development of CDMS.</AbstractText Measurement of thalamic atrophy and increase in ventricular size in CIS is associated with CDMS development and should be used in addition to the assessment of new T2 and CE lesions.</AbstractText" ], [ "32393820", "Illuminating dendritic function with computational models.", "Dendrites have always fascinated researchers: from the artistic drawings by Ramon y Cajal to the beautiful recordings of today, neuroscientists have been striving to unravel the mysteries of these structures. Theoretical work in the 1960s predicted important dendritic effects on neuronal processing, establishing computational modelling as a powerful technique for their investigation. Since then, modelling of dendrites has been instrumental in driving neuroscience research in a targeted manner, providing experimentally testable predictions that range from the subcellular level to the systems level, and their relevance extends to fields beyond neuroscience, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. Validation of modelling predictions often requires - and drives - new technological advances, thus closing the loop with theory-driven experimentation that moves the field forward. This Review features the most important, to our understanding, contributions of modelling of dendritic computations, including those pending experimental verification, and highlights studies of successful interactions between the modelling and experimental neuroscience communities.</AbstractText" ], [ "10473280", "GABA(A) receptor subunit messenger RNA expression in the enteric nervous system of the rat: implications for functional diversity of enteric GABA(A) receptors.", "GABAergic neurons occur in the myenteric plexus and submucosa and their innervations of the gut, where GABA stimulates motor neurons, and non-neural cells via \"central type\" GABA(A) receptors. These receptors occur on half of the neurons in the rat intestine. The GABA(A) receptor is a ligand-gated chloride channel constructed from different subunit families (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon). In rat these exist as subtypes, alpha1-6, beta1-3, gamma1-3 and delta, defining the clinically relevant pharmacological features of GABA(A) receptors. However, the identity, distribution, and abundance of enteric GABA(A) receptor subunits are unknown. To identify and map the regional expression of GABA(A) receptor subunit messenger RNAs in the enteric nervous system, we assayed enteric RNA from the ileum of Sprague-Dawley rats by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for alpha1-6, beta 1-3, gamma1-3, and delta subunit messenger RNAs. Subunit messenger RNA localization, was probed by in situ hybridization. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis of RNA from myenteric and submucosal nerve layers revealed the expression alpha1, alpha3, beta2, beta3, gamma1 and gamma3 subunit messenger RNAs. Little alpha4 and alpha6 and no alpha2, beta1, gamma2 or delta subunit messenger RNA were detected. In situ hybridization revealed that transcripts for alpha1, alpha3, alpha5 and beta2 subunits occur in both myenteric and submucous ganglia. However, beta3 messenger RNA was found only in myenteric plexus. The gamma1 subunit messenger RNA was also restricted to the cells in the myenteric plexus while gamma3 was found in cells of both nerve layers. In this study of the subunit messenger RNA expression profile of GABA(A) receptors within the enteric nerve layers we show an abundant, diverse and widespread distribution that is unique in comparison to the CNS. The distinctive and heterogeneous distribution of enteric GABA(A) subunits may be important in the integration of neural control of gut function.</AbstractText" ], [ "30982596", "Volumetric Ca(2+) Imaging in the Mouse Brain Using Hybrid Multiplexed Sculpted Light Microscopy.", "Calcium imaging using two-photon scanning microscopy has become an essential tool in neuroscience. However, in its typical implementation, the tradeoffs between fields of view, acquisition speeds, and depth restrictions in scattering brain tissue pose severe limitations. Here, using an integrated systems-wide optimization approach combined with multiple technical innovations, we introduce a new design paradigm for optical microscopy based on maximizing biological information while maintaining the fidelity of obtained neuron signals. Our modular design utilizes hybrid multi-photon acquisition and allows volumetric recording of neuroactivity at single-cell resolution within up to 1&#xa0;&#xd7; 1&#xa0;&#xd7; 1.22&#xa0;mm volumes at up to 17&#xa0;Hz in awake behaving mice. We establish the capabilities and potential of the different configurations of our imaging system at depth and across brain regions by applying it to in&#xa0;vivo recording of up to 12,000 neurons in mouse auditory cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and hippocampus.</AbstractText" ], [ "32182666", "The GPR17 Receptor-A Promising Goal for Therapy and a Potential Marker of the Neurodegenerative Process in Multiple Sclerosis.", "One of the most important goals in the treatment of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) is, in addition to immunomodulation, reconstruction of the lost myelin sheath. The modulator of the central nervous system myelination is the metabotropic receptor coupled to the G-protein: GPR17. GPR17 receptors are considered to be sensors of local damage to the myelin sheath, and play a role in the reconstruction and repair of demyelinating plaques caused by ongoing inflammatory processes. GPR17 receptors are present on nerve cells and precursor oligodendrocyte cells. Under physiological conditions, they are responsible for the differentiation and subsequent maturation of oligodendrocytes, while under pathological conditions (during damage to nerve cells), their expression increases to become mediators in the demyelinating processes. Moreover, they are essential not only in both the processes of inducing damage and the death of neurons, but also in the local repair of the damaged myelin sheath. Therefore, GPR17 receptors may be recognized as the potential goal in creating innovative therapies for the treatment of the neurodegenerative process in MS, based on the acceleration of the remyelination processes. This review examines the role of GRP17 in pathomechanisms of MS development.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39767690", "The Promising Potency of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in the Prevention of and as Treatment for Cognitive Impairment Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients.", "Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), accounting for the majority of diabetes mellitus prevalence, is associated with an increased risk of cognition decline and deterioration of cognition function in diabetic patients. The sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), located in the renal proximal tubule, plays a role in urine glucose reabsorption. SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), have shown potential benefits beyond cardiac and renal improvement in preventing and treating cognitive impairment (CI), including mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in T2DM patients. Studies suggest that SGLT2i may ameliorate diabetic CI through metabolism pathways, inflammation, oxidative stress, neurotrophic factors and AChE inhibition. Clinical trials and meta-analyses have reported significant and insignificant results. Given their vascular effects, SGLT2i may offer unique protection against vascular CI. This review compiles mechanisms and clinical evidence, emphasizing the need for future analysis, evaluation, trials and meta-analyses to verify and recommend optimal SGLT2i selection and dosage for specific patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "39198194", "[Responses to \"A Review of the Book 'Minamata Disease and the Responsibility of Medical Authorities'\"].", "Drs. Futatsuka, Eto, and Uchino expressed their opinions in the Journal of the Japanese Society for Hygiene in the form of a review of my book, \"Minamata Disease and the Responsibility of Medicine.\" (The reviewers translated it as \"Responsibility of Medical Authorities,\" but for my purposes in writing this book, I believe it should be translated as \"Responsibility of Medicine.\") The nine major comments of the three reviewers described in this book review were reviewed from the basic perspective of toxicology, epidemiology, and neuroscience. This book review is fraught with either medical, logical, or ethical problems in all the nine points as follows: (1) the inadequate way in which exposure and health hazards are considered from the toxicological perspective, (2) problems in interpreting epidemiological information, (3) the failure to consider recent achievements in methylmercury toxicosis studies, (4) presenting the reviewers' own theories without regard to the content of my book while calling it a \"book review,\" (5) presenting and criticizing what Takaoka does not claim as if he does, and (6) making claims that are inconsistent with the three reviewers' own views. The problems with this book review will become even clearer when you read \"Minamata Disease and the Responsibility of Medicine\" itself.</AbstractText" ], [ "38513691", "[Bionic Surgery Meets Bionic Reconstruction - First In-human use of Robotic Microsurgery in Targeted Muscle Reinnervation].", "Robotic microsurgery is an emerging field in reconstructive surgery, which provides benefits such as improved precision, optimal ergonomics, and reduced tremors. However, only a few robotic platforms are available for performing microsurgical procedures, and successful nerve coaptation is still a challenge. Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is an innovative reconstructive procedure that rewires multiple nerves to remnant stump muscles, thereby reducing neuroma and phantom limb pain and improving the control of bionic prostheses. The precision of surgical techniques is critical in reducing axonal sprouting around the coaptation site to minimise the potential for neuroma formation. This study reports the first use of a microsurgical robotic platform for multiple nerve transfers in a patient undergoing TMR for bionic extremity reconstruction. The Symani robotic platform, combined with external microscope magnification, was successfully used, and precise handling of nerve tissue and coaptation was easily feasible even in anatomically challenging environments. While the precision and stability offered by robotic assistance may be especially useful for nerve surgery, the high economic costs of robotic microsurgery remain a major challenge for current healthcare systems. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the feasibility of using a robotic microsurgical platform for nerve surgery and transfers, where precise handling of tissue is crucial and limited space is available. Future studies will explore the full potential of robotic microsurgery in the future.</AbstractText Robotische Mikrochirurgie ist ein wachsendes Feld in der rekonstruktiven Chirurgie und beinhaltet viele Vorteile wie eine optimale Ergonomie sowie eine Reduktion des physiologischen Tremors. Allerdings sind bis zum heutigen Zeitpunkt nur eine geringe Anzahl an robotischen Systemen verf&#xfc;gbar, die ein mikrochirurgisches Arbeiten erm&#xf6;glichen. Nach wie vor ist die Durchf&#xfc;hrung einer robotischen mikrochirurgischen Nervenkoaptation eine Herausforderung in der klinischen Praxis. Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) ist eine innovative rekonstruktive Methode mit mehrfachen Nerventransfers zu den Muskeln des Amputationsstumpfes, welche zum einen die Neuromentwicklung verhindern und zum anderen die Anwendungsm&#xf6;glichkeit einer bionischen Prothese verbessern sollen. Robotische Mikrochirurgie erm&#xf6;glicht ein hohes Ma&#xdf; an Pr&#xe4;zision und die Reduktion des physiologischen Tremors, verlangt jedoch hohe Investitionskosten was eine gro&#xdf;e Herausforderung f&#xfc;r unser Gesundheitssystem darstellt. Zusammenfassend zeigt diese Studie die M&#xf6;glichkeit der Anwendung von robotischer Mikrochirurgie in der peripheren Nervenchirurgie, insbesondere f&#xfc;r Nerventransfers, bei denen eine pr&#xe4;zise Durchf&#xfc;hrung in einem limitierten Platz durchgef&#xfc;hrt werden muss. Zuk&#xfc;nftige Studien werden das Potenzial von robotischer Mikrochirurgie f&#xfc;r die peripheren Nervenchirurgen weiter evaluieren m&#xfc;ssen.</AbstractText" ], [ "38213627", "Pre- and postsynaptic nanostructures increase in size and complexity after induction of long-term potentiation.", "Synapses, specialized contact sites between neurons, are the fundamental elements of neuronal information transfer. Synaptic plasticity involves changes in synaptic morphology and the number of neurotransmitter receptors, and is thought to underlie learning and memory. However, it is not clear how these structural and functional changes are connected. We utilized time-lapse super-resolution STED microscopy of organotypic hippocampal brain slices and cultured neurons to visualize structural changes of the synaptic nano-organization of the postsynaptic scaffolding protein PSD95, the presynaptic scaffolding protein Bassoon, and the GluA2 subunit of AMPA receptors by chemically induced long-term potentiation (cLTP) at the level of single synapses. We found that the nano-organization of all three proteins increased in complexity and size after cLTP induction. The increase was largely synchronous, peaking at &#x223c;60&#xa0;min after stimulation. Therefore, both the size and complexity of individual pre- and post-synaptic nanostructures serve as substrates for tuning and determining synaptic strength.</AbstractText" ], [ "39071865", "Metabolically Glycoengineered Neural Stem Cells Boost Neural Repair After Cardiac Arrest.", "Cardiac arrest (CA)-induced cerebral ischemia remains challenging with high mortality and disability. Neural stem cell (NSC) engrafting is an emerging therapeutic strategy with considerable promise that, unfortunately, is severely compromised by limited cell functionality after in vivo transplantation. This groundbreaking report demonstrates that metabolic glycoengineering (MGE) using the \"Ac<sub" ] ]
33519605
When a Circle Becomes the Letter O: Young Children's Conceptualization of Learning and Its Relation With Theory of Mind Development.
In two independent yet complementary studies, the current research explored the developmental changes of young children's conceptualization of learning, focusing the role of knowledge change and learning intention, and its association with their developing theory of mind (ToM) ability. In study 1, 75 children between 48 and 86 months of age (<i
[ [ "31820788", "Distinct cerebellar regions for body motion discrimination.", "Visual processing of human movements is critical for adaptive social behavior. Cerebellar activations have been observed during biological motion discrimination in prior neuroimaging studies, and cerebellar lesions may be detrimental for this task. However, whether the cerebellum plays a causal role in biological motion discrimination has never been tested. Here, we addressed this issue in three different experiments by interfering with the posterior cerebellar lobe using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during a biological discrimination task. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that TMS delivered at onset of the visual stimuli over the vermis (vermal lobule VI), but not over the left cerebellar hemisphere (left lobule VI/Crus I), interfered with participants' ability to distinguish biological from scrambled motion compared to stimulation of a control site (vertex). Interestingly, when stimulation was delivered at a later time point (300&#xa0;ms after stimulus onset), participants performed worse when TMS was delivered over the left cerebellar hemisphere compared to the vermis and the vertex (Experiment 3). Our data show that the posterior cerebellum is causally involved in biological motion discrimination and suggest that different sectors of the posterior cerebellar lobe may contribute to the task at different time points.</AbstractText" ], [ "33667219", "Reexposure to a sensorimotor perturbation produces opposite effects on explicit and implicit learning processes.", "The motor system demonstrates an exquisite ability to adapt to changes in the environment and to quickly reset when these changes prove transient. If similar environmental changes are encountered in the future, learning may be faster, a phenomenon known as savings. In studies of sensorimotor learning, a central component of savings is attributed to the explicit recall of the task structure and appropriate compensatory strategies. Whether implicit adaptation also contributes to savings remains subject to debate. We tackled this question by measuring, in parallel, explicit and implicit adaptive responses in a visuomotor rotation task, employing a protocol that typically elicits savings. While the initial rate of learning was faster in the second exposure to the perturbation, an analysis decomposing the 2 processes showed the benefit to be solely associated with explicit re-aiming. Surprisingly, we found a significant decrease after relearning in aftereffect magnitudes during no-feedback trials, a direct measure of implicit adaptation. In a second experiment, we isolated implicit adaptation using clamped visual feedback, a method known to eliminate the contribution of explicit learning processes. Consistent with the results of the first experiment, participants exhibited a marked reduction in the adaptation function, as well as an attenuated aftereffect when relearning from the clamped feedback. Motivated by these results, we reanalyzed data from prior studies and observed a consistent, yet unappreciated pattern of attenuation of implicit adaptation during relearning. These results indicate that explicit and implicit sensorimotor processes exhibit opposite effects upon relearning: Explicit learning shows savings, while implicit adaptation becomes attenuated.</AbstractText" ], [ "27690745", "Within-session and one-week practice effects on a motor task in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.", "Practice effects on neuropsychological tests, which are improvements in test scores due to repeated exposure to testing materials, are robust in healthy elders, but muted in older adults with cognitive disorders. Conversely, few studies have investigated practice effects on motor tasks involving procedural memory, particularly across test-retest periods exceeding 24&#xa0;hours. The current study examined one-week practice effects on a novel upper extremity motor task in 54 older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Results indicate that these individuals with primary memory deficits did improve on this motor task within a brief training session as well as across one week. These practice effects were unrelated to demographic characteristics or global cognition. One-week practice effects were, however, negatively related to delayed memory function, with larger practice effects being associated with poorer delayed memory and potentially better visuospatial ability. The presence of longer term practice effects on a procedural motor task not only has implications for how longitudinal assessments with similar measures involving implicit memory might be interpreted, but may also inform future rehabilitative strategies for patients with more severe declarative memory deficits.</AbstractText" ], [ "31474815", "Low Frequency Systemic Hemodynamic \"Noise\" in Resting State BOLD fMRI: Characteristics, Causes, Implications, Mitigation Strategies, and Applications.", "Advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition have improved signal to noise to the point where the physiology of the subject is the dominant noise source in resting state fMRI data (rsfMRI). Among these systemic, non-neuronal physiological signals, respiration and to some degree cardiac fluctuations can be removed through modeling, or in the case of newer, faster acquisitions such as simultaneous multislice acquisition, simple spectral filtering. However, significant low frequency physiological oscillation (&#x223c;0.01-0.15 Hz) remains in the signal. This is problematic, as it is the precise frequency band occupied by the neuronally modulated hemodynamic responses used to study brain connectivity, precluding its removal by spectral filtering. The source of this signal, and its method of production and propagation in the body, have not been conclusively determined. Here, we summarize the defining characteristics of the systemic low frequency noise signal, and review some current theories about the signal source and the evidence supporting them. The strength and distribution of the systemic LFO signal make characterizing and removing it essential for accurate quantification, especially for resting state connectivity, when no stimulation can be compared with the signal. Widespread correlated non-neuronal signals obscure and distort the more localized patterns of neuronal correlations between interacting brain regions; they may even cause apparent connectivity between regions with no neuronal interaction. Here, we discuss a simple method we have developed to parse the global, moving, blood-borne signal from the stationary, neuronal connectivity signals, substantially reducing the negative correlations that result from global signal regression. Finally, we will discuss some of the uses to which the moving systemic low frequency oscillation can be put if we consider it a \"signal\" carrying information, rather than simply \"noise\" complicating the interpretation of resting state connectivity. Properly utilizing this signal may offer insights into subtle hemodynamic alterations that can be used as early indicators of circulatory dysfunction in a number of neuropsychiatric conditions, such as prodromal stroke, moyamoya, and Alzheimer's disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "31745122", "How different effectors and action effects modulate the formation of separate motor memories.", "Humans can operate a variety of modern tools, which are often associated with different visuomotor transformations. Studies investigating this ability have shown that separate motor memories can be acquired implicitly when different sensorimotor transformations are associated with distinct (intended) postures or explicitly when abstract contextual cues are leveraged by aiming strategies. It still remains unclear how different transformations are remembered implicitly when postures are similar. We investigated whether features of planning to manipulate a visual tool, such as its visual identity or the environmental effect intended by its use (i.e. action effect) would enable implicit learning of opposing visuomotor rotations. Results show that neither contextual cue led to distinct implicit motor memories, but that cues only affected implicit adaptation indirectly through generalization around explicit strategies. In contrast, a control experiment where participants practiced opposing transformations with different hands did result in contextualized aftereffects differing between hands across generalization targets. It appears that different (intended) body states are necessary for separate aftereffects to emerge, suggesting that the role of sensory prediction error-based adaptation may be limited to the recalibration of a body model, whereas establishing separate tool models may proceed along a different route.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "33343621", "No Association Between G1246A Polymorphism in HCRTR2 Gene and Risk of Cluster Headache: Evidence From an Updated Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.", "<b" ], [ "32424881", "Prediction Model for Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma Response to Transarterial Chemoembolization.", "The outcome of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is greatly heterogeneous. Current means for predicting HCC response to TACE are lacking.</AbstractText To investigate whether the combination of parameters derived from amide proton transfer (APT) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging, and morphological characteristics of tumor can establish a better prediction model than the univariant model for HCC response to TACE.</AbstractText Prospective.</AbstractText 56 patients with intermediate-stage HCC (50 males and six females).</AbstractText 3.0T; T<sub Pretreatment APT signal intensities (SIs), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), true molecular diffusion coefficient (D), pseudodiffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) for tumor, peritumoral, and normal tissues were measured. Follow-up MRI scanning was performed, and the patients were classified as responders or nonresponders based on the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) criteria.</AbstractText The imaging parameters were compared among the three tissues and between the two groups using analysis of variance (ANOVA) or two-sample t-test. The prediction model's variables were derived from univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to explore the predictive performance.</AbstractText Based on the logistic regression analysis results, we established a prediction model that integrated the APT SI and D values in the tumor tissue and the tumor size. ROC analyses revealed that the model was better able to predict tumor response to TACE (area under the ROC curve = 0.851) than the individual parameters on their own.</AbstractText A prediction model incorporating pretreatment APT SI, D in the tumor tissue and tumor size may be useful for predicting the response of intermediate-stage HCC to TACE.</AbstractText 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2020;52:1657-1667.</AbstractText" ], [ "33018849", "Temporal Modulation of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Influences Sensory Perception.", "The incorporation of sensory feedback in prosthetics can lead to a range of benefits, such as improved hand control, increased prosthesis embodiment, and the reduction of phantom limb pain. However, the creation of reliable sensory feedback is complicated by the temporal modulation of the nervous system. Sensory fibres in the hand are primed to react to changing conditions, firing when discrete mechanical events occur. In this study, we investigate the minimal possible stimulation needed to distinguish different sensory patterns that can be used to indicate events. We presented a two-alternative forced-choice task of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimuli to 10 participants. The results showed that different stimuli can be distinguished when double pulses have an inter-stimulus-interval of 10 ms. Additionally, providing a pause of at least 350 ms between stimuli increases the discrimination of the perception. These results suggest that humans can distinguish different patterns of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with as little as two stimuli, illustrating the possibility of providing event-related stimulation.</AbstractText" ], [ "31206948", "Analysis of postprocessing steps for residue function dependent dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI biomarkers and their clinical impact on glioma grading for both 1.5 and 3T.", "Dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI analysis pipelines differ across studies and sites, potentially confounding the clinical value and use of the derived biomarkers.</AbstractText To investigate how postprocessing steps for computation of cerebral blood volume (CBV) and residue function dependent parameters (cerebral blood flow [CBF], mean transit time [MTT], capillary transit heterogeneity [CTH]) impact glioma grading.</AbstractText Retrospective study from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA).</AbstractText Forty-nine subjects with low- and high-grade gliomas.</AbstractText 1.5 and 3.0T clinical systems using a single-echo echo planar imaging (EPI) acquisition.</AbstractText Manual regions of interest (ROIs) were provided by TCIA and automatically segmented ROIs were generated by k-means clustering. CBV was calculated based on conventional equations. Residue function dependent biomarkers (CBF, MTT, CTH) were found by two deconvolution methods: circular discretization followed by a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-adapted eigenvalue thresholding (Method 1) and Volterra discretization with L-curve-based Tikhonov regularization (Method 2).</AbstractText Analysis of variance, receiver operating characteristics (ROC), and logistic regression tests.</AbstractText MTT alone was unable to statistically differentiate glioma grade (P&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.139). When normalized, tumor CBF, CTH, and CBV did not differ across field strengths (P&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.141). Biomarkers normalized to automatically segmented regions performed equally (rCTH AUROC is 0.73 compared with 0.74) or better (rCBF AUROC increases from 0.74-0.84; rCBV AUROC increases 0.78-0.86) than manually drawn ROIs. By updating the current deconvolution steps (Method 2), rCTH can act as a classifier for glioma grade (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.007), but not if processed by current conventional DSC methods (Method 1) (P&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.577). Lastly, higher-order biomarkers (eg, rCBF and rCTH) along with rCBV increases AUROC to 0.92 for differentiating tumor grade as compared with 0.78 and 0.86 (manual and automatic reference regions, respectively) for rCBV alone.</AbstractText With optimized analysis pipelines, higher-order perfusion biomarkers (rCBF and rCTH) improve glioma grading as compared with CBV alone. Additionally, postprocessing steps impact thresholds needed for glioma grading.</AbstractText 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:547-553.</AbstractText" ], [ "33042802", "Planning With Patient-Specific Rectal Sub-Region Constraints Decreases Probability of Toxicity in Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy.", "<b" ] ]
25761455
Three-layered radio frequency coil arrangement for sodium MRI of the human brain at 9.4 Tesla.
A multinuclei imaging setup with the capability to acquire both sodium ((23) Na) and proton ((1) H) signals at 9.4 Tesla is presented. The main objective was to optimize coil performance at the (23) Na frequency while still having the ability to acquire satisfactory (1) H images.</AbstractText The setup consisted of a combination of three radio frequency (RF) coils arranged in three layers: the innermost layer was a 27-channel (23) Na receive helmet which was surrounded by a four-channel (23) Na transceiver array. The outer layer consisted of a four-channel (1) H dipole array for B0 shimming and anatomical localization. Transmit and receive performance of the (23) Na arrays was compared to a single-tuned (23) Na birdcage resonator.</AbstractText While the transmit efficiency of the (23) Na transceiver array was comparable to the birdcage, the (23) Na receive array provided substantial signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain near the surface and comparable SNR in the center. The utility of this customized setup was demonstrated by (23) Na images of excellent quality.</AbstractText High SNR, efficient transmit excitation and B0 shimming capability can be achieved for (23) Na MRI at 9.4T using novel coil combination. This RF configuration is easily adaptable to other multinuclei applications at ultra high field (&#x2265; 7T).</AbstractText
[ [ "36511805", "Three-dimensional MR Neurography of the Brachial Plexus: Vascular Suppression with Low-dose Ferumoxytol.", "Background The efficacy of ferumoxytol, an ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particle for three-dimensional (3D) MR neurography, has yet to be evaluated. Purpose To evaluate the effects of low-dose ferumoxytol for vascular suppression and nerve visualization in 3D brachial plexus MR neurography as a pilot study. Materials and Methods Volunteers without anemia were prospectively enrolled in July 2021. Brachial plexus MR neurography was performed 30 minutes following infusion of 25% of the standard (510 mg of iron) therapeutic ferumoxytol dose with use of a 3D short-tau inversion recovery T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequence. The 3D fast spin-echo was acquired with and without the use of additional flow suppression techniques. Two musculoskeletal radiologists qualitatively evaluated examinations for the degree of vascular suppression (0-3, none to complete), nerve visualization (0-2, none to full), and motion artifact (0-4, none to severe). Nerve-to-fat, muscle, or vessel contrast ratios were calculated with use of manually drawn regions of interests. Comparisons of the proportion of scans with adequate image quality (vascular suppression, 3; nerve visualization, 1, 2; motion artifacts, 0, 1) were made with use of the McNemar test. Comparisons of quantitative contrast ratios were performed with use of Wilcoxon signed rank tests. <i" ], [ "25108702", "An in vivo comparison of the DREAM sequence with current RF shim technology.", "In the present study the performance of the dual refocusing echo acquisition mode (DREAM) B1 (+) mapping sequence is evaluated for RF shimming in the abdomen at 3 T and validated against existing RF shim technology.</AbstractText In vivo experiments were performed on 19 normal volunteers using a clinical 3 T dual channel MRI system. For each volunteer three different B1 (+) mapping techniques [DREAM, actual flip angle imaging (AFI) and saturated double angle method (SDAM)] were employed for RF shimming of the liver and to subsequently assess the quality of the obtained RF shim settings in terms of the achieved B1 (+) homogeneity and accuracy of the mean B1 (+).</AbstractText DREAM-based B1 (+) calibration led to an average homogeneity improvement of 39.1 % (AFI = 38.7 %, SDAM = 38.1 %) and a mean B1 (+) of 90.9 % of the prescribed B1 (+) (AFI = 88.9 %, SDAM = 92.0 %). The duration of the B1 (+) calibration scan was reduced from 30 s (AFI) and 15 s (SDAM) to 2.5 s (DREAM).</AbstractText DREAM accelerates RF shimming of the liver by an order of magnitude without compromising RF shimming performance.</AbstractText" ], [ "29424461", "Dynamic B(0) shimming of the human brain at 9.4 T with a 16-channel multi-coil shim setup.", "A 16-channel multi-coil shimming setup was developed to mitigate severe B<sub The shimming setup consisted of 16 circular B<sub The presence of the multi-coil shim did not influence the performance of the RF coil. The performance of the proposed setup was similar to a full third-order spherical harmonic shim system in the case of global static and dynamic slice-wise shimming. Dynamic slice-wise shimming with the multi-coil setup outperformed global static shimming with the scanner's second-order spherical-harmonic shim. The multi-coil setup allowed mitigating geometric distortions for EPI. The combination of the multi-coil shim setup with the zeroth and first-order shim of the scanner further reduced the standard deviation of the B<sub The combination of a multi-coil setup and the linear shim channels of the scanner provides a straightforward solution for implementing dynamic slice-wise shimming without requiring an additional pre-emphasis setup.</AbstractText" ], [ "34632626", "A 31-channel integrated \"AC/DC\" B(0) shim and radiofrequency receive array coil for improved 7T MRI.", "To test an integrated \"AC/DC\" array approach at 7T, where B<sub A close-fitting 7T 31-channel (31-ch) brain array was constructed and tested using combined Rx and &#x394;B<sub The SNR and average noise correlation were similar to the 31-ch reference array. Global and slice-optimized shimming provide 11% and 40% improvements respectively compared to baseline second-order spherical harmonic shimming. Birdcage transmit coil efficiency was similar for the reference and AC/DC array setups.</AbstractText Adding &#x394;B<sub" ], [ "30825959", "MRI commissioning of 1.5T MR-linac systems - a multi-institutional study.", "Magnetic Resonance linear accelerator (MR-linac) systems represent a new type of technology that allows for online MR-guidance for high precision radiotherapy (RT). Currently, the first MR-linac installations are being introduced clinically. Since the imaging performance of these integrated MR-linac systems is critical for their application, a thorough commissioning of the MRI performance is essential. However, guidelines on the commissioning of MR-guided RT systems are not yet defined and data on the performance of MR-linacs are not yet available.</AbstractText Here we describe a comprehensive commissioning protocol, which contains standard MRI performance measurements as well as dedicated hybrid tests that specifically assess the interactions between the Linac and the MRI system. The commissioning results of four MR-linac systems are presented in a multi-center study.</AbstractText Although the four systems showed similar performance in all the standard MRI performance tests, some differences were observed relating to the hybrid character of the systems. Field homogeneity measurements identified differences in the gantry shim configuration, which was later confirmed by the vendor.</AbstractText Our results highlight the importance of dedicated hybrid commissioning tests and the ability to compare the machines between institutes at this very early stage of clinical introduction. Until formal guidelines and tolerances are defined the tests described in this study may be used as a practical guideline. Moreover, the multi-center results provide initial bench mark data for future MR-linac installations.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "26858636", "BrainLiner: A Neuroinformatics Platform for Sharing Time-Aligned Brain-Behavior Data.", "Data-driven neuroscience aims to find statistical relationships between brain activity and task behavior from large-scale datasets. To facilitate high-throughput data processing and modeling, we created BrainLiner as a web platform for sharing time-aligned, brain-behavior data. Using an HDF5-based data format, BrainLiner treats brain activity and data related to behavior with the same salience, aligning both behavioral and brain activity data on a common time axis. This facilitates learning the relationship between behavior and brain activity. Using a common data file format also simplifies data processing and analyses. Properties describing data are unambiguously defined using a schema, allowing machine-readable definition of data. The BrainLiner platform allows users to upload and download data, as well as to explore and search for data from the web platform. A WebGL-based data explorer can visualize highly detailed neurophysiological data from within the web browser, and a data-driven search feature allows users to search for similar time windows of data. This increases transparency, and allows for visual inspection of neural coding. BrainLiner thus provides an essential set of tools for data sharing and data-driven modeling.</AbstractText" ], [ "26502335", "Booze cues and attentional narrowing: Neural correlates of virtual alcohol myopia.", "Exposure to alcohol cues reduces the breadth of attentional scope, called \"virtual myopia.\" Past researchers have suggested approach motivation as a possible mechanism that underlies this myopia in response to alcohol cues. We expanded on these findings in the current study by identifying the neural underpinnings of the relationship between attentional narrowing, approach motivation, and exposure to alcohol cues. Participants completed 64 trials that consisted of neutral or alcohol-related stimuli followed by a measure of attentional narrowing (i.e., Navons letter task). Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during the experiment to assess greater left frontal hemispheric asymmetry, a measure of approach motivation. Results revealed that alcohol cues led to greater \"virtual myopia\" as measured by narrowed attentional scope. Greater left frontal activation to alcohol cues related to greater myopia, suggesting that approach motivation is associated with virtual myopia. Left frontal activation appears to be a neural correlate of cognitive narrowing related to approach motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record</AbstractText" ], [ "27461794", "Impact of Body Mass Index on Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery.", "Body mass index (BMI) commonly is used in obesity classification as a surrogate measure, and obesity is associated with a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of BMI on short-term outcomes after cardiac surgery.</AbstractText A retrospective cohort study.</AbstractText University teaching hospital, 2 centers.</AbstractText The study comprised 4,740 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at 2 hospitals-from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2013, in 1 hospital and from September 1, 2003, to August 31, 2014, in a second hospital.</AbstractText No changes to standard practice were required.</AbstractText Patients were assigned into 6 BMI groups as follows: underweight (BMI&lt;18.5 kg/m(2)), normal weight (&#x2265;18.5 to&lt;25 kg/m(2)), overweight (&#x2265;25 to&lt;30 kg/m(2)), class I obese (&#x2265;30 to&lt;35 kg/m(2)), class II obese (&#x2265;35 to&lt;40 kg/m(2)), and class III obese (BMI&#x2265;40 kg/m(2)). Short-term major postoperative complications (postoperative stroke, cardiac arrest, new atrial fibrillation/flutter, permanent rhythm device insertion, deep sternal infection, sepsis, prolonged ventilation, pneumonia, renal dialysis, renal failure, intensive care unit readmission, total intensive care unit hours, and readmission in 30 days, and mortalities (in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, surgical mortality) were compared among various BMI groups after cardiac surgery. Age, sex, surgery type, family history of coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and lipid-lowering medication were the risk factors for early outcomes. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the underweight and class III obese BMI groups demonstrated significant, adverse differences in some short-term outcomes, including deep sternal infection, prolonged ventilation, new atrial fibrillation/flutter, and renal failure. However, being in the overweight or class I obese group demonstrated a positive effect on discharge and surgical mortality.</AbstractText The results of this study demonstrated that extreme obesity and underweight were significantly associated with early major adverse clinical outcomes. However, there was an \"obese paradox\" in short-term mortality after cardiac surgery.</AbstractText" ], [ "31006906", "Accelerated 3D T(2) w-imaging of the prostate with 1-millimeter isotropic resolution in less than 3 minutes.", "To achieve 3D T<sub We devised and implemented a 3D T<sub The 3&#xd7; accelerated 3D T<sub 3D T<sub" ], [ "26660328", "Concentration-Dependent Dual Mode of Zn Action at Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptors: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.", "Recent data has indicated that Zn can modulate serotonergic function through the 5-HT<sub" ] ]
25408109
Improving the robustness of 3D turbo spin echo imaging to involuntary motion.
3D TSE imaging is very prone to motion artifacts, especially from uncooperative patients, because of the long scan duration. The need to repeat this time-consuming 3D acquisition in the event of large motion artifacts substantially reduces patient comfort and increases the workload of the scanner.</AbstractText A new sampling strategy enables homogenized collection of k-space data for 3D TSE imaging. It is combined with Frobenius norm-based motion-detection to enable freely stopped acquisition in 3D TSE imaging whenever excessive subject motion is detected.</AbstractText The feasibility and reliability of the proposed method were demonstrated and evaluated in in-vivo experiments.</AbstractText It is shown that the additional overhead related to repeat scanning of the 3D TSE sequence as a result of patient motion can be substantially reduced by using the homogenized k-space sampling strategy with automatic scan completion as determined by Frobenius norm-based motion-detection.</AbstractText
[ [ "32366534", "Intracranial hemodynamic relationships in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.", "To investigate cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), blood flow, vascular and CSF pulsatility, and their independent relationship with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) features in patients with minor ischemic stroke and MRI evidence of SVD.</AbstractText We recruited patients with minor ischemic stroke and assessed CVR using blood oxygen level-dependent MRI during a hypercapnic challenge, cerebral blood flow (CBF), vascular and CSF pulsatility using phase-contrast MRI, and structural magnetic resonance brain imaging to quantify white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and perivascular spaces (PVSs). We used multiple regression to identify parameters associated with SVD features, controlling for patient characteristics.</AbstractText Fifty-three of 60 patients completed the study with a full data set (age 68.0% &#xb1; 8.8 years, 74% male, 75% hypertensive). After controlling for age, sex, and systolic blood pressure, lower white matter CVR was associated with higher WMH volume (-0.01%/mm Hg per log10 increase in WMH volume, <i Lower CVR, higher venous pulsatility, and lower foramen magnum CSF stroke volume indicate that dynamic vascular dysfunctions underpin PVS dysfunction and WMH development. Further exploration of microvascular dysfunction and CSF dynamics may uncover new mechanisms and intervention targets to reduce SVD lesion development, cognitive decline, and stroke.</AbstractText" ], [ "25533653", "Concentric rings K-space trajectory for hyperpolarized (13)C MR spectroscopic imaging.", "To develop a robust and rapid imaging technique for hyperpolarized (13)C MR Spectroscopic Imaging and investigate its performance.</AbstractText A concentric rings readout trajectory with constant angular velocity is proposed for hyperpolarized (13)C spectroscopic imaging and its properties are analyzed. Quantitative analyses of design tradeoffs are presented for several imaging scenarios. The first application of concentric rings on (13)C phantoms and in vivo animal hyperpolarized (13)C MR Spectroscopic Imaging studies were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Finally, a parallel imaging accelerated concentric rings study is presented.</AbstractText The concentric rings MR Spectroscopic Imaging trajectory has the advantages of acquisition timesaving compared to echo-planar spectroscopic imaging. It provides sufficient spectral bandwidth with relatively high efficiency compared to echo-planar spectroscopic imaging and spiral techniques. Phantom and in vivo animal studies showed good image quality with half the scan time and reduced pulsatile flow artifacts compared to echo-planar spectroscopic imaging. Parallel imaging accelerated concentric rings showed advantages over Cartesian sampling in g-factor simulations and demonstrated aliasing-free image quality in a hyperpolarized (13)C in vivo study.</AbstractText The concentric rings trajectory is a robust and rapid imaging technique that fits very well with the speed, bandwidth, and resolution requirements of hyperpolarized (13)C MR Spectroscopic Imaging.</AbstractText" ], [ "30567566", "Regional assessment of carotid artery pulse wave velocity using compressed sensing accelerated high temporal resolution 2D CINE phase contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance.", "Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) allows for non-invasive assessment of arterial stiffness by means of measuring pulse wave velocity (PWV). PWV can be calculated from the time shift between two time-resolved flow curves acquired at two locations within an arterial segment. These flow curves can be derived from two-dimensional CINE phase&#xa0;contrast CMR (2D CINE PC CMR). While CMR-derived PWV measurements have proven to be accurate for the aorta, this is more challenging for smaller arteries such as the carotids due to the need for both high spatial and temporal resolution. In this work, we present a novel method that combines retrospectively gated 2D CINE PC CMR, high temporal binning of data and compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction to accomplish a temporal resolution of 4&#xa0;ms. This enables accurate flow measurements and assessment of PWV in regional carotid artery segments.</AbstractText Retrospectively gated 2D CINE PC CMR data acquired in the carotid artery was binned into cardiac frames of 4&#xa0;ms length, resulting in an incoherently undersampled k<sub Our proposed method produced very similar flow curves as those measured using ultrasound at 1&#xa0;ms temporal resolution. Reliable PWV estimation proved possible for transit times down to 7.5&#xa0;ms. Furthermore, significant differences in PWV values between healthy young and elderly subjects were found (4.7&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.0&#xa0;m/s and 7.9&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;2.4&#xa0;m/s, respectively; p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001) in accordance with literature.</AbstractText Retrospectively gated 2D CINE PC CMR with CS allows for high spatiotemporal resolution flow measurements and accurate regional carotid artery PWV calculations. We foresee this technique will be valuable in protocols investigating early development of carotid atherosclerosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "28944971", "A parallel MR imaging method using multilayer perceptron.", "To reconstruct MR images from subsampled data, we propose a fast reconstruction method using the multilayer perceptron (MLP) algorithm.</AbstractText We applied MLP to reduce aliasing artifacts generated by subsampling in k-space. The MLP is learned from training data to map aliased input images into desired alias-free images. The input of the MLP is all voxels in the aliased lines of multichannel real and imaginary images from the subsampled k-space data, and the desired output is all voxels in the corresponding alias-free line of the root-sum-of-squares of multichannel images from fully sampled k-space data. Aliasing artifacts in an image reconstructed from subsampled data were reduced by line-by-line processing of the learned MLP architecture.</AbstractText Reconstructed images from the proposed method are better than those from compared methods in terms of normalized root-mean-square error. The proposed method can be applied to image reconstruction for any k-space subsampling patterns in a phase encoding direction. Moreover, to further reduce the reconstruction time, it is easily implemented by parallel processing.</AbstractText We have proposed a reconstruction method using machine learning to accelerate imaging time, which reconstructs high-quality images from subsampled k-space data. It shows flexibility in the use of k-space sampling patterns, and can reconstruct images in real time.</AbstractText" ], [ "38269568", "Accelerated liver water T(1) mapping using single-shot continuous inversion-recovery spiral imaging.", "Liver T<sub The proposed continuous inversion-recovery (IR) Look-Locker methodology combines a single-shot gradient echo spiral readout, Dixon processing and a dictionary-based analysis for liver wT<sub The phantom results are in good agreement with MRS. The proposed method encodes the IR-curve for the liver wT<sub A single-shot spiral acquisition can be combined with a continuous IR Look-Locker method to perform rapid repeatable multi-slice liver water T<sub" ] ]
[ [ "26209926", "Gamma-hydroxybutyrate enhances mood and prosocial behavior without affecting plasma oxytocin and testosterone.", "Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a GHB-/GABAB-receptor agonist. Reports from GHB abusers indicate euphoric, prosocial, and empathogenic effects of the drug. We measured the effects of GHB on mood, prosocial behavior, social and non-social cognition and assessed potential underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms. GHB (20mg/kg) was tested in 16 healthy males, using a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Subjective effects on mood were assessed by visual-analogue-scales and the GHB-Specific-Questionnaire. Prosocial behavior was examined by the Charity Donation Task, the Social Value Orientation test, and the Reciprocity Task. Reaction time, memory, empathy, and theory-of-mind were also tested. Blood plasma levels of GHB, oxytocin, testosterone, progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenocorticotropic-hormone (ACTH) were determined. GHB showed stimulating and sedating effects, and elicited euphoria, disinhibition, and enhanced vitality. In participants with low prosociality, the drug increased donations and prosocial money distributions. In contrast, social cognitive abilities such as emotion recognition, empathy, and theory-of-mind, and basal cognitive functions were not affected. GHB increased plasma progesterone, while oxytocin and testosterone, cortisol, aldosterone, DHEA, and ACTH levels remained unaffected. GHB has mood-enhancing and prosocial effects without affecting social hormones such as oxytocin and testosterone. These data suggest a potential involvement of GHB-/GABAB-receptors and progesterone in mood and prosocial behavior.</AbstractText" ], [ "39729226", "Improved phosphorus MRSI acquisition through compressed sensing acceleration combined with low-rank reconstruction.", "Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (<sup To overcome these limitations, we propose an acquisition and reconstruction scheme for FID-MRSI sequences. Specifically, we employed Compressed Sensing (CS) and Low-Rank (LR) with Total Generalized Variation (TGV) regularization in a combined CS-LR framework. Additionally, we used a novel approach to k-space undersampling that utilizes distinct pseudo-random patterns for each average. To evaluate the proposed method's performance, we performed a retrospective analysis on healthy volunteers' brains and ex-vivo perfused kidneys.</AbstractText The presented method effectively improves the SNR two-to-threefold while preserving spectral and spatial quality even with threefold acceleration. We were able to recover signal attenuation of anatomical information, and the SNR improvement was obtained while maintaining the metabolites peaks linewidth.</AbstractText We presented a novel combined CS-LR acceleration and reconstruction method for FID-MRSI sequences, utilizing a unique approach to k-space undersampling. Our proposed method has demonstrated promising results in enhancing the SNR making it applicable for reducing acquisition time.</AbstractText" ], [ "26617542", "Exploration of Functional Connectivity During Preferred Music Stimulation in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness.", "Preferred music is a highly emotional and salient stimulus, which has previously been shown to increase the probability of auditory cognitive event-related responses in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). To further investigate whether and how music modifies the functional connectivity of the brain in DOC, five patients were assessed with both a classical functional connectivity scan (control condition), and a scan while they were exposed to their preferred music (music condition). Seed-based functional connectivity (left or right primary auditory cortex), and mean network connectivity of three networks linked to conscious sound perception were assessed. The auditory network showed stronger functional connectivity with the left precentral gyrus and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during music as compared to the control condition. Furthermore, functional connectivity of the external network was enhanced during the music condition in the temporo-parietal junction. Although caution should be taken due to small sample size, these results suggest that preferred music exposure might have effects on patients auditory network (implied in rhythm and music perception) and on cerebral regions linked to autobiographical memory.</AbstractText" ], [ "25948310", "[Development of a new redox molecular imaging method].", "For indirect tissue observation, electron-spin, Overhauser-enhanced, dynamic nuclear polarization magnetic resonance imaging (DNP-MRI) is a useful technique. However, its sensitivity and resolution are low compared with the clinical MRI apparatus. By switching to electron spin resonance (ESR) excitation, the magnetic field of the NMR detection, field cycle technique, which aims to improve resolution, was proposed. However, the effect of eddy currents or current value was altered unsatisfactorily. A team at Kyushu University proposed a new DNP-MRI technique capable of improving NMR detection field by preparing in advance a magnetic field, which was connected by the sample transport system. By developing a mobile MRI method that can be used while moving, and fastening the sample in a disk that rotates at a constant speed, they have developed a circular transport DNP-MRI method that greatly reduces the load on the sample. The circular transport DNP-MRI system comprises a circular sample transport system, detection of an MRI magnetic field of 1.5 T, and ESR excitation magnetic field of 20 mT. The developed DNP-MRI had a clear glass tube phantom and resolution of 0.15 mm, and was successful in imaging multiple radical resonant points. It has been commercialized by Japan Redox Limited. In the process of equipment commercialization, a new digital spectrometer has been developed, which expanded the MRI apparatus.</AbstractText" ], [ "25846448", "[A case of representational dysgraphia and object representational disorder with unilateral spatial neglect].", "We describe the case of a 48-year-old left-handed woman with unilateral neglect from a brain infarction in the area of the right basal ganglia and temporo-parieto-occipital lobe. When a Kanji character was dictated to her, she wrote only the right side (tukuri) of the character. When copying a picture from the visual image of a left-right asymmetrical object, such as the side view of the dog, she drew the tail and a hind leg immediately but was unable to draw a picture of the dog from the left side. We asked her to imagine going around to the opposite side of the imaginary dog and to draw it from that perspective. She easily drew the left side first, resulting in a left-right inverted picture of what she had previously drawn. She then tried to slowly visualize the missing part of her imagery, and was able to draw only the right tip of the missing part. She could not compose a complete picture of the dog. These findings suggested that the impairment was in the imaging of the left side of a character or object and that this was a case of representational dysgraphia and object representational disorder with unilateral spatial neglect.</AbstractText" ] ]
40313284
Chronic emotional stress and mediating role of Interleukine-6 in the association with cardiometabolic disorders in a multiethnic middle-aged and older US-population.
Chronic emotional stress is a well-recognized risk factor for psychiatric and cardiometabolic disorders. The mediating role of low-grade inflammation in older, ethnically diverse populations has never been studied.</AbstractText The multiethnic &#x2265; 50-year-old study population is a subset of the Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD) study. Adjusted logistic and linear regression were used to assess associations. Statistical mediation analysis with non-parametric bootstrapping was used to determine the intermediate role of Interleukine-6 (IL-6).</AbstractText The study included 2,173 participants (50-92 years). Hispanic and Black participants disclosed higher chronic stress levels than White participants. Having a chronic stress total score &#x2265; six points is associated with 53% higher odds of disclosing concomitant cardiovascular disease (CVD) (adj.OR=1.53 [1.1-2.53]), 31% of Type-2 diabetes (T2DM) (adj.OR=1.31[1.06-1.62]), 23% of hypertension (adj.OR=1.23 [1.02-1.49]), and 30% obesity (adj.OR=1.3[1.09-1.55]). These associations were statistically mediated by IL-6 (12% (<i The study highlights a further aspect of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in brain-body communication. While IL-6 partially explains statistical associations between chronic emotional stress and major cardiometabolic disorders, potential causal effects need to be explored in larger longitudinal studies.</AbstractText
[ [ "36724144", "Decoupling of interacting neuronal populations by time-shifted stimulation through spike-timing-dependent plasticity.", "The synaptic organization of the brain is constantly modified by activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. In several neurological disorders, abnormal neuronal activity and pathological synaptic connectivity may significantly impair normal brain function. Reorganization of neuronal circuits by therapeutic stimulation has the potential to restore normal brain dynamics. Increasing evidence suggests that the temporal stimulation pattern crucially determines the long-lasting therapeutic effects of stimulation. Here, we tested whether a specific pattern of brain stimulation can enable the suppression of pathologically strong inter-population synaptic connectivity through spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). More specifically, we tested how introducing a time shift between stimuli delivered to two interacting populations of neurons can effectively decouple them. To that end, we first used a tractable model, i.e., two bidirectionally coupled leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neurons, to theoretically analyze the optimal range of stimulation frequency and time shift for decoupling. We then extended our results to two reciprocally connected neuronal populations (modules) where inter-population delayed connections were modified by STDP. As predicted by the theoretical results, appropriately time-shifted stimulation causes a decoupling of the two-module system through STDP, i.e., by unlearning pathologically strong synaptic interactions between the two populations. Based on the overall topology of the connections, the decoupling of the two modules, in turn, causes a desynchronization of the populations that outlasts the cessation of stimulation. Decoupling effects of the time-shifted stimulation can be realized by time-shifted burst stimulation as well as time-shifted continuous simulation. Our results provide insight into the further optimization of a variety of multichannel stimulation protocols aiming at a therapeutic reshaping of diseased brain networks.</AbstractText" ], [ "39701467", "Rumination induction task in fMRI: Effects of rumination focused cognitive behavioral therapy and stability in youth.", "Rumination is implicated in the onset and maintenance of major depressive disorder (MDD). Rumination-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT) effectively targets rumination and may change resting-state brain connectivity and change in activation during a rumination induction task (RIT) post-intervention predicts depressive symptoms two years later. We examined brain activation changes during an RIT in adolescents with remitted MDD following RF-CBT and evaluated RIT reliability (or stability) during treatment as usual (TAU).</AbstractText Fifty-five adolescents ages 14-17 completed an RIT at baseline, were randomized to 10-14 sessions of RF-CBT (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;30) or treatment as usual (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;25) and completed an RIT at post-treatment or equivalent time delay. The RIT includes recalling negative memories (Rumination Instruction), dwelling on their meaning/consequences (Rumination Prompt), and imagining unrelated scenes and objects (Distraction). We assessed activation change in the RF-CBT group using paired-samples t-tests. We assessed reliability (or stability) via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of five rumination-related ROIs for TAU and RF-CBT separately across task blocks.</AbstractText Following treatment, participants receiving RF-CBT demonstrated increased activation of left precuneus during Rumination Instruction and of left angular and superior temporal gyri during Rumination Prompt blocks (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.01). From baseline to post-treatment, across most ROIs and task blocks, the RF-CBT group demonstrated poor stability (M&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.21, range&#xa0;=&#xa0;-0.19-0.69), while the TAU group demonstrated fair-to-excellent stability (M&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.52, range&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.27-0.86).</AbstractText RF-CBT changes activation of rumination-related circuitry during state-induced rumination, offering exciting avenues for future interventions. The RIT has fair-to-excellent stability among individuals not explicitly treated for rumination, and as expected, RIT stability is disrupted by RF-CBT.</AbstractText" ], [ "26530396", "Astrocyte-Dependent Vulnerability to Excitotoxicity in Spermine Oxidase-Overexpressing Mouse.", "Transgenic mice overexpressing spermine oxidase (SMO) in the cerebral cortex (Dach-SMO mice) showed increased vulnerability to excitotoxic brain injury and kainate-induced epileptic seizures. To investigate the mechanisms by which SMO overexpression leads to increased susceptibility to kainate excitotoxicity and seizure, in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO and control mice we assessed markers for astrocyte proliferation and neuron loss, and the ability of kainate to evoke glutamate release from nerve terminals and astrocyte processes. Moreover, we assessed a possible role of astrocytes in an in vitro model of epileptic-like activity in combined cortico-hippocampal slices recorded with a multi-electrode array device. In parallel, as the brain is a major metabolizer of oxygen and yet has relatively feeble protective antioxidant mechanisms, we analyzed the oxidative status of the cerebral cortex of both SMO-overexpressing and control mice by evaluating enzymatic and non-enzymatic scavengers such as metallothioneins. The main findings in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO mice as compared to controls are the following: astrocyte activation and neuron loss; increased oxidative stress and activation of defense mechanisms involving both neurons and astrocytes; increased susceptibility to kainate-evoked cortical epileptogenic activity, dependent on astrocyte function; appearance of a glutamate-releasing response to kainate from astrocyte processes due to activation of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors in Dach-SMO mice. We conclude that reactive astrocytosis and activation of glutamate release from astrocyte processes might contribute, together with increased reactive oxygen species production, to the vulnerability to kainate excitotoxicity in Dach-SMO mice. This mouse model with a deregulated polyamine metabolism would shed light on roles for astrocytes in increasing vulnerability to excitotoxic neuron injury.</AbstractText" ], [ "28402827", "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions.", "Despite growing interest in understanding how social factors drive poor health outcomes, many academics, policy makers, scientists, elected officials, journalists, and others responsible for defining and responding to the public discourse remain reluctant to identify racism as a root cause of racial health inequities. In this conceptual report, the third in a Series on equity and equality in health in the USA, we use a contemporary and historical perspective to discuss research and interventions that grapple with the implications of what is known as structural racism on population health and health inequities. Structural racism refers to the totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, health care, and criminal justice. These patterns and practices in turn reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values, and distribution of resources. We argue that a focus on structural racism offers a concrete, feasible, and promising approach towards advancing health equity and improving population health.</AbstractText" ], [ "38901423", "Brain responses to intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet in older adults.", "Diet may promote brain health in metabolically impaired older individuals. In an 8-week randomized clinical trial involving 40 cognitively intact older adults with insulin resistance, we examined the effects of 5:2 intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet on brain health. Although intermittent fasting induced greater weight loss, the two diets had comparable effects in improving insulin signaling biomarkers in neuron-derived extracellular vesicles, decreasing the brain-age-gap estimate (reflecting the pace of biological aging of the brain) on magnetic resonance imaging, reducing brain glucose on magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and improving blood biomarkers of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, with minimal changes in cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. Intermittent fasting and healthy living improved executive function and memory, with intermittent fasting benefiting more certain cognitive measures. In exploratory analyses, sex, body mass index, and apolipoprotein E and SLC16A7 genotypes modulated diet effects. The study provides a blueprint for assessing brain effects of dietary interventions and motivates further research on intermittent fasting and continuous diets for brain health optimization. For further information, please see ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT02460783.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40657491", "A Numerical Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnosing the Vibration Modes of the Cylindrical Shell in the MRI Machine.", "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging method that utilizes radio waves and magnetic fields. This study focuses on reducing the acoustic noise produced inside the cylindrical shell of the scanner, where the patient is located. Vibration modes are generated by eddy currents in the cylindrical shell induced by gradient magnetic fields. Additionally, the scanner wall is typically joined to the gradient spiral cylinder, causing vibrations to be transmitted to the wall and thereby producing extra sound waves. The present study investigates methods for mitigating noise from the scanner wall and reducing the transmission noise from the spiral gradient cylinder. Numerical methods and practical solutions for lowering acoustic noise in MRI gradient coils are explored. A 20&#x2009;mm uniform absorber is demonstrated as an effective design for significantly reducing acoustic noise in the frequency range 0 to 3&#x2009;kHz. Finally, numerical analysis of gradient cycles yields solutions that lower both vibration and noise levels.</AbstractText" ], [ "40608930", "The intracellular Ca(2+) sensitivity of transmitter release in glutamatergic neocortical boutons.", "Synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1) and Syt2 are the main calcium (Ca<sup" ], [ "40249629", "Diagnostic and Surgical Experiences of Australian Parents Navigating Their Child's Craniosynostosis: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.", "Nonsyndromic craniosynostosis is a congenital condition causing abnormal skull shape and growth, that is typically surgically treated in the first year of life. Parents of children diagnosed with craniosynostosis endure parental stress and complex emotional responses to their child's diagnosis and treatment. This study examines the psychosocial experiences of parents and their support needs across the diagnostic and perioperative period. Semi-structured interviews with 17 Australian families who had a child diagnosed with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis were undertaken. Reflexive thematic analysis, conducted with an inductive and social-constructionist epistemological approach, generated 5 themes. These themes were: (1) the journey begins; (2) the advocate; (3) waiting for surgery; (4) traveling on the \"right\" path; and (5) the \"different\" child. Challenges faced by parents across their journey were multi-faceted and disproportionately impacted mothers. Health care professionals must be responsive to parent support needs and attend to the provision of psychological support for families affected by appearance-altering surgery. Findings highlighted the value of interinstitutional collaboration between Australian craniofacial units, and the importance of family-oriented approaches to care.</AbstractText" ], [ "40768486", "Hyperuricemia in ob/ob mice relates to hepatocellular pyruvate metabolism/ xanthine oxidase axis.", "The study aimed to examine the association between obesity and hyperuricemia in ob/ob mice.</AbstractText An animal model of obesity was developed using male ob/ob mice. Biochemical parameter test kits were used to measure serum uric acid (UA), hepatic xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity, serum creatinine (Scr), serum lipid profiles, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Then, liver tissues were collected for hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E) staining, flow cytometry, and western blot (WB) analysis. Furthermore, Huh-7 cells were co-cultured with THP-1 macrophages for 24 hours, with or without LPS&#x2009;+&#x2009;IFN-&#x3b3; or PA, and subsequently analyzed for XOD activity. In addition, the Huh-7 cells stimulated with PA were analyzed by metabolomics and validated by WB and RT-qPCR.</AbstractText Levels of Serum lipid profiles, UA, and XOD activity are elevated in ob/ob mice. In ob/ob mice, liver M1 macrophage polarization is markedly enhanced. In vitro studies show that elevated XOD activity in hepatocytes during hyperlipidemia does not correlate with M1 macrophage polarization. Metabolomics showed that the XOD activity of hepatocytes in hyperlipidemia may be related to pyruvate metabolism. Moreover, the protein and mRNA levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), an enzyme that limits pyruvate accumulation, were significantly down-regulated in Huh-7 cells with PA stimulation.</AbstractText Hyperuricemia in ob/ob mice relates to hepatocellular pyruvate metabolism/ xanthine oxidase axis.</AbstractText" ], [ "40746818", "Management of a Comminuted Patellar Fracture in a Child Using a Titanium Claw Plate: A Case Report.", "Comminuted patellar fractures are rare in pediatric populations, often resulting from high-energy trauma such as sports or road accidents. Surgical management is essential to restore the articular surface and extensor mechanism of the knee. However, achieving anatomical reduction and rigid fixation can be challenging, potentially leading to poor functional outcomes. We report the case of a 12-year-old boy who sustained a comminuted patellar fracture following a motorcycle accident. The patient presented with significant knee swelling, pain, and inability to bear weight. Radiographs and a CT scan confirmed the diagnosis. Surgical fixation was performed using a titanium claw plate, a novel approach in pediatric cases. Postoperative rehabilitation led to full knee mobility within three months. Traditional methods such as tension band wiring are associated with complications such as&#xa0;skin irritation, loss of fixation, and symptomatic hardware. The titanium claw plate offers advantages such as shape memory effect, superelasticity, and&#xa0;biocompatibility, making it a promising alternative for pediatric patellar fractures. Comminuted patellar fractures in children require surgical intervention to ensure optimal functional outcomes. The use of a titanium claw plate represents an innovative and effective treatment option, as demonstrated in this case. Further studies are needed to validate its long-term efficacy.</AbstractText" ] ]
33103377
Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and late delayed radiation-induced brain injury in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A case-control study.
Inflammatory reaction plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of late delayed radiation-induced brain injury (RBI). Low vitamin D levels are closely associated with various immuno-inflammatory diseases, but the relationship with late delayed RBI remains unknown. Here, we aimed to determine the association of serum vitamin D levels with clinical parameters in late delayed RBI patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.</AbstractText 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and clinical and cerebrospinal fluid parameters were evaluated in 21 patients with RBI and compared with 90 age-, sex-, and season-matched healthy controls.</AbstractText 25-(OH)D3 levels were lower in patients with RBI compared to controls (40.39&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;22.11 vs. 64.54&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;19.89&#xa0;nmol/L, p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001), especially for aged &#x2265;60&#xa0;years (vs. &lt;60&#xa0;years, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.038), females (vs. males, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.012), short latency (&lt;5&#xa0;years) (vs. &#x2265;5&#xa0;years, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.015), and severe impairment (LENT/SOMA score &#x2265;3) (vs. LENT/SOMA score &lt;3, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.010). Serum 25-(OH)D3 levels were associated with age (r&#xa0;=&#xa0;-.464, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.015), Latency of RBI (r&#xa0;=&#xa0;.416, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.031) and LENT/SOMA Scale (r&#xa0;=&#xa0;-.488, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.010).</AbstractText Our data showed that serum 25-(OH)D3 levels were reduced in late delayed RBI patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.</AbstractText
[ [ "26526200", "Shenqi fuzheng injection attenuates irradiation-induced brain injury in mice via inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway and microglial activation.", "Radiation-induced brain injury (RIBI) is the most common and severe adverse effect induced by cranial radiation therapy (CRT). In the present study, we examined the effects of the traditional Chinese medicine Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (SFI) on RIBI in mice, and explored the underlying mechanisms.</AbstractText C57BL/6J mice were subjected to a single dose of 20-Gy CRT. The mice were treated with SFI (20 mL&#xb7;kg(-1)&#xb7;d(-1), ip) for 4 weeks. Morris water maze test was used to assess the cognitive changes. Evans blue leakage and a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) assay were used to evaluate the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The expression of inflammatory factors and microglial activation in brain tissues were detected using RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining.</AbstractText CRT caused marked reductions in the body weight and life span of the mice, and significantly impaired their spatial learning. Furthermore, CRT significantly increased the BBB permeability, number of activated microglia, expression levels of TNF-&#x3b1; and IL-1&#x3b2;, and the levels of phosphorylated p65 and PIDD-CC (the twice-cleaved fragment of p53-induced protein with a death domain) in the brain tissues. Four-week SFI treatment (administered for 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after CRT) not only significantly improved the physical status, survival, and spatial learning in CRT-treated mice, but also attenuated all the CRT-induced changes in the brain tissues. Four-week SFI pretreatment (administered for 4 weeks before CRT) was less effective.</AbstractText Administration of SFI effectively attenuates irradiation-induced brain injury via inhibition of the NF-&#x3ba;B signaling pathway and microglial activation.</AbstractText" ], [ "27132524", "Radiation-induced brain injury: low-hanging fruit for neuroregeneration.", "Brain radiation is a fundamental tool in neurooncology to improve local tumor control, but it leads to profound and progressive impairments in cognitive function. Increased attention to quality of life in neurooncology has accelerated efforts to understand and ameliorate radiation-induced cognitive sequelae. Such progress has coincided with a new understanding of the role of CNS progenitor cell populations in normal cognition and in their potential utility for the treatment of neurological diseases. The irradiated brain exhibits a host of biochemical and cellular derangements, including loss of endogenous neurogenesis, demyelination, and ablation of endogenous oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. These changes, in combination with a state of chronic neuroinflammation, underlie impairments in memory, attention, executive function, and acquisition of motor and language skills. Animal models of radiation-induced brain injury have demonstrated a robust capacity of both neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to restore cognitive function after brain irradiation, likely through a combination of cell replacement and trophic effects. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells exhibit a remarkable capacity to migrate, integrate, and functionally remyelinate damaged white matter tracts in a variety of preclinical models. The authors here critically address the opportunities and challenges in translating regenerative cell therapies from rodents to humans. Although valiant attempts to translate neuroprotective therapies in recent decades have almost uniformly failed, the authors make the case that harnessing human radiation-induced brain injury as a scientific tool represents a unique opportunity to both successfully translate a neuroregenerative therapy and to acquire tools to facilitate future restorative therapies for human traumatic and degenerative diseases of the central nervous system.</AbstractText" ], [ "30299488", "Genome-Wide Association Study of Susceptibility Loci for Radiation-Induced Brain Injury.", "Radiation-induced brain injury is a nonnegligible issue in the management of cancer patients treated by partial or whole brain irradiation. In particular, temporal lobe injury (TLI), a deleterious late complication in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, greatly affects the long-term life quality of these patients. Although genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with radiation toxicity, genetic variants contributing to the radiation-induced brain injury have not yet been assessed.</AbstractText We recruited and performed follow-up for a prospective observational cohort, Genetic Architecture of Radiotherapy Toxicity and Prognosis, using magnetic resonance imaging for TLI diagnosis. We conducted genome-wide association analysis in 1082 patients and validated the top associations in two independent cohorts of 1119 and 741 patients, respectively. All statistical tests were two-sided.</AbstractText We identified a promoter variant rs17111237 (A&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;G, minor allele frequency [MAF] = 0.14) in CEP128 associated with TLI risk (hazard ratio = 1.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.26 to 1.66, Pcombined=3.18&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;10-7) which is in moderate linkage disequilibrium (LD) with rs162171 (MAF&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.18, R2 = 0.69), the top signal in CEP128 (hazard ratio = 1.46, 95% confidence interval = 1.29-1.66, Pcombined= 6.17&#x2009;&#xd7;&#x2009;10-9). Combining the clinical variables with the top SNP, we divided the patients into different subgroups with varying risk with 5-year TLI-free rates ranging from 33.7% to 95.5%. CEP128, a key component of mother centriole, tightly interacts with multiple radiation-resistant genes and plays an important role in maintaining the functional cilia, which otherwise will lead to a malfunction of the neural network. We found that A&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;G alteration at rs17111237 impaired the promoter activity of CEP128 and knockdown of CEP128 decreased the clonogenic cell survival of U87 cells under radiation. Noteworthy, 12.7% (27/212) of the GWAS-based associated genes (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;.001) were enriched in the neurogenesis pathway.</AbstractText This three-stage study is the first GWAS of radiation-induced brain injury that implicates the genetic susceptibility gene CEP128 involved in TLI development and provides the novel insight into the underlying mechanisms of radiation-induced brain injury.</AbstractText" ], [ "25936269", "Rhubarb extract has a protective role against radiation-induced brain injury and neuronal cell apoptosis.", "Oxidative stress caused by ionizing radiation is involved in neuronal damage in a number of disorders, including trauma, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Ionizing radiation can lead to the formation of free radicals, which cause neuronal apoptosis and have important roles in the development of some types of chronic brain disease. The present study evaluated the effects of varying concentrations (2, 5 and 10 &#xb5;g/ml) of ethanolic rhubarb extract on the neuronal damage caused by irradiation in primary neuronal cultures obtained from the cortices of rat embryos aged 20 days. Brain damage was induced with a single dose of &#x3b3;-irradiation that induced DNA fragmentation, increased lactate dehydrogenase release in neuronal cells and acted as a trigger for microglial cell proliferation. Treatment with rhubarb extract significantly decreased radiation-induced lactate dehydrogenase release and DNA fragmentation, which are important in the process of cell apoptosis. The rhubarb extract exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of lactate dehydrogenase release and neuronal cell apoptosis that were induced by the administration of ionizing radiation. The effect of a 10 &#xb5;g/ml dose of rhubarb extract on the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by radiation was also investigated. This dose led to significant inhibition of ROS generation. In conclusion, the present study showed a protective role of rhubarb extract against irradiation-induced apoptotic neuronal cell death and ROS generation.</AbstractText" ], [ "38890280", "Plasma proteomics identify biomarkers predicting Parkinson's disease up to 7 years before symptom onset.", "Parkinson's disease is increasingly prevalent. It progresses from the pre-motor stage (characterised by non-motor symptoms like REM sleep behaviour disorder), to the disabling motor stage. We need objective biomarkers for early/pre-motor disease stages to be able to intervene and slow the underlying neurodegenerative process. Here, we validate a targeted multiplexed mass spectrometry assay for blood samples from recently diagnosed motor Parkinson's patients (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;99), pre-motor individuals with isolated REM sleep behaviour disorder (two cohorts: n&#x2009;=&#x2009;18 and n&#x2009;=&#x2009;54 longitudinally), and healthy controls (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;36). Our machine-learning model accurately identifies all Parkinson patients and classifies 79% of the pre-motor individuals up to 7 years before motor onset by analysing the expression of eight proteins-Granulin precursor, Mannan-binding-lectin-serine-peptidase-2, Endoplasmatic-reticulum-chaperone-BiP, Prostaglaindin-H2-D-isomaerase, Interceullular-adhesion-molecule-1, Complement C3, Dickkopf-WNT-signalling pathway-inhibitor-3, and Plasma-protease-C1-inhibitor. Many of these biomarkers correlate with symptom severity. This specific blood panel indicates molecular events in early stages and could help identify at-risk participants for clinical trials aimed at slowing/preventing motor Parkinson's disease.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "31865664", "The efficacy of the 3-dimensional vibe-caipirinha-dixon technique in the evaluation of pancreatic steatosis.", "CAIPIRINHA is a new technique in abdominal imaging. Pancreatic steatosis (PS) is a subject of increasing scientific interest. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the isotropic 3D-VIBE- CAIPIRINHA -DIXON technique on a new generation 3-tesla MR unit in the evaluation of PS.</AbstractText In this retrospective study, the imaging findings of 49 patients with PS and 41 control subjects were examined. The pancreas-to-spleen ratio (PSR), pancreas-to-muscle ratio (PMR), and pancreatic signal intensity index (PSII) were defined as 3 new parameters and these indexes were calculated from the in-phase/out of phase 3D-VIBE- CAIPIRINHA-DIXON images.</AbstractText The PSR, PMR, and PSII values were significantly different between the patient and control groups (P = 0.001, P = 0.009, P &lt; 0.001, respectively). Statistically significant differences were observed between patient and control groups for ROI measurements of fatty areas on these sequences/images: subtraction (in-out) (P &lt; 0.001), T2W HASTE (P &lt; 0.001), DIXON-fat (P &lt; 0.001), fat-suppressed T1W (P = 0.002), and subtraction (out-in) (P = 0.010).</AbstractText Evaluation of PS with the 3D-VIBE-CAIPIRINHA-DIXON technique can be made rapidly and effectively.</AbstractText" ], [ "31410565", "Tethered cord syndrome with lower back pain and lumbosacral angle increase: case report.", "Tethered cord syndrome (TCS) is the progressive development of various neuromuscular dysfunctions caused by the traction of the conus medullaris resulting from congenital or acquired causes, which are often accompanied by fecal and/or urinary incontinence and abnormal sensory motor functions of lower limbs. Lower back pain is a common clinical symptom of TCS patients and can be significantly improved by surgical untethering. However, the specific relationship between the increase in lumbosacral angle and TCS has rarely been reported.</AbstractText A case of TCS in an 8-year-old girl is reported. The patient had lower back pain complicated by increased lumbosacral angle for more than 20&#xa0;days.</AbstractText Physical examination and MRI results showed that the condition of the child has been complicated by TCS.</AbstractText After additional relevant examination, surgical untethering of the terminal filum was performed under general anesthesia.</AbstractText The symptoms of lower back pain disappeared, and the plain radiographs indicated that the lumbosacral angle decreased and lumbar lordosis returned to normal. During the follow-up period of half a year, the child did not experience particular discomfort or asymptomatic aggravation.</AbstractText For children with low back pain complicated by lumbosacral angle increase, MRI should be performed to exclude TCS. Once the patient has been diagnosed, early surgical treatment should be provided.</AbstractText" ], [ "32058974", "Post-treatment with Posiphen Reduces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Neurodegeneration in Stroke Brain.", "Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors have protective and anti-inflammatory actions against brain injury, mediated by nicotinic &#x3b1;7 cholinergic receptor activation. The use of AChE inhibitors in patients is limited by systemic cholinergic side effects. Posiphen, a stereoisomer of the AChE inhibitor Phenserine, lacks AChE inhibitor activity. The purpose of this study is to determine the protective effect of Posiphen in cellular and animal models of stroke. Both Posiphen and Phenserine reduced glutamate-mediated neuronal loss in co-cultures of primary cortical cells and microglia. Phenserine-, but not Posiphen-, mediated neuroprotection was diminished by the nicotinic &#x3b1;7 receptor antagonist methyllycaconitine. Posiphen antagonized NMDA-mediated Ca<sup" ], [ "32161012", "Neuroprotective Effects of Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Radiation-Induced Brain Injury in Mice.", "To investigate the neuroprotective effects of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) on radiation-induced brain injury (RIBI).</AbstractText Thirty female C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: control (CON), whole brain irradiation (WBI), and the cell therapy (MSC) group. Mice in the WBI and MSC groups received a single, whole brain irradiation treatment with 15 Gy of <sup Compared with mice in the WBI group, learning and memory in the MSC mice were significantly increased (P&lt;0.05), neuronal degeneration and necrosis were significantly decreased (<i UC-MSCs play a neuroprotective role by inhibiting brain cell injury and neuroinflammation.</AbstractText" ], [ "32919407", "The effects of eszopiclone on sleep spindles and memory consolidation in schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial.", "Sleep spindles, defining oscillations of stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep (N2), mediate memory consolidation. Schizophrenia is characterized by reduced spindle activity that correlates with impaired sleep-dependent memory consolidation. In a small, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study of schizophrenia, eszopiclone (Lunesta&#xae;), a nonbenzodiazepine sedative hypnotic, increased N2 spindle density (number/minute) but did not significantly improve memory. This larger double-blind crossover study that included healthy controls investigated whether eszopiclone could both increase N2 spindle density and improve memory. Twenty-six medicated schizophrenia outpatients and 29 healthy controls were randomly assigned to have a placebo or eszopiclone (3&#x2009;mg) sleep visit first. Each visit involved two consecutive nights of high density polysomnography with training on the Motor Sequence Task (MST) on the second night and testing the following morning. Patients showed a widespread reduction of spindle density and, in both groups, eszopiclone increased spindle density but failed to enhance sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation. Follow-up analyses revealed that eszopiclone also affected cortical slow oscillations: it decreased their amplitude, increased their duration, and rendered their phase locking with spindles more variable. Regardless of group or visit, the density of coupled spindle-slow oscillation events predicted memory consolidation significantly better than spindle density alone, suggesting that they are a better biomarker of memory consolidation. In conclusion, sleep oscillations are promising targets for improving memory consolidation in schizophrenia, but enhancing spindles is not enough. Effective therapies also need to preserve or enhance cortical slow oscillations and their coordination with thalamic spindles, an interregional dialog that is necessary for sleep-dependent memory consolidation.</AbstractText" ] ]
34184362
Improved Brain MR Imaging from a Compact, Lightweight 3T Scanner with High-Performance Gradients.
A low-cryogen, compact &#x2009;3T (C3T) MRI scanner with high-performance gradients capable of simultaneously achieving 80&#x2009;mT/m gradient amplitude and 700&#x2009;T/m/second slew rate has been in use to study research patients since March 2016 but has not been implemented in the clinical practice.</AbstractText To compare head MRI examinations obtained with the C3T system and a conventional whole-body &#x2009;3T (WB3T) scanner in seven parameters across five commonly used brain imaging sequences.</AbstractText Prospective.</AbstractText Thirty patients with a clinically indicated head MRI.</AbstractText 3T; T1 FLAIR, T1 MP-RAGE, 3D T2 FLAIR, T2 FSE, and DWI.</AbstractText All patients tolerated the scans well. Three board-certified neuroradiologists scored the comparative quality of C3T and WB3T images in blinded fashion using a five-point Likert scale in terms of: signal-to-noise ratio, lesion conspicuity, motion artifact, gray/white matter contrast, cerebellar folia, susceptibility artifact, and overall quality.</AbstractText Left-sided, right-sided, and two-sided Wilcoxon signed rank test; Fisher's method. A P value &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant.</AbstractText The C3T system performed better than the WB3T in virtually all comparisons, except for motion artifacts for the T1 FLAIR and T1 MP-RAGE sequences, where the WB3T system was deemed better. When combining all sequences together, the C3T system outperformed the WB3T system in all image quality parameters evaluated, except for motion artifact (P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.13).</AbstractText The C3T scanner provided better overall image quality for all sequences, and performed better in all individual categories, except for motion artifact on the T1 FLAIR and T1 MP-RAGE.</AbstractText 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 1.</AbstractText
[ [ "29456437", "A Tabletop Persistent-Mode, Liquid-Helium-Free, 1.5-T/90-mm MgB(2) \"Finger\" MRI Magnet for Osteoporosis Screening: Two Design Options.", "In this paper we present two design options for a tabletop liquid-helium-free, persistent-mode 1.5-T/90-mm MgB<sub" ], [ "29790649", "Hyperpolarized NMR Spectroscopy: d-DNP, PHIP, and SABRE Techniques.", "The intensity of NMR signals can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude by using various techniques for the hyperpolarization of different molecules. Such approaches can overcome the main sensitivity challenges facing modern NMR/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, whilst hyperpolarized fluids can also be used in a variety of applications in material science and biomedicine. This Focus Review considers the fundamentals of the preparation of hyperpolarized liquids and gases by using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (d-DNP) and parahydrogen-based techniques, such as signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP), in both heterogeneous and homogeneous processes. The various new aspects in the formation and utilization of hyperpolarized fluids, along with the possibility of observing NMR signal enhancement, are described.</AbstractText" ], [ "24365175", "Safety and complications of more than 1500 small-incision lenticule extraction procedures.", "To evaluate the safety and complications of small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE).</AbstractText Clinical control cohort study.</AbstractText A total of 922 healthy patients (1800 eyes) who were treated for myopia or myopic astigmatism between January 2011 and March 2013 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Aarhus, Denmark.</AbstractText Patients received a full preoperative examination and were treated with SMILE in both eyes and followed for 3 months (1574 eyes). Patients with complications, including loss of corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) or dissatisfaction, were offered a late reexamination.</AbstractText Surgical complications and CDVA.</AbstractText Mean preoperative spherical equivalent refraction was&#xa0;-7.25&#xb1;1.84 diopters (D). Average postoperative refraction was&#xa0;-0.28&#xb1;0.52 D, and mean error of treatment was&#xa0;-0.15&#xb1;0.50 D. By 3 months, 86% (1346 eyes) had unchanged or improved CDVA. A loss of 2 or more lines was observed in 1.5% of eyes; however, at a late follow-up visit (average, 18 months), CDVA was within 1 line of the preoperative level in all eyes. Perioperative complications included epithelial abrasions (6%), small tears at the incision (1.8%), and difficult lenticule extraction (1.9%). The cap was perforated in 4 eyes, and a major tear occurred in 1 eye; however, none of these patients had late visual symptoms. In 0.8% (14 eyes), suction was lost during surgery. Re-treatment was successful in 13 eyes, whereas 1 eye had ghost images and was re-treated with topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). Postoperative complications included trace haze (8%), epithelial dryness on day 1 (5%), interface inflammation secondary to central abrasion (0.3%), and minor interface infiltrates (0.3%); these complications had an impact on CDVA at 3 months in only 1 case. Irregular corneal topography occurred in 1.0% of eyes, resulting in reduced 3-month CDVA (12 eyes) or ghost images (6 eyes). Topography-guided PRK was performed in 4 eyes, with improvement in 3 cases. Satisfaction was high, with only 2 patients dissatisfied at their latest visit because of blurred vision or residual astigmatism.</AbstractText Overall, SMILE had acceptable safety. Although 1.5% of eyes had reduced CDVA by 3 months, visual acuity was restored in the long term. Likewise, patient satisfaction was high.</AbstractText" ], [ "36842521", "Exploring the limits of MEG spatial resolution with multipolar expansions.", "The advent of scalp magnetoencephalography (MEG) based on optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) may represent a step change in the field of human electrophysiology. Compared to cryogenic MEG based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs, placed 2-4 cm above scalp), scalp MEG promises significantly higher spatial resolution imaging but it also comes with numerous challenges regarding how to optimally design OPM arrays. In this context, we sought to provide a systematic description of MEG spatial resolution as a function of the number of sensors (allowing comparison of low- vs.&#xa0;high-density MEG), sensor-to-brain distance (cryogenic SQUIDs vs.&#xa0;scalp OPM), sensor type (magnetometers vs.&#xa0;gradiometers; single- vs.&#xa0;multi-component sensors), and signal-to-noise ratio. To that aim, we present an analytical theory based on MEG multipolar expansions that enables, once supplemented with experimental input and simulations, quantitative assessment of the limits of MEG spatial resolution in terms of two qualitatively distinct regimes. In the regime of asymptotically high-density MEG, we provide a mathematically rigorous description of how magnetic field smoothness constraints spatial resolution to a slow, logarithmic divergence. In the opposite regime of low-density MEG, it is sensor density that constraints spatial resolution to a faster increase following a square-root law. The transition between these two regimes controls how MEG spatial resolution saturates as sensors approach sources of neural activity. This two-regime model of MEG spatial resolution integrates known observations (e.g., the difficulty of improving spatial resolution by increasing sensor density, the gain brought by moving sensors on scalp, or the usefulness of multi-component sensors) and gathers them under a unifying theoretical framework that highlights the underlying physics and reveals properties inaccessible to simulations. We propose that this framework may find useful applications to benchmark the design of future OPM-based scalp MEG systems.</AbstractText" ], [ "29536587", "Lightweight, compact, and high-performance 3T MR system for imaging the brain and extremities.", "To build and evaluate a small-footprint, lightweight, high-performance 3T MRI scanner for advanced brain imaging with image quality that is equal to or better than conventional whole-body clinical 3T MRI scanners, while achieving substantial reductions in installation costs.</AbstractText A conduction-cooled magnet was developed that uses less than 12&#x2009;liters of liquid helium in a gas-charged sealed system, and standard NbTi wire, and weighs approximately 2000&#x2009;kg. A 42-cm inner-diameter gradient coil with asymmetric transverse axes was developed to provide patient access for head and extremity exams, while minimizing magnet-gradient interactions that adversely affect image quality. The gradient coil was designed to achieve simultaneous operation of 80-mT/m peak gradient amplitude at a slew rate of 700&#x2009;T/m/s on each gradient axis using readily available 1-MVA gradient drivers.</AbstractText In a comparison of anatomical imaging in 16 patients using T<sub The compact 3T MRI system has been in continuous operation at the Mayo Clinic since March 2016. To date, over 200 patient studies have been completed, including 96 comparison studies with a clinical 3T whole-body MRI. The increased gradient performance has reliably resulted in consistently improved image quality.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36069439", "Next-Generation Cancer Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Tumor-Targeted Alkylphosphocholine Metal Analogs.", "In an effort to exploit the elevated need for phospholipids displayed by cancer cells relative to normal cells, we have developed tumor-targeted alkylphosphocholines (APCs) as broad-spectrum cancer imaging and therapy agents. Radioactive APC analogs have exhibited selective uptake and prolonged tumor retention in over 50 cancer types in preclinical models, as well as over 15 cancer types in over a dozen clinical trials. To push the structural limits of this platform, we recently added a chelating moiety capable of binding gadolinium and many other metals for cancer-targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography imaging, and targeted radionuclide therapy. The aim of this work was to synthesize, characterize, and validate the tumor selectivity of a new broad-spectrum, tumor-targeted, macrocyclic MRI chelate, Gd-NM600, in xenograft and orthotopic tumor models. A secondary aim was to identify and track the in vivo chemical speciation and spatial localization of this new chelate Gd-NM600 in order to assess its Gd deposition properties.</AbstractText T1 relaxivities of Gd-NM600 were characterized in water and plasma at 1.5 T and 3.0 T. Tumor uptake and subcellular localization studies were performed using transmission electron microscopy. We imaged 8 different preclinical models of human cancer over time and compared the T1-weighted imaging results to that of a commercial macrocyclic Gd chelate, Gd-DOTA. Finally, matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization-mass spectrometry imaging was used to characterize and map the tissue distribution of the chemical species of Gd-NM600.</AbstractText Gd-NM600 exhibits high T1 relaxivity (approximately 16.4 s-1/mM at 1.5 T), excellent tumor uptake (3.95 %ID/g at 48 hours), prolonged tumor retention (7 days), and MRI conspicuity. Moreover, minimal tumor uptake saturability of Gd-NM600 was observed. Broad-spectrum tumor-specific uptake was demonstrated in 8 different human cancer models. Cancer cell uptake of Gd-NM600 via endosomal internalization and processing was revealed with transmission electron microscopy. Importantly, tissue mass spectrometry imaging successfully interrogated the spatial localization and chemical speciation of Gd compounds and also identified breakdown products of Gd species.</AbstractText We have introduced a new macrocyclic cancer-targeted Gd chelate that achieves broad-spectrum tumor uptake and prolonged retention. Furthermore, we have demonstrated in vivo stability of Gd-NM600 by ultrahigh resolution MS tissue imaging. A tumor-targeted contrast agent coupled with the enhanced imaging resolution of MRI relative to positron emission tomography may transform oncologic imaging.</AbstractText" ], [ "36275227", "Interaction of discourse processing impairments, communicative participation, and verbal executive functions in people with chronic traumatic brain injury.", "Especially in the chronic phase, individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (IwTBI) may still have impairments at the discourse level, even if these remain undetected by conventional aphasia tests. As a consequence, IwTBI may be impaired in conversational behavior and disadvantaged in their socio-communicative participation. Even though handling discourse is thought to be a basic requirement for participation and quality of life, only a handful of test procedures assessing discourse disorders have been developed so far. The MAKRO Screening is a recently developed screening tool designed to assess discourse impairments. The test construction is based on psycholinguistic frameworks and the concept of <i The aim of our study was to investigate discourse processing in IwTBI in different tasks and to assess problems in communicative participation in the post-acute and chronic phase. In this context, we also aimed to analyze the influence of the severity of the initial impairment and the verbal executive abilities on the discourse performance. Additionally, the impact of macrolinguistic discourse impairments and verbal fluency on perceived communicative participation was targeted in our analysis.</AbstractText Data from 23 IwTBI (moderate to severe) and 23 healthy control subjects have been analyzed. They completed two subtests of the MAKRO screening: <i IwTBI showed lower test results than the control group in the two subtests of the MAKRO-Screening. Difficulties in picture-based narrative text production also indicated greater perceived difficulties in communicative participation (LCQ). We also found that the subject's performance on the MAKRO-Screening subtests can partly be explained by underlying dysexecutive symptoms (in terms of verbal fluency and verbal task switching) and the severity of their injury. The preliminary results of our study show that cognitive-linguistic symptoms in IwTBI are also evident in the chronic phase. These can be detected with procedures referring to the discourse level, such as the MAKRO-Screening. The assessment of discourse performance should be an integral part in the rehabilitation of IwTBI in order to detect cognitive-linguistic communication disorders and to evaluate their impact on socio-communicative participation.</AbstractText" ], [ "35039964", "Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the simplified chinese version of the fremantle back awareness questionnaire in patients with low back Pain.", "The Fremantle back awareness questionnaire (FreBAQ) was recently developed as simple and quick tool to assess back-specific body perception in Low back pain (LBP) patients. The aim of the present study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Fremantle back awareness questionnaire (FreBAQ) into a Simplified Chinese version (FreBAQ-C), and evaluate the reliability and validity of the FreBAQ-C in patients with non-specific Chronic Low back pain (CLBP).</AbstractText The FreBAQ was translated into Chinese according to established methods. Internal consistency was assessed according to Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was estimated by Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was evaluated by correlations between the FreBAQ-C and Visual analogue scale (VAS), Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RDQ), Pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), Tampa scale for kinesiophobia (TSK) as well as Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).</AbstractText A total of 105 participants (38 males and 67 females) were included in this study with the mean age of 54.1&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;15.6&#xa0;years, mean duration of LBP of 6.8&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;4.6&#xa0;years. The FreBAQ-C total scores were well distributed, with no floor or ceiling effects. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.833). ICC of test-retest reliability was good (0.897, 95% confidence interval: 0.852-0.929). The limits of agreement (LOA) ranged from -&#xa0;5.8 to 6.3. The Standard error of measurement (SEM) and Minimum detectable change (MDC) were 2.16 and 5.99. Construct validity was confirmed by significant correlation of The FreBAQ-C and VAS during motion (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.274, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.005) and rest (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.243, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.012), RDQ (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.377, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001), PCS (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.439, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001), and TSK(r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.311, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001).</AbstractText The FreBAQ-C was demonstrated to have acceptable reliability and validity for patients with non-specific CLBP in Chinese mainland. It will allow evaluating body preception of the back in the Chinese population with CLBP.</AbstractText" ], [ "35412292", "High-Resolution Live Imaging of Axonal RNP Granules in Drosophila Pupal Brain Explants.", "Dynamic and local adjustments of the axonal proteome are observed in response to extracellular cues and achieved via translation of axonally localized mRNAs. To be localized, these mRNAs must be recognized by RNA binding proteins and packaged into higher-order ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules transported along axonal microtubules via molecular&#xa0;motors. Axonal recruitment of RNP granules is not constitutive, but rather regulated by external signals such as developmental cues, through pathways yet to be identified. The Drosophila brain represents an excellent model system where to study the transport of RNP granules as it is triggered in specific populations of neurons undergoing remodeling during metamorphosis. Here, we describe a protocol enabling live imaging of axonal RNP granule transport with high spatiotemporal resolution in Drosophila maturing brains. In this protocol, pupal brains expressing endogenous or ectopic fluorescent RNP components are dissected, mounted in a customized imaging chamber, and imaged with an inverted confocal microscope equipped with sensitive detectors. Axonal RNP granules are then individually tracked for further analysis of their trajectories. This protocol is rapid (less than 1&#xa0;hour to prepare brains for imaging) and is easy to handle and to implement.</AbstractText" ], [ "39874142", "Evaluating the Potential of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping for Detecting Iron Deposition of Renal Fibrosis in a Rabbit Model.", "As ferroptosis is a key factor in renal fibrosis (RF), iron deposition monitoring may help evaluating RF. The capability of quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) for detecting iron deposition in RF remains uncertain.</AbstractText To investigate the potential of QSM to detect iron deposition in RF.</AbstractText Animal model.</AbstractText Eighty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into control (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;10) and RF (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;70) groups, consisting of baseline, 7, 14, 21, and 28&#x2009;days (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;12 in each), and longitudinal (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;10) subgroups. RF was induced via unilateral renal arteria stenosis.</AbstractText 3&#x2009;T, QSM with gradient echo, arterial spin labeling with gradient spin echo.</AbstractText Bilateral kidney QSM values (&#x3c7;) in the cortex (&#x3c7;<sub Analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman's correlation, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05 was significant.</AbstractText In fibrotic kidneys, &#x3c7;<sub Different iron deposition patterns were observed in RF with QSM values, suggesting the potential of QSM for iron deposition monitoring in RF.</AbstractText Renal fibrosis (RF) is a common outcome in most kidney diseases, leading to scarring and loss of kidney function. Increasing evidence suggests that abnormal iron metabolism plays an important role in RF. This study used a technique called quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) to measure kidney iron levels in rabbits with RF. Specifically, rabbits with advanced RF exhibited higher kidney iron concentrations, and moderate to strong correlations between QSM values and histopathology demonstrated that QSM could accurately detect changes in iron levels and assess RF severity. Overall, QSM shows promise as a tool for monitoring iron deposition in RF progression.</AbstractText 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3.</AbstractText" ] ]
40799467
Postpartum care screenings by care modality among US mothers, 2020-2021.
Postpartum care is critical to preventing pregnancy-associated deaths. Virtual modes of care have potential to improve access to postpartum care; however, the impact on postpartum screenings for cigarette smoking, emotional/physical abuse, and depression is unknown.</AbstractText The purpose of this study was to compare receipt of these screenings between mothers who received any virtual postpartum care and those whose care was exclusively in-person.</AbstractText Using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Phase 8 data, we estimated receipt of postpartum care screenings for smoking, emotional/physical abuse, and depression for US mothers during COVID-19 (2020-2021) and assessed differences by mode of care. The analytical sample (n=21,815) included mothers from 28 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System study sites who had postpartum care and answered the mode of care question and all 3 postpartum screening questions.</AbstractText Over half of all mothers were screened for cigarette smoking (56.45%) and emotional/physical abuse (59.28%) during their postpartum care, whereas screening for depression was much more prevalent (87.63%). A higher percentage of screenings for smoking, emotional/physical abuse, and depression was reported for mothers who received any virtual postpartum care compared with those who attended exclusively in-person care (all <i Virtual postpartum care may improve the percentage of women receiving screenings for important maternal health risks and behaviors, such as cigarette smoking, emotional/physical abuse, and depression. Further research is needed to determine whether mothers receiving virtual postpartum care are more likely to receive screenings because of the mode of care itself.</AbstractText
[ [ "33329301", "Sex Differences in the Patterns and Predictors of Cognitive Function in HIV.", "Despite advancements in antiretroviral therapy, mild cognitive deficits persist in nearly half of people with HIV (PWH). The profile of impairment in HIV is highly variable with deficits observed in a range of cognitive domains. Despite evidence of greater cognitive impairment among women with HIV (WWH) vs. men with HIV (MWH), it is unclear how MWH and WWH differ in the type of cognitive impairment and in risk factors associated with cognitive impairment profiles. In a large and well-characterized sample of PWH, we used machine learning to identify profiles of cognitive functioning and their associated factors overall and within sex. Participants included 1,666 PWH (201 WWH; 1,465 MMH) from the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program who completed a neuropsychological test battery at their baseline visits. Using demographically-adjusted T-scores from 13 test outcomes assessing motor skills, executive functioning, attention/working memory, episodic learning and memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed, we used Kohonen self-organizing maps to identify patterns of high-dimensional data by mapping participants to similar nodes based on T-scores (MCLUST R package). Random forest models were used to determine how sociodemographic (e.g., age, education), clinical (e.g., depressive symptoms, substance use disorder), and biological (e.g., HIV disease characteristics) factors differentially related to membership within a cognitive profile. All analyses were repeated within sex. Three cognitive profiles were identified overall and within each sex. Overall and within MWH, there were unimpaired and global weakness profiles. The third profile in the total sample demonstrated relatively weak auditory attention whereas in MWH showed relative strengths in attention and processing speed. Conversely, there was no unimpaired profile among WWH. Rather, WWH demonstrated separate profiles reflecting weakness in motor skills, a relative weakness in learning and delayed recall, and global weaknesses with spared recognition memory. Despite different cognitive profiles by sex, the most discriminative factors were similar between men and women and included reading level (cognitive reserve), current and nadir CD4 count, plasma HIV viral load, duration of HIV disease, age, depressive symptoms, and race/ethnicity. Findings fill a knowledge gap concerning sex differences in cognitive impairment in PWH and inform personalized risk reduction and therapeutic strategies.</AbstractText" ], [ "34435281", "The Neural Circuitry of Reward During Sustained Threat.", "Reward processing is important for understanding behavior in psychopathology. Opportunities to earn money activate the ventral striatum, as shown by the monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Anxiety conditions have been modeled by presenting shocks and startling sounds. To further investigate the co-occurrence of an anxiety condition and a rewarding stimulus, we modified the MID to include a sustained threat of scream. This study investigated neural patterns of the MID task with an uncertain threat of a startling scream. Forty-three young adults completed a functional MRI scan. The task included two conditions (scream and safe) and three cues (gain $5, gain $0, lose $5). Analyses included a whole brain, group analysis using a linear mixed-effects model and a paired t-test. The whole brain analysis revealed a main effect of cue, with increased ventral striatal activation (F<sub" ], [ "30644179", "Altered functional connectivity in binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa: A resting-state fMRI study.", "The etiology of bulimic-type eating (BTE) disorders such as binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is still largely unknown. Brain networks subserving the processing of rewards, emotions, and cognitive control seem to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Therefore, further investigations into the neurobiological underpinnings are needed to discern abnormal connectivity patterns in BTE disorders.</AbstractText The present study aimed to investigate functional as well as seed-based connectivity within well-defined brain networks. Twenty-seven individuals with BED, 29 individuals with BN, 28 overweight, and 30 normal-weight control participants matched by age, gender, and education underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Functional connectivity was assessed by spatial group independent component analysis and a seed-based correlation approach by examining the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and executive network (EN).</AbstractText Group comparisons revealed that BTE disorder patients exhibit aberrant functional connectivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) within the SN, as well as in the medial prefrontal cortex within the DMN. Furthermore, BED and BN groups differed from each other in functional connectivity within each network. Seed-based correlational analysis revealed stronger synchronous dACC-retrosplenial cortex activity in the BN group.</AbstractText Our findings demonstrate abnormalities in brain networks involved in salience attribution, self-referential processing, and cognitive control in bulimic-type eating disorders. Together with our observation of functional connectivity differences between BED and BN, this study offers a differentiated account of both similarities and differences regarding brain connectivity in BED and BN.</AbstractText" ], [ "26112339", "Altered amygdala-prefrontal response to facial emotion in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder.", "This study aimed to identify neuroimaging measures associated with risk for, or protection against, bipolar disorder by comparing youth offspring of parents with bipolar disorder versus youth offspring of non-bipolar parents versus offspring of healthy parents in (i) the magnitude of activation within emotional face processing circuitry; and (ii) functional connectivity between this circuitry and frontal emotion regulation regions. The study was conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. Participants included 29 offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (mean age = 13.8 years; 14 females), 29 offspring of non-bipolar parents (mean age = 13.8 years; 12 females) and 23 healthy controls (mean age = 13.7 years; 11 females). Participants were scanned during implicit processing of emerging happy, sad, fearful and angry faces and shapes. The activation analyses revealed greater right amygdala activation to emotional faces versus shapes in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder and offspring of non-bipolar parents than healthy controls. Given that abnormally increased amygdala activation during emotion processing characterized offspring of both patient groups, and that abnormally increased amygdala activation has often been reported in individuals with already developed bipolar disorder and those with major depressive disorder, these neuroimaging findings may represent markers of increased risk for affective disorders in general. The analysis of psychophysiological interaction revealed that offspring of parents with bipolar disorder showed significantly more negative right amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity to emotional faces versus shapes, but significantly more positive right amygdala-left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity to happy faces (all P-values corrected for multiple tests) than offspring of non-bipolar parents and healthy controls. Taken together with findings of increased amygdala-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity, and decreased amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity previously shown in individuals with bipolar disorder, these connectivity patterns in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder may be risk markers for, rather than markers conferring protection against, bipolar disorder in youth. The patterns of activation and functional connectivity remained unchanged after removing medicated participants and those with current psychopathology from analyses. This is the first study to demonstrate that abnormal functional connectivity patterns within face emotion processing circuitry distinguish offspring of parents with bipolar disorder from those of non-bipolar parents and healthy controls.</AbstractText" ], [ "30287300", "Training emotion regulation through real-time fMRI neurofeedback of amygdala activity.", "Being in control of one's emotions is not only desirable in many everyday situations but is also a great challenge in a variety of mental disorders. Successful intentional emotion regulation is related to down-regulation of amygdala activity. Training mental interventions supported by neurofeedback of one's own amygdala activity using real-time (rt-)fMRI might be beneficial for mental health and well-being. Rt-fMRI guided amygdala-downregulation using cognitive interventions such as a \"reality check\", however, have not been well-investigated. Fifteen healthy subjects underwent four rt-fMRI sessions with neurofeedback of their own amygdala activity while applying a reality check as an emotion regulation strategy in order to down-regulate their amygdala signal during a stimulation with emotional pictures. The Control group comprised of eleven subjects also trained emotion regulation but without obtaining feedback. We hypothesized more prominent down-regulation of amygdala activity at the end of the training in the Feedback group. We investigated effects over time and between groups and further task specific connectivity of the amygdala by using psychophysiological interaction analyses. Four weekly amygdala-based feedback sessions resulted in significantly decreased amygdala activity (p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.003, d&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.93), also compared to the Control group (p&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.014, d&#x202f;=&#x202f;1.12). Task specific connectivity of the amygdala with the anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus and distinct prefrontal areas was increased in the Feedback group. Training of emotion regulation supported by rt-fMRI neurofeedback resulted in a prominent amygdala down-regulation compared to training without feedback. The finding implicates successful emotion regulation, compliant with emotion control models, through an easily applicable reality check strategy. Rt-fMRI neurofeedback may support emotion regulation learning and bears clinical potential for psychotherapy.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40751942", "Clinical features and outcomes of paediatric probable antibody-negative autoimmune encephalitis.", "To evaluate the clinical features and outcomes of paediatric probable antibody-negative autoimmune encephalitis.</AbstractText This retrospective cohort study included 66 patients (43 males and 23 females) with probable antibody-negative autoimmune encephalitis. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the Clinical Assessment Scale in Autoimmune Encephalitis (CASE). A good 1-year clinical outcome was defined as an mRS score of 0 to 2 and a CASE score of 0 to 4. Seizure outcomes at 1&#x2009;year were evaluated separately.</AbstractText Median age at onset was 10&#x2009;years (interquartile range [IQR] 5&#x2009;years 4&#x2009;months-12&#x2009;years) and the median follow-up was 24&#x2009;months (IQR&#x2009;=&#x2009;12.5-49.8). Common neurological symptoms included altered mentality (92.4%) and seizures (84.8%). Most patients (89.4%) received first-line immunotherapy (methylprednisolone or intravenous immunoglobulins), while 33.3% received second-line immunotherapy (rituximab with or without tocilizumab). At 1&#x2009;year, 95.1% (58 of 61) achieved good clinical outcomes according to the mRS and 91.8% (56 of 61) according to CASE. However, 44.2% had persistent seizures, 32.8% had cognitive problems, and 27.9% had behavioural problems. Neither immunotherapy timing nor second-line immunotherapy affected outcomes. Status epilepticus was the only risk factor for persistent seizures at 1&#x2009;year (odds ratio&#x2009;=&#x2009;4.16; 95% confidence interval&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.16-14.92).</AbstractText Although most children with antibody-negative autoimmune encephalitis showed favourable clinical outcomes after immunotherapy, persistent seizures and cognitive and behavioural deficits remained. Absence of status epilepticus predicted better seizure outcomes.</AbstractText" ], [ "40767929", "Migraine-Related Burden, Treatment Interventions, and Healthcare Experiences by Race and Ethnicity: Results of the Migraine Report Card Survey.", "Migraine studies consistently have low enrollment of non-White and/or Hispanic participants. This exploratory analysis assesses burden, treatment interventions, and care in people with high-frequency migraine and medication overuse (HFM&#x2009;+&#x2009;MO) in three racial/ethnic groups in the United States that responded to the Migraine Report Card online survey. The Migraine Report Card survey was fielded to adults (&#x2265;&#x2009;18&#xa0;years). Eligible respondents reported current or previous HFM&#x2009;+&#x2009;MO (&#x2265;&#x2009;8&#xa0;days/month with headache and&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;10&#xa0;days/month of acute headache medication use over the last few months) and screened positive for migraine using the ID Migraine&#x2122; screener. Survey questions pertained to living with migraine, healthcare-patient communication, and treatment use and access. Subgroups large enough for analysis included non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic respondents currently experiencing HFM&#x2009;+&#x2009;MO. Acute medication optimization was assessed with the 4-item Migraine Treatment Optimization Questionnaire. Raw data were weighted to the US adult population. A total of 414 respondents currently experiencing HFM&#x2009;+&#x2009;MO were included in this analysis (White, n&#x2009;=&#x2009;293; Black, n&#x2009;=&#x2009;46; Hispanic, n&#x2009;=&#x2009;75). In this population, despite similarities in migraine and insurance status, 54% of Black respondents reported being \"very concerned\" about their current health compared to 29% of White and 24% of Hispanic respondents. Twenty percent of White respondents reported using a preventive prescription migraine medication compared to 7% of Black and 10% of Hispanic respondents. Despite similar clinical and socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare disparities were observed, most notably among Black and Hispanic respondents experiencing HFM&#x2009;+&#x2009;MO. Further research regarding inequities in migraine care and disease impact is needed.</AbstractText" ], [ "40779906", "Unraveling coalification dynamics: a comprehensive spectroscopic study on the chemical and microstructural evolution from lignite to semi-anthracite.", "Raman spectroscopy can play a crucial role in coal rank identification by providing direct insights into the structural evolution of carbon during coalification. Unlike any traditional method such as vitrinite reflectance, which rely on specific macerals and often face limitations in low-vitrinite or compositionally altered samples, Raman offers a non-destructive and comprehensive assessment of all organic matter types. It detects changes in chemical bonding, aromaticity, and the degree of structural order-key indicators of coal maturity-by analyzing vibrational energy levels. Its ability to differentiate between sp<sup" ], [ "40738920", "Serum zonulin level in autistic children and its relation to severity of symptoms a case-control study.", "Evidence suggests a possible link between Autism spectrum disorder and gut permeability, specifically as indicated by serum zonulin levels. However, limited studies examine this connection to symptom severity, especially in Egypt. Assessing serum zonulin level in children with autism and its relation to the severity of symptoms. In Mansoura University Hospital's pediatric psychiatry outpatient clinics, case-control research was carried out with children with Autism diagnoses and age- and gender-matched typically developing controls. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale was used to gauge the severity of the symptoms, and the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum zonulin levels. Serum zonulin levels were considerably higher in children with Autism than in the control group (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). Additionally, there was a positive correlation between higher zonulin levels and the degree of autism symptoms as determined by CARS scores (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;X, p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). Children with severe Autism had the highest zonulin levels, according to subgroup analysis, which suggests a possible connection between gut permeability and the intensity of symptoms. This study emphasizes how serum zonulin may serve as a biomarker for intestinal permeability in kids with Autism and how it may be related to the intensity of symptoms. These results highlight the need for more investigation into the gut-brain axis as a potential therapeutic target for Autism. Addressing gut permeability may provide new ways to lessen the intensity of symptoms and enhance results for children with Autism.</AbstractText" ], [ "40529553", "Multi-shot gradient-echo planar imaging sequence in non-contrast coronary magnetic resonance angiography.", "To explore the feasibility of multi-shot gradient-echo planar imaging (MSG-EPI) sequence in non-enhanced coronary artery magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA).</AbstractText Patients undergoing CMRA in the Geriatric Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from November 2023 to May 2024 were included. We compared MSG-EPI and three-dimensional balanced turbo field echo (3D BTFE) sequence in acquisition time, subjective image score, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). With CTA as the reference standard, the linear weighted kappa and compared chi-square Mcnemar test were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of both sequences for coronary artery diseases (CADs). The scale for the kappa coefficients was interpreted as follows: &lt;0.2&#x2009;=&#x2009;poor, 0.2-0.4&#x2009;=&#x2009;fair, 0.4-0.6&#x2009;=&#x2009;moderate, 0.6-0.8&#x2009;=&#x2009;substantial, and &gt;0.8&#x2009;=&#x2009;excellent.</AbstractText Seventy-two patients (33 males; mean age 54.5&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;14.7 years old, range from 18 to 79 years old) were enrolled. MSG-EPI had a significantly shorter acquisition time than 3D BTFE (17.21&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.08&#x2005;s vs. 558.10&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;102.90&#x2005;s, <i MSG-EPI sequence could significantly shorten the acquisition time and provide sufficient image quality for CADs evaluation in non-enhanced CMRA.</AbstractText" ] ]
29716273
The discrimination of voice cues in simulations of bimodal electro-acoustic cochlear-implant hearing.
In discriminating speakers' voices, normal-hearing individuals effectively use two vocal characteristics, vocal pitch (related to fundamental frequency, F0) and vocal-tract length (VTL, related to speaker size). Typical cochlear-implant users show poor perception of these cues. However, in implant users with low-frequency residual acoustic hearing, this bimodal electro-acoustic stimulation may provide additional voice-related cues, such as low-numbered harmonics and formants, which could improve F0/VTL perception. In acoustic noise-vocoder simulations, where added low-pass filtered speech simulated residual hearing, a strong bimodal benefit was observed for F0 perception. No bimodal benefit was observed for VTL, which seems to mainly rely on vocoder spectral resolution.</AbstractText
[ [ "25904319", "Pollution going multimodal: the complex impact of the human-altered sensory environment on animal perception and performance.", "Anthropogenic sensory pollution is affecting ecosystems worldwide. Human actions generate acoustic noise, emanate artificial light and emit chemical substances. All of these pollutants are known to affect animals. Most studies on anthropogenic pollution address the impact of pollutants in unimodal sensory domains. High levels of anthropogenic noise, for example, have been shown to interfere with acoustic signals and cues. However, animals rely on multiple senses, and pollutants often co-occur. Thus, a full ecological assessment of the impact of anthropogenic activities requires a multimodal approach. We describe how sensory pollutants can co-occur and how covariance among pollutants may differ from natural situations. We review how animals combine information that arrives at their sensory systems through different modalities and outline how sensory conditions can interfere with multimodal perception. Finally, we describe how sensory pollutants can affect the perception, behaviour and endocrinology of animals within and across sensory modalities. We conclude that sensory pollution can affect animals in complex ways due to interactions among sensory stimuli, neural processing and behavioural and endocrinal feedback. We call for more empirical data on covariance among sensory conditions, for instance, data on correlated levels in noise and light pollution. Furthermore, we encourage researchers to test animal responses to a full-factorial set of sensory pollutants in the presence or the absence of ecologically important signals and cues. We realize that such approach is often time and energy consuming, but we think this is the only way to fully understand the multimodal impact of sensory pollution on animal performance and perception.</AbstractText" ], [ "30444176", "Neural Correlates of Hypokinetic Dysarthria and Mechanisms of Effective Voice Treatment in Parkinson Disease.", "Hypokinetic dysarthria is highly prevalent in idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD), and effectiveness of high-intensity voice treatment is well established. However, the neural correlates remain largely unknown.</AbstractText We aimed to specify cerebral pathophysiology of hypokinetic dysarthria and treatment-induced changes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).</AbstractText We used fMRI to investigate healthy controls (HCs) and patients with idiopathic PD-associated dysarthria before and after treatment according to the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment LOUD (LSVT). During fMRI, participants covertly read sentences with normal (eg, conversation in a quiet room) or high (eg, shouting on a windy beach) intensity. In addition, we tested LSVT effects on intelligibility and different speech features (intensity, pitch, articulation).</AbstractText LSVT effectively improved intelligibility, articulation, and pitch in patients. Covert high-intensity speech compared with covert normal-intensity speech led to increased activation of mainly secondary motor areas and bilateral superior and medial temporal regions. Prior to LSVT, patients showed less activity in several speech-associated areas compared with HCs. As a neural correlate of effective LSVT, increased right-sided superior temporal activity correlated with improved intelligibility.</AbstractText This is the first brain imaging study using a covert speech paradigm in PD, which revealed cortical hypoactivation as correlate of hypokinetic dysarthria. Furthermore, cortical correlates of effective LSVT treatment colocalized with the neuronal network, showing increased activation during high- versus normal-intensity speech generation.</AbstractText" ], [ "31786551", "Contemporary and emerging magnetic resonance imaging methods for evaluation of moyamoya disease.", "Numerous recent technological advances offer the potential to substantially enhance the MRI evaluation of moyamoya disease (MMD). These include high-resolution volumetric imaging, high-resolution vessel wall characterization, improved cerebral angiographic and perfusion techniques, high-field imaging, fast scanning methods, and artificial intelligence. This review discusses the current state-of-the-art MRI applications in these realms, emphasizing key imaging findings, clinical utility, and areas that will benefit from further investigation. Although these techniques may apply to imaging of a wide array of neurovascular or other neurological conditions, consideration of their application to MMD is useful given the comprehensive multidimensional MRI assessment used to evaluate MMD. These MRI techniques span from basic cross-sectional to advanced functional sequences, both qualitative and quantitative.The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of current key relevant literature of advanced MRI techniques for the evaluation of MMD with image-rich case examples. These imaging methods can aid clinical characterization, help direct treatment, assist in the evaluation of treatment response, and potentially improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of MMD.</AbstractText" ], [ "25742194", "Intracranial Gadolinium Deposition after Contrast-enhanced MR Imaging.", "To determine if repeated intravenous exposures to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are associated with neuronal tissue deposition.</AbstractText In this institutional review board-approved single-center study, signal intensities from T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images and postmortem neuronal tissue samples from 13 patients who underwent at least four GBCA-enhanced brain MR examinations between 2000 and 2014 (contrast group) were compared with those from 10 patients who did not receive GBCA (control group). Antemortem consent was obtained from all study participants. Neuronal tissues from the dentate nuclei, pons, globus pallidus, and thalamus of these 23 deceased patients were harvested and analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), transmission electron microscopy, and light microscopy to quantify, localize, and assess the effects of gadolinium deposition. Associations between cumulative gadolinium dose, changes in T1-weighted MR signal intensity, and ICP-MS-derived tissue gadolinium concentrations were examined by using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (&#x3c1;).</AbstractText Compared with neuronal tissues of control patients, all of which demonstrated undetectable levels of gadolinium, neuronal tissues of patients from the contrast group contained 0.1-58.8 &#x3bc;g gadolinium per gram of tissue, in a significant dose-dependent relationship that correlated with signal intensity changes on precontrast T1-weighted MR images (&#x3c1; = 0.49-0.93). All patients in the contrast group had relatively normal renal function at the time of MR examination. Gadolinium deposition in the capillary endothelium and neural interstitium was observed only in the contrast group.</AbstractText Intravenous GBCA exposure is associated with neuronal tissue deposition in the setting of relatively normal renal function. Additional studies are needed to investigate the clinical significance of these findings and the generalizability to other GBCAs. Online supplemental material is available for this article.</AbstractText" ], [ "29109052", "Magnetic resonance imaging with RF encoding on curved natural slices.", "While the idea of using spatial encoding fields (SEM) for image formation has been proven, conventional wisdom still holds that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system begins with a highly uniform magnetic field. In particular, radio frequency (RF) encoding MRIs designed and tested to date have largely used uniform magnetic fields. Here we demonstrate magnetic resonance imaging in a magnetic field with a built-in gradient that gives non-planar slices - curved surfaces - when the nuclear spins are excited with narrow band RF pulses. Image encoding on these naturally occurring non-planar slices was accomplished with RF encoding using a non-linear spatially varying B<sub" ] ]
[ [ "29111410", "The z-spectrum from human blood at 7T.", "Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) has been used to assess healthy and pathological tissue in both animals and humans. However, the CEST signal from blood has not been fully assessed. This paper presents the CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) signals detected in human blood measured via z-spectrum analysis. We assessed the effects of blood oxygenation levels, haematocrit, cell structure and pH upon the z-spectrum in ex vivo human blood for different saturation powers at 7T. The data were analysed using Lorentzian difference (LD) model fitting and AREX (to compensate for changes in T<sub" ], [ "29161649", "Magic angle spinning NMR below 6 K with a computational fluid dynamics analysis of fluid flow and temperature gradients.", "We report magic angle spinning (MAS) up to 8.5&#x202f;kHz with a sample temperature below 6&#x202f;K using liquid helium as a variable temperature fluid. Cross polarization <sup" ], [ "39007730", "A circular microphone array with virtual microphones based on acoustics-informed neural networks.", "Acoustic beamforming aims to focus acoustic signals to a specific direction and suppress undesirable interferences from other directions. Despite its flexibility and steerability, beamforming with circular microphone arrays suffers from significant performance degradation at frequencies corresponding to zeros of the Bessel functions. To conquer this constraint, baffled or concentric circular microphone arrays have been studied; however, the former need a bulky baffle that interferes with the original sound field, whereas the latter require more microphones that increase the complexity and cost, both of which are undesirable in practical applications. To tackle this challenge, this paper proposes a circular microphone array equipped with virtual microphones, which resolves the performance degradation commonly associated with circular microphone arrays without resorting to physical modifications. The sound pressures at the virtual microphones are predicted from those measured by the physical microphones based on an acoustics-informed neural network, and then the sound pressures measured by the physical microphones and those predicted at the virtual microphones are integrated to design the beamformer. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach not only eliminates the performance degradation but also suppresses spatial aliasing at high frequencies, thereby underscoring its promising potential.</AbstractText" ], [ "29535614", "Large-Scale Brain Networks Supporting Divided Attention across Spatial Locations and Sensory Modalities.", "Higher-order cognitive processes were shown to rely on the interplay between large-scale neural networks. However, brain networks involved with the capability to split attentional resource over multiple spatial locations and multiple stimuli or sensory modalities have been largely unexplored to date. Here I re-analyzed data from Santangelo et al. (2010) to explore the causal interactions between large-scale brain networks during divided attention. During fMRI scanning, participants monitored streams of visual and/or auditory stimuli in one or two spatial locations for detection of occasional targets. This design allowed comparing a condition in which participants monitored one stimulus/modality (either visual or auditory) in two spatial locations vs. a condition in which participants monitored two stimuli/modalities (both visual and auditory) in one spatial location. The analysis of the independent components (ICs) revealed that dividing attentional resources across two spatial locations necessitated a brain network involving the left ventro- and dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex plus the posterior parietal cortex, including the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the angular gyrus, bilaterally. The analysis of Granger causality highlighted that the activity of lateral prefrontal regions were predictive of the activity of all of the posteriors parietal nodes. By contrast, dividing attention across two sensory modalities necessitated a brain network including nodes belonging to the dorsal frontoparietal network, i.e., the bilateral frontal eye-fields (FEF) and IPS, plus nodes belonging to the salience network, i.e., the anterior cingulated cortex and the left and right anterior insular cortex (aIC). The analysis of Granger causality highlights a tight interdependence between the dorsal frontoparietal and salience nodes in trials requiring divided attention between different sensory modalities. The current findings therefore highlighted a dissociation among brain networks implicated during divided attention across spatial locations and sensory modalities, pointing out the importance of investigating effective connectivity of large-scale brain networks supporting complex behavior.</AbstractText" ], [ "29524235", "Comparison of MEMS switches and PIN diodes for switched dual tuned RF coils.", "To evaluate the performance of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) switches against PIN diodes for switching a dual-tuned RF coil between <sup A four-element fixed-phase and amplitude transmit-receive RF coil was constructed to provide homogeneous excitation across the lungs, and to serve as a test system for various switching methods. The MR imaging and RF performance of the coil when switched between the <sup The performance of the coil with MEMS or PIN diode switching was comparable in terms of RF measurements, transmit efficiency and image SNR on both <sup MEMS and PIN diodes were found to provide comparable performance in on-state configuration, while MEMS were more robust in off-state high-powered operation (&gt;1 kW), providing higher isolation and requiring a lower DC switching voltage than is needed for reverse biasing of PIN diodes. In addition, clear benefits of switching between the <sup" ] ]
35253656
Automated scripting of the dosimetric evaluation of adaptive versus non-adaptive radiotherapy.
<i
[ [ "34280403", "Chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI in central nervous system tumours on a 1.5 T MR-Linac.", "To describe the implementation and initial results of using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) for monitoring patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumours treated using a 1.5&#xa0;tesla MR-guided radiotherapy system.</AbstractText CNS patients were treated with up to 30 fractions (total dose up to 60&#xa0;Gy) using a 1.5&#xa0;T Elekta Unity MR-Linac. CEST scans were obtained in 54 subjects at one or more time points during treatment. CEST metrics, including the amide magnetization transfer ratio (MTR<sub The gross tumour volume (GTV) exhibited lower MTR<sub CEST MRI using a 1.5&#xa0;T MR-Linac was demonstrated to be feasible for in vivo imaging of CNS tumours. CEST images showed tumour/white-matter contrast, temporal CEST signal changes, and associations with tumour grade. These results show promise for the eventual goal of using metabolic imaging to inform the design of adaptive radiotherapy protocols.</AbstractText" ], [ "30850610", "Characterization of the hemodynamic response function in white matter tracts for event-related fMRI.", "Accurate estimates of the BOLD hemodynamic response function (HRF) are crucial for the interpretation and analysis of event-related functional MRI data. To date, however, there have been no comprehensive measurements of the HRF in white matter (WM) despite increasing evidence that BOLD signals in WM change after a stimulus. We performed an event-related cognitive task (Stroop color-word interference) to measure the HRF in selected human WM pathways. The task was chosen in order to produce robust, distributed centers of activity throughout the cortex. To measure the HRF in WM, fiber tracts were reconstructed between each pair of activated cortical areas. We observed clear task-specific HRFs with reduced magnitudes, delayed onsets and prolonged initial dips in WM tracts compared with activated grey matter, thus calling for significant changes to current standard models for accurately characterizing the HRFs in WM and for modifications of standard methods of analysis of functional imaging data.</AbstractText" ], [ "26328980", "A multimodality segmentation framework for automatic target delineation in head and neck radiotherapy.", "To develop an automatic segmentation algorithm integrating imaging information from computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to delineate target volume in head and neck cancer radiotherapy.</AbstractText Eleven patients with unresectable disease at the tonsil or base of tongue who underwent MRI, CT, and PET/CT within two months before the start of radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy were recruited for the study. For each patient, PET/CT and T1-weighted contrast MRI scans were first registered to the planning CT using deformable and rigid registration, respectively, to resample the PET and magnetic resonance (MR) images to the planning CT space. A binary mask was manually defined to identify the tumor area. The resampled PET and MR images, the planning CT image, and the binary mask were fed into the automatic segmentation algorithm for target delineation. The algorithm was based on a multichannel Gaussian mixture model and solved using an expectation-maximization algorithm with Markov random fields. To evaluate the algorithm, we compared the multichannel autosegmentation with an autosegmentation method using only PET images. The physician-defined gross tumor volume (GTV) was used as the \"ground truth\" for quantitative evaluation.</AbstractText The median multichannel segmented GTV of the primary tumor was 15.7 cm(3) (range, 6.6-44.3 cm(3)), while the PET segmented GTV was 10.2 cm(3) (range, 2.8-45.1 cm(3)). The median physician-defined GTV was 22.1 cm(3) (range, 4.2-38.4 cm(3)). The median difference between the multichannel segmented and physician-defined GTVs was -10.7%, not showing a statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.43). However, the median difference between the PET segmented and physician-defined GTVs was -19.2%, showing a statistically significant difference (p-value =0.0037). The median Dice similarity coefficient between the multichannel segmented and physician-defined GTVs was 0.75 (range, 0.55-0.84), and the median sensitivity and positive predictive value between them were 0.76 and 0.81, respectively.</AbstractText The authors developed an automated multimodality segmentation algorithm for tumor volume delineation and validated this algorithm for head and neck cancer radiotherapy. The multichannel segmented GTV agreed well with the physician-defined GTV. The authors expect that their algorithm will improve the accuracy and consistency in target definition for radiotherapy.</AbstractText" ], [ "28466257", "Cortical Representation of Pain and Touch: Evidence from Combined Functional Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology in Non-human Primates.", "Human functional MRI studies in acute and various chronic pain conditions have revolutionized how we view pain, and have led to a new theory that complex multi-dimensional pain experience (sensory-discriminative, affective/motivational, and cognitive) is represented by concurrent activity in widely-distributed brain regions (termed a network or pain matrix). Despite these breakthrough discoveries, the specific functions proposed for these regions remain elusive, because detailed electrophysiological characterizations of these regions in the primate brain are lacking. To fill in this knowledge gap, we have studied the cortical areas around the central and lateral sulci of the non-human primate brain with combined submillimeter resolution functional imaging (optical imaging and fMRI) and intracranial electrophysiological recording. In this mini-review, I summarize and present data showing that the cortical circuitry engaged in nociceptive processing is much more complex than previously recognized. Electrophysiological evidence supports the engagement of a distinct nociceptive-processing network within SI (i.e., areas 3a, 3b, 1 and 2), SII, and other areas along the lateral sulcus. Deafferentation caused by spinal cord injury profoundly alters the relationships between fMRI and electrophysiological signals. This finding has significant implications for using fMRI to study chronic pain conditions involving deafferentation in humans.</AbstractText" ], [ "33991807", "On the dependence of quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging on scanner system characteristics and acquisition parameters: A large multicenter and multiparametric phantom study with unsupervised clustering analysis.", "The purpose of this multicenter phantom study was to exploit an innovative approach, based on an extensive acquisition protocol and unsupervised clustering analysis, in order to assess any potential bias in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) estimation due to different scanner characteristics. Moreover, we aimed at assessing, for the first time, any effect of acquisition plan/phase encoding direction on ADC estimation.</AbstractText Water phantom acquisitions were carried out on 39 scanners. DWI acquisitions (b-value&#xa0;=&#xa0;0-200-400-600-800-1000&#xa0;s/mm<sup No significant dependence of in-center ADC values on acquisition plan/phase encoding direction was found. Ward unsupervised clustering analysis showed 3 distinct clusters of scanners and an association between &#x394;-values and manufacturer/model, whereas no association between &#x394;-values and maximum gradient strength, slew rate or static magnetic field strength was revealed. Several acquisition setups showed significant differences among groups, indicating the introduction of different biases in ADC estimation.</AbstractText Unsupervised clustering analysis of DWI data, obtained from several scanners using an extensive acquisition protocol, allows to reveal an association between measured ADC values and manufacturer/model of scanner, as well as to identify suboptimal DWI acquisition setups for accurate ADC estimation.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36274443", "Do temporal factors affect whether our performance accurately reflects our underlying knowledge? The effects of stimulus presentation rates on the performance versus competence dissociation.", "Ample evidence shows that the momentary performance can dissociate from the underlying knowledge (competence). Under what circumstances such dissociation occurs, however, remains unclear. Here we tested how temporal factors, and more specifically, the elapsed time between subsequent events affects the dissociation between performance and competence by systematically manipulating the stimulus presentation rates during and after learning. Participants completed a probabilistic sequence learning task with a fast (120&#xa0;msec) or a slow (850&#xa0;msec) response-to-stimulus-interval (RSI) during the Learning phase and they were tested with both RSIs 24&#xa0;h later (Testing phase). We also tested whether they gained explicit knowledge about the sequence or their knowledge remained implicit. Our results revealed higher reaction time learning scores when tested with the fast RSI, irrespective of the RSI during learning, suggesting that faster presentation rates can help better express the acquired knowledge, leading to increased performance measures. For accuracy, participants showed higher learning scores when tested with the same presentation rate as the one that they encountered during learning. The acquired knowledge remained implicit in both groups, suggesting that the observed findings were not confounded by differences in awareness gained in the two groups. Overall, our study highlights that the momentary performance does not always accurately reflect the underlying knowledge, and temporal factors seem to influence this dissociation. Our findings have theoretical, methodological, and translational implications that likely extend beyond learning and memory to other functions and domains as well, including aspects of decision-making, perception, theory of mind, and language.</AbstractText" ], [ "36687842", "Elderly may benefit more from motor imagery training in gaining muscle strength than young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.", "The current review was aimed to determine the effectiveness of mental imagery training (MIT) on the enhancement of maximum voluntary muscle contraction (MVC) force for healthy young and old adults.</AbstractText Six electronic databases were searched from July 2021 to March 2022. Search terms included: \"motor imagery training,\" \"motor imagery practice,\" \"mental practice,\" \"mental training,\" \"movement imagery,\" \"cognitive training,\" \"strength,\" \"force,\" \"muscle strength,\" \"performance,\" \"enhancement,\" \"improvement,\" \"development,\" and \"healthy adults.\"</AbstractText Randomized controlled trials of MIT in enhancing muscle strength with healthy adults were selected. The decision on whether a study met the inclusion criteria of the review was made by two reviewers independently. Any disagreements between the two reviewers were first resolved by discussion between the two reviewers. If consensus could not be reached, then it would be arbitrated by a third reviewer.</AbstractText Twenty-five studies including both internal MIT and external MIT were included in meta-analysis for determining the efficacy of MIT on enhancing muscle strength and 22 internal MIT were used for subgroup analysis for examining dose-response relationship of MIT on MVC.</AbstractText MIT demonstrated significant benefit on enhancing muscle strength when compared with no exercise, Effect Size (ES), 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.89-1.30, favoring MIT, but was inferior to physical training (PT), ES, 0.38, 95% CI, 0.15-0.62, favoring PT. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that MIT was more effective for older adults (ES, 2.17, 95% CI, 1.57-2.76) than young adults (ES, 0.95, 95% CI, 0.74-1.17), <i This review demonstrates that MIT has better estimated effects on enhancing MVC force compared to no exercise, but is inferior to PT. The combination of MIT and PT is equivalent to PT alone in enhancing muscle strength. The subgroup group analysis further suggests that older adults and small finger muscles may benefit more from MIT than young adults and larger muscles.</AbstractText" ], [ "34601647", "Distinct patterns of altered quantitative T1ρ and functional BOLD response associated with history of suicide attempts in bipolar disorder.", "Despite the high risk for suicide, relatively few studies have explored the relationship between suicide and brain imaging measures in bipolar disorder. In addition, fewer studies have explored the possibility that altered brain metabolism may be associated with suicide attempt. To begin to fill in these gaps, we evaluated functional (task based fMRI) and metabolic (quantitative T1&#x3c1;) differences associated with suicide attempt in participants with bipolar disorder. Thirty-nine participants with bipolar disorder underwent fMRI during a flashing checkerboard task and 27 also underwent quantitative T1&#x3c1;. The relationship between neuroimaging and history of suicide attempt was tested using multiple regression while adjusting for age, sex, and current mood state. Differences between two measures of suicide attempt (binary: yes/no and continuous: number of attempts) were quantified using the corrected Akaike Information Criterion. Participants who had attempted suicide had greater fMRI task-related activation in visual areas and the cerebellum. The number of suicide attempts was associated with a difference in BOLD response in the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum. Increased quantitative T1&#x3c1; was associated with number of suicide attempts in limbic, basal ganglia, and prefrontal cortex regions. This study is a secondary analysis with a modest sample size. Differences between measures of suicide history may be due to differences in statistical power. History of suicide was associated with limbic, prefrontal, and cerebellar alterations. Results comparing those with and without suicide attempts differed from results using number of suicide attempts, suggesting that these variables have different neurobiological underpinnings.</AbstractText" ], [ "35894554", "Whole-Body MRI in Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type R1/2A: Correlation With Clinical Scores.", "The most common limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) worldwide is LGMD type R1 (LGMDR1). The aim of this study was to correlate the MRI findings with functional scores and to describe the whole-body MRI (WBMRI) pattern in a LGMDR1 Brazilian cohort.</AbstractText LGMDR1 patients under follow-up in three centers were referred for the study. Clinical data were collected and a functional evaluation was performed, consisting of Gardner-Medwin and Walton (GMW) and Brooke scales. All patients underwent a WBMRI study (1.5T) with axial T1 and STIR images. Fifty-one muscles were semiquantitatively assessed regarding fatty infiltration and muscle edema.</AbstractText The study group consisted of 18 patients. The highest fatty infiltration scores involved the serratus anterior, biceps femoris long head, adductor magnus, and lumbar erector spinae. There was a latero-medial and caudo-cranial descending gradient of involvement of the paravertebral muscles, with erector spinae being significantly more affected than the transversospinalis muscles (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). A striped appearance that has been dubbed the \"pseudocollagen sign\" was present in 72% of the patients. There was a positive correlation between the MRI score and GMW (Rho:0.83) and Brooke (Rho:0.53) scores.</AbstractText WBMRI in LGMDR1 allows a global patient evaluation including involvement of the paraspinal muscles, usually an underestimated feature in the clinical and imaging study of myopathies. Knowledge of the WBMRI pattern of LGMDR1 involvement can be useful in the diagnostic approach and in future studies to identify the best target muscles to serve as outcome measures in clinical trials.</AbstractText" ], [ "35833335", "Reversible-figure perception: Why is voluntary control limited?", "Observers can voluntarily avoid reversals of an ambiguous, reversible figure, extending the duration of an intended percept. This is usually attributed to high-level, top-down attentional processes. However, voluntary control is limited. Reversals occur despite attempts to avoid them. In two experiments, observers demonstrated significant, but limited, voluntary control over Necker cube perception. Cube size and cube completeness, variables associated with stimulus-driven processes involving neural adaptation, influenced the frequency of reversals regardless of observers' intentions. Results are consistent with the hybrid hypothesis that both top-down and bottom-up processes contribute to Necker-cube perception and support the hypothesis that the contribution of bottom-up processes is responsible for the limitation on voluntary control.</AbstractText" ] ]
40754816
The psychometric properties of an e-headache diary in migraine.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the psychometric characteristics of a previously validated electronic headache diary with automated algorithm for the purpose of identifying migraine days.MethodsThe psychometric properties of 13 variables in this e-diary were analyzed using item response theory (IRT) in migraine patients from the Leiden Headache Center. The included items were headache presence, duration, unilaterality, severity, pulsating, aggravation by physical activity, visual aura, aura duration, nausea, vomiting, photophobia or phonophobia and triptan usage. The added value to the end-diagnosis of an already validated migraine day of the individual items was assessed. A generalized partial credit model was used to evaluate the items. A discriminative value &#x3b1;&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;1.70 indicated an excellent discrimination.ResultsIn total 1418 migraine patients were analyzed with a mean age of 43 years, 89% were women and 38% reported aura symptomatology. All items demonstrated excellent discriminative value [&#x3b1;: 1.82-54.1], except for aura duration [&#x3b1;:0.86], which was moderate. Cronbach's alpha was 0.91. The answers options of headache duration, photophobia, phonophobia, nausea and vomiting did not reach the probability threshold of 0.5.ConclusionsThe items in this e-headache diary demonstrated good overall psychometric performance, although certain items, particularly aura-related and multi-categorical items, may benefit from category merging or further refinement.</AbstractText
[ [ "36452124", "Analgesic potential of macrodoses and microdoses of classical psychedelics in chronic pain sufferers: a population survey.", "Although several studies and reports have shown the potential analgesic use of serotonergic psychedelics in cancer pain, phantom limb pain and cluster headache, evidence supporting their use for chronic pain is still limited. The past years have seen a considerable renewal of interest toward the therapeutic use of these compounds for mood disorders, resulting in a marked increase in the number of people turning to psychedelics in an attempt to self-medicate a health condition or improve their wellbeing. In western countries particularly, this population of users overlaps substantially with chronic pain sufferers, representing a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects these compounds have on pain and wellbeing. Here, we report results from an online survey conducted between August 2020 and July 2021 in a population of 250 chronic pain sufferers who had experience with psychedelics, either in microdoses (small sub-hallucinogenic doses), macrodoses (hallucinogenic doses), or both. Macrodoses, while less often used for analgesic purposes than microdoses, were reported to induce a higher level of pain relief than both microdoses and conventional pain medications (including opioids and cannabis). Although the effects were weaker and potentially more prone to expectation bias than with macrodoses, our results also suggested some benefits of psychedelics in microdoses for pain management. The reported analgesic effect appeared unrelated to mood improvements associated with psychedelic use, or the advocacy of psychedelic use. Taken together, our findings indicate interesting potential analgesic applications for psychedelics that warrant further clinical research.</AbstractText" ], [ "21148256", "The pipeline embolization device for the intracranial treatment of aneurysms trial.", "Endoluminal reconstruction with flow diverting devices represents a novel constructive technique for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. We present the results of the first prospective multicenter trial of a flow-diverting construct for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.</AbstractText Patients with unruptured aneurysms that were wide-necked (&gt; 4 mm), had unfavorable dome/neck ratios (&lt;1.5), or had failed previous therapy were enrolled in the PITA trial between January and May 2007 at 4 (3 European and 1 South American) centers. Aneurysms were treated with the PED with or without adjunctive coil embolization. All patients underwent clinical evaluation at 30 and 180 days and conventional angiography 180 days after treatment. Angiographic results were adjudicated by an experienced neuroradiologist at a nonparticipating site.</AbstractText Thirty-one patients with 31 intracranial aneurysms (6 men; 42-76 years of age; average age, 54.6 years) were treated during the study period. Twenty-eight aneurysms arose from the ICA (5 cavernous, 15 parophthalmic, 4 superior hypophyseal, and 4 posterior communicating segments), 1 from the MCA, 1 from the vertebral artery, and 1 from the vertebrobasilar junction. Mean aneurysm size was 11.5 mm, and mean neck size was 5.8 mm. Twelve (38.7%) aneurysms had failed (or recurred after) a previous endovascular treatment. PED placement was technically successful in 30 of 31 patients (96.8%). Most aneurysms were treated with either 1 (n = 18) or 2 (n = 11) PEDs. Fifteen aneurysms (48.4%) were treated with a PED alone, while 16 were treated with both PED and embolization coils. Two patients experienced major periprocedural stroke. Follow-up angiography demonstrated complete aneurysm occlusion in 28 (93.3%) of the 30 patients who underwent angiographic follow-up. No significant in-construct stenosis (&#x2265; 50%) was identified at follow-up angiography.</AbstractText Intracranial aneurysm treatment with the PED is technically feasible and can be achieved with a safety profile analogous to that reported for stent-supported coil embolization. PED treatment elicited a very high rate (93%) of complete angiographic occlusion at 6 months in a population of the most challenging anatomic subtypes of cerebral aneurysms.</AbstractText" ], [ "15316541", "Psychological variables and temporomandibular disorders: distress, coping, and personality.", "This study analyzes the psychological variables of distress, personality, and coping that are related to the diagnosis based on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorder. Study design An age and sex-matched controlled study conducted with a convenience sample (n=89) in a tertiary care facility.</AbstractText The MANCOVA between the muscular (n=47), articular (n=42), and control groups (n=100) showed that the muscular group differed from the control group, obtaining higher levels of distress, anxiety, and depression, and minor use of positive reinterpretation and humor as coping strategies; the articular group also showed higher distress, less positive reinterpretation, and a lower interest in the search of instrumental social support than the control group. The coping predictor of distress in both temporomandibular groups was behavioral disengagement; however, the personality predictors differed. Neuroticism and depression were present in the muscular group, whereas conscientiousness and self-discipline were in the articular group.</AbstractText Temporomandibular disorder patients have different psychological features than control subjects. There are also some differences between the diagnostic groups that should be considered to address the treatment of these patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "39313324", "Vestibular neurology for the generalist.", "This review of vestibular neurology for the general neurologist delves into the multifaceted realm of vestibular neurology where we address the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges associated with dizziness, vertigo and balance disorders. We outline the standard vestibular assessments that can be understood and incorporated by the generalist, discussing their use in common vestibular disorders. Key disorders covered include acute and chronic syndromes, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere disease, vestibular migraine and persistent postural-perceptual dizziness. We also touch on emerging advances in vestibular genotyping and novel treatment approaches for balance problems.</AbstractText" ], [ "39302416", "Why is vestibular migraine associated with many comorbidities?", "Vestibular migraine (VM) is a usual trigger of episodic vertigo. Patients with VM often experience spinning, shaking, or unsteady sensations, which are usually also accompanied by photophobia, phonophobia, motor intolerance, and more. VM is often associated with a number of comorbidities. Recurrent episodes of VM can affect the patient's emotions, sleep, and cognitive functioning to varying degrees. Patients with VM may be accompanied by adverse moods such as anxiety, fear, and depression, which can gradually develop into anxiety disorders or depressive disorders. Sleep disorders are also a common concomitant symptom of VM, which significantly lower patients' quality of life. The influence of anxiety disorders and sleep disorders may reduce cognitive functions of VM, such as visuospatial ability, attention, and memory decline. Clinically, it is also common to see VM comorbid with other vestibular disorders, making the diagnosis more difficult. VM episodes are relieved but lingering, in which case VM may coexist with persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). Anxiety may be an important bridge between recurrent VM and PPPD. The clinical manifestations of VM and Meniere's disease (MD) overlap considerably, and those who meet the diagnostic criteria for both can be said to have VM/MD comorbidity. VM can also present with positional vertigo, and some patients with VM present with typical benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) nystagmus on positional testing. In this paper, we synthesize and analyze the pathomechanisms of VM comorbidity by reviewing the literature. The results show that it may be related to the extensive connectivity of the vestibular system with different brain regions and the close connection of the trigeminovascular system with the periphery of the vestibule. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the diagnosis of comorbidities in VM, synthesize its pathogenesis, and give comprehensive treatment to patients.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40795299", "Deep Learning Chest X-Ray Age, Epigenetic Aging Clocks and Associations with Age-Related Subclinical Disease in the Project Baseline Health Study.", "Chronological age is an important component of medical risk scores and decision-making. However, there is considerable variability in how individuals age. We recently published an open-source deep learning model to assess biological age from chest radiographs (CXR-Age), which predicts all-cause and cardiovascular mortality better than chronological age. Here, we compare CXR-Age to two established epigenetic aging clocks (First generation-Horvath Age; Second generation-DNAm PhenoAge) to test which is more strongly associated with cardiopulmonary disease and frailty.</AbstractText Our cohort consisted of 2,097 participants from the Project Baseline Health Study, a prospective cohort study of individuals from four US sites. We compared the association between the different aging clocks and measures of cardiopulmonary disease, frailty, and protein abundance collected at the participant's first annual visit using linear regression models adjusted for common confounders.</AbstractText We found that CXR-Age was associated with coronary calcium, cardiovascular risk factors, worsening pulmonary function, increased frailty, and abundance in plasma of two proteins implicated in neuroinflammation and aging. Associations with DNAm PhenoAge were weaker for pulmonary function and all metrics in middle-age adults. We identified thirteen proteins that were associated with DNAm PhenoAge, one (CDH13) of which was also associated with CXR-Age. No associations were found with Horvath Age.</AbstractText These results suggest that CXR-Age may serve as a better metric of cardiopulmonary aging than epigenetic aging clocks, especially in midlife adults.</AbstractText" ], [ "40760822", "A convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM)-Attention model based on wavelet transform for predicting non-stationary wind pressure coefficients on the surface of terminal glass curtain wall.", "In this paper, a neural network model combining wavelet decomposition and attention mechanism is proposed for the accurate prediction of non-stationary wind pressure on the surface of the glass curtain wall of an airport terminal building under strong wind conditions. The traditional methods often prove difficult in capturing local features and time-frequency variations of non-smooth signals when dealing with them, resulting in limited prediction accuracy. The proposed methodology involves a two-step process. Initially, wavelet decomposition of the original wind pressure coefficient sequence is performed, resulting in the reconstruction of subsequences at high and low frequencies. Subsequently, a convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) neural network model incorporating an attention mechanism is constructed, leading to the attainment of high-precision wind pressure predictions. The experimental results demonstrate that the model performs well in the task of predicting non-stationary wind pressure coefficient sequences, with significantly lower prediction errors compared to a single prediction model. Furthermore, in comparison with alternative models that do not incorporate wavelet decomposition, the wavelet transform-CNN-LSTM-Attention model proposed in this paper has the capacity to enhance the mean absolute error, root mean square error, and mean absolute percentage error metrics by 15% to 18%, 12% to 16%, and 26% to 46%, respectively. This study provides reliable technical support for the safety assessment of glass curtain wall structures of airport terminals under extreme weather conditions, and has important engineering application value.</AbstractText" ], [ "40748918", "Consolidative stereotactic radiotherapy for oligo-residual non-small cell lung cancer after first-line chemoimmunotherapy: A single-arm, phase 2 trial from China.", "Retrospective evidence indicated potential survival benefit of consolidative stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) in patients with metastatic driver mutation-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring oligo-residual disease (ORD) after effective immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. However, prospective data about consolidative SRT in this disease population after first-line chemoimmunotherapy remains scarce.</AbstractText From March 2021 to March 2023, 59 patients (94.92% males) with metastatic driver mutation-negative NSCLC harboring ORD after effective first-line chemoimmunotherapy were enrolled in this single-arm, phase 2 trial (NCT04767009), which was conducted at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China. The median (interquartile range) age was 64 (57,71) years. All of the patients received extracranial and/or cranial SRT covering all of the oligo-residual lesions, without holding the maintenance systemic therapy during SRT. The most common sites targeted by consolidative SRT included the lung (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;30), lymph nodes (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;26), bone (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;22), and brain (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;22). All efficacy and safety analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle with all 59 enrolled patients included. No patient was lost to follow-up. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). With a median follow-up of 14.8 months, the median PFS was 29.0 (90% CI [13.97, Not Reach]) months, meeting the primary endpoint. The 2-year OS rate was 88.9% (95% CI [75.9%,100%]). TRAEs of any grade and grade &#x2265;3 occurred in 58 (98.31%) and 13 (22.03%) patients, respectively. Moreover, a prespecified propensity score-matched comparison was conducted with a contemporary cohort of patients who developed ORD but received systematic therapy alone, which found that incorporating consolidative SRT was associated with prolonged PFS (adjusted HR 0.286, P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001) and OS (adjusted HR 0.229, P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.023). The main methodological limitation of this single-arm trial is its inability to establish causal relationships and the findings require validation in randomized controlled trials.</AbstractText Consolidative SRT was associated with prolonged PFS and generally acceptable toxicities in first-line chemoimmunotherapy-treated patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring ORD, supported by propensity-matched comparisons with a contemporary cohort.</AbstractText" ], [ "40716973", "Pregnancy hypertension is associated with higher p-tau217 in healthy midlife women.", "There is very limited knowledge on the relationship between pregnancy hypertension and the occurrence of pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease (AD).</AbstractText Community-dwelling midlife women without dementia were enrolled from well-woman clinics of the National University Hospital, Singapore. Sociodemographic parameters and history of pregnancy hypertension were obtained. Cognition was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic tool. Fasted blood samples were stored for batched analysis of renal function, APOE genotyping and p-tau217 levels using Simoa&#xae; ALZpath p-tau217 Advantage PLUS (Quanterix, MA, USA). General linear modelling was used to examine the association between pregnancy hypertension and p-tau217.</AbstractText Among 743 women (mean age 62.9 &#xb1; 6.0; range: 50.7 to 76.6 years) enrolled, 68 (9.2%) reported pregnancy hypertension. General linear modelling showed that an older age [mean difference: 0.002 (95% CI: 0.001, 0.003)], mild cognitive impairment [0.016 (0.001, 0.032)], lower BMI [0.068 (0.027, 0.109)], eGFR&lt;60 mL/min/1.73 m<sup Pregnancy hypertension was associated with AD pathology with mean differences similar to high risk APOE4 carrier genotypes. Information on pregnancy hypertension could help physicians to identify women who might benefit from early p-tau217 screening for Alzheimer's disease, allowing for early clinical intervention.</AbstractText" ], [ "40539096", "Generation of decellularized human brain tissue for investigating cell-matrix interactions: a proof-of-concept study.", "The brain extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates myelin repair and regeneration following a demyelinating event by interacting with neuronal progenitors and immune cells. Therefore, generation and characterization of decellularized human brain tissue (DHBT) in regions with distinct neuroregenerative capacities are essential to determine factors modulating the cellular regenerative behavior. We have established an effective decellularization protocol for the human neural stem cell (NSC)-rich subventricular zone (SVZ) as well as, frontal cortex (FC) and white matter (WM), and defined region-specific matrisomes with comparative proteomics. Subsequently, as proof-of-concept, survival and differentiation of NSCs and monocytes within the DHBT were investigated. The proteomic analysis of the DHBT confirmed the retention of matrisome proteins such as COL4A1, FBB, NCAN, ANXA2. Unique to the SVZ were LGI3 and C1QB, while annexins, S100A and TGM2 were found in FC; S100B was exclusive to the WM. NSCs cultured within WM and FC acquired an astrocytic phenotype, but both astrocytic and oligodendrocytic phenotypes were promoted by the SVZ DHBT. Moreover, imaging mass cytometry analysis indicated an anti-inflammatory phenotype differentiation of monocytes seeded on SVZ and WM. Thus, the established model is suitable for investigation of ECM properties and assessment of cell-matrix interactions.</AbstractText" ] ]
39492762
A Comprehensive Review of the Recent Advancements in Imaging Segmentation and Registration Techniques for Glioblastoma and Focusing on the Utilization of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) Scans.
The most common primary malignant brain tumor is glioblastoma. Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) diagnosis is difficult. However, image segmentation and registration methods may simplify and automate Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan analysis. Medical practitioners and researchers can better identify and characterize glioblastoma tumors using this technology. Many segmentation and registration approaches have been proposed recently. Note that these approaches are not fully compiled. This review efficiently and critically evaluates the state-of-the-art segmentation and registration techniques for MRI and CT GBM images, providing researchers, medical professionals, and students with a wealth of knowledge to advance GBM imaging and inform decision-making. GBM's origins and development have been examined, along with medical imaging methods used to diagnose tumors. Image segmentation and registration were examined, showing their importance in this difficult task. Frequently encountered glioblastoma segmentation and registration issues were examined. Based on these theoretical foundations, recent image segmentation and registration advances were critically analyzed. Additionally, evaluation measures for analytical efforts were thoroughly reviewed.</AbstractText
[ [ "34658334", "The OpenNeuro resource for sharing of neuroscience data.", "The sharing of research data is essential to ensure reproducibility and maximize the impact of public investments in scientific research. Here, we describe OpenNeuro, a BRAIN Initiative data archive that provides the ability to openly share data from a broad range of brain imaging data types following the FAIR principles for data sharing. We highlight the importance of the Brain Imaging Data Structure standard for enabling effective curation, sharing, and reuse of data. The archive presently shares more than 600 datasets including data from more than 20,000 participants, comprising multiple species and measurement modalities and a broad range of phenotypes. The impact of the shared data is evident in a growing number of published reuses, currently totalling more than 150 publications. We conclude by describing plans for future development and integration with other ongoing open science efforts.</AbstractText" ], [ "35489444", "Accumulated bladder wall dose is correlated with patient-reported acute urinary toxicity in prostate cancer patients treated with stereotactic, daily adaptive MR-guided radiotherapy.", "Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided linear accelerators (MR-Linac) enable accurate estimation of delivered doses through dose accumulation using daily MR images and treatment plans. We aimed to assess the association between the accumulated bladder (wall) dose and patient-reported acute urinary toxicity in prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).</AbstractText One-hundred-and-thirty PCa patients treated on a 1.5&#xa0;T MR-Linac were included. Patients filled out International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS) questionnaires at baseline, 1&#xa0;month, and 3&#xa0;months post-treatment. Deformable image registration-based dose accumulation was performed to reconstruct the delivered dose. Dose parameters for both bladder and bladder wall were correlated with a clinically relevant increase in IPSS (&#x2265; 10 points) and/or start of alpha-blockers within 3&#xa0;months using logistic regression.</AbstractText Thirty-nine patients (30%) experienced a clinically relevant IPSS increase and/or started with alpha-blockers. Bladder D5cm<sup This is the first study to assess the correlation between accumulated bladder wall dose and patient-reported urinary toxicity in PCa patients treated with MR-guided SBRT. The dose to the bladder wall is a promising parameter for prediction of patient-reported urinary toxicity and therefore warrants prospective validation and consideration in treatment planning.</AbstractText" ], [ "39199744", "A Review of Medical Image Registration for Different Modalities.", "Medical image registration has become pivotal in recent years with the integration of various imaging modalities like X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, and CT scans, enabling comprehensive analysis and diagnosis of biological structures. This paper provides a comprehensive review of registration techniques for medical images, with an in-depth focus on 2D-2D image registration methods. While 3D registration is briefly touched upon, the primary emphasis remains on 2D techniques and their applications. This review covers registration techniques for diverse modalities, including unimodal, multimodal, interpatient, and intra-patient. The paper explores the challenges encountered in medical image registration, including geometric distortion, differences in image properties, outliers, and optimization convergence, and discusses their impact on registration accuracy and reliability. Strategies for addressing these challenges are highlighted, emphasizing the need for continual innovation and refinement of techniques to enhance the accuracy and reliability of medical image registration systems. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of accurate medical image registration in improving diagnosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "28244595", "Long-term cardiovascular mortality after radiotherapy for breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.", "Radiotherapy (RT) is frequently associated with late cardiovascular (CV) complications. The mean cardiac dose from irradiation of a left-sided breast cancer is much higher than that for a right-sided breast cancer. However, data is limited on the long-term risks of RT on CV mortality.</AbstractText RT for breast cancer is associated with long term CV mortality and left sided RT carries a greater mortality than right sided RT.</AbstractText We searched PubMed, Cochrane Central, Embase, EBSCO, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases from inception through December 2015. Studies reporting CV mortality with RT for left- vs right-sided breast cancers were included. The principal outcome of interest was CV mortality. We calculated summary risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) with the random-effects model.</AbstractText The analysis included 289 109 patients from 13 observational studies. Women who had received RT for left-sided breast cancer had a higher risk of CV death than those who received RT for a right-sided breast cancer (RR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.07-1.18, P &lt; 0.001; number needed to harm: 353). Difference in CV mortality between left- vs right-sided breast RT was more apparent after 15 years of follow-up (RR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08-1.41, P &lt; 0.001; number needed to harm: 95).</AbstractText CV mortality from left-sided RT was significantly higher compared with right-sided RT for breast cancer and was more apparent after &#x2265;15 years of follow-up.</AbstractText" ], [ "38463219", "Impact of daily plan adaptation on accumulated doses in ultra-hypofractionated magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy of prostate cancer.", "Ultra-hypofractionated online adaptive magnetic resonance-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) is promising for prostate cancer. However, the impact of online adaptation on target coverage and organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing at the level of accumulated dose has not yet been reported. Using deformable image registration (DIR)-based accumulation, we compared the delivered adapted dose with the simulated non-adapted dose.</AbstractText Twenty-three prostate cancer patients treated at two clinics with 0.35&#xa0;T magnetic resonance-guided linear accelerator (MR-linac) following the same treatment protocol (5&#xa0;<mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" Normalized to the baseline, the accumulated PTV* <i Online adaptation in MRgRT improved target coverage and OARs sparing at the level of accumulated dose.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38369635", "Image quality in CT thorax: effect of altering reconstruction algorithm and tube load.", "Non-linear properties of iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms can alter image texture. We evaluated the effect of a model-based IR algorithm (advanced modelled iterative reconstruction; ADMIRE) and dose on computed tomography thorax image quality. Dual-source scanner data were acquired at 20, 45 and 65 reference mAs in 20 patients. Images reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and ADMIRE Strengths 3-5 were assessed independently by six radiologists and analysed using an ordinal logistic regression model. For all image criteria studied, the effects of tube load 20 mAs and all ADMIRE strengths were significant (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001) when compared to reference categories 65 mAs and FBP. Increase in tube load from 45 to 65 mAs showed image quality improvement in three of six criteria. Replacing FBP with ADMIRE significantly improves perceived image quality for all criteria studied, potentially permitting a dose reduction of almost 70% without loss in image quality.</AbstractText" ], [ "38741709", "Parvalbumin interneuron activity in autism underlies susceptibility to PTSD-like memory formation.", "A rising concern in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the heightened sensitivity to trauma, the potential consequences of which have been overlooked, particularly upon the severity of the ASD traits. We first demonstrate a reciprocal relationship between ASD and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reveal that exposure to a mildly stressful event induces PTSD-like memory in four mouse models of ASD. We also establish an unanticipated consequence of stress, as the formation of PTSD-like memory leads to the aggravation of core autistic traits. Such a susceptibility to developing PTSD-like memory in ASD stems from hyperactivation of the prefrontal cortex and altered fine-tuning of parvalbumin interneuron firing. Traumatic memory can be treated by recontextualization, reducing the deleterious effects on the core symptoms of ASD in the <i" ], [ "38502973", "Mitochondrial DNA deletions in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder.", "Idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (IRBD) represents the prodromal stage of Lewy body disorders (Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)) which are linked to variations in circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA). Here, we assessed whether altered cf-mtDNA release and integrity are already present in IRBD.</AbstractText We used multiplex digital PCR (dPCR) to quantify cf-mtDNA copies and deletion ratio in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum in a cohort of 71 participants, including 1) 17 patients with IRBD who remained disease-free (non-converters), 2) 34 patients initially diagnosed with IRBD who later developed either PD or DLB (converters), and 3) 20 age-matched controls without IRBD or Parkinsonism. In addition, we investigated whether CD9-positive extracellular vesicles (CD9-EVs) from CSF and serum samples contained cf-mtDNA.</AbstractText Patients with IRBD, both converters and non-converters, exhibited more cf-mtDNA with deletions in the CSF than controls. This finding was confirmed in CD9-EVs. The high levels of deleted cf-mtDNA in CSF corresponded to a significant decrease in cf-mtDNA copies in CD9-EVs in both IRBD non-converters and converters. Conversely, a significant increase in cf-mtDNA copies was found in serum and CD9-EVs from the serum of patients with IRBD who later converted to a Lewy body disorder.</AbstractText Alterations in cf-mtDNA copy number and deletion ratio known to occur in Lewy body disorders are already present in IRBD and are not a consequence of Lewy body disease conversion. This suggests that mtDNA dysfunction is a primary molecular mechanism of the pathophysiological cascade that precedes the full clinical motor and cognitive manifestation of Lewy body disorders.</AbstractText Funded by Michael J. Fox Foundation research grant MJFF-001111. Funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 \"ERDF A way of making Europe\", grants PID2020-115091RB-I00 (RT) and PID2022-143279OB-I00 (ACo). Funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR, grant PMP22/00100 (RT and ACo). Funded by AGAUR/Generalitat de Catalunya, grant SGR00490 (RT and ACo). MP has an FPI fellowship, PRE2018-083297, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 \"ESF Investing in your future\".</AbstractText" ], [ "38925074", "Egg-laying hormone expression in identified neurons across developmental stages and reproductive states of the nudibranch Berghia stephanieae.", "Neuropeptides play essential roles in coordinating reproduction. Egg-laying hormone (ELH) is conserved in genetic sequence and behavioral function across molluscs, where neuronal clusters secrete ELH to modulate and induce egg-laying. Here we investigated ELH in the nudibranch mollusc, Berghia stephanieae. ELH preprohormone gene orthologs, which showed clade-specific differences at the C-terminus of the predicted bioactive peptide, were identified in brain transcriptomes across several nudipleuran species, including B. stephanieae. ELH shares deep homology with the corticotropin-releasing hormone gene family, which has roles broadly in stress response. Injection of synthesized B. stephanieae ELH peptide into mature individuals induced egg-laying. ELH gene expression in the brain and body was mapped using in-situ hybridization chain reaction. Across the adult brain, 300-400 neurons expressed ELH. Twenty-one different cell types were identified in adults, three of which were located unilaterally on the right side, which corresponds to the location of the reproductive organs. Ten cell types were present in pre-reproductive juvenile stages. An asymmetric cluster of approximately 100 small neurons appeared in the right pedal ganglion of late-stage juveniles. Additional neurons in the pleural and pedal ganglia expressed ELH only in adults that were actively laying eggs and sub-adults that were on the verge of doing so, implicating their direct role in reproduction. Outside the brain, ELH was expressed on sensory appendages, including in presumptive sensory neurons. Its widespread expression in the nudibranch B. stephanieae suggests that ELH plays a role beyond reproduction in gastropod molluscs.</AbstractText" ], [ "38534499", "Enhancing Error Detection on Medical Knowledge Graphs via Intrinsic Label.", "The construction of medical knowledge graphs (MKGs) is steadily progressing from manual to automatic methods, which inevitably introduce noise, which could impair the performance of downstream healthcare applications. Existing error detection approaches depend on the topological structure and external labels of entities in MKGs to improve their quality. Nevertheless, due to the cost of manual annotation and imperfect automatic algorithms, precise entity labels in MKGs cannot be readily obtained. To address these issues, we propose an approach named Enhancing error detection on Medical knowledge graphs via intrinsic labEL (EMKGEL). Considering the absence of hyper-view KG, we establish a hyper-view KG and a triplet-level KG for implicit label information and neighborhood information, respectively. Inspired by the success of graph attention networks (GATs), we introduce the hyper-view GAT to incorporate label messages and neighborhood information into representation learning. We leverage a confidence score that combines local and global trustworthiness to estimate the triplets. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted experiments on three publicly available MKGs, namely PharmKG-8k, DiseaseKG, and DiaKG. Compared with the baseline models, the Precision@K value improved by 0.7%, 6.1%, and 3.6%, respectively, on these datasets. Furthermore, our method empirically showed that it significantly outperformed the baseline on a general knowledge graph, Nell-995.</AbstractText" ] ]
31250103
Differential diagnosis of peripheral facial nerve palsy: a retrospective clinical, MRI and CSF-based study.
Facial nerve palsy is the most common cranial nerve disorder. There is no consensus on a single diagnostic tool deemed as the 'gold standard' for distinguishing between idiopathic (Bell's palsy) and symptomatic causes. The diagnosis is one of exclusion and most often made on physical examination. In the present study, we describe the etiological background of peripheral facial palsy in N&#x2009;=&#x2009;509 patients and evaluate the relevance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in differential diagnosis.</AbstractText We carried out a retrospective data analysis of 509 patients with the clinical diagnosis of peripheral facial palsy admitted to our emergency unit between January 2006 and January 2017. All patients were seen clinically; their CSF was analyzed and MRI was performed.</AbstractText Of N&#x2009;=&#x2009;526 patients with isolated facial palsy, 17 patients were excluded because they did not consent to CSF analysis. Of the remaining N&#x2009;=&#x2009;509 patients, 383 patients (75.2%) were diagnosed with idiopathic facial palsy. In the remaining 126 patients (24.8%), the following etiologies for facial palsy could be found: Ramsay-Hunt-Syndrome (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;34), Lyme Neuroborreliosis (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;32), other viral/bacterial central nervous system (CNS) infections (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;8), neoplasias (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;18), autoimmune disease (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;12), otogenous processes (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;6), or other etiologies (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;16). Analysis of the CSF showed 85% sensitivity for Ramsay-Hunt-Syndrome and 100% for Lyme Neuroborreliosis and other viral/bacterial CNS infections. CSF analysis proved a reliable diagnostic tool for identifying these subgroups. MRI with contrast compounds, as performed in 409 patients, was the most important tool in diagnosing neoplasias (88% sensitivity) and otogenous processes (83% sensitivity). MRI with contrast-enhancing compounds did not reveal additional information concerning inflammatory facial nerve lesions when performed the same day as hospital admission.</AbstractText Although peripheral facial palsy was predominantly idiopathic (75.3%) in our cohort, the disease was caused in approximately 25% of the patients by factors which require specific treatment. In the present study, CSF analysis proved to be the leading method for the diagnosis of Ramsay-Hunt-Syndrome, Lyme Neuroborreliosis, and other CNS infections. These subgroups made up approximately 15% of our cohort. To detect these subgroups reliably, routine use of CSF analysis in peripheral facial palsy may be advisable, whereas MRI proved to be useful for exclusion of otogenic and neoplastic processes with a sensitivity of 83% and 88%. We found that the use of MRI with contrast-enhancing compounds does not provide additional diagnostic information on the day of hospital admission. Hence, the potential benefits of routine use of MRI in patients with facial nerve palsy should be weighed against health care cost factors.</AbstractText
[ [ "18452586", "Essential protective role attributed to the surface lipoproteins of Borrelia burgdorferi against innate defences.", "To initiate infection, a microbial pathogen must be able to evade innate immunity. Here we show that the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi depends on its surface lipoproteins for protection against innate defences. The deficiency for OspC, an abundantly expressed surface lipoprotein during early infection, led to quick clearance of B. burgdorferi after inoculation into the skin of SCID mice. Increasing expression of any of the four randomly chosen surface lipoproteins, OspA, OspE, VlsE or DbpA, fully protected the ospC mutant from elimination from the skin tissue of SCID mice; moreover, increased OspA, OspE or VlsE expression allowed the mutant to cause disseminated infection and restored the ability to effectively colonize both joint and skin tissues, albeit the dissemination process was much slower than that of the mutant restored with OspC expression. When the ospC mutant was modified to express OspA under control of the ospC regulatory elements, it registered only a slight increase in the 50% infectious dose than the control in SCID mice but a dramatic increase in immunocompetent mice. Taken together, the study demonstrated that the surface lipoproteins provide B. burgdorferi with an essential protective function against host innate elimination.</AbstractText" ], [ "29848547", "Long term survival, health, social functioning, and education in patients with European Lyme neuroborreliosis: nationwide population based cohort study.", "To estimate long term survival, health, and educational/social functioning in patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis compared with the general population.</AbstractText Nationwide population based cohort study using national registers.</AbstractText Denmark.</AbstractText All Danish residents diagnosed during 1986-2016 as having Lyme neuroborreliosis (n=2067), defined as a positive <i Mortality rate ratios, incidence rate ratios of comorbidities, and differences in educational and social outcomes.</AbstractText Mortality among patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis was not higher than in the general population (mortality rate ratio 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.79 to 1.03). Lyme neuroborreliosis patients had increased risk of haematological (incidence rate ratio 3.07, 2.03 to 4.66) and non-melanoma skin cancers (1.49, 1.18 to 1.88). At diagnosis, Lyme neuroborreliosis patients had slightly higher employment and lower disability pension rates. After five years, patients and comparison cohort members had similar numbers of hospital contacts (difference -0.22, 95% confidence interval -0.45 to 0.02, in-hospital days/year; 0.37, -0.10 to 0.83, outpatient visits/year), employment rates (difference 1.5%, -2.1% to 5.1%), income (difference -1000, -20&#x2009;000 to 18&#x2009;000, Danish kroner), days of sick leave (difference -0.3, -3.5 to 3.0, per year), rates of receipt of a disability pension (difference -0.9%, -3.2% to 1.3%), and number of children (difference -0.10, -0.27 to 0.08). More patients were married (difference 4.8%, 2.2% to 7.4%) and had completed high school education (difference 7%, 1% to 12%).</AbstractText A verified diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis had no substantial effect on long term survival, health, or educational/social functioning. Nevertheless, the diagnosis decreased labour market involvement marginally and was associated with increased risk of haematological and non-melanoma skin cancers.</AbstractText" ], [ "25857657", "Bell's palsy: aetiology, clinical features and multidisciplinary care.", "Bell's palsy is a common cranial neuropathy causing acute unilateral lower motor neuron facial paralysis. Immune, infective and ischaemic mechanisms are all potential contributors to the development of Bell's palsy, but the precise cause remains unclear. Advancements in the understanding of intra-axonal signal molecules and the molecular mechanisms underpinning Wallerian degeneration may further delineate its pathogenesis along with in vitro studies of virus-axon interactions. Recently published guidelines for the acute treatment of Bell's palsy advocate for steroid monotherapy, although controversy exists over whether combined corticosteroids and antivirals may possibly have a beneficial role in select cases of severe Bell's palsy. For those with longstanding sequaelae from incomplete recovery, aesthetic, functional (nasal patency, eye closure, speech and swallowing) and psychological considerations need to be addressed by the treating team. Increasingly, multidisciplinary collaboration between interested clinicians from a wide variety of subspecialties has proven effective. A patient centred approach utilising physiotherapy, targeted botulinum toxin injection and selective surgical intervention has reduced the burden of long-term disability in facial palsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "31446366", "Translocation of effector proteins into host cells by Toxoplasma gondii.", "The Apicomplexan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, is an obligate intracellular organism that must co-opt its host cell to survive. To this end, Toxoplasma parasites introduce a suite of effector proteins from two secretory compartments called rhoptries and dense granules into the host cells. Once inside, these effectors extensively modify the host cell to facilitate parasite penetration, replication and persistence. In this review, we summarize the most recent advances in current understanding of effector translocation from Toxoplasma's rhoptry and dense granule organelles into the host cell, with comparisons to Plasmodium spp. for broader context.</AbstractText" ], [ "29383323", "An Unusual Cluster of Neuroinvasive Lyme Disease Cases Presenting With Bannwarth Syndrome in the Midwest United States.", "Bannwarth syndrome (BWS), an infrequent manifestation of neuroinvasive Lyme disease (LD) characterized by radiculopathy, neuropathy, and lymphocytic pleocytosis, is more commonly documented in Europe than North America. Here, we describe a cluster of 5 neuroinvasive LD cases with BWS in the upper Midwest United States between July and August 2017.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39932582", "Persistent geotropic or apogeotropic nystagmus: recurrence and association with vestibular migraine.", "The underlying etiologies responsible for persistent geotropic nystagmus (PGN) and apogeotropic nystagmus (PAGN) remain elusive. In this study, we analyzed the symptoms of patients with PGN and PAGN and categorize them based on diagnostic criteria for established vestibular disorders.</AbstractText Clinical signs, recurrences, and duration of vestibular symptoms in patients with PGN or PAGN were collated and included auditory, neurologic, and migrainous symptoms as well as migraine history. Patients were then reclassified into unique etiological groups according to the established diagnostic criteria for vestibular disorders.</AbstractText Among 428 patients with nystagmus, 57 (13.3%) presented with PGN or PAGN. Of the 56 patients included in the study, 50 (89.3%) experienced a recurrence of vertigo or dizziness, and 28 (50%) had more than five episodes. Regarding the duration of symptoms, 32 patients (57.1%) experienced vestibular episodes lasting&#x2009;&#x2264;&#x2009;1&#xa0;day, and 46 patients (82.1%) had episodes lasting&#x2009;&#x2264;&#x2009;1&#xa0;week. Based on the available and accepted diagnostic categorization, 17 patients (30.4%) were diagnosed with vestibular migraine, 15 (26.8%) with probable vestibular migraine, 15 (26.8%) with benign recurrent vertigo, 3 (5.4%) with cerebellar lesions, 1 (1.8%) with sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and 5 (8.9%) with undetermined diagnoses.</AbstractText While PGN and PAGN can be caused by various vestibular disorders, our data support the majority of cases are episodic and linked to the pathophysiology of vestibular migraine.</AbstractText" ], [ "30538288", "Δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol produce dissociable effects on prefrontal cortical executive function and regulation of affective behaviors.", "The use of cannabis for therapeutic and recreational purposes is growing exponentially. Nevertheless, substantial questions remain concerning the potential cognitive and affective side-effects associated with cannabis exposure. In particular, the effects of specific marijuana-derived phytocannabinoids on neural regions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are of concern, given the role of the PFC in both executive cognitive function and affective processing. The main biologically active phytocannabinoids, &#x2206;-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), interact with multiple neurotransmitter systems important for these processes directly within the PFC. Considerable evidence has demonstrated that acute or chronic THC exposure may induce psychotomimetic effects, whereas CBD has been shown to produce potentially therapeutic effects for both psychosis and/or anxiety-related symptoms. Using an integrative combination of cognitive and affective behavioral pharmacological assays in rats, we report that acute intra-PFC infusions of THC produce anxiogenic effects while producing no impairments in executive function. In contrast, acute infusions of intra-PFC CBD impaired attentional set-shifting and spatial working memory, without interfering with anxiety or sociability behaviors. In contrast, intra-PFC CBD reversed the cognitive impairments induced by acute glutamatergic antagonism within the PFC, and blocked the anxiogenic properties of THC, suggesting that the therapeutic properties of CBD within the PFC may be present only during pathologically aberrant states within the PFC. Interestingly, the effects of PFC THC vs. CBD were found to be mediated through dissociable CB1 vs. 5-HT<sub" ], [ "31775270", "The Waggle Dance as an Intended Flight: A Cognitive Perspective.", "The notion of the waggle dance simulating a flight towards a goal in a walking pattern has been proposed in the context of evolutionary considerations. Behavioral components, like its arousing effect on the social community, the attention of hive mates induced by this behavior, the direction of the waggle run relative to the sun azimuth or to gravity, as well as the number of waggles per run, have been tentatively related to peculiar behavioral patterns in both solitary and social insect species and are thought to reflect phylogenetic pre-adaptations. Here, I ask whether these thoughts can be substantiated from a functional perspective. Communication in the waggle dance is a group phenomenon involving the dancer and the followers that perform partially overlapping movements encoding and decoding the message respectively. It is thus assumed that the dancer and follower perform close cognitive processes. This provides us with access to these cognitive processes during dance communication because the follower can be tested in its flight performance when it becomes a recruit. I argue that the dance message and the landscape experience are processed in the same navigational memory, allowing the bee to fly novel direct routes, a property understood as an indication of a cognitive map.</AbstractText" ], [ "40670759", "Prevalence of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in CIDP patients with red flags: a multicenter genetic screening and misdiagnosis analysis.", "Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) is a rare, multisystemic disorder often presenting with peripheral neuropathy and can be misdiagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), especially in non-endemic areas. While clinical red flags have been proposed to aid diagnosis, their predictive value remains uncertain. This study prospectively assessed the prevalence of TTR variants in CIDP patients with red flags for ATTRv and retrospectively analyzed features of genetically confirmed ATTRv cases initially misdiagnosed as CIDP.</AbstractText Thirteen Italian tertiary neuromuscular centers consecutively screened CIDP patients with at least one red flag for TTR gene variants. A retrospective analysis was also conducted on ATTRv patients initially misdiagnosed as CIDP, comparing clinical, electrophysiological, and treatment response features to confirmed CIDP cases.</AbstractText No TTR variants were identified among 124 screened CIDP patients despite 65% presenting with&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;2 red flags and 14% not responding to standard therapies. Among 17 retrospectively identified ATTRv patients, 5 (29%) met electrodiagnostic criteria for CIDP. In nearly half, CIDP was diagnosed without fulfilling electrodiagnostic criteria or obtaining appropriate supportive investigations. Compared to confirmed CIDP patients, ATTRv cases exhibited significantly more red flags, later onset, more insidious and distal presentations, a progressive course, lower rates of demyelination criteria fulfillment, and no response to immunomodulatory therapy.</AbstractText Red flags alone have limited predictive value in specialized settings. However, ATTRv should be considered in distal, progressive, treatment-resistant neuropathies, especially with multisystem features. Greater diagnostic rigor and increased awareness in non-specialist settings is essential to reduce misdiagnosis and improve access to therapy.</AbstractText" ], [ "30416178", "Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Brachial Plexus: A Comparison between Readout-segmented and Conventional Single-shot Echo-planar Imaging.", "Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) adds functional information to morphological magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) in the assessment of the brachial nerve plexus. To determine the most appropriate pulse sequence in scan times suited for diagnostic imaging in clinical routine, we compared image quality between simultaneous multi-slice readout-segmented (rs-DTI) and conventional single-shot (ss-DTI) echo-planar imaging techniques.</AbstractText Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved study including 10 healthy volunteers. The supraclavicular brachial plexus, covering the nerve roots and trunks from C5 to C7, was imaged on both sides with rs-DTI and ss-DTI. Both sequences were acquired in scan times &lt;7 min with b-values of 900 s/mm<sup In rs-DTI image, the overall quality was significantly better and distortion artifacts were significantly lower (P = 0.001-0.002 and P = 0.001-0.002, respectively) for both readers. In ss-DTI, a trend toward lower degree of ghosting and motion artifacts was elicited (reader 1, P = 0.121; reader 2, P = 0.264). No significant differences between the two DTI techniques were found for signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) and fractional anisotropy (FA) (P &#x2265; 0.475, P &#x2265; 0.624, and P &#x2265; 0.169, respectively). Interreader agreement for all examined parameters and all sequences ranged from intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.064 to 0.905 and Kappa 0.40 to 0.851.</AbstractText Incomparable acquisition times rs-DTI showed higher image quality and less distortion artifacts than ss-DTI. The trend toward a higher degree of ghosting and motion artifacts in rs-DTI did not deteriorate image quality to a significant degree. Thus, rs-DTI should be considered for functional MRN of the brachial plexus.</AbstractText" ] ]
39401773
Feasibility of submillimeter functional quantitative susceptibility mapping using 3D echo planar imaging at 7 T.
Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a tool for mapping tissue susceptibility. Using QSM for functional brain mapping, it is possible to directly quantify blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) susceptibility changes. This study presents a submillimeter functional QSM (fQSM) approach compared to BOLD fMRI from data acquired with 3D gradient-echo echo planar imaging (EPI) at ultra-high field. Complex EPI data were acquired in nine healthy subjects with varying temporal and spatial resolutions and used for BOLD fMRI and for fQSM. Right-hand finger tapping experiments were performed as well as one measurement with intentional subject movement. Susceptibility maps were computed using 3D path-based unwrapping, the variable-kernel sophisticated harmonic artifact reduction for phase data, and the streaking artifact reduction for QSM algorithm. Functional data analysis included general linear modeling and computation of z-scores. Submillimeter data were denoised using NOise reduction with DIstribution Corrected (NORDIC), which improved z-scores in the motor cortex for fQSM and fMRI. An expected increase in BOLD fMRI signal and corresponding decrease in magnetic susceptibility was observed in sensorimotor areas during active periods. For all experiments, fQSM showed smaller activation regions compared with fMRI. The percentage of high negative t-values localized in the cortex was higher for fQSM (52%) than for positive or negative t-values for fMRI (45%). For the scans with intentional motion, movement exceeded the size of a voxel, but paradigm dependent signal evolution could be recovered using motion correction. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the feasibility of submillimeter whole-brain fQSM with voxel volume of 0.53&#x2009;&#x3bc;L. In comparison to traditional BOLD fMRI, fQSM provided improved localization of brain activation within the cortex, especially in submillimeter 3D EPI sequences.</AbstractText
[ [ "34916532", "DCE-MRI of esophageal carcinoma using star-VIBE compared with conventional 3D-VIBE.", "To investigate the value of the star-VIBE sequence in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of esophageal carcinoma under free breathing conditions. From February 2019 to June 2020, 60 patients with esophageal carcinoma were prospectively enrolled to undergo dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) with the K-space golden-angle radial stack-of-star acquisition scheme (star-VIBE) sequence (Group A) or conventional 3D volumetric-interpolated breath-hold examination (3D-VIBE) sequence (Group B), completely randomized grouping. The image quality of DCE-MRI was subjectively evaluated at five levels and objectively evaluated according to the image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-noise ratio (CNR). The DCE-MRI parameters of volume transfer constant (Ktrans), rate constant (Kep) and vascular extracellular volume fraction (Ve) were calculated using the standard Tofts double-compartment model in the post-perfusion treatment software TISSUE 4D (Siemens). Each group included 30 randomly selected cases. There was a significant difference in subjective classification between the groups (35.90 vs 25.10, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.009). The study showed that both the SNR and CNR of group A were significantly higher than those of group B (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.004 and&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001, respectively). There was&#xa0;no&#xa0;significant&#xa0;difference&#xa0;in Ktrans, Kep or Ve between the groups (all p&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.05). The star-VIBE sequence can be applied in DCE-MRI examination of esophageal carcinoma, which can provide higher image quality than the conventional 3D-VIBE sequence in the free breathing state.</AbstractText" ], [ "37368513", "A low-energy total diet replacement program demonstrates a favorable safety profile and improves liver disease severity in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.", "Low-energy diets are used to treat obesity and diabetes, but there are fears that they may worsen liver disease in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and significant-to-advanced fibrosis.</AbstractText In this 24-week single-arm trial, 16 adults with NASH, fibrosis, and obesity received one-to-one remote dietetic support to follow a low-energy (880&#x2009;kcal/d) total diet replacement program for 12&#x2009;weeks and stepped food reintroduction for another 12&#x2009;weeks. Liver disease severity was blindly evaluated (magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction [MRI-PDFF], iron-corrected T1 [cT1], liver stiffness on magnetic resonance elastography [MRE], and liver stiffness on vibration-controlled transient elastography [VCTE]). Safety signals included liver biochemical markers and adverse events.</AbstractText A total of 14 participants (87.5%) completed the intervention. Weight loss was 15% (95% CI: 11.2%-18.6%) at 24&#x2009;weeks. Compared with baseline, MRI-PDFF reduced by 13.1% (95% CI: 8.9%-16.7%), cT1 by 159&#x2009;milliseconds (95% CI: 108-216.5), MRE liver stiffness by 0.4&#x2009;kPa (95% CI: 0.1-0.8), and VCTE liver stiffness by 3.9&#x2009;kPa (95% CI: 2.6-7.2) at 24&#x2009;weeks. The proportions with clinically relevant reductions in MRI-PDFF (&#x2265;30%), cT1 (&#x2265;88&#x2009;milliseconds), MRE liver stiffness (&#x2265;19%), and VCTE liver stiffness (&#x2265;19%) were 93%, 77%, 57%, and 93%, respectively. Liver biochemical markers improved. There were no serious intervention-related adverse events.</AbstractText The intervention demonstrates high adherence, favorable safety profile, and promising efficacy as a treatment for NASH.</AbstractText" ], [ "26268414", "In vivo magnetization transfer imaging of the lung using a zero echo time sequence at 4.7 Tesla in mice: Initial experience.", "The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of magnetization transfer-prepared zero echo time (ZTE) imaging of the lung in vivo at high field strength [4.7 Tesla) T] in mice.</AbstractText Eighteen C57BL/10 mice underwent MRI examinations in a 4.7T MR-scanner. A three-dimensional ZTE sequence was applied for lung imaging combined with a Gaussian MT-prepulse, which was followed by a train of 100 ZTE imaging readouts. Degree of MT was assessed by calculation of the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). Direct saturation was estimated using Bloch equation simulations based on T1 measurements. The line-width of pulmonary tissue was estimated using T2* measurements.</AbstractText Experimental MTR-values of nonpulmonary tissues obtained with ZTE exhibited the characteristics known from conventional MT-sequences (skeletal muscle and liver: high values; fatty tissue: low values). Lung tissue demonstrated MTR-values in between fatty tissue and liver tissue. Direct saturation could be estimated by the Bloch simulation; however, an adequate approximation was only possible for T2 values nearly in the range of parenchymal organs.</AbstractText Pulmonary MT measurements at high field strength using the proposed MT-ZTE sequence is feasible; however, estimation of direct saturation remains challenging. Magn Reson Med 76:156-162, 2016. &#xa9; 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</AbstractText" ], [ "35691940", "Comparison of inversion methods in MR elastography: An open-access pipeline for processing multifrequency shear-wave data and demonstration in a phantom, human kidneys, and brain.", "Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) maps the viscoelastic properties of soft tissues for diagnostic purposes. However, different MRE inversion methods yield different results, which hinder comparison of values, standardization, and establishment of quantitative MRE markers. Here, we introduce an expandable, open-access, webserver-based platform that offers multiple inversion techniques for multifrequency, 3D MRE data.</AbstractText The platform comprises a data repository and standard MRE inversion methods including local frequency estimation (LFE), direct-inversion based multifrequency dual elasto-visco (MDEV) inversion, and wavenumber-based (k-) MDEV. The use of the platform is demonstrated in phantom data and in vivo multifrequency MRE data of the kidneys and brains of healthy volunteers.</AbstractText Detailed maps of stiffness were generated by all inversion methods showing similar detail of anatomy. Specifically, the inner renal cortex had higher shear wave speed (SWS) than renal medulla and outer cortex without lateral differences. k-MDEV yielded higher SWS values than MDEV or LFE (full kidney/brain k-MDEV: 2.71&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.19/1.45&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.14&#x2009;m/s, MDEV: 2.14&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.16/0.99&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.11&#x2009;m/s, LFE: 2.12&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.15/0.89&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.06&#x2009;m/s).</AbstractText The freely accessible platform supports the comparison of MRE results obtained with different inversion methods, filter thresholds, or excitation frequencies, promoting reproducibility in MRE across community-developed methods.</AbstractText" ], [ "21893208", "Susceptibility induced gray-white matter MRI contrast in the human brain.", "MR phase images have shown significantly improved contrast between cortical gray and white matter regions compared to magnitude images obtained with gradient echo sequences. A variety of underlying biophysical mechanisms (including iron, blood, myelin content, macromolecular chemical exchange, and fiber orientation) have been suggested to account for this observation but assessing the individual contribution of these factors is limited in vivo. For a closer investigation of iron and myelin induced susceptibility changes, postmortem MRI of six human corpses (age range at death: 56-80 years) was acquired in situ. Following autopsy, the iron concentrations in the frontal and occipital cortex as well as in white matter regions were chemically determined. The magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) was used as an indirect measure for myelin content. Susceptibility effects were assessed separately by determining R2* relaxation rates and quantitative phase shifts. Contributions of myelin and iron to local variations of the susceptibility were assessed by univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis. Mean iron concentration was lower in the frontal cortex than in frontal white matter (26 &#xb1; 6 vs. 45 &#xb1; 6 mg/kg wet tissue) while an inverse relation was found in the occipital lobe (cortical gray matter: 41 &#xb1; 10 vs. white matter: 34 &#xb1; 10mg/kg wet tissue). Multiple regression analysis revealed iron and MTR as independent predictors of the effective transverse relaxation rate R2 but solely MTR was identified as source of MR phase contrast. R2 was correlated with iron concentrations in cortical gray matter only (r=0.42, p&lt;0.05). In conclusion, MR phase contrast between cortical gray and white matter can be mainly attributed to variations in myelin content, but not to iron concentration. Both, myelin and iron impact the effective transverse relaxation rate R2 significantly. Magnitude contrast is limited because it only reflects the extent but not the direction of the susceptibility shift.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40737323", "Trauma-predictive brain network connectivity adaptively responds to mild acute stress.", "Past traumatic experiences shape neural responses to future stress, but the mechanisms underlying this dynamic interaction remain unclear. Here, we assessed how trauma-related brain networks respond to current acute stress in real time. Using a machine learning approach, we trained and tested brain functional connectivity networks to predict past trauma exposure in a community sample of adults (<i" ], [ "40616775", "Clioquinol as a new therapy in epilepsy: From preclinical evidence to a proof-of-concept clinical study.", "Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) affects &gt;25 million people worldwide and is often associated with neuroinflammation. Increasing evidence links deficiency or malfunctioning of the enzyme phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), which converts 3-phosphoglycerate to generate serine and the neurotransmitter glycine, with (drug-resistant) epilepsy. Moreover, PHGDH, which is primarily expressed in astrocytes within the brain, has been identified as a critical enzyme in driving macrophage polarization toward an anti-inflammatory state. Hence, PHGDH activators may be beneficial for treating DRE by exhibiting both antiseizure and anti-inflammatory activity. The objective of this study was to identify such PHGDH activators.</AbstractText We screened a drug repurposing library for PHGDH activators and assessed their antiseizure and anti-inflammatory properties using various zebrafish and mouse epilepsy models and explored the mechanistic consequences of activating PHGDH in a cell line, in astrocytes, and in zebrafish heads. Finally, we assessed the efficacy of clioquinol as add-on treatment in three severe DRE patients in a clinical open pilot proof-of-concept study.</AbstractText We identified haloquinolines from a drug repurposing library as potent activators of PHGDH. The most promising haloquinoline clioquinol can increase the catalytic activity of PHGDH up to 2.5-fold, thereby increasing de novo glycine biosynthesis and resulting in reduced glutamate levels. Moreover, we show that clioquinol has PHGDH-dependent antiseizure activity as well as anti-inflammatory properties in&#xa0;vivo using various zebrafish and mouse epilepsy models. Finally, we demonstrate the efficacy of clioquinol as add-on treatment in severe DRE patients; two patients showed a 37%-47% reduction in seizure frequency, and all three patients noted a positive impact on quality of life and seizure severity.</AbstractText Increasing activity of PHGDH is a promising new approach to treat DRE.</AbstractText" ], [ "40802210", "Mechanical dispersion predicts survival of dialysis-dependent patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.", "Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality in chronic kidney disease patients undergoing renal replacement therapy (RRT). Echocardiographic risk assessment, especially in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), may help identifying at-risk individuals. This study evaluates the prognostic significance of left ventricular (LV) mass global longitudinal strain (GLS) and mechanical dispersion in RRT patients with preserved LVEF. We prospectively followed 78 RRT patients with LVEF&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;50% over 55&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;6&#xa0;months to assess all-cause mortality. LV mass was determined using linear measurements and indexed to body surface area to obtain LV mass index (LVMI). GLS was calculated as the average of 18 segmental peak systolic strain values while mechanical dispersion was calculated from time intervals measured from the ECG R-wave to peak longitudinal strain across 18 LV segments. LV hypertrophy was observed in 58% of patients. Over a median follow-up of 55&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;6&#xa0;months, 29 patients (37%) died. Univariate Cox regression analysis identified age, diabetes mellitus, LVMI, GLS, and mechanical dispersion as predictors of all-cause mortality. Multivariate analysis confirmed that age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.07, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.014], LVMI (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01-1.03, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001), GLS (HR 0.77, 95%CI 0.66-0.88, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.014) and mechanical dispersion (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.03-4.52, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.042) were independent mortality predictors. In dialysis-dependent patients with preserved LVEF, increased mechanical dispersion is associated with worse survival. This parameter, when combined with LVMI and GLS, could serve as an additional tool for risk stratification in this vulnerable patient population.</AbstractText" ], [ "40627197", "Combined hamstrings lengthening and patellar tendon retensioning for neurogenic knee flexion in spastic diplegia.", "This study evaluates the effectiveness of combining hamstrings lengthening with patellar tendon retensioning to address neurogenic knee flexion deformity in children with spastic diplegia.</AbstractText Sixty-eight patients with spastic diplegia (mean age: 10.7&#xa0;years) underwent the combined surgical approach. Knee kinematic parameters, including knee flexion at initial contact (KIC), midstance (KmSt), swing phase (KMSw), and total range of motion (K-ROM), were analyzed preoperatively and at a 24-month follow-up. Outcomes were compared to a healthy control group (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;20). Postoperative complications and recurrence rates were documented.</AbstractText KIC and KmSt postoperatively noted significant improvements postoperatively, indicating enhanced postural control and reduced excessive knee flexion during stance. K-ROM also improved but remained below normative values. KMSw showed minimal improvement. Complications included wound dehiscence (11.8%) and loss of correction due to growth (14.7%). Despite these limitations, most patients achieved improved functional mobility and stability.</AbstractText Combining medial flexor lengthening with patellar tendon retensioning is an effective surgical intervention for neurogenic knee flexion deformity in spastic diplegia. It reduces knee flexion deformity, enhances mobility, and potentially minimizes the need for additional procedures. However, growth-related correction loss underscores the importance of long-term monitoring. This approach offers a balanced solution to reducing flexor contractures and extensor deficits, ensuring better functional outcomes. Further studies with extended follow-ups are needed to confirm the sustainability of these results.</AbstractText" ], [ "40726910", "Methodological approach to assess cardiovascular dynamics in elite cyclists.", "This study introduces a novel time-series method to optimize performance in professional cycling, analyzing cardiovascular reactivity and power output in elite cyclists during monument races. Integrating power meter and heart rate data, we derive critical power (CP), assess effort intensity (% CP), and track heart rate dynamics across race quartiles (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), revealing heart rate dynamics in elite cyclist. Preliminary testing of this method showed that Top 10 cyclists show significantly higher heart rate increase rates in Q1 (<i" ] ]
29602532
Cross-Species Neuromodulation from High-Intensity Transcranial Electrical Stimulation.
Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is a proposed tool for noninvasively modulating human brain circuits, but its ability to affect cortical physiology remains unclear. A recent study merged TES with live animal and human cadaveric recordings to verify intracranial electrical effects, then used these findings to develop a novel neuromodulation protocol.</AbstractText
[ [ "25890770", "BBB leakage, astrogliosis, and tissue loss correlate with silicon microelectrode array recording performance.", "The clinical usefulness of brain machine interfaces that employ penetrating silicon microelectrode arrays is limited by inconsistent performance at chronic time points. While it is widely believed that elements of the foreign body response (FBR) contribute to inconsistent single unit recording performance, the relationships between the FBR and recording performance have not been well established. To address this shortfall, we implanted 4X4 Utah Electrode Arrays into the cortex of 28 young adult rats, acquired electrophysiological recordings weekly for up to 12 weeks, used quantitative immunohistochemical methods to examine the intensity and spatial distribution of neural and FBR biomarkers, and examined whether relationships existed between biomarker distribution and recording performance. We observed that the FBR was characterized by persistent inflammation and consisted of typical biomarkers, including presumptive activated macrophages and activated microglia, astrogliosis, and plasma proteins indicative of blood-brain-barrier disruption, as well as general decreases in neuronal process distribution. However, unlike what has been described for recording electrodes that create only a single penetrating injury, substantial brain tissue loss generally in the shape of a pyramidal lesion cavity was observed at the implantation site. Such lesions were also observed in stab wounded animals indicating that the damage was caused by vascular disruption at the time of implantation. Using statistical approaches, we found that blood-brain barrier leakiness and astrogliosis were both associated with reduced recording performance, and that tissue loss was negatively correlated with recording performance. Taken together, our data suggest that a reduction of vascular damage at the time of implantation either by design changes or use of hemostatic coatings coupled to a reduction of chronic inflammatory sequela will likely improve the recording performance of high density intracortical silicon microelectrode arrays over long indwelling periods and lead to enhanced clinical use of this promising technology.</AbstractText" ], [ "28028221", "Stable population coding for working memory coexists with heterogeneous neural dynamics in prefrontal cortex.", "Working memory (WM) is a cognitive function for temporary maintenance and manipulation of information, which requires conversion of stimulus-driven signals into internal representations that are maintained across seconds-long mnemonic delays. Within primate prefrontal cortex (PFC), a critical node of the brain's WM network, neurons show stimulus-selective persistent activity during WM, but many of them exhibit strong temporal dynamics and heterogeneity, raising the questions of whether, and how, neuronal populations in PFC maintain stable mnemonic representations of stimuli during WM. Here we show that despite complex and heterogeneous temporal dynamics in single-neuron activity, PFC activity is endowed with a population-level coding of the mnemonic stimulus that is stable and robust throughout WM maintenance. We applied population-level analyses to hundreds of recorded single neurons from lateral PFC of monkeys performing two seminal tasks that demand parametric WM: oculomotor delayed response and vibrotactile delayed discrimination. We found that the high-dimensional state space of PFC population activity contains a low-dimensional subspace in which stimulus representations are stable across time during the cue and delay epochs, enabling robust and generalizable decoding compared with time-optimized subspaces. To explore potential mechanisms, we applied these same population-level analyses to theoretical neural circuit models of WM activity. Three previously proposed models failed to capture the key population-level features observed empirically. We propose network connectivity properties, implemented in a linear network model, which can underlie these features. This work uncovers stable population-level WM representations in PFC, despite strong temporal neural dynamics, thereby providing insights into neural circuit mechanisms supporting WM.</AbstractText" ], [ "26324456", "The practices of do-it-yourself brain stimulation: implications for ethical considerations and regulatory proposals.", "Scientists and neuroethicists have recently drawn attention to the ethical and regulatory issues surrounding the do-it-yourself (DIY) brain stimulation community, which comprises individuals stimulating their own brains with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for self-improvement. However, to date, existing regulatory proposals and ethical discussions have been put forth without engaging those involved in the DIY tDCS community or attempting to understand the nature of their practices. I argue that to better contend with the growing ethical and safety concerns surrounding DIY tDCS, we need to understand the practices of the community. This study presents the results of a preliminary inquiry into the DIY tDCS community, with a focus on knowledge that is formed, shared and appropriated within it. I show that when making or acquiring a device, DIYers (as some members call themselves) produce a body of knowledge that is completely separate from that of the scientific community, and share it via online forums, blogs, videos and personal communications. However, when applying tDCS, DIYers draw heavily on existing scientific knowledge, posting links to academic journal articles and scientific resources and adopting the standardised electrode placement system used by scientists. Some DIYers co-opt scientific knowledge and modify it by creating their own manuals and guides based on published papers. Finally, I explore how DIYers cope with the methodological limitations inherent in self-experimentation. I conclude by discussing how a deeper understanding of the practices of DIY tDCS has important regulatory and ethical implications.</AbstractText" ], [ "27303287", "Modeling Interactions between Speech Production and Perception: Speech Error Detection at Semantic and Phonological Levels and the Inner Speech Loop.", "Production and comprehension of speech are closely interwoven. For example, the ability to detect an error in one's own speech, halt speech production, and finally correct the error can be explained by assuming an inner speech loop which continuously compares the word representations induced by production to those induced by perception at various cognitive levels (e.g., conceptual, word, or phonological levels). Because spontaneous speech errors are relatively rare, a picture naming and halt paradigm can be used to evoke them. In this paradigm, picture presentation (target word initiation) is followed by an auditory stop signal (distractor word) for halting speech production. The current study seeks to understand the neural mechanisms governing self-detection of speech errors by developing a biologically inspired neural model of the inner speech loop. The neural model is based on the Neural Engineering Framework (NEF) and consists of a network of about 500,000 spiking neurons. In the first experiment we induce simulated speech errors semantically and phonologically. In the second experiment, we simulate a picture naming and halt task. Target-distractor word pairs were balanced with respect to variation of phonological and semantic similarity. The results of the first experiment show that speech errors are successfully detected by a monitoring component in the inner speech loop. The results of the second experiment show that the model correctly reproduces human behavioral data on the picture naming and halt task. In particular, the halting rate in the production of target words was lower for phonologically similar words than for semantically similar or fully dissimilar distractor words. We thus conclude that the neural architecture proposed here to model the inner speech loop reflects important interactions in production and perception at phonological and semantic levels.</AbstractText" ], [ "25996265", "Cell infiltration into a 3D electrospun fiber and hydrogel hybrid scaffold implanted in the brain.", "Tissue engineering scaffolds are often designed without appropriate consideration for the translational potential of the material. Solid scaffolds implanted into central nervous system (CNS) tissue to promote regeneration may require tissue resection to accommodate implantation. Or alternatively, the solid scaffold may be cut or shaped to better fit an irregular injury geometry, but some features of the augmented scaffold may fail to integreate with surrounding tissue reducing regeneration potential. To create a biomaterial able to completely fill the irregular geometry of CNS injury and yet still provide sufficient cell migratory cues, an injectable, hybrid scaffold was created to present the physical architecture of electrospun fibers in an agarose/methylcellulose hydrogel. When injected into the rat striatum, infiltrating macrophages/microglia and resident astrocytes are able to locate the fibers and utilize their cues for migration into the hybrid matrix. Thus, hydrogels containing electrospun fibers may be an appropriate platform to encourage regeneration of the injured brain.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "29455675", "The function and therapeutic targeting of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).", "Lung cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in North America. A decade ago, genomic rearrangements in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) receptor tyrosine kinase were identified in a subset of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients. Soon after, crizotinib, a small molecule ATP-competitive ALK inhibitor was proven to be more effective than chemotherapy in ALK-positive NSCLC patients. Crizotinib and two other ATP-competitive ALK inhibitors, ceritinib and alectinib, are approved for use as a first-line therapy in these patients, where ALK rearrangement is currently diagnosed by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. The clinical success of these three ALK inhibitors has led to the development of next-generation ALK inhibitors with even greater potency and selectivity. However, patients inevitably develop resistance to ALK inhibitors leading to tumor relapse that commonly manifests in the form of brain metastasis. Several new approaches aim to overcome the various mechanisms of resistance that develop in ALK-positive NSCLC including the knowledge-based alternate and successive use of different ALK inhibitors, as well as combined therapies targeting ALK plus alternative signaling pathways. Key issues to resolve for the optimal implementation of established and emerging treatment modalities for ALK-rearranged NSCLC therapy include the high cost of the targeted inhibitors and the potential of exacerbated toxicities with combination therapies.</AbstractText" ], [ "29718955", "Active learning of cortical connectivity from two-photon imaging data.", "Understanding how groups of neurons interact within a network is a fundamental question in system neuroscience. Instead of passively observing the ongoing activity of a network, we can typically perturb its activity, either by external sensory stimulation or directly via techniques such as two-photon optogenetics. A natural question is how to use such perturbations to identify the connectivity of the network efficiently. Here we introduce a method to infer sparse connectivity graphs from in-vivo, two-photon imaging of population activity in response to external stimuli. A novel aspect of the work is the introduction of a recommended distribution, incrementally learned from the data, to optimally refine the inferred network. Unlike existing system identification techniques, this \"active learning\" method automatically focuses its attention on key undiscovered areas of the network, instead of targeting global uncertainty indicators like parameter variance. We show how active learning leads to faster inference while, at the same time, provides confidence intervals for the network parameters. We present simulations on artificial small-world networks to validate the methods and apply the method to real data. Analysis of frequency of motifs recovered show that cortical networks are consistent with a small-world topology model.</AbstractText" ], [ "30482108", "Emotional Responses to Pleasant Sounds Are Related to Social Disconnectedness and Loneliness Independent of Hearing Loss.", "The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between emotional responses to sounds, hearing acuity, and isolation, specifically objective isolation (social disconnectedness) and subjective isolation (loneliness). It was predicted that ratings of valence in response to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli would influence the relationship between hearing loss and isolation. Participants included 83 adults, without depression, who were categorized into three groups (young with normal hearing, older with normal hearing, and adults with mild-to-moderately severe hearing loss). Participants made ratings of valence in response to pleasant and unpleasant nonspeech sounds, presented at a moderate overall level in the laboratory. Participants also completed questionnaires related to social disconnectedness and loneliness. Data were analyzed using multiple regression with questionnaire scores as dependent variables. Independent variables were age, gender, degree of hearing loss, perceived hearing handicap, number of depressive symptoms, mean valence rating in response to unpleasant sounds, and mean valence rating in response to pleasant sounds. Emotional responses to pleasant sounds explained significant variability in scores of both social disconnectedness and loneliness. Depressive symptoms also explained variability in loneliness scores. Hearing loss was not significantly related to social disconnectedness or loneliness, although it was the only variable significantly related to ratings of valence in response to pleasant sounds. Emotional responses to pleasant sounds are related to disconnectedness and loneliness. Although not related to isolation in this study, hearing loss was related to emotional responses. Thus, emotional responses should be considered in future models of isolation and hearing loss.</AbstractText" ], [ "28589963", "Exposure to the Abused Inhalant Toluene Alters Medial Prefrontal Cortex Physiology.", "Inhalants, including toluene, target the addiction neurocircuitry and are often one of the first drugs of abuse tried by adolescents. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in regulating goal-directed/reward-motivated behaviors and different mPFC sub-regions have been proposed to promote (prelimbic, PRL) or inhibit (infralimbic, IL) these behaviors. While this dichotomy has been studied in the context of other drugs of abuse, it is not known whether toluene exposure differentially affects neurons within PRL and IL regions. To address this question, we used whole-cell electrophysiology and determined the intrinsic excitability of PRL and IL pyramidal neurons in adolescent rats 24&#x2009;h following a brief exposure to air or toluene vapor (10&#x2009;500&#x2009;p.p.m.). Prior to exposure, fluorescent retrobeads were injected into the NAc core (NAcc) or shell (NAcs) sub-regions to identify projection-specific mPFC neurons. In toluene treated adolescent rats, layer 5/6 NAcc projecting PRL (PRL5/6) neurons fired fewer action potentials and this was associated with increased rheobase, increased spike duration, and reductions in membrane resistance and amplitude of the I<sub" ], [ "29485625", "Datasets2Tools, repository and search engine for bioinformatics datasets, tools and canned analyses.", "Biomedical data repositories such as the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) enable the search and discovery of relevant biomedical digital data objects. Similarly, resources such as OMICtools, index bioinformatics tools that can extract knowledge from these digital data objects. However, systematic access to pre-generated 'canned' analyses applied by bioinformatics tools to biomedical digital data objects is currently not available. Datasets2Tools is a repository indexing 31,473 canned bioinformatics analyses applied to 6,431 datasets. The Datasets2Tools repository also contains the indexing of 4,901 published bioinformatics software tools, and all the analyzed datasets. Datasets2Tools enables users to rapidly find datasets, tools, and canned analyses through an intuitive web interface, a Google Chrome extension, and an API. Furthermore, Datasets2Tools provides a platform for contributing canned analyses, datasets, and tools, as well as evaluating these digital objects according to their compliance with the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles. By incorporating community engagement, Datasets2Tools promotes sharing of digital resources to stimulate the extraction of knowledge from biomedical research data. Datasets2Tools is freely available from: http://amp.pharm.mssm.edu/datasets2tools.</AbstractText" ] ]
40206753
Cervical wart-like cutaneous appendage with a contiguous stalk of limited dorsal myeloschisis treated with untethering after long-term follow-up.
Limited dorsal myeloschisis (LDM) is a condition in which the separation of the neuroectoderm from the cutaneous ectoderm during primary neural tube formation results in localized disjuncture, causing a continuous cord-like connection and spinal cord tethering. We reported a case of cervical LDM with a wart-like cutaneous appendage that was treated with excision after long-term follow-up.</AbstractText The patient was an 18-year-old girl. A wart-like cutaneous appendage was noted over the nape of the neck since birth. Computed tomography showed spina bifida in the cervical and thoracic spines, and spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a cervical skin lesion and an enlarged dural sac in the dorsal thoracic spinal cord. At 18 years of age, the patient occasionally experienced numbness in her left hand and was referred to our outpatient clinic due to a new high signal intensity in the dorsal cervical spinal cord on a T2-weighted MRI. The MRI showed that a cord-like object was continuous intradural and dorsal to the spinal cord from a cutaneous lesion in the median cervical region, with a high signal in the same region. Symptomatic cervical spinal cord tethering due to a cord-like material was diagnosed, and the patient underwent resection. During surgery, the tract was removed from the cutaneous lesion into the dura mater as a single mass and untethered in the dorsal spinal cord. The histological diagnosis was a pseudo-dermal sinus tract with no luminal structures or neural tissue present, as the cord-like substance was connective tissue containing small blood vessels. Based on the neuroimaging and pathological findings, the patient was diagnosed with cervical LDM. Neurological symptoms improved postoperatively.</AbstractText Herein, we reported a case of cervical LDM that was treated after long-term follow-up. The patient's symptoms improved immediately after surgery. Cervical LDMs are rare, and the timing of surgery for LDM should be considered according to the patient's condition.</AbstractText
[ [ "38688860", "A global update on the status of prevention of folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly in year 2022.", "Mandatory fortification of staple foods with folic acid is an effective public health strategy to prevent folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly (FAP SBA). We estimated the global proportion of FAP SBA prevented through mandatory folic acid fortification of cereal grains (i.e., wheat flour, maize flour, and rice).</AbstractText We used year 2022 data from the Food Fortification Initiative to identify countries (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;69) with mandatory fortification of grains that includes folic acid. Sixty-eight countries were eligible for analysis with complete data. Proportion of FAP SBA prevention was modeled assuming &gt;150&#x2009;mcg/day of folic acid fortification protects against FAP SBA, reducing post-fortification prevalence to a lowest achievable level of 0.5 cases per 1000 births.</AbstractText Our analysis found that a total of 63,520 cases of FAP SBA were prevented in the year 2022 in 68 countries implementing mandatory folic acid fortification of grains with folic acid. This translated to a 23.7% prevention of all possible FAP SBA prevention globally. An excess of 204,430 cases of FAPSBA still occurred in over 100 countries where mandatory staple food fortification with folic acid is not implemented.</AbstractText Our study showed that only a quarter of all FAP SBA cases were averted through mandatory folic acid fortification in the year 2022; many countries are not implementing the policy, resulting in a large proportion of FAP SBA cases that can be prevented. Fortification will help countries with achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals on neonatal- and under-five mortality, disability, stillbirths, and elective terminations prevention, from FAP SBA.</AbstractText" ], [ "28744513", "Minimally invasive endoscopic spinal cord untethering: case report.", "Tethered cord syndrome is a constellation of symptoms and signs that include back and leg pain, bowel and bladder dysfunction, scoliosis and lower extremity weakness and deformity. Tethering may be due to a tight filum terminale or a form of spinal dysraphism. The authors present a case of a 40-year-old man who presented with symptoms of back pain, bilateral lower extremity radicular pain, and bowel and bladder dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a sacral lipomyelomeningocele, with fat tracking superiorly to the conus, which was tethered at the L4-L5 level. A minimally-invasive surgical approach with endoscopic visualization and identification of the nerve roots and filum terminale was performed. The patient's postoperative clinical course was uneventful. This case highlights two important issues. First, minimally invasive spine techniques should be considered in the surgical treatment of tethered cord especially given the theoretical advantages of minimizing pain, spinal fluid leakage, and subsequent scarring. And second, endoscopic techniques are advancing. In the case presented here, endoscopic visualization and operative techniques made identification and transection of the filum terminale possible through a tiny dural opening. The small dural opening could theoretically pose the advantage of decreasing the risk of spinal fluid leakage. Clinicians should be aware that endoscopic visualization and techniques can serve as minimally-invasive adjuncts to enhance the traditional approach to many surgical pathologies.</AbstractText" ], [ "39068923", "Chorioamniotic Membrane Separation after Fetal Spina Bifida Repair: Impact of CMS Size and Patient Management.", "Chorioamniotic membrane separation (CMS) is a known complication after fetal spina bifida (fSB) repair. This study's goal was to analyze women's outcomes with open fSB repair and CMS (group A) compared to the ones without (group B) and to assess the influence of CMS size and patient management.</AbstractText A total of 194 women with open fSB repair at our center were included in this retrospective study. Outcomes of group A were compared to the ones of group B. Regression analysis was performed to assess risk factors for CMS. Two subgroup analyses assessed the impact of CMS size (small [A-small] vs. large [A-large]) as well as patient management (A1 = hospitalization vs. A2 = no hospitalization) on pregnancy outcomes.</AbstractText Of 194 women, 23 (11.9%) were in group A and 171 (88.1%) in group B. Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROMs) (69.6% vs. 24.1%, p = &lt;0.001), amniotic infection syndrome (AIS) (22.7% vs. 7.1%, p = 0.03), histologically confirmed chorioamnionitis (hCA) (40.0% vs. 14.7%, p = 0.03), length of hospital stay (LOS) after fSB repair (35 [19-65] vs. 17 [14-27] days), and overall LOS (43 [33-71] vs. 35 [27-46] days, p = 0.004) were significantly more often/longer in group A. Gestational age (GA) at delivery was significantly lower in group A compared to group B (35.3 [32.3-36.3] vs. 36.7 [34.9-37.0] weeks, p = 0.006). Regression analysis did not identify risk factors for CMS. Subgroup analysis comparing CMS sized in group A-small versus A-large showed higher AIS rate (42% vs. 0%, p = 0.04), lower LOS (22.0 [15.5-42.5] vs. 59.6 &#xb1; 24.1, p = 0.003). Comparison of group A1 versus A2 showed longer LOS (49.3 &#xb1; 22.8 vs. 15 [15-17.5] days, p &lt; 0.001), lower planned readmission rate (5.6% vs. 80%, p = 0.003).</AbstractText CMS significantly increased the risk of PPROM, AIS, hCA, caused longer LOS, and caused lower GA at delivery. Women with small CMS had higher AIS rates but shorter LOS compared to women with large CMS, while apart from LOS pregnancy outcomes did not differ regarding patient management (hospitalization after CMS yes vs. no).</AbstractText" ], [ "38594103", "Summary of the 2024 Update of the European Association of Urology Guidelines on Neurourology.", "Most patients with neurourological disorders require lifelong medical care. The European Association of Urology (EAU) regularly updates guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of these patients. The objective of this review is to provide a summary of the 2024 updated EAU guidelines on neurourology.</AbstractText A structured literature review covering the timeframe 2021-2023 was conducted for the guideline update. A level of evidence and a strength rating were assigned for each recommendation on the basis of the literature data.</AbstractText Neurological conditions significantly affect urinary, sexual, and bowel function, and lifelong management is required for neurourological patients to maintain their quality of life and prevent urinary tract deterioration. Early diagnosis and effective treatment are key, and comprehensive clinical assessments, including urodynamics, are crucial. Management should be customised to individual needs and should involve a multidisciplinary approach and address sexuality and fertility. Lifelong monitoring and follow-up highlight the importance of continuous care for neurourological patients.</AbstractText The 2024 EAU guidelines on neurourology provide an up-to-date overview of available evidence on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for neurourological patients.</AbstractText Neurological disorders very frequently affect the lower urinary tract and sexual and bowel function and patients need lifelong management. We summarise the updated European Association of Urology guidelines on neurourology to provide patients and caregivers with the latest insights for optimal health care support.</AbstractText" ], [ "40367190", "Intra-amniotic antisense oligonucleotide treatment improves phenotypes in preclinical models of spinal muscular atrophy.", "Neurological disorders with onset before or at birth are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and children. Prenatal treatment has the potential to reduce or prevent irreversible neuronal loss and facilitate normal neurodevelopment. We hypothesized that antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) delivered to the amniotic fluid by intra-amniotic (IA) injection could safely distribute to the fetal central nervous system (CNS) and provide therapeutic benefit in the motor neuron disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), caused by mutations of the survival of motor neuron 1 gene (<i" ] ]
[ [ "40240338", "Probing the Degree of Restriction in Solvent Dynamics at the Interface of a Protein-RNA Complex.", "Protein-RNA complexation is an important step for the regulation of numerous biological processes. Water present at the interface of a protein-RNA complex plays a critical role in guiding its structure, stability, and function. Therefore, studying the microscopic properties of interfacial water is essential to gain molecular insights into the formation of such complexes. In this study, we present results obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) bound with poly(A) RNA, which is an essential regulatory step to control the deadenylation process, thereby stabilizing cellular mRNAs from degradation. Efforts have been made to explore how such complexation alters the regular dynamical and hydrogen bond properties of water present at the interface. The calculations revealed restricted water dynamics at the interface, characterized by heterogeneous time scales, with the extent of restriction being more pronounced for residues directly involved in protein-RNA binding. In particular, water molecules around the protein's linker, RRM2, and the RNA strand exhibit significantly more restricted motion compared to RRM1 upon complexation. Further, longer relaxation times of hydrogen bonds at the interface due to complex formation have been found to be correlated with increasingly restricted water motions. Notably, the kinetics of hydrogen bonds around the protein's linker, RRM2, and the RNA strand are more strongly influenced by complex formation, underscoring their critical role in mediating protein-RNA interactions.</AbstractText" ], [ "40708380", "Phenotyping Neurodisability in Hospital Records in England: A National Birth Cohort Using Linked Administrative Data.", "Children with neurodisability often have complex healthcare and educational needs. Evidence from linked administrative health and education data could improve joint working between services.</AbstractText To develop a diagnostic code list to identify neurodisability in hospital admission records; to assess the representativeness of this phenotype by characterising children with hospital-recorded neurodisability and their outcomes.</AbstractText We developed a national cohort of singletons born in England between 2003 and 2009, including a nested cohort of children enrolled in primary school, using linked health and education data from the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) database. With expert clinicians, we developed an algorithm based on diagnostic information from hospital records to phenotype children with hospital-recorded neurodisability. We described rates of mortality, planned/unplanned admissions up to 11&#x2009;years old, and school-recorded special educational needs (SEN) provision, as proxy measures of the complexity of a child's needs, overall and for over&#x2009;40 neurodisability subgroups.</AbstractText Of 3,580,225 children in the birth cohort, 3.6% had hospital-recorded neurodisability by age 11. The most frequent subgroups included developmental disorders, autism, epilepsy, perinatal brain injury, and cerebral palsy. Children with hospital-recorded neurodisability had higher mortality and planned/unplanned admission rates compared with their peers, and they accounted for 26% of all planned and 14% of all unplanned hospital admissions before age 11. The nested primary school cohort included 2,956,299 pupils (82.6% of all births), 3.7% of whom had hospital-recorded neurodisability. 75% of children with hospital-recorded neurodisability had any school-recorded SEN provision, and 39% had a record of more intensive provision (compared to 30% and 2.4%, respectively, for their peers).</AbstractText We derived a phenotype for hospital-recorded neurodisability, which affects 1 in 28 primary school children in England, with high rates of hospital admissions and SEN provision. This phenotype and its subgroups can be used by service providers and researchers to examine inequalities and inform resource and service provision.</AbstractText" ], [ "39996796", "GC-MS Profiling of Ethanol-Extracted Polyherbal Compounds from Medicinal Plant (Citrullus colocynthis, Curcuma longa, and Myristica fragrans): In Silico and Analytical Insights into Diabetic Neuropathy Therapy via Targeting the Aldose Reductase.", "Diabetic neuropathy is one of the severe complications of diabetes, which affects the quality of life in a patient and increases the risk of amputations and chronic wounds. Current therapeutic approaches are symptomatically oriented, focusing on comfort and non-inflammatory aspects without addressing the mechanism or molecular target of the disease. The present study investigates the therapeutic effects of an ethanolic polyherbal extract from <i" ], [ "40732327", "Selumetinib in Adult Neurofibromatosis 1 with Plexiform Neurofibroma.", "<b" ], [ "40728696", "Intranasal Terpene Treatment for Glioblastoma: the Neuro-Oncological Potential of Perillyl Alcohol.", "Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and fatal primary brain tumor in adults, characterized by poor prognosis and limited treatment efficacy due to the impermeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and its treatment-resistant nature. This review aims to evaluate the potential of intranasal terpene treatment (ITT) as a novel and non-invasive strategy to bypass the BBB and improve glioblastoma treatment outcomes. A review of recent preclinical and clinical studies on intranasally administered compounds (especially terpenes such as Perillyl alcohol (POH)) is presented in terms of their molecular mechanisms, bioavailability, and clinical effects in the central nervous system (CNS).</AbstractText" ] ]
38945597
Assessment of water relaxometry of meat under different ageing processes using time domain nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry.
This study assessed water relaxometry of beef exposed to different ageing techniques by examining the inner and surface regions using time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) relaxometry. Beef strip loins were aged under vacuum (Wet), under vacuum using moisture absorbers (Abs), under vacuum using moisture absorbers and with mechanical tenderisation (AbsTend), or without any packaging (Dry). The ageing technique significantly influenced various meat parameters, including dehydration, total loss, and the moisture content of the meat surface. The transverse (T<sub
[ [ "38488096", "Subclinical myocardial involvement in a cohort of patients with antisynthetase syndrome.", "There is an increasing interest in knowing whether patients with antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD) may have silent myocardial interstitial involvement. Mapping techniques in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can detect subclinical myocardial involvement. The purpose of this study was to identify alterations in multiparametric CMR in ASSD patients without overt cardiac involvement.</AbstractText Patients diagnosed with ASSD underwent a CMR along with the standard clinical workup, investigation of specific and associated myositis antibodies, and high-resolution chest CT. The CMR protocol includes routine morphologic, functional, and late gadolinium enhancement sequences in standard cardiac planes, as well as native T1 and T2 mapping sequences and extracellular volume (ECV) calculation.</AbstractText Twenty-five patients were included in this study (56% women; median age 56.3 years). Three patients were considered in the acute phase at the time of inclusion. Eight patients (32%) showed pathological findings in CMR (6 stable disease, 2 acute phase). Elevated T1, T2 and ECV mapping values were found in 20% (5/25), 17% (4/25) and 24% (6/25) of the group, respectively. Two patients in the acute phase had increased values of both T2 and ECV.</AbstractText Subclinical myocardial involvement in ASSD is not rare (32%) although its clinical significance is uncertain. Myocardial oedema (T2) was the most frequent finding, followed by increased T1 and/or ECV values likely signalling interstitial fibrosis. Of note, patients in the acute phase showed elevated T2 values.</AbstractText" ], [ "26745823", "Gibbs-ringing artifact removal based on local subvoxel-shifts.", "To develop a fast and stable method for correcting the gibbs-ringing artifact.</AbstractText Gibbs-ringing is a well-known artifact which manifests itself as spurious oscillations in the vicinity of sharp image gradients at tissue boundaries. The origin can be seen in the truncation of k-space during MRI data-acquisition. Correction techniques like Gegenbauer reconstruction or extrapolation methods aim at recovering these missing data. Here, we present a simple and robust method which exploits a different view on the Gibbs-phenomenon: The truncation in k-space can be interpreted as a convolution of the underlying image with a sinc-function. As the image is reconstructed on a discretized grid, the severity of the ringing artifacts depends on how this grid is located with respect to the edge and the oscillation pattern of the function. We propose to reinterpolate the image based on local, subvoxel-shifts to sample the ringing pattern at the zero-crossings of the oscillating sinc-function.</AbstractText With the proposed method, the artifact can simply, effectively, and robustly be removed with a minimal amount of image smoothing.</AbstractText The robustness of the method suggests it as a suitable candidate for an implementation in the standard image processing pipeline in clinical routine. Magn Reson Med 76:1574-1581, 2016. &#xa9; 2015 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.</AbstractText" ], [ "25791784", "Relationship between simultaneously acquired resting-state regional cerebral glucose metabolism and functional MRI: a PET/MR hybrid scanner study.", "Recently introduced hybrid PET/MR scanners provide the opportunity to measure simultaneously, and in direct spatial correspondence, both metabolic demand and functional activity of the brain, hence capturing complementary information on the brain's physiological state. Here we exploited PET/MR simultaneous imaging to explore the relationship between the metabolic information provided by resting-state fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (FDG-PET) and fMRI (rs-fMRI) in neurologically healthy subjects. Regional homogeneity (ReHo), fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and degree of centrality (DC) maps were generated from the rs-fMRI data in 23 subjects, and voxel-wise comparison to glucose uptake distribution provided by simultaneously acquired FDG-PET was performed. The mutual relationships among each couple of these four metrics were explored in terms of similarity, both of spatial distribution across the brain and the whole group, and voxel-wise across subjects, taking into account partial volume effects by adjusting for grey matter (GM) volume. Although a significant correlation between the spatial distribution of glucose uptake and rs-fMRI derived metrics was present, only a limited percentage of GM voxels correlated with PET across subjects. Moreover, the correlation between the spatial distributions of PET and rs-fMRI-derived metrics is spatially heterogeneous across both anatomic regions and functional networks, with lowest correlation strength in the limbic network (Spearman rho around -0.11 for DC), and strongest correlation for the default-mode network (up to 0.89 for ReHo and 0.86 for fALFF). Overall, ReHo and fALFF provided significantly higher correlation coefficients with PET (p=10(-8) and 10(-7), respectively) as compared to DC, while no significant differences were present between ReHo and fALFF. Local GM volume variations introduced a limited overestimation of the rs-fMRI to FDG correlation between the modalities under investigation through partial volume effects. These novel results provide the basis for future studies of alterations of the coupling between brain metabolism and functional connectivity in pathologic conditions.</AbstractText" ], [ "30277265", "Magnetic resonance fingerprinting: a technical review.", "Multiparametric quantitative imaging is gaining increasing interest due to its widespread advantages in clinical applications. Magnetic resonance fingerprinting is a recently introduced approach of fast multiparametric quantitative imaging. In this article, magnetic resonance fingerprinting acquisition, dictionary generation, reconstruction, and validation are reviewed.</AbstractText" ], [ "28450439", "Synthetic MRI for Clinical Neuroimaging: Results of the Magnetic Resonance Image Compilation (MAGiC) Prospective, Multicenter, Multireader Trial.", "Synthetic MR imaging enables reconstruction of various image contrasts from 1 scan, reducing scan times and potentially providing novel information. This study is the first large, prospective comparison of synthetic-versus-conventional MR imaging for routine neuroimaging.</AbstractText A prospective multireader, multicase noninferiority trial of 1526 images read by 7 blinded neuroradiologists was performed with prospectively acquired synthetic and conventional brain MR imaging case-control pairs from 109 subjects (mean, 53.0 &#xb1; 18.5 years of age; range, 19-89 years of age) with neuroimaging indications. Each case included conventional T1- and T2-weighted, T1 and T2 FLAIR, and STIR and/or proton density and synthetic reconstructions from multiple-dynamic multiple-echo imaging. Images were randomized and independently assessed for diagnostic quality, morphologic legibility, radiologic findings indicative of diagnosis, and artifacts.</AbstractText Clinical MR imaging studies revealed 46 healthy and 63 pathologic cases. Overall diagnostic quality of synthetic MR images was noninferior to conventional imaging on a 5-level Likert scale (<i Overall synthetic MR imaging quality was similar to that of conventional proton-density, STIR, and T1- and T2-weighted contrast views across neurologic conditions. While artifacts were more common in synthetic T2 FLAIR, these were readily recognizable and did not mimic pathology but could necessitate additional conventional T2 FLAIR to confirm the diagnosis.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39410995", "Speech motor impairment in ALS is associated with multiregional cortical thinning beyond primary motor cortex.", "Cortical thinning is well-documented in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), yet its association with speech deterioration remains understudied. This study characterizes anatomical changes in the brain within the context of speech impairment patterns in individuals with ALS, providing insight into the disease's multiregional spread and biology.</AbstractText To evaluate patterns of cortical thickness in speakers with ALS with and without functional speech changes compared to healthy controls (HCs) using whole-brain and region of interest (ROI) analyses. Forty individuals with ALS and 22 HCs underwent a T1-weighted 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Individuals with ALS were divided into two groups based on the preserved speech [ps-ALS] (<i Based on the group-level whole-brain surface-based analyses, the ds-ALS group demonstrated significant cortical thinning compared to HCs in the left primary motor and somatosensory cortices and the right inferior parietal lobe with its adjacent lateral occipital cortical regions. The ps-ALS group demonstrated no significant cortical thinning compared to HCs. Based on the group-level ROI analyses, the ds-ALS group demonstrated significant cortical thinning compared to HCs in bilateral middle motor cortices, right posterior dorsal premotor cortex, and left anterior cingulate cortex. The case study analysis revealed that ALS speakers with speech features characteristic of spastic dysarthria exhibited cortical thinning, while those with speech features characteristic of flaccid dysarthria did not.</AbstractText Individuals with ALS have anatomical changes involving multiregional neocortical areas beyond the primary motor cortex that may manifest as subjective (i.e., clinical judgment) and objective (i.e., speaking rate) changes in speech production. Further longitudinal work in ALS is needed to better understand the link between MRI cortical thickness changes and bulbar dysfunction.</AbstractText" ], [ "36754875", "Altered gray matter volume and functional connectivity in adolescent borderline personality disorder with non-suicidal self-injury behavior.", "Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior is one of the characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents. Prior studies have shown that adolescents with BPD may have a unique pattern of brain alterations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the alterations in brain structure and function including gray matter volume and resting-state functional connectivity in adolescents with BPD, and to assess the association between NSSI behavior and brain changes on neuroimaging in adolescents with BPD.</AbstractText 53 adolescents with BPD aged 12-17&#xa0;years and 39 age-gender matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled into this study. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired with both 3D-T1 weighted structural imaging and resting-state functional imaging. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for gray matter volume and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis were performed for assessing gray matter volume and FC. Clinical assessment for NSSI, mood, and depression was also obtained. Correlative analysis of gray matter alterations with self-injury or mood scales were performed.</AbstractText There were reductions of gray matter volume in the limbic-cortical circuit and default mode network in adolescents with BPD as compared to HCs (FWE P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05, cluster size&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;1000). The diminished gray matter volumes in the left putamen and left middle occipital gyrus were negatively correlated with NSSI in adolescents with BPD (r&#x2009;=&#x2009;-&#xa0;0.277 and P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.045, r&#x2009;=&#x2009;-&#xa0;0.422 and P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.002, respectively). Furthermore, there were alterations of FC in these two regions with diminished gray matter volumes (voxel P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.001, cluster P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05, FWE corrected).</AbstractText Our results suggest that diminished gray matter volume of the limbic-cortical circuit and default mode network may be an important neural correlate in adolescent BPD. In addition, the reduced gray matter volume and the altered functional connectivity may be associated with NSSI behavior in adolescents with BPD.</AbstractText" ], [ "38950091", "Palpitations in Women With Breast Cancer Are Associated With Polymorphisms for Neurotransmitter Genes.", "To evaluate for associations between the occurrence of palpitations reported by women prior to breast cancer surgery and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for neurotransmitter genes.</AbstractText A total of 398 women, who were scheduled for unilateral breast cancer surgery, provided detailed information on demographic and clinical characteristics and the occurrence of palpitations prior to breast cancer surgery.</AbstractText The occurrence of palpitations was assessed using a single item (i.e., \"heart races/pounds\" in the past week [\"yes\"/\"no\"]). Blood samples were collected for genomic analyses. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify associations between the occurrence of palpitations and variations in neurotransmitter genes.</AbstractText Nine SNPs and two haplotypes among 11 candidate genes were associated with the occurrence of palpitations. These genes encode for a number of neurotransmitters and/or their receptors, including serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, gamma-amino butyric acid, Substance P, and neurokinin.</AbstractText These findings suggest that alterations in a variety of neurotransmitters contribute to the development of this symptom.</AbstractText" ], [ "38770779", "A comparison of hippocampal and retrosplenial cortical spatial and contextual firing patterns.", "The hippocampus (HPC) and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) are key components of the brain's memory and navigation systems. Lesions of either region produce profound deficits in spatial cognition and HPC neurons exhibit well-known spatial firing patterns (place fields). Recent studies have also identified an array of navigation-related firing patterns in the RSC. However, there has been little work comparing the response properties and information coding mechanisms of these two brain regions. In the present study, we examined the firing patterns of HPC and RSC neurons in two tasks which are commonly used to study spatial cognition in rodents, open field foraging with an environmental context manipulation and continuous T-maze alternation. We found striking similarities in the kinds of spatial and contextual information encoded by these two brain regions. Neurons in both regions carried information about the rat's current spatial location, trajectories and goal locations, and both regions reliably differentiated the contexts. However, we also found several key differences. For example, information about head direction was a prominent component of RSC representations but was only weakly encoded in the HPC. The two regions also used different coding schemes, even when they encoded the same kind of information. As expected, the HPC employed a sparse coding scheme characterized by compact, high contrast place fields, and information about spatial location was the dominant component of HPC representations. RSC firing patterns were more consistent with a distributed coding scheme. Instead of compact place fields, RSC neurons exhibited broad, but reliable, spatial and directional tuning, and they typically carried information about multiple navigational variables. The observed similarities highlight the closely related functions of the HPC and RSC, whereas the differences in information types and coding schemes suggest that these two regions likely make somewhat different contributions to spatial cognition.</AbstractText" ], [ "39108365", "Centella asiatica effect on traumatic brain injury: A systematic review.", "Mortality and morbidity in traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases remain a global problem. Various therapeutic modalities have been researched, including using herbal medicine. <i Systematic searches were conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar up to July 2023. This study follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol. Researchers screened the titles and abstracts of all identified studies and then selected relevant studies through full-text reviews. Studies reported the effect of <i Four studies met the inclusion criteria. One study highlighted the potential neuroprotective effects of Asiatic acid, one study explored spade leaf extract phytosome, while the rest used <i This review suggests that <i" ] ]
39824686
Ultra-high-resolution brain MRI at 0.55T: bSTAR and its application to magnetization transfer ratio imaging.
This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of structural sub-millimeter isotropic brain MRI at 0.55 T using a 3D half-radial dual-echo balanced steady-state free precession sequence, termed bSTAR and to assess its potential for high-resolution magnetization transfer imaging.</AbstractText Phantom and in-vivo imaging of three healthy volunteers was performed on a low-field 0.55 T MR-system with isotropic bSTAR resolution settings of 0.87&#x202f;&#xd7;&#x202f;0.87&#x202f;&#xd7;&#x202f;0.87&#x202f;mm<sup Off-resonance mapping revealed that bSSFP brain imaging with TR &lt; 5ms is essentially free of off-resonance-related artifacts even near the nasal cavities. Phantom and in-vivo scans demonstrated the feasibility of sub-millimeter isotropic bSTAR imaging. MTR maps obtained with high isotropic resolution bSTAR showed contrast between white and gray matter in agreement with expectations from high-field studies. The MTR measurements were highly reproducible with an average inter-scan MTR peak value of 43.3&#x202f;&#xb1;&#x202f;0.3 percent units.</AbstractText This study demonstrated the potential of sub-millimeter and artifact-free morphologic brain imaging at 0.55 T using bSTAR leveraging the advantages of low-field MRI, such as reduced susceptibility artifacts and improved radio-frequency field homogeneity. Furthermore, MT-sensitized bSTAR brain MRI enabled whole-brain MTR assessment within clinically feasible times and with high reproducibility.</AbstractText
[ [ "27221526", "Cardiovascular MRI with ferumoxytol.", "The practice of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) has changed significantly in the span of a decade. Concerns regarding gadolinium (Gd)-associated nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in those with severely impaired renal function spurred developments in low-dose CEMRA and non-contrast MRA as well as efforts to seek alternative MR contrast agents. Originally developed for MR imaging use, ferumoxytol (an ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle), is currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia in adults with renal disease. Since its clinical availability in 2009, there has been rising interest in the scientific and clinical use of ferumoxytol as an MR contrast agent. The unique physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of ferumoxytol, including its long intravascular half-life and high r1 relaxivity, support a spectrum of MRI applications beyond the scope of Gd-based contrast agents. Moreover, whereas Gd is not found in biological systems, iron is essential for normal metabolism, and nutritional iron deficiency poses major public health challenges worldwide. Once the carbohydrate shell of ferumoxytol is degraded, the elemental iron at its core is incorporated into the reticuloendothelial system. These considerations position ferumoxytol as a potential game changer in the field of CEMRA and MRI. In this paper, we aim to summarise our experience with the cardiovascular applications of ferumoxytol and provide a brief synopsis of ongoing investigations on ferumoxytol-enhanced MR applications.</AbstractText" ], [ "35995750", "Three-dimensional, 2.5-minute, 7T phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of the human heart using concentric rings.", "A three-dimensional (3D), density-weighted, concentric rings trajectory (CRT) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) sequence is implemented for cardiac phosphorus (<sup" ], [ "26132462", "Multiscale reconstruction for MR fingerprinting.", "To reduce the acquisition time needed to obtain reliable parametric maps with Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting.</AbstractText An iterative-denoising algorithm is initialized by reconstructing the MRF image series at low image resolution. For subsequent iterations, the method enforces pixel-wise fidelity to the best-matching dictionary template then enforces fidelity to the acquired data at slightly higher spatial resolution. After convergence, parametric maps with desirable spatial resolution are obtained through template matching of the final image series. The proposed method was evaluated on phantom and in vivo data using the highly undersampled, variable-density spiral trajectory and compared with the original MRF method. The benefits of additional sparsity constraints were also evaluated. When available, gold standard parameter maps were used to quantify the performance of each method.</AbstractText The proposed approach allowed convergence to accurate parametric maps with as few as 300 time points of acquisition, as compared to 1000 in the original MRF work. Simultaneous quantification of T1, T2, proton density (PD), and B0 field variations in the brain was achieved in vivo for a 256 &#xd7; 256 matrix for a total acquisition time of 10.2 s, representing a three-fold reduction in acquisition time.</AbstractText The proposed iterative multiscale reconstruction reliably increases MRF acquisition speed and accuracy. Magn Reson Med 75:2481-2492, 2016. &#xa9; 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</AbstractText" ], [ "37936313", "DTI-MR fingerprinting for rapid high-resolution whole-brain T(1) , T(2) , proton density, ADC, and fractional anisotropy mapping.", "This study aims to develop a high-efficiency and high-resolution 3D imaging approach for simultaneous mapping of multiple key tissue parameters for routine brain imaging, including T<sub To address challenges associated with diffusion weighting, such as shot-to-shot phase variation and low SNR, we integrated several innovative data acquisition and reconstruction techniques. Specifically, we used M1-compensated diffusion gradients, cardiac gating, and navigators to mitigate phase variations caused by cardiac motion. We also introduced a data-driven pre-pulse gradient to cancel out eddy currents induced by diffusion gradients. Additionally, to enhance image quality within a limited acquisition time, we proposed a data-sharing joint reconstruction approach coupled with a corresponding sequence design.</AbstractText The phantom and in vivo studies indicated that the T<sub The proposed method can achieve whole-brain T<sub" ], [ "37435633", "From Compressed-Sensing to Deep Learning MR: Comparative Biventricular Cardiac Function Analysis in a Patient Cohort.", "Conventional segmented, retrospectively gated cine (Conv-cine) is challenged in patients with breath-hold difficulties. Compressed sensing (CS) has shown values in cine imaging but generally requires long reconstruction time. Recent artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated potential in fast cine imaging.</AbstractText To compare CS-cine and AI-cine with Conv-cine in quantitative biventricular functions, image quality, and reconstruction time.</AbstractText Prospective human studies.</AbstractText 70 patients (age, 39&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;15&#x2009;years, 54.3% male).</AbstractText 3T; balanced steady state free precession gradient echo sequences.</AbstractText Biventricular functional parameters of CS-, AI-, and Conv-cine were measured by two radiologists independently and compared. The scan and reconstruction time were recorded. Subjective scores of image quality were compared by three radiologists.</AbstractText Paired t-test and two related-samples Wilcoxon sign test were used to compare biventricular functional parameters between CS-, AI-, and Conv-cine. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland-Altman analysis, and Kendall's W method were applied to evaluate agreement of biventricular functional parameters and image quality of these three sequences. A P-value &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant, and standardized mean difference (SMD)&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0. 100 was considered no significant difference.</AbstractText Compared to Conv-cine, no statistically significant differences were identified in CS- and AI-cine function results (all P&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.05), except for very small differences in left ventricle end-diastole volumes of 2.5&#x2009;mL (SMD&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.082) and 4.1&#x2009;mL (SMD&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.096), respectively. Bland-Altman scatter plots revealed that biventricular function results were mostly distributed within the 95% confidence interval. All parameters had acceptable to excellent interobserver agreements (ICC: 0.748-0.989). Compared with Conv-cine (84&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;13&#x2009;sec), both CS (14&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;2&#x2009;sec) and AI (15&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;2&#x2009;sec) techniques reduced scan time. Compared with CS-cine (304&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;17&#x2009;sec), AI-cine (24&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;4&#x2009;sec) reduced reconstruction time. CS-cine demonstrated significantly lower quality scores than Conv-cine, while AI-cine demonstrated similar scores (P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.634).</AbstractText CS- and AI-cine can achieve whole-heart cardiac cine imaging in a single breath-hold. Both CS- and AI-cine have the potential to supplement the gold standard Conv-cine in studying biventricular functions and benefit patients having difficulties with breath-holds.</AbstractText 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 1.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40690190", "Factors associated with motor manifestations in older adults with Alzheimer's dementia: a cross-sectional analysis.", "Motor signs are frequently observed over the clinical course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We explored the potential clinical associations of motor manifestations in AD.</AbstractText Our sample consisted of older adults (&#x2265;&#x2009;60&#xa0;years) with AD from NACC. Individuals with Parkinson's disease or other Parkinsonian syndrome or under anti-parkinsonian agents were excluded. UPDRS III was used to assess motor signs in nine domains: hypophonia; masked facies; resting tremor; action/postural tremor; rigidity; bradykinesia; impaired chair rise; impaired posture/gait; postural instability. A global motor variable assessed the presence of at least one motor sign. Binary logistic models were estimated for the global (primary) and individual motor domain variables (secondary outcomes).</AbstractText A total of 4771 older, predominantly female, well-educated participants were analysed: 3556 without (75.4&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;7.6&#xa0;years, 45.6% males) and 1215 with motor manifestations (79.4&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;7.8&#xa0;years, 44.4% males). The most influential risk factor for motor manifestations in AD was the Clinical Dementia Rating stage: stage one increased the odds of motor signs by&#x2009;~&#x2009;44%, stage two by&#x2009;~&#x2009;168% and stage three by&#x2009;~&#x2009;437%. Each additional point on the Geriatric Depression Scale elevated the odds of motor manifestations by&#x2009;~&#x2009;5%, whereas each additional point on the Mini-Mental State Examination decreased these odds by&#x2009;~&#x2009;2.5%. Cerebrovascular disease (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;44%), diabetes mellitus (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;25%), traumatic brain injury (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;30%), alcohol abuse (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;33%), anxiolytics (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;36%), antidepressants (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;31%), antipsychotics (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;48%) and &#x3b2;-blockers (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;33%) elevated the odds of motor manifestations. Angiotensin II receptor blockers decreased the odds of motor manifestations (by&#x2009;~&#x2009;33%).</AbstractText Disease progression constitutes the most crucial clinical risk factor for motor manifestations in AD.</AbstractText" ], [ "40635407", "Muscle afferent ASIC3 upregulation mediates the exacerbated exercise pressor reflex in male rats following hindlimb ischemia-reperfusion.", "We examined if the hindlimb muscle ischemia-reperfusion (IR) alters ASIC3-mediated muscle afferent activity in regulating the exercise pressor reflex (EPR). APETx2 (an ASIC3 antagonist) was arterially injected into the hindlimb before static muscle contraction. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded. ASIC3-mediated MAP response was studied via intra-arterially injected lactic acid (LA). Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to determine the ASIC3 expression and location in L4-6 dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Calcium imaging was applied to detect pH6.7-induced Ca<sup" ], [ "40670231", "Synergistic effects of multiple pathological processes on Alzheimer's disease risk: Evidence for age-dependent stroke interactions.", "Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis involves complex interactions between multiple neuropathological processes, yet traditional approaches focus on individual markers. The cumulative effects of multiple pathologies and their interactions with cerebrovascular compromise and age remain poorly understood. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive Pathological Burden Score (PBS) and examine its relationship with AD risk, including interactions with stroke history and age.</AbstractText We analyzed 11,308 participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database. A PBS was constructed integrating six neuropathological domains: Braak neurofibrillary tangle staging, CERAD neuritic plaque density, Thal amyloid-&#x3b2; phasing, stroke history, white matter rarefaction severity, and cerebral atrophy severity (range 0-16 points). PBS was categorized into four burden levels: low (0-4), moderate (5-8), high (9-12), and very high (13-16). Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between PBS categories and AD risk, with formal interaction testing for stroke &#xd7; PBS effects. Age-stratified analyses were conducted using a 75-year cutpoint.</AbstractText A clear dose-response relationship was observed between PBS and AD risk, with very high burden conferring over 5-fold increased odds compared to low burden. Significant stroke &#xd7; PBS interaction was detected (interaction OR 1.23, p &lt; 0.001), with stroke amplifying pathological burden effects. Among participants with very high burden, AD risk was 92.5 % in stroke patients versus 24.1 % in non-stroke patients. Age-dependent effects were profound: younger participants (&lt;75 years) with high burden plus stroke showed 18.67-fold increased odds, while older participants (&#x2265;75 years) with equivalent burden showed 7.89-fold increased odds.</AbstractText Cumulative pathological burden demonstrates a strong dose-response relationship with AD risk, significantly amplified by stroke history. The pronounced age-dependent effects highlight the need for age-specific prevention strategies, with particular emphasis on aggressive vascular risk management in younger populations. These findings support comprehensive pathological burden assessment for enhanced risk stratification and personalized dementia care approaches.</AbstractText" ], [ "39927657", "Studying Metabolic Brain Connectivity Using 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]Fluoro-D-Glucose Dynamic Positron Emission Tomography at the Single-subject Level.", "To this day, metabolic brain connectivity is mostly studied on a group level through the acquisition of static positron emission tomography (PET) data of multiple subjects. Our research groups are currently studying changes in metabolic connectivity across multiple time points following an intracerebral hemorrhage on an intrasubject level in rats. To investigate intrasubject metabolic brain connectivity, temporal information of the tracer uptake in different brain regions is required, which can be achieved through dynamic PET. In this publication, we give a detailed description of our data acquisition and analysis protocol. Dynamic PET data of the rat brain are acquired on a dedicated preclinical PET system using 2-deoxy-2-[<sup" ], [ "39715889", "Anterior and posterior cerebral white matter show different patterns of microstructural alterations in young adult smokers.", "Neuroimaging studies revealed that smoking is associated with abnormal white matter (WM) microstructure. However, results are controversial, and the impact of smoking on the WM integrity in young smokers is still unclear. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate the smoking-related WM alterations in young adult smokers. One hundred and twenty-six subjects (60 current smokers and 66 nonsmokers) aged 18-29 years participated in the study. The tract-based spatial statistics with multiple diffusion indices was applied to explore diffusivity patterns associated with smoking. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate relationships between fractional anisotropy (FA) and smoking-related variables in young adult smokers. Compared with nonsmokers, young adult smokers showed higher FA dominantly in the anterior cerebral WM regions, while lower FA mainly in the posterior cerebral WM areas. The dominant diffusivity pattern for regions with larger FA was characterized by lower radial and axial diffusion (Dr and Da), while in areas with smaller FA, higher Dr without significant difference in Da was the main diffusivity pattern. Moreover, diffusion indices in the genu and body of the corpus callosum were related with smoking-related variables. Our findings indicate that smoking may have differential effects on the WM integrity in the anterior and posterior parts of the brain, and may also accelerate brain aging in young adult smokers.</AbstractText" ] ]
33849003
Auditory stimulus-response modeling with a match-mismatch task.
<i
[ [ "33905338", "Unsupervised Self-Adaptive Auditory Attention Decoding.", "When multiple speakers talk simultaneously, a hearing device cannot identify which of these speakers the listener intends to attend to. Auditory attention decoding (AAD) algorithms can provide this information by, for example, reconstructing the attended speech envelope from electroencephalography (EEG) signals. However, these stimulus reconstruction decoders are traditionally trained in a supervised manner, requiring a dedicated training stage during which the attended speaker is known. Pre-trained subject-independent decoders alleviate the need of having such a per-user training stage but perform substantially worse than supervised subject-specific decoders that are tailored to the user. This motivates the development of a new unsupervised self-adapting training/updating procedure for a subject-specific decoder, which iteratively improves itself on unlabeled EEG data using its own predicted labels. This iterative updating procedure enables a self-leveraging effect, of which we provide a mathematical analysis that reveals the underlying mechanics. The proposed unsupervised algorithm, starting from a random decoder, results in a decoder that outperforms a supervised subject-independent decoder. Starting from a subject-independent decoder, the unsupervised algorithm even closely approximates the performance of a supervised subject-specific decoder. The developed unsupervised AAD algorithm thus combines the two advantages of a supervised subject-specific and subject-independent decoder: it approximates the performance of the former while retaining the 'plug-and-play' character of the latter. As the proposed algorithm can be used to automatically adapt to new users, as well as over time when new EEG data is being recorded, it contributes to more practical neuro-steered hearing devices.</AbstractText" ], [ "29325701", "Developmental cognitive neuroscience using latent change score models: A tutorial and applications.", "Assessing and analysing individual differences in change over time is of central scientific importance to developmental neuroscience. However, the literature is based largely on cross-sectional comparisons, which reflect a variety of influences and cannot directly represent change. We advocate using latent change score (LCS) models in longitudinal samples as a statistical framework to tease apart the complex processes underlying lifespan development in brain and behaviour using longitudinal data. LCS models provide a flexible framework that naturally accommodates key developmental questions as model parameters and can even be used, with some limitations, in cases with only two measurement occasions. We illustrate the use of LCS models with two empirical examples. In a lifespan cognitive training study (COGITO, N&#x202f;=&#x202f;204 (N&#x202f;=&#x202f;32 imaging) on two waves) we observe correlated change in brain and behaviour in the context of a high-intensity training intervention. In an adolescent development cohort (NSPN, N&#x202f;=&#x202f;176, two waves) we find greater variability in cortical thinning in males than in females. To facilitate the adoption of LCS by the developmental community, we provide analysis code that can be adapted by other researchers and basic primers in two freely available SEM software packages (lavaan and &#x3a9;nyx).</AbstractText" ], [ "34902846", "Neural tracking to go: auditory attention decoding and saliency detection with mobile EEG.", "<i" ], [ "33891545", "Inference of the Selective Auditory Attention Using Sequential LMMSE Estimation.", "Attentive listening in a multispeaker environment such as a cocktail party requires suppression of the interfering speakers and the noise around. People with normal hearing perform remarkably well in such situations. Analysis of the cortical signals using electroencephalography (EEG) has revealed that the EEG signals track the envelope of the attended speech stronger than that of the interfering speech. This has enabled the development of algorithms that can decode the selective attention of a listener in controlled experimental settings. However, often these algorithms require longer trial duration and computationally expensive calibration to obtain a reliable inference of attention. In this paper, we present a novel framework to decode the attention of a listener within trial durations of the order of two seconds. It comprises of three modules: 1) Dynamic estimation of the temporal response functions (TRF) in every trial using a sequential linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) estimator, 2) Extract the N1 -P2 peak of the estimated TRF that serves as a marker related to the attentional state, and 3) Obtain a probabilistic measure of the attentional state using a support vector machine followed by a logistic regression. The efficacy of the proposed decoding framework was evaluated using EEG data collected from 27 subjects. The total number of electrodes required to infer the attention was four: One for the signal estimation, one for the noise estimation and the other two being the reference and the ground electrodes. Our results make further progress towards the realization of neuro-steered hearing aids.</AbstractText" ], [ "31641052", "Alpha Oscillations in the Human Brain Implement Distractor Suppression Independent of Target Selection.", "In principle, selective attention is the net result of target selection and distractor suppression. The way in which both mechanisms are implemented neurally has remained contested. Neural oscillatory power in the alpha frequency band (&#x223c;10 Hz) has been implicated in the selection of to-be-attended targets, but there is lack of empirical evidence for its involvement in the suppression of to-be-ignored distractors. Here, we use electroencephalography recordings of <i" ] ]
[ [ "33983435", "A streamlined workflow for conversion, peer review, and publication of genomics metadata as omics data papers.", "Data papers have emerged as a powerful instrument for open data publishing, obtaining credit, and establishing priority for datasets generated in scientific experiments. Academic publishing improves data and metadata quality through peer review and increases the impact of datasets by enhancing their visibility, accessibility, and reusability.</AbstractText We aimed to establish a new type of article structure and template for omics studies: the omics data paper. To improve data interoperability and further incentivize researchers to publish well-described datasets, we created a prototype workflow for streamlined import of genomics metadata from the European Nucleotide Archive directly into a data paper manuscript.</AbstractText An omics data paper template was designed by defining key article sections that encourage the description of omics datasets and methodologies. A metadata import workflow, based on REpresentational State Transfer services and Xpath, was prototyped to extract information from the European Nucleotide Archive, ArrayExpress, and BioSamples databases.</AbstractText The template and workflow for automatic import of standard-compliant metadata into an omics data paper manuscript provide a mechanism for enhancing existing metadata through publishing.</AbstractText The omics data paper structure and workflow for import of genomics metadata will help to bring genomic and other omics datasets into the spotlight. Promoting enhanced metadata descriptions and enforcing manuscript peer review and data auditing of the underlying datasets brings additional quality to datasets. We hope that streamlined metadata reuse for scholarly publishing encourages authors to create enhanced metadata descriptions in the form of data papers to improve both the quality of their metadata and its findability and accessibility.</AbstractText" ], [ "34926921", "Diode and Active Negative Resistance Behaviors of Helminth Eggs as a Novel Identification/Differentiation Probe.", "Helminths have always been studied as one of the critically annoying pathogens of parasite classes due to their adverse effects on the ecosystem of human life. They have the potency to negatively affect their hosts as points of disease, infection, cancer, and death, but in this study, we found interesting electronic properties in <i" ], [ "33684306", "Comparison of lumbar degenerative disc disease using conventional fast spin echo T(2)W MRI and T(2) fast spin echo dixon sequences.", "To compare the grading of lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD), Modic end-plate changes (MEPC) and identification of high intensity zones (HIZ) on a combination of sagittal <i 50 patients underwent lumbar spine MRI using the routine protocol with the addition of a <i The study included 17 males and 33 females (mean age 51 years; range 8-82 years). Inter-reader agreement for DDD grade on the routine protocol was 0.57 and for the Dixon protocol was 0.63 (<i A single sagittal <i Grading of lumbar DDD, presence of Modic changes and high intensity zones were compared on sagittal <i" ], [ "32141031", "Neural interactions in occipitotemporal cortex during basic human movement perception by dynamic causal modeling.", "Action recognition is an essential component of our daily life. The occipitotemporal cortex (OTC) is an important area in human movement perception. The previous studies have revealed that three vital regions including the extrastriate body area (EBA), human middle temporal complex (hMT+), and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in OTC play an important role in motion perception. The aim of the current study is to explore the neural interactions between these three regions during basic human movement perception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired when participants viewed dynamic videos depicting basic human movements. By the dynamic causal modeling analysis, a model space consisting of 576 models was constructed and evaluated to select the optimal model given the data. The information of the visual movement was found to enter the system through hMT+. We speculated that hMT+ would be the region to show sensitivity to the presence of motion and it subsequently influence and be influenced by the other two regions. Our results also revealed the manner in which the three regions interact during action recognition. Furthermore, We found significantly enhanced modulated connectivity from hMT+ to both EBA and pSTS, as well as from EBA to both hMT+ and pSTS. We inferred that there may be multiple routes for human action perception. One responsible route for processing motion signals is through hMT+ to pSTS, and the other projects information to pSTS may be via the form-processing route. In addition, pSTS may integrate and mediate visual signals and possibly convey them to distributed areas to maintain high-order cognitive tasks.</AbstractText" ], [ "33689778", "Vessel length on SNAP MRA and TOF MRA is a potential imaging biomarker for brain blood flow.", "To explore feasibility of using the vessel length on time-of-flight (TOF) or simultaneous non-contrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage (SNAP) MRA as an imaging biomarker for brain blood flow, by using arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging and 3D phase contrast (PC) quantitative flow imaging as references.</AbstractText In a population of thirty subjects with carotid atherosclerotic disease, the visible intracranial arteries on TOF and SNAP were semi-automatically traced and the total length of the distal segments was calculated with a dedicated software named iCafe. ASL blood flow was calculated automatically using the recommended hemodynamic model. PC blood flow was obtained by generating cross-sectional arterial images and semi-automatically drawing the lumen contours. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the associations between the different whole-brain or hemispheric blood flow measurements.</AbstractText Under the imaging protocol used in this study, TOF vessel length was larger than SNAP vessel length (P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001). Both whole-brain TOF and SNAP vessel length showed a correlation with whole brain ASL and 3D PC blood flow measurements, and the correlation coefficients were higher for SNAP vessel length (TOF vs ASL: R&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.554, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.002; SNAP vs ASL: R&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.711, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001; TOF vs 3D PC: R&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.358, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.052; SNAP vs 3D PC: R&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.425, P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.019). Similar correlation results were observed for the hemispheric measurements. Hemispheric asymmetry index of SNAP vessel length also showed a significant correlation with hemispheric asymmetry index of ASL cerebral blood flow (R&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.770, P&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.001).</AbstractText The results suggest that length of the visible intracranial arteries on TOF or SNAP MRA can serve as a potential imaging marker for brain blood flow.</AbstractText" ] ]
40516333
Sex-dependent alteration of the enteric neuromuscular function after antibiotic-induced dysbiosis in juvenile mice and effect of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus GG.
Perturbations of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota (i.e. dysbiosis) in early life may induce vulnerability of the enteric nervous system (ENS), contributing to early onset GI disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Probiotics, such as Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), may improve pediatric digestive disorders; however, the mechanisms involved, including effects on the ENS, are not yet fully understood. In this study, the long-lasting consequences of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis on intestinal neuromuscular function, as well as the effect of LGG, were evaluated in juvenile female and male mice. One week after antibiotic treatment cessation, broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment induced significant taxonomic changes in both sexes compared to untreated control animals. These changes appeared earlier and involved more potentially harmful bacterial taxa in females than in males. LGG effectively prevented alterations in microbial communities in both sexes, with a more pronounced protective effect in males. Dysbiosis reduced transit efficiency, nitrergic relaxations, and tachykinergic contractions only in females, with no significant effect of LGG in this group. In both sexes, dysbiosis decreased cholinergic contractions; however, LGG restored the excitatory responses to control levels only in males. In summary, early antibiotic-induced dysbiosis in juvenile mice leads to persistent effects during late adolescence on both gut microbiota composition and neuromuscular function. These alterations are more pronounced and less responsive to LGG treatment in females. The findings underscore the critical role of the enteric microbiota in early-life development of functional gastrointestinal disorders with sex-specific features, such IBS.</AbstractText
[ [ "34694291", "Nerve Ultrasound Protocol to Detect Dysimmune Neuropathies.", "Nerve ultrasound is increasingly used in the differential diagnosis of polyneuropathy as a complementary tool to nerve conduction studies. Morphological alterations of the peripheral nerves, such as increasing the cross-sectional area (CSA), have been described in various immune-mediated polyneuropathies. The most prominent morphological changes in nerve ultrasound have been described for the chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)-spectrum disease. CIDP may be distinguished from hereditary and other polyneuropathies by measuring the extent and pattern of nerve swellings (CSA increase). Typical findings in demyelinating inflammatory neuropathies are multifocal nerve swellings with inhomogeneous fascicular structure, while CSA increase in demyelinating hereditary neuropathies occurs in a more generalized and homogenous manner. In other non-inflammatory axonal neuropathies, nerves can appear with normal or slight CSA increases, especially in typical entrapment sites. This article presents technical requirements for nerve ultrasound, an examination procedure using a standardized examination protocol, current reference values for the CSA, and typical sonographic pathological findings in patients with inflammatory neuropathies.</AbstractText" ], [ "35120662", "Adipose-tissue plasticity in health and disease.", "Adipose tissue, colloquially known as \"fat,\" is an extraordinarily flexible and heterogeneous organ. While historically viewed as a passive site for energy storage, we now appreciate that adipose tissue regulates many aspects of whole-body physiology, including food intake, maintenance of energy levels, insulin sensitivity, body temperature, and immune responses. A crucial property of adipose tissue is its high degree of plasticity. Physiologic stimuli induce dramatic alterations in adipose-tissue metabolism, structure, and phenotype to meet the needs of the organism. Limitations to this plasticity cause diminished or aberrant responses to physiologic cues and drive the progression of cardiometabolic disease along with other pathological consequences of obesity.</AbstractText" ], [ "25589671", "\"Noncognitive\" symptoms of early Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal analysis.", "To observe the natural time course of noncognitive symptoms before the onset of symptomatic Alzheimer disease dementia.</AbstractText Using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set from September 2005 to March 2013, data from cognitively normal individuals who were aged 50 years or older at first visit and had subsequent follow-up were analyzed. Survival analyses were used to examine the development of particular symptoms relative to each other on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), Functional Activities Questionnaire, and Geriatric Depression Scale, and to compare the development of individual symptoms for persons who did and did not receive a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) .0 (indicating abnormal cognition) during the follow-up period.</AbstractText The order of symptom occurrence on the NPI-Q was similar for participants who remained at CDR 0 and for those who received a CDR .0 over the follow-up period, although the time to most NPI-Q symptoms was faster for participants who received a CDR.0 (p, 0.001).With the exception of memory, Geriatric Depression Scale symptoms reported by both CDR groups were similar.</AbstractText We found a significantly earlier presence of positive symptoms on the NPI-Q in cognitively normal patients who subsequently developed CDR .0. Among participants with no depression symptoms at baseline, results suggest that depressive symptoms may increase with aging regardless of incipient dementia. Such findings begin to delineate the noncognitive course of Alzheimer disease dementia in the preclinical stages. Future research must further elucidate the correlation between noncognitive changes and distinct dementia subtypes.</AbstractText" ], [ "34090935", "Angiotensin II induces cognitive decline and anxiety-like behavior via disturbing pattern of theta-gamma oscillations.", "Hypertension is the most common chronic disease accompanied by cognitive decline and anxiety-like behavior. Angiotensin II (Ang II) induces hypertension by activating angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT1R). The purpose of the study was to examine the potential underlying mechanism of alterations in cognition and anxiety-like behavior induced by Ang II. Adult C57 mice were intraperitoneal injected with either 1 mg/kg/d Ang II or saline individually for 14 consecutive days. Ang II resulted in cognitive decline and anxious like behavior in C57 mice. Moreover, Ang II disturbed bidirectional synaptic plasticity and neural oscillation coupling between high theta and gamma on PP (perforant pathway)-DG (dentate gyrus) pathway. In addition, Ang II decreased the expression of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NR) 2A and NR 2B and increased the expression of GABA<sub" ], [ "29694845", "Interoceptive inference: From computational neuroscience to clinic.", "The central and autonomic nervous systems can be defined by their anatomical, functional and neurochemical characteristics, but neither functions in isolation. For example, fundamental components of autonomically mediated homeostatic processes are afferent interoceptive signals reporting the internal state of the body and efferent signals acting on interoceptive feedback assimilated by the brain. Recent predictive coding (interoceptive inference) models formulate interoception in terms of embodied predictive processes that support emotion and selfhood. We propose interoception may serve as a way to investigate holistic nervous system function and dysfunction in disorders of brain, body and behaviour. We appeal to predictive coding and (active) interoceptive inference, to describe the homeostatic functions of the central and autonomic nervous systems. We do so by (i) reviewing the active inference formulation of interoceptive and autonomic function, (ii) survey clinical applications of this formulation and (iii) describe how it offers an integrative approach to human physiology; particularly, interactions between the central and peripheral nervous systems in health and disease.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39967863", "Transcriptomic characterization of human lateral septum neurons reveals conserved and divergent marker genes across species.", "The lateral septum (LS) is a midline, subcortical structure that is a critical regulator of social behaviors. Mouse studies have identified molecularly distinct neuronal populations within the LS, which control specific facets of social behavior. Despite its known molecular heterogeneity in the mouse and critical role in regulating social behavior, comprehensive molecular profiling of the human LS has not been performed. Here, we conducted single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to generate transcriptomic profiles of the human LS and compared human LS profiles to recently collected mouse LS snRNA-seq datasets. Our analyses identified <i" ], [ "39974917", "SurfNet: Reconstruction of Cortical Surfaces via Coupled Diffeomorphic Deformations.", "To achieve fast and accurate cortical surface reconstruction from brain magnetic resonance images (MRIs), we develop a method to jointly reconstruct the inner (white-gray matter interface), outer (pial), and midthickness surfaces, regularized by their interdependence. Rather than reconstructing these surfaces separately without taking into consideration their interdependence as in most existing methods, our method learns three diffeomorphic deformations jointly to optimize the midthickness surface to lie halfway between the inner and outer cortical surfaces and simultaneously deforms it inward and outward towards the inner and outer cortical surfaces, respectively. The surfaces are encouraged to have a spherical topology by regularization terms for non-negativeness of the cortical thickness and symmetric cycle-consistency of the coupled surface deformations. The coupled reconstruction of cortical surfaces also facilitates an accurate estimation of the cortical thickness based on the diffeomorphic deformation trajectory of each vertex on the surfaces. Validation experiments have demonstrated that our method achieves state-of-the-art cortical surface reconstruction performance in terms of accuracy and surface topological correctness on large-scale MRI datasets, including ADNI, HCP, and OASIS.</AbstractText" ], [ "40438379", "Mechanical stimulation prevents impairment of axon growth and overcompensates microtubule destabilization in cellular models of Alzheimer's disease and related Tau pathologies.", "Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by progressive loss of memory and cognitive function. The main histopathological features of AD are amyloid-<i" ], [ "40704903", "Design and Development of a Pressure Ulcer Management Mobile Application for Nursing Students.", "Preventing and managing bedsores are critically important, and nurses play a vital role. Nursing students need to acquire adequate preparedness during their academic years. Mobile phones offer a suitable platform for education. This study aimed to design and develop a nursing education application for pressure ulcer management and to assess the perspectives of nursing students regarding their satisfaction and cognitive load. This is a developmental study. A Persian educational application for pressure ulcer management (ELTIAM [HEALING]) was designed and developed. Subsequently, students' perspectives on the application were evaluated using usability, satisfaction, and cognitive load questionnaires. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0 (IBM Inc., Armonk, NY, USA). The ELTIAM (HEALING) application consisted of 14 panels. From the students' perspective, the application's usability was 87.51%, and the average satisfaction score with the application was 7.97. Additionally, the average score for intrinsic cognitive load was 8.15, extrinsic cognitive load was 9.95, and germane cognitive load was 32.96. The increasing expansion of information technology, particularly in mobile capabilities, has coincided with a growing enthusiasm for education through mobile applications. These applications can serve as a new and effective method in various fields. The ELTIAM (HEALING) application, designed and developed in Persian for education of pressure ulcer management, was favorable in terms of usability, satisfaction, and cognitive load. Therefore, its use is recommended for students and healthcare professionals involved in pressure ulcer management.</AbstractText" ], [ "40279221", "Emergence Model of Perception With Global-Contour Precedence Based on Gestalt Theory and Primary Visual Cortex.", "Perceptual edge grouping is a technique for organizing the cluttered edge pixels into meaningful structures and further serves high-level vision tasks, which has long been a basic and critical task in computer vision. Existing methods usually have a poor performance when coping with the junctions caused by occlusion and noise in natural images. In this paper, we present GPGrouper, a perceptual edge grouping model based on gestalt theory and the primary visual cortex (V1). Different from the existing methods, GPGrouper leverages the edge representation and grouping matrix (ERGM), a functional structure inspired by V1 mechanisms, to represent edges in a way that can effectively reduce grouping errors caused by occlusion between objects. ERGM is trained with natural image contours and further provides a priori guidance for the construction of the edge connection graph (ECG) that is useful to minimize the impact of noise on grouping. In the experiment, we compared GPGrouper and the state-of-the-art (SOTA) method of perceptual grouping on the visual psychology pathfinder challenge. The results demonstrate that GPGrouper outperforms the SOTA method in grouping performance. Furthermore, in the grouping experiments involving line segments with varying lengths detected by the Line Segment Detector (LSD), as well as those involving superpixel segmentation results with significant levels of interfering noise using the SLIC algorithm, GPGrouper was superior to the existing methods in terms of grouping effect and robustness. Moreover, the results of applying the grouping results to the vision tasks objectness demonstrate that GPGrouper can contribute significantly to high-level visual tasks.</AbstractText" ] ]
38970889
Improving paediatric movement disorders care: Insights on rating scales utilization and clinical practice.
This exploratory study evaluates rating scale usage by experts from the European Reference Network for Rare Neurological Diseases (ERN-RND) for paediatric MD, considering factors like diagnosis, intellectual disability, age, and transition to adult care. The aim is to propose a preliminary framework for consistent application.</AbstractText A multicentre survey among 25&#xa0;ERN-RND experts from 10 European countries examined rating scale usage in paediatric MD, categorizing MD into acute, non-progressive, and neurodegenerative types. Factors influencing scale choice and the transition to adult care practices were analysed. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify the earliest age of application of these scales in paediatric patients.</AbstractText The study identifies various rating scales and establishes their usage frequencies for different MDs. Experts highlighted the need for standardized scales and proposed preliminary evaluation strategies based on clinical contexts. Challenges in applying scales to young, non-cooperative patients were acknowledged.</AbstractText The study recommends developing standardized rating scales for paediatric MDs to improve evaluations and data collection. It suggests potential scales for specific clinical scenarios to better evaluate disease progression. Comprehensive, patient-centred care remains crucial during the transition to adult care, despite the identified challenges. This exploratory approach aims to enhance patient outcomes and care.</AbstractText
[ [ "38291841", "A Critical Appraisal of the Whack-a-Mole and Swivel Chair Signs in the Diagnosis of Functional Movement Disorders.", "The demonstration of positive signs during neurological examination is a cornerstone of the diagnosis of functional movement disorders, however, the available data supporting the diagnostic value of some of these signs is limited.</AbstractText To determine the diagnostic value (sensitivity and specificity) of the \"whack-a-mole\" (WAM) and \"swivel chair\" (SC) tests in patients with functional movement disorders (FMD).</AbstractText We enrolled patients with functional and organic movements in the WAM test if they exhibited tremor, dystonia, myoclonus, chorea, or tics. For the SC test, patients with a gait disorder as their primary impairment were recruited. Two blinded movement disorder specialists rated the presence of these signs in edited videos.</AbstractText Inclusion criteria were met by 42 patients with FMD and 65 patients with organic movement disorders. Both tests demonstrated high specificity (means, 78% and 96%), but their sensitivity was low (means, 52% and 37%). Interobserver agreement for the WAM sign was 0.77 in the FMD group, against 0.28 in patients with organic movement disorders, whereas Movement Disorders Clinical Practice for Review Only for the SC sign was 0.69 in both groups.</AbstractText The present study indicates that physicians must be cautious in the application and interpretation of these clinical signs in the diagnosis of functional movement disorders, and they should be carefully considered and used as necessary.</AbstractText" ], [ "35450857", "Microstructural Visual Pathway White Matter Alterations in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging Study.", "DTI studies of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma have demonstrated that glaucomatous degeneration is not confined to the retina but involves the entire visual pathway. Due to the lack of direct biologic interpretation of DTI parameters, the structural nature of this degeneration is still poorly understood. We used neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) to characterize the microstructural changes in the pregeniculate optic tracts and the postgeniculate optic radiations of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, to better understand the mechanisms underlying these changes.</AbstractText T1- and multishell diffusion-weighted scans were obtained from 23 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and 29 controls. NODDI parametric maps were produced from the diffusion-weighted scans, and probabilistic tractography was used to track the optic tracts and optic radiations. NODDI parameters were computed for the tracked pathways, and the measures were compared between both groups. The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and visual field loss were assessed for the patients with glaucoma.</AbstractText The optic tracts of the patients with glaucoma showed a higher orientation dispersion index and a lower neurite density index compared with the controls (<i The pregeniculate visual pathways of the patients with primary open-angle glaucoma exhibited a loss of both axonal coherence and density, while the postgeniculate pathways exhibited a loss of axonal coherence only. Further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the progression of NODDI alterations in the visual pathways of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma across time.</AbstractText" ], [ "38979126", "Dexamethasone alleviates etomidate-induced myoclonus by reversing the inhibition of excitatory amino acid transporters.", "Etomidate can induce myoclonus with an incidence of 50&#x2009;~&#x2009;85% during anesthesia induction. Dexamethasone, as a long-acting synthetic glucocorticoid, has neuroprotective effects. However, the effects of dexamethasone on the etomidate-induced myoclonus remain uncertain.</AbstractText Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive etomidate (1.5&#x2009;mg/kg) plus dexamethasone (4&#x2009;mg/kg) (etomidate plus dexamethasone group) or etomidate (1.5&#x2009;mg/kg) plus the same volume of normal saline (NS) (etomidate plus NS group). The mean behavioral scores, local field potentials and muscular tension were recorded to explore the effects of dexamethasone on etomidate-induced myoclonus. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric system (LC-MS/MS), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and western blotting were applied to analyze the levels of glutamate and <i Compared with the etomidate plus NS treatment, the etomidate plus dexamethasone treatment significantly decreased the mean behavioral score at 1, 3, 4, and 5&#x2009;min after administration; the peak power spectral density (PSD) (<i Dexamethasone can attenuate the myoclonus, inhibit the glutamate accumulation, and reverse the suppression of EAATs in the neocortex induced by etomidate following myoclonus, while conversely aggravating etomidate-induced adrenal suppression.</AbstractText" ], [ "33808167", "Functional and Molecular Properties of DYT-SGCE Myoclonus-Dystonia Patient-Derived Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons.", "Myoclonus-dystonia (DYT-SGCE, formerly DYT11) is characterized by alcohol-sensitive, myoclonic-like appearance of fast dystonic movements. It is caused by mutations in the <i" ], [ "37646790", "Analysis of inflammatory markers and tau deposits in an autopsy series of nine patients with anti-IgLON5 disease.", "Anti-IgLON5 disease is a rare neurological, probably autoimmune, disorder associated in many cases with a specific tauopathy. Only a few post-mortem neuropathological studies have been reported so far. Little is known about the pathogenic mechanisms that result in neurodegeneration. We investigated the neuropathology of anti-IgLON5 disease and characterized cellular and humoral inflammation. We included nine cases (six of them previously published). Median age of patients was 71&#xa0;years (53-82&#xa0;years), the median disease duration was 6&#xa0;years (0.5-13&#xa0;years), and the female to male ratio was 5:4. Six cases with a median disease duration of 9&#xa0;years presented a prominent tauopathy. Five of them had a classical anti-IgLON5-related brainstem tauopathy and another presented a prominent neuronal and glial 4-repeat tauopathy, consistent with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Three cases with short disease duration (median 1.25&#xa0;years) only showed a primary age-related neurofibrillary pathology. Inflammatory infiltrates of T and B cells were mild to moderate and did not significantly differ between anti-IgLON5 disease cases with or without tauopathy. In contrast, we found an extensive neuropil deposition of IgG4 in the tegmentum of the brainstem, olivary nucleus, and cerebellar cortex that was most prominent in two patients with short disease duration without the typical IgLON5-related tauopathy. The IgG4 deposits were particularly prominent in the cerebellar cortex and in these regions accompanied by mild IgG1 deposits. Activated complement deposition (C9neo) was absent. Our study indicates that IgLON5-related tau pathology occurs in later disease stages and may also present a PSP-phenotype with exclusively 4-repeat neuronal and glial tau pathology. The prominent deposition of anti-IgLON5 IgG4 at predilection sites for tau pathology suggests that anti-IgLON5 antibodies precede the tau pathology. Early start of immunotherapy might prevent irreversible neuronal damage and progression of the disease, at least in a subgroup of patients.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38374223", "Changes in pupil size track self-control failure.", "People are more likely to perform poorly on a self-control task following a previous task requiring self-control (ego-depletion), but the mechanism for this effect remains unclear. We used pupillometry to test the role of attentional effort in ego-depletion. We hypothesized that an elevated pupil diameter (PD)-a common physiological measure of effort-during an initial task requiring self-control should be negatively associated with performance on a subsequent control task. To test this hypothesis, participants were first assigned to either a high- or low-demand attention task (manipulation; a standard ego-depletion paradigm), after which all participants completed the same Stroop task. We then separately extracted both sustained (low-frequency) and phasic (high-frequency) changes in PD from both tasks to evaluate possible associations with lapses of cognitive control on the Stroop task. We first show that in the initial task, sustained PD was larger among participants who were assigned to the demanding attention condition. Furthermore, ego-depletion effects were serially mediated by PD: an elevated PD response emerged rapidly among the experimental group during the manipulation, persisted as an elevated baseline response during the Stroop task, and predicted worse accuracy on incongruent trials, revealing a potential indirect pathway to ego-depletion via sustained attention. Secondary analyses revealed another, independent and direct pathway via high levels of transient attentional control: participants who exhibited large phasic responses during the manipulation tended to perform worse on the subsequent Stroop task. We conclude by exploring the neuroscientific implications of these results within the context of current theories of self-control.</AbstractText" ], [ "38284840", "Altered interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and its potential in therapeutic response prediction.", "The trajectory of voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) after medical treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and its value in prediction of treatment response remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanism of OCD, as well as biomarkers for prediction of pharmacological efficacy. Medication-free patients with OCD and healthy controls (HCs) underwent magnetic resonance imaging. The patients were scanned again after a 4-week treatment with paroxetine. The acquired data were subjected to VMHC, support vector regression (SVR), and correlation analyses. Compared with HCs (36 subjects), patients with OCD (34 subjects after excluding two subjects with excessive head movement) exhibited significantly lower VMHC in the bilateral superior parietal lobule (SPL), postcentral gyrus, and calcarine cortex, and VMHC in the postcentral gyrus was positively correlated with cognitive function. After treatment, the patients showed increased VMHC in the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu) with the improvement of symptoms. SVR results showed that VMHC in the postcentral gyrus at baseline could aid to predict a change in the scores of OCD scales. This study revealed that SPL, postcentral gyrus, and calcarine cortex participate in the pathophysiological mechanism of OCD while PCC/PCu participate in the pharmacological mechanism. VMHC in the postcentral gyrus is a potential predictive biomarker of the treatment effects in OCD.</AbstractText" ], [ "39150080", "A nondestructive membrane engineering method using an amphiphilic polymer.", "The cellular signaling process or ion transport is mediated by membrane proteins (MPs) located on the cell surface, and functional studies of MPs have mainly been conducted using cells endogenously or transiently expressing target proteins. Reconstitution of purified MPs in the surface of live cells would have advantages of short manipulation time and ability to target cells in which gene transfection is difficult. However, direct reconstitution of MPs in live cells has not been established. The traditional detergent-mediated reconstitution method of MPs into a lipid bilayer cannot be applied to live cells because this disrupts and reforms the lipid bilayer structure, which is detrimental to cell viability. In this study, we demonstrated that GPCRs (prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 [EP4] and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor [GLP1R]) or serotonin receptor 3A (5HT3A), a ligand-gated ion channel, stabilized with amphiphilic poly-&#x3b3;-glutamate (APG), can be reconstituted into mammalian cell plasma membranes without affecting cell viability. Furthermore, 5HT3A reconstituted in mammalian cells showed ligand-dependent Ca<sup" ], [ "39669993", "Case report: Cerebral syphilitic gumma: a case retrospective report of eight cases.", "Cerebral syphilitic gumma (CSG), a rare manifestation of neurosyphilis, presents characteristics akin to intracranial tumors, often leading to clinical misdiagnosis.</AbstractText This study aimed to summarize the clinical experience in diagnosing and treating CSG.</AbstractText The present study conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical data, encompassing the baseline characteristics, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of eight patients with CSG who were treated and diagnosed by our institution.</AbstractText The median age at the initial diagnosis was 57.5 years, comprising six males and two females. The predominant clinical manifestations included headaches in eight cases, motor and sensory disorders in four cases, epileptic seizures in one case, and dysarthria in one patient. The serum <i In clinical practice, CSG should be considered for patients with intracranial lesions and positive serum syphilis antibodies. Timely and accurate diagnosis enables patients with CSG to achieve a more favorable prognosis through active anti-syphilis treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "39584109", "Obese male zucker rats show basilar dendritic retraction in the medial prefrontal cortex.", "Obesity, a prevalent disorder, predisposes individuals to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and high blood pressure. Obesity has been investigated in various organisms that display genetic, high-fat, and high-carbohydrate diet (HFCD)-induced obesity. Recent studies have found that both male and female Zucker rats, which are genetically obese, exhibit alterations in dendritic arborization of neurons in certain structures of the central nervous system. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze dendritic arborization and dendritic spine density of pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of obese adult male Zucker rats using the Golgi-Cox method and Sholl analysis. Obese male Zucker rats exhibit increased body weight and high concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. Analysis of mPFC pyramidal neurons in these rats revealed basilar dendritic retraction at a medium distance from the soma, in addition to a reduction in total basilar dendritic length, without any changes in dendritic spine density. These findings are consistent with previous reports, indicating that changes in dendritic retraction may occur as a result of the leptin receptor mutation itself, in addition to the reduction in dendritic arborization observed in other regions of the central nervous system in rats. Furthermore, we suggest the possibility that biological processes modulated by the mPFC, such as foraging and social behavior, are also affected.</AbstractText" ] ]
39962862
Amitriptyline use in individuals with KCNQ2/3 gain-of-function variants: A retrospective cohort study.
Heterozygous gain-of-function (GOF) variants in KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, encoding the voltage-gated potassium channel subunits Kv7.2 and Kv7.3, lead to neurodevelopmental disorders for which no established treatments are available. Amitriptyline, an antidepressant, blocks Kv7.2/Kv7.3 and has previously been reported to be effective in a single individual with a KCNQ2 GOF variant. We designed a retrospective, single-arm, multicenter study to investigate the effects of amitriptyline in a real-world setting.</AbstractText We used a 7-point Likert scale to measure seizure frequency, clinical examination, motor function, alertness, skill acquisition, communication, mood, behavior, self-care, sleep, tiredness, and electroencephalogram at baseline, after a minimum of 6&#x2009;weeks of intervention, and, if applicable, after discontinuation. Adverse events were assessed in all participants, and the effectiveness of the treatment was evaluated in 11 individuals who received a minimum dosage of .5&#x2009;mg/kg/day for at least 6&#x2009;weeks. Data were collected from October 2023 to August 2024.</AbstractText Thirteen individuals, eight with a pathogenic KCNQ2 GOF variant and five with a pathogenic KCNQ3 GOF variant, were included. Nine were female, and the median age at start of amitriptyline was 7.1&#x2009;years (range&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.5-20&#x2009;years). Eleven individuals received a minimum dosage of .5&#x2009;mg/kg/day for at least 6&#x2009;weeks. The median dosage of amitriptyline administered was 1&#x2009;mg/kg/day, with a median treatment duration of 29&#x2009;weeks. Although amitriptyline was ineffective in two individuals (18%), eight (72%) demonstrated at least minimal improvement in two or more domains, with improvements in alertness and communication being the most frequently reported. In those with reported improvements, amitriptyline was discontinued in four individuals, but continued improvements were seen, to the same or greater extent compared to treatment. The remaining five individuals are on continued treatment because of perceived benefits.</AbstractText Overall, the effect of amitriptyline remains unclear, and formal n-of-1 trials are needed to investigate the precise effects of amitriptyline in KCNQ GOF-related neurodevelopmental disorders.</AbstractText
[ [ "39306601", "Modafinil Versus Amphetamine-Dextroamphetamine For Idiopathic Hypersomnia and Narcolepsy Type 2: A Randomized, Blinded, Non-inferiority Trial.", "Although there are several treatments for narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia, studies that assess amphetamines, symptoms beyond sleepiness, and comparative effectiveness are needed. We performed a randomized, fully blinded, noninferiority trial of modafinil versus amphetamine-dextroamphetamine in these disorders.</AbstractText Forty-four adults were randomized to modafinil or amphetamine-dextroamphetamine, individually titrated to a maximum of modafinil 200 mg twice daily or amphetamine-dextroamphetamine 20 mg twice daily, for 12 weeks. Primary outcome was change in Epworth from baseline to week 12, with a noninferiority threshold of 2 points. Secondary outcomes were (1) patient global impression of change measures of disease severity, sleepiness, sleep inertia, and cognition; (2) change from baseline in Hypersomnia Severity Index; and (3) change from baseline in Sleep Inertia Questionnaire. Adverse events were compared between groups.</AbstractText Epworth improved 5.0 [&#xb1; standard deviation (SD) 2.7] points with modafinil and 4.4 (&#xb1; SD 4.7) with amphetamine-dextroamphetamine; noninferiority of amphetamine-dextroamphetamine was not demonstrated (P = 0.11). Noninferiority of amphetamine-dextroamphetamine was demonstrated for change scores of severity, sleepiness, sleep inertia, Hypersomnia Severity Index, and Sleep Inertia Questionnaire. Dropouts due to adverse events were 31.8% for modafinil (including two severe events) and 9.1% for amphetamine-dextroamphetamine, P = 0.13. Anxiety was more common with modafinil and appetite suppression with amphetamine-dextroamphetamine.</AbstractText Noninferiority of amphetamine-dextroamphetamine to modafinil was not demonstrated for the primary outcome. However, amphetamine-dextroamphetamine was noninferior on multiple secondary measures of disease severity and symptomatology. These data may inform shared decision-making regarding treatment for idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy type 2.</AbstractText Clinicaltrials.gov Registration (NCT03772314) 12/10/18. .</AbstractText" ], [ "37781704", "Benzodiazepine-induced anterograde amnesia: detrimental side effect to novel study tool.", "Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are anxiolytic drugs that act on GABAa receptors and are used to treat anxiety disorders. However, these drugs come with the detrimental side effect of anterograde amnesia, or the inability to form new memories. In this review we discuss, behavioral paradigms, sex differences and hormonal influences affecting BZD-induced amnesia, molecular manipulations, including the knockout of GABAa receptor subunits, and regional studies utilizing lesion and microinjection techniques targeted to the hippocampus and amygdala. Additionally, the relationship between BZD use and cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's disease is addressed, as there is a lack of consensus on whether these drugs are involved in inducing or accelerating pathological cognitive deficits. This review aims to inspire new research directions, as there is a gap in knowledge in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind BZD-induced amnesia. Understanding these mechanisms will allow for the development of alternative treatments and potentially allow BZDs to be used as a novel tool to study Alzheimer's disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "39469484", "Duration and Efficiency of Combined versus Isolated Aerobic Training Interventions in Post-Stroke Cognition: A Systematic Review.", "This study aimed to evaluate the effects of physical activity on the cognition of patients with stroke, comparing the effectiveness of using isolated or combined rehabilitation, as well as the duration and intensity of training, to identify the characteristics of optimal training programs for post-stroke cognitive rehabilitation.</AbstractText For this systematic review, we followed PRISMA guidelines and searched Web of Science, Scopus, PEDRo, SPORTdiscus, PubMed, Trial Registries, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2013 and April 12, 2023. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions that measured the effect of physical activity on cognition in patients with stroke. We restricted our search to reports published in the English language. Evidence from the RCTs was synthesized. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.</AbstractText Of the 1,755 records identified, 34 were eligible, and data were available, with mainly low to moderate risk of general bias. The combined rehabilitation training programs proved more efficient when compared with isolated rehabilitation training programs in several cognitive domains. A moderate-intensity, 12-week intervention duration, with three weekly sessions, proved adequate.</AbstractText It seems that combined rehabilitation training programs are efficient for patients with stroke as these alter neuroplastic conditions due to synergistic or additional onset of action. Future research should investigate combined rehabilitation training programs, with follow-up, to assess how long the recorded improvements last. The protocol of this study is registered in PROSPERO, number CRD42021248533.</AbstractText Este estudo pretende avaliar os efeitos da atividade f&#xed;sica na cogni&#xe7;&#xe3;o de pessoas com acidente vascular cerebral (AVC). Aqui, pretendemos comparar a efic&#xe1;cia do uso de programas de reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o isolada ou combinada, bem como a dura&#xe7;&#xe3;o e intensidade dos programas, para identificar as caracter&#xed;sticas de programas de treino ideais para reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o cognitiva p&#xf3;s-AVC.</AbstractText Us&#xe1;mos as diretrizes PRISMA para realizar esta revis&#xe3;o sistem&#xe1;tica e pesquis&#xe1;mos as seguintes bases de dados: Web of Science, Scopus, PEDRo, SPORTdiscus, PubMed, Trial Registries e Google Scholar para estudos publicados entre 2013 e 12 de abril de 2023. Inclu&#xed;mos ensaios cl&#xed;nicos aleatorizados (ECA) de interven&#xe7;&#xf5;es que mediram o efeito da atividade f&#xed;sica na cogni&#xe7;&#xe3;o em pacientes com AVC. Restringimos a nossa busca a estudos publicados no idioma ingl&#xea;s. As evid&#xea;ncias dos ECA foram sintetizadas e o risco de vi&#xe9;s foi avaliado usando a ferramenta de risco de vi&#xe9;s Cochrane.</AbstractText Dos 1755 registos identificados, 34 eram eleg&#xed;veis e os dados estavam dispon&#xed;veis, maioritariamente com risco baixo a moderado de vi&#xe9;s geral. Os programas de treino de reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o combinados revelaram-se mais eficientes quando comparados com programas de treino de reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o isolados, em v&#xe1;rios dom&#xed;nios cognitivos. Uma interven&#xe7;&#xe3;o de intensidade moderada, dura&#xe7;&#xe3;o de 12 semanas, com tr&#xea;s sess&#xf5;es semanais, mostrou-se adequada.</AbstractText Parece que os programas combinados de treino de reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o s&#xe3;o eficientes para pessoas com AVC, j&#xe1; que alteram as condi&#xe7;&#xf5;es neuropl&#xe1;sticas devido &#xe0; a&#xe7;&#xe3;o sin&#xe9;rgica ou adicional. Investiga&#xe7;&#xf5;es futuras devem investigar programas combinados de treino de reabilita&#xe7;&#xe3;o, com <i" ], [ "38331941", "Neonatal brain dynamic functional connectivity in term and preterm infants and its association with early childhood neurodevelopment.", "Brain dynamic functional connectivity characterises transient connections between brain regions. Features of brain dynamics have been linked to emotion and cognition in adult individuals, and atypical patterns have been associated with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. Although reliable functional brain networks have been consistently identified in neonates, little is known about the early development of dynamic functional connectivity. In this study we characterise dynamic functional connectivity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the first few weeks of postnatal life in term-born (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;324) and preterm-born (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;66) individuals. We show that a dynamic landscape of brain connectivity is already established by the time of birth in the human brain, characterised by six transient states of neonatal functional connectivity with changing dynamics through the neonatal period. The pattern of dynamic connectivity is atypical in preterm-born infants, and associated with atypical social, sensory, and repetitive behaviours measured by the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) scores at 18 months of age.</AbstractText" ], [ "34079409", "A Blue-Enriched, Increased Intensity Light Intervention to Improve Alertness and Performance in Rotating Night Shift Workers in an Operational Setting.", "This study examined the efficacy of a lighting intervention that increased both light intensity and short-wavelength (blue) light content to improve alertness, performance and mood in night shift workers in a chemical plant.</AbstractText During rostered night shifts, 28 workers (46.0&#xb1;10.8 years; 27 male) were exposed to two light conditions each for two consecutive nights (~19:00-07:00 h) in a counterbalanced repeated measures design: traditional-spectrum lighting set at pre-study levels (43 lux, 4000 K) versus higher intensity, blue-enriched lighting (106 lux, 17,000 K), equating to a 4.5-fold increase in melanopic illuminance (24 to 108 melanopic illuminance). Participants completed the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, subjective mood ratings, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) every 2-4 hours during the night shift.</AbstractText A significant main effect of time indicated KSS, PVT mean reaction time, number of PVT lapses (reaction times &gt; 500 ms) and subjective tension, misery and depression worsened over the course of the night shift (p&lt;0.05). Percentage changes in KSS (p&lt;0.05, partial &#x3b7;<sup Our findings, showing improvements in alertness and performance with exposure to blue-enriched, increased intensity light, provide support for light to be used as a countermeasure for impaired alertness in night shift work settings.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40240671", "The role of self-compassion in adults with dyslexia.", "The emotional aspect of dyslexia has recently received more attention. A growing body of literature highlights the links between dyslexia and self-perception (such as self-esteem and self-efficacy) and psychopathology (such as anxiety). However, there is no research on self-compassion in adults with dyslexia. The current study aimed to examine the role of self-compassion in relation to self-esteem, self-efficacy and anxiety in adults with dyslexia. We investigated whether facets of self-compassion have distinct roles within these relationships. We also aimed to identify whether self-compassion mediates the association of self-esteem and self-efficacy with dyslexia and anxiety. Findings are reported from 100 adults with dyslexia who took part in an online survey involving measures of self-compassion, self-esteem and self-efficacy, and anxiety. Self-compassion was related to the other measures and was found to mediate the association of anxiety with self-esteem and self-efficacy, which has not been reported before in adults with dyslexia.</AbstractText" ], [ "40794867", "MexR and NalD are pyocyanin-responsive transcriptional repressors of the efflux pump MexAB-OprM in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.", "The secondary metabolite pyocyanin (PYO) significantly enhances the antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by inducing expression of the resistance-nodulation-cell division efflux systems. However, the mechanisms underlying the initial derepression and subsequent upregulation of MexAB-OprM, regulated by multiple transcriptional repressors, remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that MexR and NalD, the transcriptional repressors of MexAB-OprM, function as PYO receptors, with dissociation constants of 5.17&#xa0;and 7.03 &#x3bc;M, respectively. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays show that PYO binding to MexR and NalD induces their dissociation from the mexA promoter, leading to the derepression of mexAB-oprM expression. Structural simulations and mutagenesis assays identified residues F17, R21, and M61 in MexR, as well as R66, N129, and F132 in NalD, as critical for PYO binding. Additionally, PYO and the MexAB-OprM substrate novobiocin competitively bind to MexR and NalD, suggesting that PYO can attenuate the effectiveness of clinical antibiotics by triggering mexAB-oprM expression. Furthermore, PYO establishes a negative feedback regulatory mechanism through NalD, which also functions as a transcriptional activator of phenazine biosynthesis genes, thereby restricting PYO overproduction to maintain cellular homeostasis. This regulatory pathway provides an energy-efficient survival strategy for P. aeruginosa in hostile environments.</AbstractText" ], [ "40766759", "Therapeutic effects and mechanism analysis of Paeonia lactiflora extract (PLE) in menopausal rats with hot flashes.", "Menopausal syndrome (MPS) is a symptom of physical and psychosomatic abnormalities that women may face around the time of menopause. Hot flashes are the main symptom. Paeonia lactiflora extract (PLE) is the active ingredient extracted from <i This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the effect of PLE on menopausal hot flashes, and to analyze the mechanism of action of PLE in the treatment of menopausal hot flashes from the perspective of neural pathways, to provide a research strategy and experimental basis for the study of similar new drugs and the pathogenesis of MPS.</AbstractText First, we screened menopausal rats through the natural aging model. After 14 days of therapeutic drug gavage, a menopausal hot flashes model was induced in menopausal rats by gavage with thyroid tablet suspension (160&#xa0;mg/kg) for 14&#xa0;days. The changes in facial and tail temperature of rats in each group were observed; the behavioral characteristics of rats in each group were followed by an open field test, elevated plus maze and aggressive behavior test; the contents of estradiol, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, 5-hydroxytryptamine, cyclic guanosine monophosphate and cyclic adenosine monophosphate were detected by ELISA; the pathological changes of the uterus were detected by HE staining method. Combined with transcriptomics technology, high-throughput transcriptome sequencing was performed on the hypothalamus of control, model and PLE (160&#xa0;mg/kg) group, and differential gene analysis between control and model groups, and PLE (160&#xa0;mg/kg) group and model group was performed using DESeq2. qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to further validate the candidate core genes.</AbstractText PLE improved the mental status of model rats and reduced the abnormal tail temperature elevation in model rats. In addition, PLE had the effect of increasing the estradiol content and decreasing the luteinizing hormone content in the serum of rats, and the administration of 160&#xa0;mg/kg of PLE also significantly increased the 5-hydroxytryptamine content in the serum of rats. In terms of pathological manifestations, the model rats had significantly thinner endometrial thickness, looser tissues and reduced integrity, while the rats intervened by PLE treatment had significantly thicker endometrium and more regularly arranged tissue structure. Therefore, it can be determined that PLE has a good pharmacological basis for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes. The transcriptomic analysis showed that 210 genes were significantly altered in the control and drug administration groups together, and the candidate core genes related to neuroendocrine were screened out based on the comprehensive literature and previous studies, and it was further found that PLE may achieve ASIC4, cplx1, mRNA expression levels, and Tac3, Tacr3 protein expression levels by up-regulating neuroprotective effects, thereby restoring the normal neuroendocrine environment of menopausal hot flashes in rats.</AbstractText PLE can effectively alleviate thyroid tablet-induced menopausal hot flashes, and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of abnormal expression of ASIC4, cplx1, GnRH1, Tac3, and Tacr3 in the hypothalamus, thereby restoring the imbalanced hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.</AbstractText" ], [ "40425851", "Neuronal network analysis during short time transcranial direct current stimulation with permanent EEG measurement in early childhood: a feasibility study.", "Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a non-invasive stimulation is still in the experimental stage for many psychiatric disorders even in adults. The use of tDCS provides an opportunity to influence neural networks and their functional connectivity. How tDCS affects cortical networks and how it influences the functional connectivity of the developing brain is largely unknown. The electroencephalography (EEG) derivation, which has a precise temporal resolution, is well established in the clinical routine in childhood and, in combination with tDCS, it will give us more information about the changes in connectivity during stimulation. Furthermore, objective stress markers should be established for non-invasive stimulation at younger ages. In this study, we investigated how well we can measure connectivity changes under tDCS in children aged 4 to 8 using EEG. The exclusion criterion was epilepsy. Anodal stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was performed. Throughout the stimulation, EEG and ECG measurements were taken. Heart rate variability was calculated from the ECG lead as a stress marker. The combination of tDCS and EEG was applicable and not associated with increased stress levels. It was shown to be technically feasible and to provide information about changes in connectivity. This may allow a more specific and targeted use of tDCS in the developing brain. It would be convenient to use it in children because it does not require pharmacological intervention, which children can tolerate, unlike, for example, fMRI.</AbstractText" ], [ "40702860", "Efficient Hydrogen Sulfide Separation from Carbon Dioxide Achieved by Carbonyl-Functionalized Ionic Liquids for Natural Gas Upgrading.", "Natural gas upgrading requires efficient separation of H<sub" ] ]
37588057
HDAC-6 inhibition ameliorates the early neuropathology in a mouse model of Krabbe disease.
In Krabbe disease (KD), mutations in &#x3b2;-galactosylceramidase (GALC), a lysosomal enzyme responsible for the catabolism of galactolipids, leads to the accumulation of its substrates galactocerebroside and psychosine. This neurologic condition is characterized by a severe and progressive demyelination together with neuron-autonomous defects and degeneration. Twitcher mice mimic the infantile form of KD, which is the most common form of the human disease. The Twitcher CNS and PNS present demyelination, axonal loss and neuronal defects including decreased levels of acetylated tubulin, decreased microtubule stability and impaired axonal transport.</AbstractText We tested whether inhibiting the &#x3b1;-tubulin deacetylase HDAC6 with a specific inhibitor, ACY-738, was able to counteract the early neuropathology and neuronal defects of Twitcher mice.</AbstractText Our data show that delivery of ACY-738 corrects the low levels of acetylated tubulin in the Twitcher nervous system. Furthermore, it reverts the loss myelinated axons in the sciatic nerve and in the optic nerve when administered from birth to postnatal day 9, suggesting that the drug holds neuroprotective properties. The extended delivery of ACY-738 to Twitcher mice delayed axonal degeneration in the CNS and ameliorated the general presentation of the disease. ACY-738 was effective in rescuing neuronal defects of Twitcher neurons, stabilizing microtubule dynamics and increasing the axonal transport of mitochondria.</AbstractText Overall, our results support that ACY-738 has a neuroprotective effect in KD and should be considered as an add-on therapy combined with strategies targeting metabolic correction.</AbstractText
[ [ "36125402", "Effects of axon branching and asymmetry between the branches on transport, mean age, and age density distributions of mitochondria in neurons: A computational study.", "We report a computational study of mitochondria transport in a branched axon with two branches of different sizes. For comparison, we also investigate mitochondria transport in an axon with symmetric branches and in a straight (unbranched) axon. The interest in understanding mitochondria transport in branched axons is motivated by the large size of arbors of dopaminergic neurons, which die in Parkinson's disease. Since the failure of energy supply of multiple demand sites located in various axonal branches may be a possible reason for the death of these neurons, we were interested in investigating how branching affects mitochondria transport. Besides investigating mitochondria fluxes between the demand sites and mitochondria concentrations, we also studied how the mean age of mitochondria and mitochondria age densities depend on the distance from the soma. We established that if the axon splits into two branches of unequal length, the mean ages of mitochondria and age density distributions in the demand sites are affected by how the mitochondria flux splits at the branching junction (what portion of mitochondria enter the shorter branch and what portion enter the longer branch). However, if the axon splits into two branches of equal length, the mean ages and age densities of mitochondria are independent of how the mitochondria flux splits at the branching junction. This even holds for the case when all mitochondria enter one branch, which is equivalent to a straight axon. Because the mitochondrial membrane potential (which many researchers view as a proxy for mitochondrial health) decreases with mitochondria age, the independence of mitochondria age on whether the axon is symmetrically branched or straight (providing the two axons are of the same length), and on how the mitochondria flux splits at the branching junction, may explain how dopaminergic neurons can sustain very large arbors and still maintain mitochondrial health across branch extremities.</AbstractText" ], [ "35249132", "The trigeminal pathways.", "The role of the trigeminal system in facial and dural sensitivity has been recognized for a long time. More recently, the trigeminal system has also been considered a prominent actor in brain nociceptive innervation. It is the anatomical substrate of several frequent conditions, such as primary or secondary headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, and other orofacial pains. Appreciation of the delicate anatomical arrangement of the trigeminal pathway is one of the keys to understanding these conditions' pathophysiology and to proposing innovative treatments. This review provides a structured presentation of existing knowledge about the trigeminal system, from classical anatomical data to the most recent literature. First, we present the organization of the trigeminal pathway from the trigeminal divisions, nerve, and nuclei to the thalamus and somatosensory cortex. We describe the neurons and fibers' repartition at each level, depending on the location (somatotopic organization) and the type of receptors (modal organization). Such a dual somatotopic-modal arrangement of the trigeminal fibers is especially clear for the juxtapontine segment of the trigeminal nerve and the trigeminal nuclei of the brainstem. It has significant clinical consequences both for diagnosis and treatment. Second, we explore how the trigeminal system is modulated and involved in reflexes, for instance the trigemino-cardiac and the trigemino-autonomic reflexes, which could play an essential role in the autonomic symptoms observed in cluster headache. Finally, we present how to interact with this complex system to relieve pain mediated by the trigeminal system. This section covers both neuromodulatory and lesional approaches.</AbstractText" ], [ "28288671", "Microglia-derived IL-1β contributes to axon development disorders and synaptic deficit through p38-MAPK signal pathway in septic neonatal rats.", "Axon development plays a pivotal role in the formation of synapse, nodes of Ranvier, and myelin sheath. Interleukin-1&#x3b2; (IL-1&#x3b2;) produced by microglia may cause myelination disturbances through suppression of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell maturation in the septic neonatal rats. Here, we explored if a microglia-derived IL-1&#x3b2; would disturb axon development in the corpus callosum (CC) following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, and if so, whether it is associated with disorder of synapse formation in the cerebral cortex and node of Ranvier.</AbstractText Sprague-Dawley rats (1-day old) in the septic model group were intraperitoneally administrated with lipopolysaccharide (1&#xa0;mg/kg) and then sacrificed for detection of IL-1&#x3b2;, interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R<sub In 1-day old septic rats, IL-1&#x3b2; expression was increased in microglia coupled with upregulated expression of IL-1R<sub The present results suggest that microglia-derived IL-1&#x3b2; might suppress axon development through activation of p38-MAPK signaling pathway that would contribute to formation disorder of cortical synapses and node of Ranvier following LPS exposure.</AbstractText" ], [ "34924953", "With the Permission of Microtubules: An Updated Overview on Microtubule Function During Axon Pathfinding.", "During the establishment of neural circuitry axons often need to cover long distances to reach remote targets. The stereotyped navigation of these axons defines the connectivity between brain regions and cellular subtypes. This chemotrophic guidance process mostly relies on the spatio-temporal expression patterns of extracellular proteins and the selective expression of their receptors in projection neurons. Axon guidance is stimulated by guidance proteins and implemented by neuronal traction forces at the growth cones, which engage local cytoskeleton regulators and cell adhesion proteins. Different layers of guidance signaling regulation, such as the cleavage and processing of receptors, the expression of co-receptors and a wide variety of intracellular cascades downstream of receptors activation, have been progressively unveiled. Also, in the last decades, the regulation of microtubule (MT) assembly, stability and interactions with the submembranous actin network in the growth cone have emerged as crucial effector mechanisms in axon pathfinding. In this review, we will delve into the intracellular signaling cascades downstream of guidance receptors that converge on the MT cytoskeleton of the growing axon. In particular, we will focus on the microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) network responsible of MT dynamics in the axon and growth cone. Complementarily, we will discuss new evidences that connect defects in MT scaffold proteins, MAPs or MT-based motors and axon misrouting during brain development.</AbstractText" ], [ "25555396", "Dynamic response of RNA editing to temperature in Drosophila.", "Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing is a highly conserved process that post-transcriptionally modifies mRNA, generating proteomic diversity, particularly within the nervous system of metazoans. Transcripts encoding proteins involved in neurotransmission predominate as targets of such modifications. Previous reports suggest that RNA editing is responsive to environmental inputs in the form of temperature alterations. However, the molecular determinants underlying temperature-dependent RNA editing responses are not well understood.</AbstractText Using the poikilotherm Drosophila, we show that acute temperature alterations within a normal physiological range result in substantial changes in RNA editing levels. Our examination of particular sites reveals diversity in the patterns with which editing responds to temperature, and these patterns are conserved across five species of Drosophilidae representing over 10 million years of divergence. In addition, we show that expression of the editing enzyme, ADAR (adenosine deaminase acting on RNA), is dramatically decreased at elevated temperatures, partially, but not fully, explaining some target responses to temperature. Interestingly, this reduction in editing enzyme levels at elevated temperature is only partially reversed by a return to lower temperatures. Lastly, we show that engineered structural variants of the most temperature-sensitive editing site, in a sodium channel transcript, perturb thermal responsiveness in RNA editing profile for a particular RNA structure.</AbstractText Our results suggest that the RNA editing process responds to temperature alterations via two distinct molecular mechanisms: through intrinsic thermo-sensitivity of the RNA structures that direct editing, and due to temperature sensitive expression or stability of the RNA editing enzyme. Environmental cues, in this case temperature, rapidly reprogram the Drosophila transcriptome through RNA editing, presumably resulting in altered proteomic ratios of edited and unedited proteins.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37645962", "Situating the parietal memory network in the context of multiple parallel distributed networks using high-resolution functional connectivity.", "A principle of brain organization is that networks serving higher cognitive functions are widely distributed across the brain. One exception has been the parietal memory network (PMN), which plays a role in recognition memory but is often defined as being restricted to posteromedial association cortex. We hypothesized that high-resolution estimates of the PMN would reveal small regions that had been missed by prior approaches. High-field 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from extensively sampled participants was used to define the PMN within individuals. The PMN consistently extended beyond the core posteromedial set to include regions in the inferior parietal lobule; rostral, dorsal, medial, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex; the anterior insula; and ramus marginalis of the cingulate sulcus. The results suggest that, when fine-scale anatomy is considered, the PMN matches the expected distributed architecture of other association networks, reinforcing that parallel distributed networks are an organizing principle of association cortex.</AbstractText" ], [ "38132087", "BrainPy, a flexible, integrative, efficient, and extensible framework for general-purpose brain dynamics programming.", "Elucidating the intricate neural mechanisms underlying brain functions requires integrative brain dynamics modeling. To facilitate this process, it is crucial to develop a general-purpose programming framework that allows users to freely define neural models across multiple scales, efficiently simulate, train, and analyze model dynamics, and conveniently incorporate new modeling approaches. In response to this need, we present BrainPy. BrainPy leverages the advanced just-in-time (JIT) compilation capabilities of JAX and XLA to provide a powerful infrastructure tailored for brain dynamics programming. It offers an integrated platform for building, simulating, training, and analyzing brain dynamics models. Models defined in BrainPy can be JIT compiled into binary instructions for various devices, including Central Processing Unit, Graphics Processing Unit, and Tensor Processing Unit, which ensures high-running performance comparable to native C or CUDA. Additionally, BrainPy features an extensible architecture that allows for easy expansion of new infrastructure, utilities, and machine-learning approaches. This flexibility enables researchers to incorporate cutting-edge techniques and adapt the framework to their specific needs.</AbstractText" ], [ "36088909", "Meta-Analysis of the Use of Head Impulse Test and Head Impulse Test with Direction Changing Nystagmus and Test of Skew Deviation in the Diagnosis of Peripheral Vertigo and Stroke.", "The head impulse test (HIT) and HIT combined with direction-changing Nystagmus-Test of Skew deviation (HINTS) have been proposed as bedside tests to differentiate between peripheral and central causes of vertigo in the emergency department (ED). We conducted a meta-analysis of the HIT and HINTS tests to diagnose peripheral vertigo (PV) and central vertigo.</AbstractText Pubmed, Google Scholar, EmBase, and articles references published in English up to July 2021 were searched for keywords \"vertigo\" or \"acute vestibular syndrome\" or \"dizziness\" and \"head impulse\" and \"stroke.\" The bivariate method for meta-analysis was used to calculate positive (PLR) and negative likelihood ratios (NLR) and summary receiver operating characteristics area under the curve (AUC).</AbstractText A total of 11 studies were included analysing both HIT (8 studies, N = 417) and HINTS (6 studies, N = 405). HIT and HINTS were performed within 24 h in 4 of 11 studies. PLR and NLR for HIT in PV was 4.85 (95% CI: 2.83-8.08) and 0.19 (95% CI: 0.12-0.29, I2 63.25%), respectively. The AUC for HIT the diagnosis of PV and stroke was 0.90 and 0.92, respectively. PLR and NLR for a negative HIT in stroke was 5.85 (95% CI: 3.07-10.6) and 0.17 (95% CI: 0.08-0.30), respectively. PLR and NLR for peripheral HINTS pattern for PV was 17.3 (95% CI: 8.38-32.1) and 0.15 (95% CI: 0.07-0.26), respectively. PLR and NLR for central HINTS pattern for stroke: 5.61 (95% CI: 4.19-7.7) and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03-0.12). In all included studies, HIT and HINTS exams were administered by neurology residents or neurology specialists with additional neuro-otology or neuro-ophthalmology subspeciality experience, and two studies included ED physicians. Raters reported high degree of bias and high concern regarding applicability in most domains of the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2) tool. Meta-regression did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect of publication year, time to test, and type of assessor on sensitivity or false positive rate.</AbstractText The HIT and HINTS exams appear to be moderately good discriminators of central and PV. However, in most papers, the tests were administered by neurologists and were evaluated beyond 24 h, which may limit utility in the ED setting.</AbstractText" ], [ "37121437", "An individual patient data meta-analysis to determine cut-offs for and confounders of NAFLD-fibrosis staging with magnetic resonance elastography.", "We conducted an individual patient data meta-analysis to establish stiffness cut-off values for magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) in staging liver fibrosis and to assess potential confounding factors.</AbstractText A systematic review of the literature identified studies reporting MRE data in patients with NAFLD. Data were obtained from the corresponding authors. The pooled diagnostic cut-off value for the various fibrosis stages was determined in a two-stage meta-analysis. Multilevel modelling methods were used to analyse potential confounding factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy of MRE in staging liver fibrosis.</AbstractText Eight independent cohorts comprising 798 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for MRE in detecting significant fibrosis was 0.92 (sensitivity, 79%; specificity, 89%). For advanced fibrosis, the AUROC was 0.92 (sensitivity, 87%; specificity, 88%). For cirrhosis, the AUROC was 0.94 (sensitivity, 88%, specificity, 89%). Cut-offs were defined to explore concordance between MRE and histopathology: &#x2265;F2, 3.14&#xa0;kPa (pretest probability, 39.4%); &#x2265;F3, 3.53&#xa0;kPa (pretest probability, 24.1%); and F4, 4.45&#xa0;kPa (pretest probability, 8.7%). In generalized linear mixed model analysis, histological steatohepatitis with higher inflammatory activity (odds ratio 2.448, 95% CI 1.180-5.079, p&#xa0;&lt;0.05) and high gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) concentration (&gt;120U/L) (odds ratio 3.388, 95% CI 1.577-7.278, p &lt;0.01] were significantly associated with elevated liver stiffness, and thus affecting accuracy in staging early fibrosis (F0-F1). Steatosis, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction, and body mass index(BMI) were not confounders.</AbstractText MRE has excellent diagnostic performance for significant, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with NAFLD. Elevated inflammatory activity and GGT level may lead to overestimation of early liver fibrosis, but anthropometric measures such as BMI or the degree of steatosis do not.</AbstractText This individual patient data meta-analysis of eight international cohorts, including 798 patients, demonstrated that MRE achieves excellent diagnostic accuracy for significant, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with NAFLD. Cut-off values (significant fibrosis, 3.14&#xa0;kPa; advanced fibrosis, 3.53&#xa0;kPa; and cirrhosis, 4.45&#xa0;kPa) were established. Elevated inflammatory activity and gamma-glutamyltransferase level may affect the diagnostic accuracy of MRE, leading to overestimation of liver fibrosis in early stages. We observed no impact of diabetes, obesity, or any other metabolic disorder on the diagnostic accuracy of MRE.</AbstractText" ], [ "37442612", "Understanding the impacts of childhood adversity on sleep problems in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A comparison of cumulative and dimensional approaches.", "The developmental impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and postnatal exposure to adversity are typically considered in isolation. However, both contribute independently to sleep problems. Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have PAE and significant sleep disturbances. What is not clear is the relative contribution to these disturbances of exposure to early life adversity. This study examined how exposure to such adversity impacts frequent insomnia symptoms and nightmares in children with FASD and \"At Risk\" designations.</AbstractText We compared two approaches to modeling adversity in children who had undergone a diagnostic assessment for FASD: a cumulative risk approach that sums adversities to create a total score and an approach that treats exposure to threat and deprivation as independent dimensions. Data on caregiver-reported exposure to adversity and sleep problems for 63 children (aged 3&#x2009;years 4&#x2009;months to 7&#x2009;years 8&#x2009;months) were extracted from clinical archives. Cumulative risk, threat exposure, and deprivation exposure scores were computed and were tested as predictors of insomnia symptoms and nightmares. All analyses controlled for age and gender.</AbstractText There were high rates of caregiver-reported sleep problems with 60.3% (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;38) of children having nightmares and 44.4% (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;28) having a frequent insomnia symptom. The cumulative risk analysis showed that for every additional exposure to adversity, the odds of having a caregiver-reported insomnia symptom increased by 38%. The dimensional analysis showed no relationship between deprivation and sleep problems. However, every additional exposure to threat increased the odds of nightmares by 93%.</AbstractText Exposure to postnatal adversity contributes to sleep disturbances in children with FASD, with unique roles for cumulative risk and the threat dimension of adversity. The implications of these findings for the etiology and treatment of sleep disturbances in children with FASD are discussed.</AbstractText" ] ]
39485801
Cellular-resolution optogenetics reveals attenuation-by-suppression in visual cortical neurons.
The relationship between neurons' input and spiking output is central to brain computation. Studies in vitro and in anesthetized animals suggest that nonlinearities emerge in cells' input-output (IO; activation) functions as network activity increases, yet how neurons transform inputs in vivo has been unclear. Here, we characterize cortical principal neurons' activation functions in awake mice using two-photon optogenetics. We deliver fixed inputs at the soma while neurons' activity varies with sensory stimuli. We find that responses to fixed optogenetic input are nearly unchanged as neurons are excited, reflecting a linear response regime above neurons' resting point. In contrast, responses are dramatically attenuated by suppression. This attenuation is a powerful means to filter inputs arriving to suppressed cells, privileging other inputs arriving to excited neurons. These results have two major implications. First, somatic neural activation functions in vivo accord with the activation functions used in recent machine learning systems. Second, neurons' IO functions can filter sensory inputs-not only do sensory stimuli change neurons' spiking outputs, but these changes also affect responses to input, attenuating responses to some inputs while leaving others unchanged.</AbstractText
[ [ "39021809", "Bone marrow-derived myeloid cells transiently colonize the brain during postnatal development and interact with glutamatergic synapses.", "Although the roles of embryonic yolk sac-derived, resident microglia in neurodevelopment were extensively studied, the possible involvement of bone marrow-derived cells remains elusive. In this work, we used a fate-mapping strategy to selectively label bone marrow-derived cells and their progeny in the brain (FLT3<sup" ], [ "39548330", "FMRP regulates MFF translation to locally direct mitochondrial fission in neurons.", "Fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein (FMRP) is a critical regulator of translation, whose dysfunction causes fragile X syndrome. FMRP dysfunction disrupts mitochondrial health in neurons, but it is unclear how FMRP supports mitochondrial homoeostasis. Here we demonstrate that FMRP granules are recruited to the mitochondrial midzone, where they mark mitochondrial fission sites in axons and dendrites. Endolysosomal vesicles contribute to FMRP granule positioning around mitochondria and facilitate FMRP-associated fission via Rab7 GTP hydrolysis. Cryo-electron tomography and real-time translation imaging reveal that mitochondria-associated FMRP granules are ribosome-rich structures that serve as sites of local protein synthesis. Specifically, FMRP promotes local translation of mitochondrial fission factor (MFF), selectively enabling replicative fission at the mitochondrial midzone. Disrupting FMRP function dysregulates mitochondria-associated MFF translation and perturbs fission dynamics, resulting in increased peripheral fission and an irregular distribution of mitochondrial nucleoids. Thus, FMRP regulates local translation of MFF in neurons, enabling precise control of mitochondrial fission.</AbstractText" ], [ "31904898", "Cortical lesions causing loss of consciousness are anticorrelated with the dorsal brainstem.", "Brain lesions can provide unique insight into the neuroanatomical substrate of human consciousness. For example, brainstem lesions causing coma map to a specific region of the tegmentum. Whether specific lesion locations outside the brainstem are associated with loss of consciousness (LOC) remains unclear. Here, we investigate the topography of cortical lesions causing prolonged LOC (N =&#x2009;16), transient LOC (N =&#x2009;91), or no LOC (N =&#x2009;64). Using standard voxel lesion symptom mapping, no focus of brain damage was associated with LOC. Next, we computed the network of brain regions functionally connected to each lesion location using a large normative connectome dataset (N =&#x2009;1,000). This technique, termed lesion network mapping, can test whether lesions causing LOC map to a connected brain circuit rather than one brain region. Connectivity between cortical lesion locations and an a priori coma-specific region of brainstem tegmentum was an independent predictor of LOC (B =&#x2009;1.2, p =&#x2009;.004). Connectivity to the dorsal brainstem was the only predictor of LOC in a whole-brain voxel-wise analysis. This relationship was driven by anticorrelation (negative correlation) between lesion locations and the dorsal brainstem. The map of regions anticorrelated to the dorsal brainstem thus defines a distributed brain circuit that, when damaged, is most likely to cause LOC. This circuit showed a slight posterior predominance and had peaks in the bilateral claustrum. Our results suggest that cortical lesions causing LOC map to a connected brain circuit, linking cortical lesions that disrupt consciousness to brainstem sites that maintain arousal.</AbstractText" ], [ "37170708", "Sexually differentiated microglia and CA1 hippocampal synaptic connectivity.", "Microglia have been shown to sculpt postnatal circuitry from birth up to adulthood due to their role in both synapse formation, synaptic pruning, and the elimination of weak, redundant synapses. Microglia are differentiated in a sex-dependent manner. In this study, we tested whether sexual differentiation of microglia results in sex-dependent postnatal reorganization of CA1 synaptic connectivity in the hippocampus. The stereological counting of synapses in mice using electron microscopy showed a continuous rise in synapse density until the fourth week, followed by a plateau phase and loss of synapses from the eighth week onwards, with no difference between sexes. This course of alteration in synapse numbers did not differ between sexes. However, selectively, on postnatal day (P) 14 the density of synapses was significantly higher in the female than in the male hippocampus. Higher synapse density in females was paralleled by higher activity of microglia, as indicated by morphological changes, CD68 expression, and proximity of microglia to synaptic sites. In Thy1-GFP mice, consistent with increased synapse numbers, bouton density was also clearly increased in females at P14. At this time point, CD47 expression, the \"don't eat me\" signal of neurons, was similar in males and females. The decrease in bouton density thereafter in conjunction with increased synapse numbers argues for a role of microglia in the formation of multispine boutons (MSB). Our data in females at P14 support the regulatory role of microglia in synapse density. Sexual differentiation of microglia, however, does not substantially affect long-term synaptic reorganization in the hippocampus.</AbstractText" ], [ "37290118", "Synaptic memory and CaMKII.", "Ca<sup" ] ]
[ [ "37799101", "Effectiveness of visual biofeedback-guided respiratory-correlated 4D-MRI for radiotherapy guidance on the MR-linac.", "Respiratory-correlated 4D-MRI may provide motion characteristics for radiotherapy but is susceptible to irregular breathing. This study investigated the effectiveness of visual biofeedback (VBF) guidance for breathing regularization during 4D-MRI acquisitions on an MR-linac.</AbstractText A simultaneous multislice-accelerated 4D-MRI sequence was interleaved with a one-dimensional respiratory navigator (1D-RNAV) in 10 healthy volunteers on a 1.5T Unity MR-linac (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden). Volunteer-specific breathing amplitudes and periods were derived from the 1D-RNAV signal obtained during unguided 4D-MRI acquisitions. These were used for the guidance waveform, while the 1D-RNAV positions were overlayed as VBF. VBF effectiveness was quantified by calculating the change in coefficient of variation ( <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" VBF had an average latency of 520&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;2&#x2009;ms. VBF reduced median breathing variations by 18% to 35% (amplitude) and 29% to 57% (period). Median position SD reductions ranged from -3% to 35% (end-exhale), 29% to 38% (end-inhale), and 25% to 37% (midposition). Average differences between guidance waveforms and 1D-RNAV signals were 0.0&#x2009;s (period) and +1.7&#x2009;mm (amplitude). VBF also decreased the median amount of missing data by 11% and 29%.</AbstractText A VBF system was successfully implemented, and all volunteers were able to adapt to the guidance waveform. VBF during 4D-MRI acquisitions drastically reduced breathing variability but had limited effect on missing data in respiratory-correlated 4D-MRI.</AbstractText" ], [ "38182331", "Smooth deconvolution of low-field NMR signals.", "Low resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (LR-NMR) is a common technique to identify the constituents of complex materials (such as food and biological samples). The output of LR-NMR experiments is a relaxation signal which can be modelled as a type of convolution of an unknown density of relaxation times with decaying exponential functions, plus random Gaussian noise. The challenge is to estimate that density, a severely ill-posed problem. A complication is that non-negativity constraints need to be imposed in order to obtain valid results.</AbstractText We present a smooth deconvolution model for solution of the inverse estimation problem in LR-NMR relaxometry experiments. We model the logarithm of the relaxation time density as a smooth function using (adaptive) P-splines while matching the expected residual magnetisations with the observed ones. The roughness penalty removes the singularity of the deconvolution problem, and the estimated density is positive by design (since we model its logarithm). The model is non-linear, but it can be linearized easily. The penalty has to be tuned for each given sample. We describe an efficient EM-type algorithm to optimize the smoothing parameter(s).</AbstractText We analyze a set of food samples (potato tubers). The relaxation spectra extracted using our method are similar to the ones described in the previous experiments but present sharper peaks. Using penalized signal regression we are able to accurately predict dry matter content of the samples using the estimated spectra as covariates.</AbstractText" ], [ "39394151", "Torsades de Pointes electrical storm in children with KCNH2 mutations.", "Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a genetic heart disorder, which may lead to life-threatening arrhythmias, especially in children. Here, we reported two children who were initially misdiagnosed with epilepsy and experienced Torsades de Pointes (TdP) cardiac electrical storm (ES). Through whole exome sequencing (WES), we identified two Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily H member 2 (KCHN2) mutations (c.1841&#xa0;C&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;T and c.1838&#xa0;C&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;T) respectively in a 6-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Clinical data indicated that the QT interval was significantly prolonged, the T-wave pattern of chest V5-V6 leads and limb leads were inverted. Our study suggests that patients with epilepsy, especially those refractory epilepsy with atypical features, need comprehensive evaluation of cardiovascular function. KCNH2 mutation in pore region, QT interval prolongation and T wave inversion are high risk factors for ES. For LQT2 patients with ES, Nadolol and left cardiac sympathetic denervation are indicated, sometimes with an ICD.</AbstractText" ], [ "39214342", "Spatial attention in three-dimensional space: A meta-analysis for the near advantage in target detection and localization.", "Studies have explored how human spatial attention appears allocated in three-dimensional (3D) space. It has been demonstrated that target distance from the viewer can modulate performance in target detection and localization tasks: reaction times are shorter when targets appear nearer to the observer compared to farther distances (i.e., near advantage). Times have reached to quantitatively analyze this literature. In the current meta-analysis, 29 studies (n = 1260 participants) examined target detection and localization across 3-D space. Moderator analyses included: detection vs localization tasks, spatial cueing vs uncued tasks, control of retinal size across depth, central vs peripheral targets, real-space vs stereoscopic vs monocular depth environments, and inclusion of in-trial motion. The analyses revealed a near advantage for spatial attention that was affected by the moderating variables of controlling for retinal size across depth, the use of spatial cueing tasks, and the inclusion of in-trial motion. Overall, these results provide an up-to-date quantification of the effect of depth and provide insight into methodological differences in evaluating spatial attention.</AbstractText" ], [ "38499008", "Errorless Training Benefits Motor Learning and Kinematic Outcomes in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.", "Most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have some form of motor deficits. Additionally, based on executive dysfunction, working memory is often atypical in these children. Errorless learning reduces demands on working memory. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of errorless training on these children's ability to learn golf putting. Participants (<i" ] ]
35789557
Biophysics of Evolution of Intellectual Systems.
The first work on noogenesis as evolution of intellect was published 150 years ago. However, it was not until the 21st century that quantitation became possible for certain parameters that contribute to the understanding of the evolution of intellectual systems in natural sciences, the progress being due to basic achievements in physics, biology, medicine, and interdisciplinary fields. Analyses of the parameters of intellectual systems, patterns of their emergence and evolution, distinctive features, and the constants and limits of their structures and functions made it possible to measure and compare the capacity of communications (~100 to 300 million m/s), to quantify the number of components in intellectual systems (10-100 billion components), and to calculate the number of successful links responsible for cooperation (from 150 to 1 trillion links). Prognostic models can be developed by studying the phenomenon of the origin and evolution of the brain as a population of neurons within the biological evolution of <i
[ [ "23711484", "Frontoparietal mechanisms supporting attention to location and intensity of painful stimuli.", "Attention can profoundly shape the experience of pain. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that support directed attention to nociceptive information. In the present study, subjects were cued to attend to either the spatial location or the intensity of sequentially presented pairs of painful heat stimuli during a delayed match-to-sample discrimination task. We hypothesized that attention-related brain activation would be initiated after the presentation of the attentional cue and would be sustained through the discrimination task. Conjunction analysis confirmed that bilateral portions of the posterior parietal cortex (intraparietal sulcus [IPS] and superior parietal lobule) exhibited this sustained activity during attention to spatial but not intensity features of pain. Analyses contrasting activation during spatial and intensity attention tasks revealed that the right IPS region of the posterior parietal cortex was consistently more activated across multiple phases of the spatial task. However, attention to either feature of the noxious stimulus was associated with activation of frontoparietal areas (IPS and frontal eye fields) as well as priming of the primary somatosensory cortex. Taken together, these results delineate the neural substrates that support selective amplification of different features of noxious stimuli for utilization in discriminative processes.</AbstractText" ], [ "27995066", "Functional resting-state fMRI connectivity correlates with serum levels of the S100B protein in the acute phase of traumatic brain injury.", "The S100B protein is an intra-cellular calcium-binding protein that mainly resides in astrocytes in the central nervous system. The serum level of S100B is used as biomarker for the severity of brain damage in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. In this study we investigated the relationship between intrinsic resting-state brain connectivity, measured 1-22&#xa0;days (mean 8&#xa0;days) after trauma, and serum levels of S100B in a patient cohort with mild-to-severe TBI in need of neuro-intensive care in the acute phase. In line with previous investigations, our results show that the peak level of S100B acquired during the acute phase of TBI was negatively correlated with behavioral measures (Glasgow Outcome Score, GOS) of functional outcome assessed 6 to 12&#xa0;months post injury. Using a multi-variate pattern analysis-informed seed-based correlation analysis, we show that the strength of resting-state brain connectivity in multiple resting-state networks was negatively correlated with the peak of serum levels of S100B. A negative correspondence between S100B peak levels recorded 12-36&#xa0;h after trauma and intrinsic connectivity was found for brain regions located in the default mode, fronto-parietal, visual and motor resting-state networks. Our results suggest that resting-state brain connectivity measures acquired during the acute phase of TBI is concordant with results obtained from molecular biomarkers and that it may hold a capacity to predict long-term cognitive outcome in TBI patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "33534614", "A Common Space Approach to Comparative Neuroscience.", "Comparative neuroscience is entering the era of big data. New high-throughput methods and data-sharing initiatives have resulted in the availability of large, digital data sets containing many types of data from ever more species. Here, we present a framework for exploiting the new possibilities offered. The multimodality of the data allows vertical translations, which are comparisons of different aspects of brain organization within a single species and across scales. Horizontal translations compare particular aspects of brain organization across species, often by building abstract feature spaces. Combining vertical and horizontal translations allows for more sophisticated comparisons, including relating principles of brain organization across species by contrasting horizontal translations, and for making formal predictions of unobtainable data based on observed results in a model species.</AbstractText" ], [ "31704292", "Nature abhors a paywall: How open science can realize the potential of naturalistic stimuli.", "Naturalistic stimuli show significant potential to inform behavioral, cognitive, and clinical neuroscience. To date, this impact is still limited by the relative inaccessibility of both generated neuroimaging data as well as the supporting naturalistic stimuli. In this perspective, we highlight currently available naturalistic datasets and technical solutions such as DataLad that continue to advance our ability to share this data. We also review scientific and sociological challenges in selecting naturalistic stimuli for reproducible research. Overall, we encourage researchers to share their naturalistic datasets to the full extent possible under local copyright law.</AbstractText" ], [ "27747821", "Name-calling in the hippocampus (and beyond): coming to terms with neuron types and properties.", "Widely spread naming inconsistencies in neuroscience pose a vexing obstacle to effective communication within and across areas of expertise. This problem is particularly acute when identifying neuron types and their properties. Hippocampome.org is a web-accessible neuroinformatics resource that organizes existing data about essential properties of all known neuron types in the rodent hippocampal formation. Hippocampome.org links evidence supporting the assignment of a property to a type with direct pointers to quotes and figures. Mining this knowledge from peer-reviewed reports reveals the troubling extent of terminological ambiguity and undefined terms. Examples span simple cases of using multiple synonyms and acronyms for the same molecular biomarkers (or other property) to more complex cases of neuronal naming. New publications often use different terms without mapping them to previous terms. As a result, neurons of the same type are assigned disparate names, while neurons of different types are bestowed the same name. Furthermore, non-unique properties are frequently used as names, and several neuron types are not named at all. In order to alleviate this nomenclature confusion regarding hippocampal neuron types and properties, we introduce a new functionality of Hippocampome.org: a fully searchable, curated catalog of human and machine-readable definitions, each linked to the corresponding neuron and property terms. Furthermore, we extend our robust approach to providing each neuron type with an informative name and unique identifier by mapping all encountered synonyms and homonyms.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "35741619", "Neuroscience Knowledge and Endorsement of Neuromyths among Educators: What Is the Scenario in Brazil?", "The field of neuroscience has seen significant growth and interest in recent decades. While neuroscience knowledge can benefit laypeople as well as professionals in many different areas, it may be particularly relevant for educators. With the right information, educators can apply neuroscience-based teaching strategies as well as protect themselves and their students against pseudoscientific ideas and products based on them. Despite rapidly growing sources of available information and courses, studies show that educators in many countries have poor knowledge of brain science and tend to endorse education-related neuromyths. Poor English skills and fewer resources (personal, institutional and governmental) may be additional limitations in Latin America. In order to better understand the scenario in Latin America's largest country, we created an anonymous online survey which was answered by 1634 individuals working in education from all five regions of Brazil. Respondents stated whether they agreed with each statement and reported their level of confidence for each answer. Significant differences in performance were observed across regions, between educators living in capital cities versus the outskirts, between those teaching in private versus public schools, and among educators teaching different levels (pre-school up to college/university). We also observed high endorsement of some key neuromyths, even among groups who performed better overall. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a detailed analysis of the profile of a large group of educators in Brazil. We discuss our findings in terms of efforts to better understand regional and global limitations and develop methods of addressing these most efficiently.</AbstractText" ], [ "35220106", "The importance of basal-temporal white matter to pre- and post-surgical naming ability in temporal lobe epilepsy.", "Emerging research highlights the importance of basal-temporal cortex, centered on the fusiform gyrus, to both pre-surgical naming ability and post-surgical naming outcomes in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In this study, we investigate whether integrity of the white matter network that interconnects this basal region to the distributed language network affects naming ability and risk for post-surgical naming decline.</AbstractText Patients with drug-resistant TLE were recruited from two epilepsy centers in a prospective longitudinal study. The pre-surgical dataset included 50 healthy controls, 47 left TLE (L-TLE), and 41 right TLE (R-TLE) patients. All participants completed pre-surgical T1- and diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI), as well as neuropsychological tests of auditory and visual naming. Nineteen L-TLE and 18 R-TLE patients underwent anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and also completed post-surgical neuropsychological testing. Pre-surgical fractional anisotropy (FA) of the white matter directly beneath the fusiform neocortex (i.e., superficial white matter; SWM) and of deep white matter tracts with connections to the basal-temporal cortex [inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and inferior frontal occipital fasciculus (IFOF)] was calculated. Clinical variables, hippocampal volume, and FA of each white matter tract or region were examined in linear regressions with naming scores, or change in naming scores, as the primary outcomes.</AbstractText Pre-surgically, higher FA in the bilateral ILF, bilateral IFOF, and left fusiform SWM was associated with better visual and auditory naming scores (all ps&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05 with FDR correction). In L-TLE, higher pre-surgical FA was also associated with less naming decline post-surgically, but results varied across tracts. When including only patients with typical language dominance, only integrity of the right fusiform SWM was associated with less visual naming decline (p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.0018).</AbstractText Although a broad network of white matter network matter may contribute to naming ability pre-surgically, the reserve capacity of the contralateral (right) fusiform SWM may be important for mitigating visual naming decline following ATL in L-TLE. This shows that the study of the structural network interconnecting the basal-temporal region to the wider language network has implications for understanding both pre- and post-surgical naming in TLE.</AbstractText" ], [ "35154497", "Dysfunction of striatal MeCP2 is associated with cognitive decline in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.", "<b" ], [ "33370146", "Testing theoretical assumptions underlying the relation between anxiety, mind wandering, and task-switching: A diffusion model analysis.", "Despite the well-documented negative effects of anxiety on task-switching (switch costs), few studies have directly tested major theoretical assumptions about (a) the specific processing component of task-switching that is impaired by anxiety, (b) anxious individuals' strategies during task-switching, and (c) the mediating role of mind wandering in the relation between anxiety and task-switching. We addressed these issues using a stochastic diffusion model analysis and novel thought-probe technique in the task-switching paradigm. Our results suggest that the locus of impaired switch costs under state anxiety lies in the efficiency of task-set reconfiguration and not in proactive interference processing. Moreover, state anxiety was associated with impaired mixing costs, which are another crucial index of task-switching. We found only partial evidence for anxious individuals' proneness to compensatory strategies during task-switching. However, no evidence was found for a mediating role of task-unrelated thoughts and a moderating role of working memory in the relation between anxiety and task-switching. Our findings elucidate theoretical assumptions underlying anxiety and cognitive functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).</AbstractText" ], [ "35234996", "Three-dimensional static-fluid MR urography with gradient- and spin-echo (GRASE) at 3.0T: comparison of image quality and diagnostic performance with respiratory-triggered fast spin-echo (FSE).", "To compare the performance of 3D MRU based on a breath-hold gradient- and spin-echo (BH-GRASE) technique with conventional 3D respiratory-triggered FSE (RT-FSE) sequence in patients with urinary tract dilation.</AbstractText We prospectively included 90 patients with urinary tract dilation who underwent both 3D BH-GRASE and RT-FSE MRU at 3T. The acquisition time of two MRU sequences was recorded. Three readers blinded to the protocols reviewed the image quality using a five-point scale and assessed the diagnostic performance related to urinary tract dilation. The relative contrast ratio (CR) between the urinary tract and adjacent area was measured quantitatively.</AbstractText Acquisition time was 14.8&#xa0;s for BH-GRASE MRU and 213.6&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;52.2&#xa0;s for RT-FSE MRU. The qualitative image analysis demonstrated significant equivalence between the two MRU protocols. 3D BH-GRASE MRU better depicted bilateral renal calyces than RT-FSE MRU (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). The CR values of the urinary tract were lower on BH-GRASE MRU compared with RT-FSE MRU (p&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05). There were excellent agreements in the assessment of urinary tract dilation between BH-GRASE and RT-FSE MRU, including the dilated degree, obstructive level, and obstructive imaging features (inter-sequence &#x3ba;&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.924-1).</AbstractText 3D BH-GRASE MRU significantly decreased the acquisition time and achieved comparable image quality, urinary tract visualization, and diagnostic performance with conventional 3D RT-FSE MRU. Breath-hold 3D MRU with GRASE may provide a feasible evaluation of urinary tract dilation.</AbstractText" ] ]
40061929
Gradual strengthening of global oceanic surface winds: Correlations with sea surface temperature and implications for wind power extraction.
Understanding the long-term variabilities and trends of global oceanic surface wind speed is critical for extracting wind power. Therefore, 84 years (from 1940 to 2023) of global 10-m wind speed data derived from the fifth-generation ECMWF reanalysis, ERA5 (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5), were utilised to analyse the long-term trends in the global 10-m wind speed. The results revealed that the wind speeds at the oceanic surface are much greater than those at the terrestrial surface, causing marine areas to be more suitable for extracting wind power. The global average 10-m oceanic wind (OW) speed increased by 0.074&#xa0;% annually, while 0.065&#xa0;% and 0.082&#xa0;% were found for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere (SH), respectively. The region with the most critical trend of increasing 10-m OW speed is in the SH at S60&#xb0;, with an average annual increase of approximately 0.02&#xa0;ms<sup
[ [ "25553979", "Resting-state theta-band connectivity and verbal memory in schizophrenia and in the high-risk state.", "Disturbed functional connectivity is assumed to underlie neurocognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia. As neurocognitive deficits are already present in the high-risk state, identification of the neural networks involved in this core feature of schizophrenia is essential to our understanding of the disorder. Resting-state studies enable such investigations, while at the same time avoiding the known confounder of impaired task performance in patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate EEG resting-state connectivity in high-risk individuals (HR) compared to first episode patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and to healthy controls (HC), and its association with cognitive deficits.</AbstractText 64-channel resting-state EEG recordings (eyes closed) were obtained for 28 HR, 19 stable SZ, and 23 HC, matched for age, education, and parental education. The imaginary coherence-based multivariate interaction measure (MIM) was used as a measure of connectivity across 80 cortical regions and six frequency bands. Mean connectivity at each region was compared across groups using the non-parametric randomization approach. Additionally, the network-based statistic was applied to identify affected networks in patients.</AbstractText SZ displayed increased theta-band resting-state MIM connectivity across midline, sensorimotor, orbitofrontal regions and the left temporoparietal junction. HR displayed intermediate theta-band connectivity patterns that did not differ from either SZ or HC. Mean theta-band connectivity within the above network partially mediated verbal memory deficits in SZ and HR.</AbstractText Aberrant theta-band connectivity may represent a trait characteristic of schizophrenia associated with neurocognitive deficits. As such, it might constitute a promising target for novel treatment applications.</AbstractText" ], [ "24836921", "Bayesian approach to single-cell differential expression analysis.", "Single-cell data provide a means to dissect the composition of complex tissues and specialized cellular environments. However, the analysis of such measurements is complicated by high levels of technical noise and intrinsic biological variability. We describe a probabilistic model of expression-magnitude distortions typical of single-cell RNA-sequencing measurements, which enables detection of differential expression signatures and identification of subpopulations of cells in a way that is more tolerant of noise.</AbstractText" ], [ "38183959", "Temporal hyper-connectivity and frontal hypo-connectivity within gamma band in schizophrenia: A resting state EEG study.", "The brain network serves as the physiological foundation for information processing of the brain. Many studies have reported abnormalities of gamma oscillations in Schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the gamma-band connectivity in Schizophrenia patients.</AbstractText We recorded the resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) for 15 schizophrenia patients with refractory auditory hallucinations and 14 healthy controls, with eyes open and closed. The brain network was constructed based on weighted phase lag index for gamma band. Whole scalp metrics (clustering coefficient, global efficiency and local efficiency) and local region metrics (degree and betweenness centrality) in the frontal and temporal lobes were computed. Correlation analyses between network metrics and symptom scales were examined to find associations with symptom severity.</AbstractText Schizophrenia patients had larger global efficiency and local efficiency (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05) with eyes closed, probably representing greater brain activity and information exchange. For degree and betweenness centrality, schizophrenia patients showed an increase (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05) in the temporal lobe but a decrease (p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05) in the frontal lobe with eyes closed and open, potentially account for the patients' symptoms such as hallucinations and thought disorders. Local efficiency and frontal lobe degree were positively and negatively correlated with the scales, respectively (both p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;0.05).</AbstractText Altered connectivity of the resting state brain network has been revealed and may be associated with the core symptoms of schizophrenia. Our study provides promising evidence for the investigation of the pathological basis of Schizophrenia and could aid in objective diagnosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "26663825", "How Localized are Language Brain Areas? A Review of Brodmann Areas Involvement in Oral Language.", "The interest in understanding how language is \"localized\" in the brain has existed for centuries. Departing from seven meta-analytic studies of functional magnetic resonance imaging activity during the performance of different language activities, it is proposed here that there are two different language networks in the brain: first, a language reception/understanding system, including a \"core Wernicke's area\" involved in word recognition (BA21, BA22, BA41, and BA42), and a fringe or peripheral area (\"extended Wernicke's area:\" BA20, BA37, BA38, BA39, and BA40) involved in language associations (associating words with other information); second, a language production system (\"Broca's complex:\" BA44, BA45, and also BA46, BA47, partially BA6-mainly its mesial supplementary motor area-and extending toward the basal ganglia and the thalamus). This paper additionally proposes that the insula (BA13) plays a certain coordinating role in interconnecting these two brain language systems.</AbstractText" ], [ "27151103", "Plate tectonics drive tropical reef biodiversity dynamics.", "The Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana strongly modified the global distribution of shallow tropical seas reshaping the geographic configuration of marine basins. However, the links between tropical reef availability, plate tectonic processes and marine biodiversity distribution patterns are still unknown. Here, we show that a spatial diversification model constrained by absolute plate motions for the past 140 million years predicts the emergence and movement of diversity hotspots on tropical reefs. The spatial dynamics of tropical reefs explains marine fauna diversification in the Tethyan Ocean during the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic, and identifies an eastward movement of ancestral marine lineages towards the Indo-Australian Archipelago in the Miocene. A mechanistic model based only on habitat-driven diversification and dispersal yields realistic predictions of current biodiversity patterns for both corals and fishes. As in terrestrial systems, we demonstrate that plate tectonics played a major role in driving tropical marine shallow reef biodiversity dynamics.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39982629", "Levels of Talin1 in Platelet-Derived Microvesicles Affect Platelet Activation in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation.", "This study evaluated talin1 expression in platelets and platelet-derived microvesicles (PMVs) from nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. Meanwhile, this study analyzed the impacts of talin1 expression in PMVs on platelet activation. Twelve healthy controls and 38 NVAF patients were recruited in this study. The levels of talin1 and RAP1B activation were observed in the platelets and PMVs from the participants, and their levels were significantly increased in the NVAF patients compared to the healthy controls (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01). Talin1 silence in MEG-01 cells was obtained by transfecting talin1 siRNA, and the cells were stimulated by thrombin receptor-activating peptide 6 (TRAP-6) to induce platelet-dense granule secretion. TRAP-6 stimulation increased the talin1 expression and RAP1B activation in the platelet-like particles from MEG-01 cells, but talin1 silence suppressed the TRAP-6-stimulated RAP1B activation and CD62p expression in the platelet-like particle. Moreover, the platelets from healthy donors were activated by the PMVs from the TRAP-6-stimulated MEG-01 cells. However, the decreased talin1 level in the PMVs from MEG-01 cells weakened the platelet activation. This study suggested that talin1 expression in the PMVs affected platelet activation in patients with NVAF.</AbstractText" ], [ "40509941", "Resting-State Brain Activity Changes and Their Genetic Correlates in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.", "Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often leads to persistent cognitive and emotional symptoms, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. Although previous studies have reported alterations in resting-state brain activity in mTBI patients, the findings have been inconsistent, and the genetic basis of these changes has not been fully explored. A coordinate-based voxel-wise meta-analysis was conducted to investigate resting-state brain activity changes in mTBI, using nine datasets from 374 patients and 302 healthy controls (HCs). Transcription-neuroimaging association analyses were performed using gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA) to identify genes associated with brain activity alterations. Enrichment analyses were conducted to explore the biological functions of these genes. Compared to HCs, mTBI patients showed increased resting-state brain activity in the left insula and right fusiform gyrus, and decreased activity in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus. Transcription-neuroimaging association analyses identified 840 genes significantly correlated with these brain activity changes. Enrichment analyses revealed 15 biological processes significantly associated with the identified genes, primarily involving chemical synaptic transmission, multicellular organism development, and cell-cell signaling. These genes were also enriched in Pnoc+, Ntsr+, and Cort+ neurons and were expressed predominantly from the late fetal to early adulthood stages. Our findings suggest that alterations in resting-state brain activity in mTBI are linked to specific gene expression patterns, highlighting potential biological pathways involved in mTBI-related brain changes.</AbstractText" ], [ "40226848", "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mortality Rates From Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases in Taiwan: An Interventional Time Series Study.", "To examine whether the likelihood of death from non-communicable diseases nationwide was heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic.</AbstractText Data on mortality caused by seven leading non-communicable chronic diseases from 2011 to 2022 were extracted from Taiwan's Death Registry. Monthly standardized mortality rates were analyzed using an intervention time series model.</AbstractText The monthly mortality rate showed a significant upward trend during the pandemic in the rate of mortality due to heart diseases, diabetes, and hypertension diseases (p &lt; 0.001). The 2021 monthly rates of mortality caused by the three diseases showed a significant increase of 4.3%, 8.2%, and 13.4%, respectively, compared to the 2020 rates and continued until the end of the study period. No upward or downward post-intervention shift was observed for malignant tumors, renal disease, and liver diseases.</AbstractText Adverse individual behaviors and reduced health services might have raised severe concerns for patients with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Health promotion and medical resource allocation are crucial for patients with disadvantaged health and sociodemographic factors and related metabolic conditions during the pandemic.</AbstractText" ], [ "40631376", "The role of treatment expectations in predicting treatment outcomes: examining clinical and demographic influences.", "The primary aim of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between treatment expectancy and treatment compliance with patient demographic and treatment outcome of exposure-based CBT (EB-CBT), as reported by youth with OCD, their parents, and therapists. The secondary aim is to investigate the correlation of these factors with obsessive-compulsive symptoms before and after treatment.</AbstractText This study is a part of the NordLOTS, in which 269 children and adolescents, aged 7-17&#x2009;years, with a DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD, were treated with a 14-week EB-CBT program. Patients, parents, and therapists rated their expectancy of the treatment, and therapists rated patients' and parents' compliance with treatment. A Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) score &#x2264;15 was defined as treatment response. Linear mixed effects models were used to assess associations.</AbstractText Higher patient-rated treatment expectancy was significantly associated with lower pre-treatment CY-BOCS total score, as well as lower levels of parent-rated externalizing symptoms. Higher therapist-rated treatment expectancy was significantly associated with lower levels of parent-rated externalizing symptoms.</AbstractText Children and adolescents displaying higher treatment expectancies exhibit milder symptoms of OCD and externalizing symptoms, alongside experiencing more favorable outcomes from EB-CBT.</AbstractText This study was registered in Current Controlled Trials; Nordic Long-term Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) Treatment Study (www.controlled-trials.com ISRCTN66385119).</AbstractText Treatment expectations and compliance seem to influence the therapeutic process, emphasizing their crucial role.High treatment expectations and early commitment to therapy are associated with positive outcomes in pediatric OCD patients undergoing EB-CBT.Patient and therapist expectations are predictors of treatment success, while parental expectations show less correlation with treatment response.</AbstractText" ], [ "40749175", "A Preclinical Medical Student Program: Student Reactions to Interviewing Psychiatric Inpatients.", "This article describes a preclinical training program for medical students conducted in a state psychiatric hospital for more than 3 decades. Small groups of students and instructors interviewed patients about their experience with mental illness and participated in follow-up discussions. The students' post-training feedback demonstrates how empathy can evolve within the context of an emotionally powerful firsthand experience. This raises the question of whether direct contact with psychiatric inpatients with serious mental illness in the early years of medical school can reduce stigmatization and improve empathy. More research in this area is needed. <i" ] ]
38943292
Clinical Profile and Outcome of Pediatric Demyelinating Disorders in Calabar, Nigeria: A Case Series.
Demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) are rare disorders characterized by inflammation and the selective destruction of CNS myelin. The incidence of this disorder is increasing in developed countries. Nigerian studies on the pediatric population on the subject are very scarce.</AbstractText The aim of the study was to document the epidemiology, clinical profile, and impact of late presentation on the treatment outcome of demyelinating diseases of the CNS in pediatric patients.</AbstractText The retrospective review of patients aged 1-15 years admitted in a tertiary hospital from January 2018 to December 2022 with various symptoms suggestive of demyelinating CNS disorders. The diagnosis was clinically and radiologically confirmed. Information retrieved from the case notes included patients' demographics, clinical symptoms and signs, number of days with symptoms to presentation in the hospital, results of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), treatment, and treatment outcomes. Data were entered in Excel sheet and results were presented in tables and percentages.</AbstractText The incidence of demyelinating disorders over the period was 0.013% (10 out of 769 patients admitted over the period). Acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis (ADEM) was the most common disorder seen in the study population (60%, n = 6), followed by transverse myelitis and two (20%) had optic neuritis (ON). Most of the patients with ADEM were in the 1-5-year age group. The female-to-male ratio was 2.3:1. Paraplegia, visual impairment, and ataxia were the most common clinical presentations in the study population. One of the patients met the criteria for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis during follow-up. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified as the cause of demyelination in one case. Most of the patients improved with steroids.</AbstractText ADEM was the most common clinical phenotype seen in this study. Patients with ADEM and ON had a better prognosis than transverse myelitis. Late presentation was also identified as a poor prognostic factor. Follow-up of cases is very important to monitor disease progression to multiple sclerosis.</AbstractText
[ [ "33626435", "Seizures in systemic lupus erythematosus: A scoping review.", "Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, either by direct neuronal damage, injury to brain vessels, or by pathogenic mechanisms indirectly induced by immune mechanisms related to the production and deposition of immune complexes. The prevalence of explicit episodes of seizures among SLE patients, varies from 2 to 8%. In some cases, patients with positivity for antiphospholipid or anti-&#x3b2;2 glycoprotein antibodies are found to be more prone to exhibit seizures compared to seronegative patients, other subjects at risk are carries of gene abnormalities codifying for ion channels. The exclusion of vasculitis or thrombosis is required for accurate treatment, imaging studies and alternative sequences are mandatory in patients with known SLE who present with a seizure. Several statements regarding SLE-related seizure remain to be decoded. In this scoping review we analyzed published information about prevalence, pathogenesis, clinical characteristics, diagnostic and therapeutic SLE patients that manifest a seizure, our objective is to provide with useful information for prompt diagnosis and individualized treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "36357291", "Guillain-Barré syndrome temporally associated with COVID-19 vaccines in Victoria, Australia.", "Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (GBS) is an adverse event of special interest (AESI) for surveillance systems monitoring adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) with COVID-19 vaccines. Emerging data support a temporal association between GBS and adenovirus-vector COVID-19 vaccines. We present a case series of GBS reports submitted between February and November 2021 to our enhanced spontaneous surveillance system (SAEFVIC) in Victoria, Australia, following vaccination with either the adenovirus-vector vaccine Vaxzevria ChadOx1-S (AstraZeneca) or an mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty BNT162b2 [Pfizer-BioNTech] or Spikevax mRNA-1273 [Moderna]). For each report, Brighton Collaboration case definitions were used to describe diagnostic certainty. Severity was graded using the GBS Disability Score. The observed incidence of GBS following immunisation against COVID-19 was compared to expected background ICD10-AM G61.0 coded hospitalisations. There were 41 total cases of GBS reported to SAEFVIC following Vaxzevria (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;38), Comirnaty (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;3), or Spikevax (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;0) vaccines. The observed GBS incidence rate exceeded the expected background rate for Vaxzevria only, with 1.85 reports per 100,000 doses following dose 1, higher than the expected rate of 0.39 hospital admissions per 100,000 adults within 42&#xa0;days of vaccination. Of 38 GBS reports following Vaxzevria, the median age at vaccination was 66&#xa0;years and median onset of symptoms was 14&#xa0;days following immunisation. There was one death. Four cases initially categorised as GBS were later reclassified as acute-onset chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Fatigue was the predominant persisting symptom reported at follow up. Additional global studies are required to characterise risk factors, clinical variability, and to provide precision and generalizability regarding AEFI risks such as GBS associated with different vaccine platforms, which will help inform communication of the potential benefits and risks of COVID19 vaccination.</AbstractText" ], [ "36342679", "Changes in Distribution of Severe Neurologic Involvement in US Pediatric Inpatients With COVID-19 or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children in 2021 vs 2020.", "In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, neurologic involvement was common in children and adolescents hospitalized in the United States for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-related complications.</AbstractText To provide an update on the spectrum of SARS-CoV-2-related neurologic involvement among children and adolescents in 2021.</AbstractText Case series investigation of patients reported to public health surveillance hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related illness between December 15, 2020, and December 31, 2021, in 55 US hospitals in 31 states with follow-up at hospital discharge. A total of 2253 patients were enrolled during the investigation period. Patients suspected of having multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) who did not meet criteria (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;85) were excluded. Patients (&lt;21 years) with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and/or antibody) meeting criteria for MIS-C or acute COVID-19 were included in the analysis.</AbstractText SARS-CoV-2 infection.</AbstractText Patients with neurologic involvement had acute neurologic signs, symptoms, or diseases on presentation or during hospitalization. Life-threatening neurologic involvement was adjudicated by experts based on clinical and/or neuroradiological features. Type and severity of neurologic involvement, laboratory and imaging data, vaccination status, and hospital discharge outcomes (death or survival with new neurologic deficits).</AbstractText Of 2168 patients included (58% male; median age, 10.3 years), 1435 (66%) met criteria for MIS-C, and 476 (22%) had documented neurologic involvement. Patients with neurologic involvement vs without were older (median age, 12 vs 10 years) and more frequently had underlying neurologic disorders (107 of 476 [22%] vs 240 of 1692 [14%]). Among those with neurologic involvement, 42 (9%) developed acute SARS-CoV-2-related life-threatening conditions, including central nervous system infection/demyelination (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;23; 15 with possible/confirmed encephalitis, 6 meningitis, 1 transverse myelitis, 1 nonhemorrhagic leukoencephalopathy), stroke (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;11), severe encephalopathy (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;5), acute fulminant cerebral edema (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;2), and Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;1). Ten of 42 (24%) survived with new neurologic deficits at discharge and 8 (19%) died. Among patients with life-threatening neurologic conditions, 15 of 16 vaccine-eligible patients (94%) were unvaccinated.</AbstractText SARS-CoV-2-related neurologic involvement persisted in US children and adolescents hospitalized for COVID-19 or MIS-C in 2021 and was again mostly transient. Central nervous system infection/demyelination accounted for a higher proportion of life-threatening conditions, and most vaccine-eligible patients were unvaccinated. COVID-19 vaccination may prevent some SARS-CoV-2-related neurologic complications and merits further study.</AbstractText" ], [ "27108769", "Widespread cortical thinning in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.", "Studies on cortical involvement and its relationship with cognitive function in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) remain scarce. The objective of this study was to compare cortical thickness on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between patients with NMOSD and multiple sclerosis (MS) and to investigate its relationship with clinical features and cognitive function.</AbstractText This observational clinical imaging study of 91 patients with NMOSD, 52 patients with MS and 44 healthy controls was conducted from 1 December 2013 to 30 April 2015 at the institutional referral center. Three tesla MRI of the brain and neuropsychological tests were performed. Cortical thickness was measured using three-dimensional surface-based analysis.</AbstractText Both sets of patients exhibited cortical thinning throughout the entire brain cortex. Patients with MS showed a significantly greater reduction in cortical thickness over broad regions of the bilateral frontal and parieto-temporal cortices and the left precuneus compared to those with NMOSD. Memory functions in patients with MS were correlated with broad regional cortical thinning, whereas no significant associations were observed between cortical thickness and cognitive function in patients with NMOSD.</AbstractText Widespread cortical thinning was observed in patients with NMOSD and MS, but the extent of cortical thinning was greater in patients with MS. The more severe cortical atrophy may contribute to memory impairment in patients with MS but not in those with NMOSD. These results provide in vivo evidence that the severity and clinical relevance of cortical thinning differ between NMOSD and MS.</AbstractText" ], [ "36706773", "Diagnosis of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease: International MOGAD Panel proposed criteria.", "Serum antibodies directed against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are found in patients with acquired CNS demyelinating syndromes that are distinct from multiple sclerosis and aquaporin-4-seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. Based on an extensive literature review and a structured consensus process, we propose diagnostic criteria for MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) in which the presence of MOG-IgG is a core criterion. According to our proposed criteria, MOGAD is typically associated with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, optic neuritis, or transverse myelitis, and is less commonly associated with cerebral cortical encephalitis, brainstem presentations, or cerebellar presentations. MOGAD can present as either a monophasic or relapsing disease course, and MOG-IgG cell-based assays are important for diagnostic accuracy. Diagnoses such as multiple sclerosis need to be excluded, but not all patients with multiple sclerosis should undergo screening for MOG-IgG. These proposed diagnostic criteria require validation but have the potential to improve identification of individuals with MOGAD, which is essential to define long-term clinical outcomes, refine inclusion criteria for clinical trials, and identify predictors of a relapsing versus a monophasic disease course.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "38361966", "Sialidosis type 1 without cherry-red spots: a case report and literature review.", "Sialidosis is a rare disorder caused by mutations in the NEU1 gene located on chromosome 6p21.3, constituting a group of autosomal recessive diseases. Enzyme activity analysis, electron microscopy examination and genetic testing are reliable methods for diagnosis. Despite previous reports on the disease, its rarity means that its clinical manifestations and prognosis still warrant attention due to the limited amount of information available.</AbstractText We report a case of a 40-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital for worsening dysarthria of 16 years duration and facial and limb twitching that had been present for 2 years. Genetic testing was undertaken.</AbstractText Genetic testing confirmed type I sialidosis, the first reported instance of this disease in the Hainan Free Trade Port in China. The patient did not have the typical cherry-red spot in the fundus. Despite aggressive treatment, she died of status epilepticus 2&#x2009;months later. This result indicates that the disease has a poor prognosis.</AbstractText Cherry-red spots in the fundus are characteristic features of type I sialidosis and it has been referred to as the cherry-red spot myoclonus syndrome. We hypothesise that environmental factors may also play a significant role. Overemphasis on the presence of cherry-red spots may mislead clinicians and delay diagnosis. Furthermore, patients presenting with isolated myoclonus should undergo visual evoked potential and somatosensory evoked potential tests, as well as genetic testing to confirm or rule out sialidosis.</AbstractText" ], [ "38662706", "Observe, Practice, and Improve? Enhancing Sidestep Cutting Execution in Talented Female Soccer Players: A Four-Week Intervention Program With Video Instruction.", "Nijmeijer, EM, Kempe, M, Elferink-Gemser, MT, and Benjaminse A. Observe, practice and improve? Enhancing sidestep cutting (SSC) execution in talented female soccer players: A four-week intervention program with video instruction. J Strength Cond Res 38(8): e430-e439, 2024-Implicit learning has the potential to improve movement execution and reduce injury risk. Previous research showed beneficial effects of short-term interventions with implicit learning in male athletes. However, research on long-term interventions in female athletes is lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 4-week intervention with video instruction on movement execution of SSC, a task that is highly related with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk, in female athletes. Twenty talented adolescent female soccer players were part of the control (CTRL, n = 10) or video instruction (VIDEO, n = 10) group. All subjects practiced 4 weeks and received general task instructions. In addition, the VIDEO group received expert video instruction during practice. Lower extremity kinematics and kinetics and vertical ground reaction force of SSC were examined during baseline, immediate post, and 1-week retention tests. After nonlinear registration, differences between each subject and the expert she had seen were determined. These differences were analyzed with SPM1D 2-way ANOVA. No interaction effects between time and group were found ( p &gt; 0.05). Main effects of time were found in the frontal plane. In particular, smaller deviations of subjects compared with the seen expert of the knee adduction ( p = 0.005, 97.9-100% stance phase [SP]) and hip abduction ( p = 0.005, 11.5-13.8% SP) and adduction ( p &lt; 0.001, 33.4-87.7% SP) moments were found in immediate post compared with baseline. These frontal plane short-term improvements, replicating earlier findings in both sexes, may lower ACL injury risk. The large observed interindividual differences over time may have concealed the long-term effects of video instruction at the group level.</AbstractText" ], [ "38215342", "Automated Measures of Syntactic Complexity in Natural Speech Production: Older and Younger Adults as a Case Study.", "Multiple methods have been suggested for quantifying syntactic complexity in speech. We compared eight automated syntactic complexity metrics to determine which best captured verified syntactic differences between old and young adults.</AbstractText We used natural speech samples produced in a picture description task by younger (<i Our multidimensional metric was successful in predicting age group (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.87), and it performed better than the other metrics. High AUCs were also achieved by the Yngve score (0.84) and sentence length (0.84). However, in a fully automated pipeline with ASR, the performance of these two metrics dropped (to 0.73 and 0.46, respectively), while the performance of the multidimensional metric remained relatively high (0.81).</AbstractText Syntactic complexity in spontaneous speech can be quantified by directly assessing syntactic structures and considering them in a multivariable manner. It can be derived automatically, saving considerable time and effort compared to manually analyzing large-scale corpora, while maintaining high face validity and robustness.</AbstractText https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24964179.</AbstractText" ], [ "38689378", "Activation of M(4) muscarinic receptors in the striatum reduces tic-like behaviours in two distinct murine models of Tourette syndrome.", "Current pharmacotherapies for Tourette syndrome (TS) are often unsatisfactory and poorly tolerated, underscoring the need for novel treatments. Insufficient striatal acetylcholine has been suggested to contribute to tic ontogeny. Thus, we tested whether activating M<sub Studies were conducted using CIN-d and D1CT-7 mice, two TS models characterized by early-life depletion of striatal cholinergic interneurons and cortical neuropotentiation, respectively. First, we tested the effects of systemic and intrastriatal xanomeline, a selective M<sub Systemic and intrastriatal xanomeline reduced TS-related behaviours in CIN-d and D1CT-7 mice. Most effects were blocked by M<sub Activation of striatal M<sub" ], [ "39626628", "Behavioral neuroscience: Flexible integration on the fly.", "Integrating noisy stimuli over time is crucial to making appropriate decisions. New studies in Drosophila revealed that threat responses can be flexibly modulated during courtship and mating. Towards the end of mating, flies adaptively prolong their threat integration time window.</AbstractText" ] ]
38162165
Clinical and Genetic Aspects of Childhood-Onset Demyelinating Charcot-Marie-Tooth's Disease in Brazil.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease (CMT) represents the most common inherited neuropathy. Most patients are diagnosed during late stages of disease course during adulthood. We performed a review of clinical, neurophysiological, and genetic diagnoses of 32 patients with genetically defined childhood-onset demyelinating CMT under clinical follow-up in a Brazilian Center for Neuromuscular Diseases from January 2015 to December 2019. The current mean age was 33.1&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;18.3 years (ranging from 7 to 71 years) and mean age at defined genetic diagnosis was 36.1&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;18.3 years. The mean age at onset was 6.1&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;4.4 years. The most common initial complaint was bilateral pes cavus. The genetic basis included <i
[ [ "35499704", "Neuromuscular complications after COVID-19 vaccination: a series of eight patients.", "Several neurologic complications have been reported in close temporal association with both severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Specifically, several cases of Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (GBS) have been reported in temporal relationship with COVID-19 vaccination, with two small case series describing a specific phenotype with bifacial weakness and paresthesia in the limbs.</AbstractText We retrospectively collected patients who developed a new-onset neuromuscular disorder in the first 6&#xa0;weeks after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine (either first or second dose). The patients were collected from one tertiary care centre and one secondary care&#xa0;centre from February to July 2021.</AbstractText We report eight patients who developed phenotypically diverse neuromuscular disorders in the weeks following COVID-19 vaccination, with a presumed immune-mediated etiology. In our case series, we report three patients with classical GBS, one patient with bifacial weakness with paresthesia variant of GBS, two patients with subacute-onset chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), one patient with brachial plexopathy and one patient with subacute axonal sensorimotor polyneuropathy.</AbstractText New-onset neuromuscular disorders with onset in the weeks after COVID-19 vaccination can include diverse phenotypes. A causal relationship between these disorders and the vaccine cannot be proven at present, and further epidemiological studies are needed to further investigate this association.</AbstractText" ], [ "35994242", "Treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.", "Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a chronic peripheral polyneuropathy that results in disability through immune-mediated nerve injury, but which not uncommonly has residual and irreversible neurological deficits after the active inflammatory component of the disorder has been treated. Management of the condition entails addressing both the abnormal immune activity that drives ongoing or active deficits while also managing residual symptoms through supportive interventions. Immune-based treatments are grounded in several important principles. First, early treatment is guided by evidence-based, proven-effective therapies that sequentially escalate depending on the response. Second, optimization or personalization of first-line treatments is needed to understand the ideal dose for any given patient, and whether long-term treatment is needed at all. Third, although many immunosuppressive agents may be utilized in nonresponding patients or when intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg)/corticosteroid-sparing intervention is desired, all are unproven and require a delicate balance between risk, cost, and unknown likelihood of benefit that is tailored to each individual patient's unique circumstances. There is no reliable disease activity biomarker that can be used to guide treatment---a reality that makes it very challenging to optimize treatment to individual patient needs. Serial clinical assessments are key to understanding the value of continued immunotherapy or if long-term therapy is needed at all. Regardless of the immunotherapy status of a patient, equally important is addressing residual deficits through supportive interventions, including physical therapy, adaptive equipment, pain management, and emotional support.</AbstractText" ], [ "33835480", "Minimal important differences and self-identifying treatment response in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.", "The use of outcome measures is recommended for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Implications of minimal important differences (MID) to ascertain responder status are unknown. The reliability of patient-reported treatment-response in relation to clinically relevant change is also unknown.</AbstractText We retrospectively studied 72 subjects with \"definite\" or \"probable\" CIDP evaluated at pre-specified time-intervals pre- and post-treatment. We derived MID and the minimum detectable change with 95% confidence intervals (MDC<sub The use of MID was not valid for the Medical Research Council Sum Score, as MDC<sub In subjects with CIDP, MID-defined amelioration of any one of three commonly used outcome measures offers optimum relevance and sensitivity to detect self-identifying treatment-responders. Patient reliability to single-question ascertainment of response is high in relation to MID-defined clinical relevance. These findings support use of multiple outcome measures in CIDP monitoring and justify enhanced patient involvement in the process.</AbstractText" ], [ "35035868", "Efficacy of tacrolimus as long-term immunotherapy for neuronal surface antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitis.", "We aimed to verify the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus as long-term immunotherapy for the treatment of neuronal surface antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitis (AE) during the first attack.</AbstractText In this retrospective observational cohort study, patients with neuronal surface antibody-mediated AE who experienced the first attack were enrolled. We compared the outcomes of 17 patients who received tacrolimus with those of 47 patients treated without tacrolimus. Patients were assessed at onset and 3, 6, and 12 months, as well as at the last follow-up, by using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) and the Clinical Assessment Scale in Autoimmune Encephalitis (CASE). The efficacy of tacrolimus was also compared in a subgroup of patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.</AbstractText Among all patients with neuronal surface antibody-mediated AE, those receiving tacrolimus had lower median mRS scores [1 (IQR = 0-1) <i Tacrolimus can be used as long-term immunotherapy in patients with neuronal surface antibody-mediated AE during the first attack. Treatment with tacrolimus appears to accelerate the clinical improvement of neuronal surface antibody-mediated AE.</AbstractText" ], [ "35098847", "Contemporary challenges in the diagnosis and management of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.", "Despite extensive research, multiple inter-related diagnostic and management challenges remain for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).</AbstractText A literature review was performed on diagnosis and treatment in CIDP. The clinical features and disease course were evaluated. Investigative techniques, including electrophysiology, cerebrospinal fluid examination, neuropathology, imaging, and neuroimmunology, were considered in relation to technical aspects, sensitivity, specificity, availability, and cost. Available evidenced-based treatments and those with possible efficacy despite lack of evidence, were considered, as well as current methods for evaluation of treatment effects.</AbstractText CIDP remains a clinical diagnosis, supported first and foremost by electrophysiology. Other investigative techniques have limited impact. Most patients with CIDP respond to available first-line treatments and immunosuppression may be efficacious in those who do not. Consideration of the natural history and of the high reported remission rate, of under-recognized associated disabling features, of treatment administration modalities and assessment methods, require enhanced attention.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37486854", "Motion-resolved four-dimensional abdominal diffusion-weighted imaging using PROPELLER EPI (4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI).", "To develop a distortion-free motion-resolved four-dimensional diffusion-weighted PROPELLER EPI (4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI) technique for benefiting clinical abdominal radiotherapy (RT).</AbstractText An improved abdominal 4D-DWI technique based on 2D diffusion-weighted PROPELLER-EPI (2D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI), termed 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI, was proposed to improve the frame rate of repeated data acquisition and produce distortion-free 4D-DWI images. Since the radial or PROPELLER sampling with golden-angle rotation can achieve an efficient k-space coverage with a flexible time-resolved acquisition, the golden-angle multi-blade acquisition was used in the proposed 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI to improve the performance of data sorting. A new k-space and blade (K-B) amplitude binning method was developed for the proposed 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI to optimize the number of blades and the k-space uniformity before performing conventional PROPELLER-EPI reconstruction, by using two metrics to evaluate the adequacy of the acquired data. The proposed 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI was preliminarily evaluated in both simulation experiments and in vivo experiments with varying frame rates and different numbers of repeated acquisition.</AbstractText The feasibility of achieving distortion-free 4D-DWI images by using the proposed 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI technique was demonstrated in both digital phantom and healthy subjects. Evaluation of the 4D completeness metrics shows that the K-B amplitude binning method could simultaneously improve the acquisition efficiency and data reconstruction performance for 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI.</AbstractText 4D-DW-PROPELLER-EPI with K-B amplitude binning is an advanced technique that can provide distortion-free 4D-DWI images for resolving respiratory motion, and may benefit the application of image-guided abdominal RT.</AbstractText" ], [ "37008230", "Associations between resting state brain activity and A(1) adenosine receptor availability in the healthy brain: Effects of acute sleep deprivation.", "Previous resting-state fMRI (Rs-fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown that sleep deprivation (SD) affects both spontaneous brain activity and A<sub Therefore, fourteen young men underwent Rs-fMRI, A<sub Our findings suggested higher oscillations or regional homogeneity in multiple temporal and visual cortices, whereas decreased oscillations in cerebellum after sleep loss. At the same time, we found that connectivity strengths increased in sensorimotor areas and decreased in subcortical areas and cerebellum.</AbstractText Moreover, negative correlations between A<sub" ], [ "37145345", "Blocking coprophagy increases the levels of inflammation and depression in healthy mice as well as mice receiving fecal microbiota transplantation from disease model mice donors.", "Rodents have been extensively used as animal models in microbiome studies. However, all rodents have a habitual nature called coprophagy, a phenomenon that they self-reinoculate feces into their gastrointestinal tract. Recent studies have shown that blocking coprophagy can alter rodents' diversity of gut microbiota, metabolism, neurochemistry, and cognitive behavior. However, whether rodents' coprophagy behavior affects the levels of inflammation and depression is unclear. In order to address this problem, we first blocked coprophagy in healthy mice. It displayed an increase in the levels of depression, verified by depressive-like behaviors and mood-related indicators, and inflammation, verified by the increased levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, in coprophagy-blocked mice. Furthermore, we transplanted fecal microbiota from chronic restraint stress (CRS) depression model mice and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inflammation model mice to healthy recipient mice, respectively. It showed that the disease-like phenotypes in the coprophagy-blocked group were worse than those in the coprophagy-unblocked group, including severer depressive symptoms and higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1&#x3b2;, IL-6, TNF-&#x3b1; and IFN-&#x3b3;) in serum, prefrontal cortex (PFC), and hippocampus (HIP). These findings showed that blocking coprophagy in mice not only increased the levels of inflammation and depression in healthy mice but also aggravated inflammation and depression induced by fecal microbiota from disease donors. The discovery may provide a vital reference for future research involving FMT in rodents.</AbstractText" ], [ "36811665", "Arthroscopic surgery for symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus improves meniscal status assessed by magnetic resonance imaging T2 mapping.", "Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is an anatomic knee variant associated with increased tears and degeneration. This study aimed to quantify meniscal status with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2 mapping before and after arthroscopic reshaping surgery for DLM.</AbstractText We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients undergoing arthroscopic reshaping surgery for symptomatic DLM with&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;2-year follow-up. MRI T2 mapping was performed preoperatively and at 12 and 24&#xa0;months postoperatively. T2 relaxation times of the anterior and posterior horns of both menisci and of the adjacent cartilage were assessed.</AbstractText Thirty-six knees from 32 patients were included. The mean age at surgery was 13.7&#xa0;years (range 7-24), and the mean follow-up duration was 31.0&#xa0;months. Saucerization alone was performed on five knees and saucerization with repair on 31 knees. Preoperatively, the T2 relaxation time of the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus was significantly longer than that of the medial meniscus (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01). T2 relaxation time significantly decreased at 12 and 24&#xa0;months postoperatively (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01). Assessments of the posterior horn were comparable. The T2 relaxation time was significantly longer in the tear versus non-tear side at each time point (P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.01). There were significant correlations between the T2 relaxation time of the meniscus and that of the corresponding area of the lateral femoral condyle cartilage (anterior horn: r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.504, P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.002; posterior horn: r&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.365, P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.029).</AbstractText The T2 relaxation time of symptomatic DLM was significantly longer than that of the medial meniscus preoperatively, and it decreased 24&#xa0;months after arthroscopic reshaping surgery. The meniscal T2 relaxation time of the tear side was significantly longer than that of the non-tear side. There were significant correlations between the cartilage and meniscal T2 relaxation times at 24&#xa0;months after surgery.</AbstractText" ], [ "37078069", "Two decades of astrocytes in neurovascular coupling.", "The brain is a highly energy demanding organ, which accounts in humans for the 20% of total energy consumption at resting state although comprising only 2% of the body mass. The necessary delivery of nutrients to brain parenchyma is ensured by the cerebral circulatory system, through the exchange of glucose and oxygen (O<sub" ] ]
40396427
Pilot study of canakinumab (Ilaris) in steroid naïve children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy demonstrates safety and exploratory changes in potential serum protein response biomarkers.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscular disease associated with muscle fiber degeneration and increased inflammatory responses including Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1&#x3b2;) and other cytokines. Canakinumab (Ilaris) is an anti-human IL-1&#x3b2; monoclonal antibody that neutralizes IL-1&#x3b2;.</AbstractText We completed an open-label, single dose pilot study of canakinumab 2&#x2005;mg/kg subcutaneous injection in steroid na&#xef;ve boys with DMD older than 2 years of age to determine safety and potential serum response biomarkers of efficacy at 4-weeks post treatment. Proteome profiling was performed using high throughput multiplexing aptamer SomaScan assay based technology targeting 1,500 unique serum proteins.</AbstractText Three subjects completed the study with no adverse events reported and no significant changes in safety labs. Proteomic analysis within 4 weeks of treatment identified significantly decreased inflammation associated factors including plasma serine protease inhibitor, interleukin-6 receptor alpha, Lymphocyte antigen 86, Immunoglobulin D and myostatin. Significantly increased proteins included muscle-associated proteins aldolase A and lactate dehydrogenase B.</AbstractText Canakinumab 2&#x2005;mg/kg dose is safe for children with DMD and demonstrated potential response biomarkers of efficacy in treating related muscle disease. Canakinumab did not affect the circulating levels of IL-1&#x3b2; but did decrease some key proinflammatory markers and myostatin. Increased muscle specific proteins could be associated with increased physical activities or damage seen in young patients with DMD. Further studies using canakinumab for a longer treatment period may demonstrate increased benefit.</AbstractText
[ [ "37957716", "Removal of a partial genomic duplication restores synaptic transmission and behavior in the MyosinVA mutant mouse Flailer.", "Copy number variations, and particularly duplications of genomic regions, have been strongly associated with various neurodegenerative conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These genetic variations have been found to have a significant impact on brain development and function, which can lead to the emergence of neurological and behavioral symptoms. Developing strategies to target these genomic duplications has been challenging, as the presence of endogenous copies of the duplicate genes often complicates the editing strategies.</AbstractText Using the ASD and anxiety mouse model Flailer, which contains a partial genomic duplication working as a dominant negative for MyoVa, we demonstrate the use of DN-CRISPRs to remove a 700&#xa0;bp genomic region in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, DN-CRISPRs have not been used to remove genomic regions using sgRNA with an offset greater than 300&#xa0;bp. We found that editing the flailer gene in primary cortical neurons reverts synaptic transport and transmission defects. Moreover, long-term depression (LTD), disrupted in Flailer animals, is recovered after gene editing. Delivery of DN-CRISPRs in vivo shows that local delivery to the ventral hippocampus can rescue some of the mutant behaviors, while intracerebroventricular delivery, completely recovers the Flailer animal phenotype associated to anxiety and ASD.</AbstractText Our results demonstrate the potential of DN-CRISPR to efficiently remove larger genomic duplications, working as a new gene therapy approach for treating neurodegenerative diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "40213242", "Comparing intermittent and daily prednisone in duchenne muscular dystrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.", "Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked disorder caused by DMD gene mutations, leading to muscle wasting due to dystrophin deficiency. Current treatment with corticosteroids like prednisone shows benefits but lacks clarity on optimal dosing regimens. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to determine the efficacy and safety of daily versus intermittent prednisone dosing in DMD management.</AbstractText We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Scopus databases to identify studies comparing daily versus intermittent prednisone in DMD treatment. The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024549050).</AbstractText After the systematic search, 6 trials were included in the pooled analysis. Intermittent prednisone was associated with a higher prevalence of cushingoid appearance (RR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.17 to 2.51; <i No significant differences in efficacy outcomes regimens were observed. However, intermittent prednisone was associated with a higher prevalence of certain adverse effects, such as cushingoid appearance, excessive hair growth, and hypertension. These findings provide valuable insights for clinicians when choosing treatment strategies and highlight the need for personalized approaches to minimize side effects while maintaining efficacy.</AbstractText" ], [ "26911908", "Organoids as an in vitro model of human development and disease.", "The in vitro organoid model is a major technological breakthrough that has already been established as an essential tool in many basic biology and clinical applications. This near-physiological 3D model facilitates an accurate study of a range of in vivo biological processes including tissue renewal, stem cell/niche functions and tissue responses to drugs, mutation or damage. In this Review, we discuss the current achievements, challenges and potential applications of this technique.</AbstractText" ], [ "39810005", "In vivo base editing extends lifespan of a humanized mouse model of prion disease.", "Prion disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by the misfolding of prion protein (PrP) encoded by the PRNP gene. While there is currently no cure for the disease, depleting PrP in the brain is an established strategy to prevent or stall templated misfolding of PrP. Here we developed in vivo cytosine and adenine base strategies delivered by adeno-associated viruses to permanently modify the PRNP locus to achieve PrP knockdown in the mouse brain. Systemic injection of dual-adeno-associated virus PHP.eB encoding BE3.9max and single guide RNA installing PRNP R37X resulted in 37% average installation of the desired edit, 50% reduction of PrP in the mouse brain and 52% extension of lifespan in transgenic human PRNP mice inoculated with pathogenic human prion isolates representing the most common sporadic and genetic subtypes of prion disease. We further engineered base editing systems to achieve improved in vivo potency and reduced base editor expression in nontargeting tissues, resulting in 63% average PrP reduction in the mouse brain from a 6.7-fold lower viral dose, with no detected off-target editing of anticipated clinical significance observed in either human cells or mouse tissues. These findings support the potential of in vivo base editing as one-time treatment for prion disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "34740639", "Defining and identifying satellite cell-opathies within muscular dystrophies and myopathies.", "Muscular dystrophies and congenital myopathies arise from specific genetic mutations causing skeletal muscle weakness that reduces quality of life. Muscle health relies on resident muscle stem cells called satellite cells, which enable life-course muscle growth, maintenance, repair and regeneration. Such tuned plasticity gradually diminishes in muscle diseases, suggesting compromised satellite cell function. A central issue however, is whether the pathogenic mutation perturbs satellite cell function directly and/or indirectly via an increasingly hostile microenvironment as disease progresses. Here, we explore the effects on satellite cell function of pathogenic mutations in genes (myopathogenes) that associate with muscle disorders, to evaluate clinical and muscle pathological hallmarks that define dysfunctional satellite cells. We deploy transcriptomic analysis and comparison between muscular dystrophies and myopathies to determine the contribution of satellite cell dysfunction using literature, expression dynamics of myopathogenes and their response to the satellite cell regulator PAX7. Our multimodal approach extends current pathological classifications to define Satellite Cell-opathies: muscle disorders in which satellite cell dysfunction contributes to pathology. Primary Satellite Cell-opathies are conditions where mutations in a myopathogene directly affect satellite cell function, such as in Progressive Congenital Myopathy with Scoliosis (MYOSCO) and Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome (CFZS). Primary satellite cell-opathies are generally characterised as being congenital with general hypotonia, and specific involvement of respiratory, trunk and facial muscles, although serum CK levels are usually within the normal range. Secondary Satellite Cell-opathies have mutations in myopathogenes that affect both satellite cells and muscle fibres. Such classification aids diagnosis and predicting probable disease course, as well as informing on treatment and therapeutic development.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40515704", "(1)H NMR Reveals Predictive Metabolic Signatures of Response to RMP1-14 Treatment in the Plasma of Tumor-Bearing Mice.", "Understanding and predicting individual responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are of great importance for advancing precise cancer immunotherapy. This study utilizes <sup" ], [ "40620018", "Scaffold stiffness affects oligodendrocyte proliferation via cell traction forces.", "Drugs that promote the regeneration of the central nervous system (CNS) have motivated the development of a method to assess the functions of CNS cells, such as oligodendrocytes, which sustain the homeostasis of neuronal networks. In this study, we evaluated the effects of scaffold stiffness on the phenotypic and transcriptomic levels of MO3.13 cells, a human oligodendrocyte lineage cell line. Cells cultured on gels of varying stiffness exhibited different growth potentials. RNA sequencing detected differences in the expression of genes associated with cell proliferation and actin cytoskeleton polymerization. Treatment with actin polymerization inhibitor prevented changes in the growth potential, which were mediated by cell traction forces. These results suggest that scaffold stiffness-transduced biological signaling is an important factor to consider when assessing CNS cell function.</AbstractText" ], [ "40786071", "Heat shock proteins in atrial fibrillation: from bench to bedside.", "Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common age-related arrhythmia in clinic, affecting millions of people around the world, and is closely related to heart failure, ischemic stroke and other diseases. In addition, AF is progressive in nature and represents a significant global health burden. However, the current treatment plans are mainly symptomatic, the efficacy in preventing atrial fibrillation is limited. Hence, there is a pressing need for etiology-specific AF treatments. It is widely acknowledged that the atrial electrical and structural remodeling constitutes the pathological basis of atrial fibrillation. Evidence indicates that heat shock proteins (HSPs) could have a protective effect against AF. HSPs are a diverse family of molecular chaperones that safeguard cells against various stressors. They play a crucial role in mitigating oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis, thereby helping to prevent structural and electrical remodeling in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, HSPs safeguard proteostasis via prevention of toxic protein aggregation by binding to (partially) unfolded proteins. As pivotal inhibitors of AF onset and progression, HSPs represent both a promising therapeutic target and potential biomarkers for staging AF and predicting post-treatment recurrence, as evidenced by recent studies. In this review, we explore the mechanisms of HSP in AF to pave the way for the development of targeted therapies for this prevalent arrhythmia disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "40724499", "Children's Headache Through Drawings: A Narrative Review and a Portrait Gallery.", "Headache represents one of the most prevalent and disabling conditions in the pediatric population, with significant repercussions on mental and psychological well-being, as well as on academic achievement and social functioning, ultimately leading to a marked reduction in quality of life. Currently, the diagnosis of headache is based on the clinical criteria of the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3). However, the characteristics of headache may differ between adults and children, as well as the ability of children to provide a complete description of the pain and associated symptoms. The immature narrative skills of children can represent a limitation in defining the clinical phenotype of headache, making the diagnosis more complex. This is even more challenging when extracting information about the characteristics of the headache in children whose verbal expression is poorly developed or completely absent. Given these limitations, clinical psychology has long used drawing as an effective diagnostic instrument to bypass verbal communication barriers. This tool provides unique access to children's psychological and emotional states, as a direct window into their inner world and as an expressive medium that often generates more detailed, accurate, and clinically actionable information, compared to verbal reports alone. For these reasons, drawing has been recognized as a valuable diagnostic tool for decades, with multiple studies demonstrating specificity and accuracy rates comparable to standard clinical assessments. Particularly for young children, drawings may give access to fundamental information that might otherwise remain inaccessible, thereby allowing both accurate diagnosis and individualized treatment planning. Multiple studies have highlighted and confirmed the graphic differences between representations of various types of headaches and the undeniable utility of an \"artistic diagnosis\" alongside the clinical one. Furthermore, the literature suggests and encourages the use of drawing in clinical practice, both in the diagnostic process and during subsequent follow-up, as an effective, enjoyable, easy-to-use, and low-cost resource. Accordingly, we propose a narrative review accompanied by a curated collection of drawings that may help identify and categorize specific correlations between graphic representations and clinical phenotypes, such as pain location, quality, intensity, association with nausea and vomiting, photophobia and phonophobia, and types of migraine aura. Our goal is to create a visual reference that can aid clinicians in the accurate interpretation of children's drawings. Additionally, we aim to promote the integration of this method into routine clinical practice to improve diagnostic precision and support a more child-centered model of care. We also hope to propose new iconographic models to further enrich the diagnostic framework.</AbstractText" ], [ "39700843", "Kinematics of abdominal aortic Aneurysms.", "A search in Scopus within \"Article title, Abstract, Keywords\" unveils 2,444 documents focused on the biomechanics of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA), mostly on AAA wall stress. Only 24 documents investigated AAA kinematics, an important topic that could potentially offer significant insights into the biomechanics of AAA. In this paper, we present an image-based approach for patient-specific, in vivo, and non-invasive AAA kinematic analysis using patient's time-resolved 3D computed tomography angiography (4D-CTA) images, with an objective to measure wall displacement and strain during the cardiac cycle. Our approach relies on regularized deformable image registration for estimating wall displacement, estimation of the local wall strain as the ratio of its normal displacement to its local radius of curvature, and local surface fitting with non-deterministic outlier detection for estimating the wall radius of curvature. We verified our approach against synthetic ground truth image data created by warping a 3D-CTA image of AAA using a realistic displacement field obtained from a finite element biomechanical model. We applied our approach to assess AAA wall displacements and strains in ten patients. Our kinematic analysis results indicated that the 99th percentile of circumferential wall strain, among all patients, ranged from 2.62% to 5.54%, with an average of 4.45% and a standard deviation of 0.87%. We also observed that AAA wall strains are significantly lower than those of a healthy aorta. Our work demonstrates that the registration-based measurement of AAA wall displacements in the direction normal to the wall is sufficiently accurate to reliably estimate strain from these displacements.</AbstractText" ] ]
40616935
Vps34 knockdown attenuated AlNPs-induced neurodevelopmental toxicity in zebrafish larvae and adults by inhibiting mitophagy.
Nano-alumina (AlNPs) are susceptible to inducing neurotoxicity, mainly through excessive autophagy/mitophagy. Vacuolar protein sorting 34 (Vps34) is a target for modulating autophagy. This study aimed to investigate whether Vps34 knockdown could reduce AlNPs' neurodevelopmental toxicity. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 100 mg/L of 13 nm AlNPs and 2.5 mmol/L of 3-methyladenine (3MA) until 144 h post-fertilization (hpf) to assess their development, neurobehavior, oxidative stress, and the expression of autophagy-related gene. Vps34 was knocked down using 500 &#xb5;L of morpholino oligonucleotide (MO) at 1 mM. Additionally, embryos were treated with control, negative control, Vps34 knockdown, AlNPs (100 mg/L), and AlNPs + Vps34 knockdown. Evaluations included developmental parameters, locomotor activity, oxidative stress, autophagy/mitophagy gene expression, and neuronal cell counts at 144 hpf. Long-term effects were assessed up to 90 dpf, including locomotor activity, mitophagy-related genes expression, and ultrastructural analysis. The findings showed that 3MA effectively counteracted AlNPs-induced developmental stunting at 24 hpf, neurobehavioral impairments, oxidative damage, and upregulation of autophagy-related Beclin1, Vps34, and LC3II genes in larvae. AlNPs significantly elevated Vps34 gene expression in zebrafish. Additionally, Vps34 knockdown alleviated AlNPs-induced developmental retardation at 24 hpf, locomotor deficits, oxidative damage, neuronal loss, and abnormal expression of autophagy/mitophagy-related genes and P62 protein levels. Vps34 knockdown ameliorated AlNPs' early developmental retardation and neurobehavioral deficits in zebrafish larvae and adults by reducing mitophagy. These findings suggest that Vps34 could be a promising therapeutic target for attenuating the neurotoxic effects of AlNPs.</AbstractText
[ [ "29373764", "[Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome secondary to cytomegalovirus encephalitis: A case report].", "Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the opportunistic microorganisms with the highest prevalence in immunocompromised patients. Reactivation has decreased after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Encephalitis has been reported in the coinfection as one of the most frequent presentations.We present the case of a young adult patient with HIV infection and rapid neurological deterioration due to classic clinical symptoms and signs of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, with no risk factors for thiamine deficiency, with images by nuclear magnetic resonance typical of the syndrome, and identification of cytomegalovirus in cerebrospinal fluid. The specific treatment for CMV managed to control the symptoms with neurological sequelae in progression towards improvement.This is one of the few cases reported in the literature of Wernicke syndrome secondary to cytomegalovirus encephalitis.</AbstractText" ], [ "39148897", "Exercise leads to sex-specific recovery of behavior and pathological AD markers following adolescent ethanol exposure in the TgF344-AD model.", "Human epidemiological studies suggest that heavy alcohol consumption may lead to earlier onset of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), especially in individuals with a genetic predisposition for AD. Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) during a critical developmental timepoint, such as adolescence, interacts with AD-related pathologies to accelerate disease progression later in life. The current study investigates if voluntary exercise in mid-adulthood can recover memory deficits caused by the interactions between adolescence ethanol exposure and AD-transgenes.</AbstractText Male and female TgF344-AD and wildtype F344 rats were exposed to an intragastric gavage of water (control) or 5 g/kg of 20% ethanol (adolescent intermittent ethanol; AIE) for a 2 day on/off schedule throughout adolescence (PD27-57). At 6 months old, rats either remained in their home cage (stationary) or were placed in a voluntary wheel running apparatus for 4 weeks and then underwent several behavioral tests. The number of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain and measure of neurogenesis in the hippocampus were assessed.</AbstractText Voluntary wheel running recovers spatial working memory deficits selectively in female TgF344-AD rats exposed to AIE and improves pattern separation impairment seen in control TgF344-AD female rats. There were sex-dependent effects on brain pathology: Exercise improves the integration of recently born neurons in AIE-exposed TgF344-AD female rats. Exercise led to a decrease in amyloid burden in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, but only in male AIE-exposed TgF344-AD rats. Although the number of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons was not affected by AD-transgenes in either sex, AIE did reduce the number of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in female rats.</AbstractText These data provide support that even after symptom onset, AIE and AD related cognitive decline and associated neuropathologies can be rescued with exercise in unique sex-specific ways.</AbstractText" ], [ "39162929", "Protective Effect of Sulfur-Containing Heterocyclic Analogs Against Acrylamide-Induced Behavioral and Biochemical Alterations in Zebrafish.", "Acrylamide (ACR) is a water-soluble monomer with broad consumer applications, even in foods due to thermal processes. Acute exposure to ACR may lead to neurotoxic effects such as ataxia and skeletal muscle weakness in humans and experimental animals. Oxidative stress is the primary pathway in ACR toxicity; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the possible protective effect of benzo[b]thiophene analogs as an antioxidant drug for ACR poisoning. For this purpose, adult zebrafish were chosen as the experimental model considering the 3Rs of research. Hydroxyl containing benzo[b]thiophene analogs, 1-(3-hydroxybenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl) ethanone (BP) and 1-(3-hydroxybenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl) propan-1-one hydrate (EP) were injected via intraperitoneal (i.p.) route at an effective dose of 5&#xa0;mg/kg one hour before the exposure of ACR (0.75&#xa0;mM) for three days. ACR fish showed aberrant socio-behavior with low exploration, tight circling, negative scototaxis, disrupted aggression, and tight shoaling. These results indicated depression comorbid and anxiety-like phenotype. BP and EP partially reduced the aberrant socio-behavior. BP and EP elevated the antioxidant defense and reduced the oxidative damage in the brain caused by ACR. Cellular and tissular alterations caused by ACR were visualized through histopathological study. BP and EP administration reduced and repaired the cellular changes via the antioxidant mechanism. BP and EP altered the axonal growth and regeneration gene and synaptic vesicle cycle gene expression necessary for neurotransmission. This combined gain-of-function of redox mechanism at molecular, cellular, and tissular levels explains the behavioral improvement at the organismal level of the organization.</AbstractText" ], [ "26791514", "Nonalcoholic Thiamine-Related Encephalopathy (Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome) Among Inpatients With Cancer: A Series of 18 Cases.", "Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) is a neuropsychiatric syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency. Cancer predisposes to thiamine deficiency through various mechanisms. Although many case reports exist on nonalcoholic WKS in cancer, larger qualitative studies are lacking.</AbstractText Retrospective study of patients admitted to a cancer hospital and diagnosed with WKS during routine care on a psychiatric consultation service. Only patients with at least 1 additional supporting feature (magnetic resonance imaging findings, low serum thiamine concentrations, or response to treatment) were included. Data pertaining to demographics, risk factors, phenomenology, and outcomes were abstracted from medical records by chart review.</AbstractText In all, 18 patients were included. All patients developed WKS during cancer treatment. Hematologic malignancy, gastrointestinal tract tumors, low oral intake, and weight loss were common risk factors. All patients presented with cognitive dysfunction, most commonly impaired alertness, attention, and short-term memory. All were diagnosed by operational criteria proposed by Caine et al., 1997 (where 2 of the following are required: nutritional deficiency, ocular signs, cerebellar signs, and either altered mental status or mild memory impairment). Few exhibited Wernicke's classic triad. Diagnostic and treatment delay were common. Only 3 patients recovered fully.</AbstractText Nonalcoholic WKS can occur during cancer treatment and manifests clinically as delirium. Diagnosis should be made using operational criteria, not Wernicke's triad. Most patients were not underweight and had normal serum concentration of vitamin B12 and folate. A variety of mechanisms might predispose to thiamine deficiency and WKS in cancer. Given the high frequency of residual morbidity, studies should focus on decreasing diagnostic and treatment delay.</AbstractText" ], [ "31310957", "Vitamin D supplementation after malnutrition associated with time-related increase of cancer diagnoses: A cohort study of 389 patients with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.", "Vitamin deficiencies may reflect less-than-optimal health in select populations. The aim of this study was to determine whether vitamin D supplementation (VDs) after malnutrition may be adversely related to cancer diagnoses in a selected group of patients with alcoholic Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS).</AbstractText This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients admitted to Slingedael Korsakoff Center, from 1996 to 2018. The patients were subdivided into three predefined groups depending on differences in VDs: \"early\" supplementation, which started during or before the previous hospital admission, before the transfer to our center; \"late\" supplementation, which started later in our center; and \"no\" VDs received. Data collection involved patients' ages, sex, body mass index, skin type, baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations if available, doses of cholecalciferol (vitamin D<sub New cancers were diagnosed in 87 of 389 (22.4%) patients after median 3 y of follow-up (interquartile range, 1.1&#x2012;5.8 y). In logistic regression analysis, age, smoking, and length of stay in log (y) showed odds ratios of 1.021, 2.74, and 1.68, respectively. The temporal relationship of VDs and cancer diagnosis was significant in VDs that started in the year leading up to the diagnosis (Wilcoxon signed-ranks test of positive ranks corresponding with supplementation and negative ranks corresponding with non-supplementation: Z score 2.54; P&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.011).</AbstractText VDs was time-related to cancer diagnosis in a cohort of patients with alcoholic WKS. The study may suggest the proliferation of cancer as an adverse effect of VDs, particularly in malnourished patients.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40286098", "Excess Properties, FT-IR Spectral Analysis, and CO(2) Absorption Performance of Monoethanolamine with Diethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether or Methyldiethanolamine Binary Solutions.", "In this study, densities and viscosities of the binary solutions of monoethanolamine with diethylene glycol monoethyl ether or methyldiethanolamine were determined at 293.15, 298.15, and 303.15 K and <i" ], [ "40719226", "Correction to \"Surrogate GPR139 Agonists Reverse Short-Term Startle Habituation Impairment in Larval Zebrafish\".", "Kow, T.F., Mok, S.Y., Tang, P.Y., Chong, L.H. and Ogawa, S. (2025), Surrogate GPR139 Agonists Reverse Short-Term Startle Habituation Impairment in Larval Zebrafish. The FASEB Journal, 39: e70656. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202500594R We would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of our internship student, Mr. Sanjeev, who worked extensively on the behavioral assays and data analysis. Unfortunately, we overlooked mentioning his contributions in the Acknowledgments section. The corrected Acknowledgments section should read as follows: We thank Dr. Suresh Jeyaraj Jesuthasan, Nanyang Technological University, for his guidance on suite2p software and larval zebrafish mounting preparation for in&#xa0;vivo calcium imaging. We would also like to thank Mr. Sanjeev Pamidi for his support with the behavioral assays and data analysis. Open access publishing facilitated by Monash University, as part of the Wiley-Monash University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. We apologize for this oversight.</AbstractText" ], [ "39824649", "Social isolation during adolescence differentially affects spatial learning in adult male and female mice.", "Social isolation is a risk factor for cognitive impairment. Adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to these effects, because they are in a critical period of development marked by significant physical, hormonal, and social changes. However, it is unclear if the effects of social isolation on learning and memory are similar in both sexes or if they persist into adulthood after a period of recovery. We socially isolated male and female 129Sv/Ev mice throughout adolescence (postnatal days 29-56), provided a 2-week resocialization recovery period, and then tested spatial learning and cognitive flexibility in the active place avoidance task. After behavioral testing, mice were injected with 5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) so that lasting effects of social isolation on cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus could be examined. Tissue was also stained for doublecortin (DCX). We found that in males, isolation led to a modest impairment in the rate of initial spatial learning, whereas in females, initial learning was unaffected. However, when the location of the shock zone was switched during the conflict variant of the task, cognitive flexibility was impaired in females only. Similarly, social isolation reduced cell proliferation and the number of immature neurons in the ventral dentate gyrus only in females. Together, these findings indicate that social isolation during adolescence differentially impairs spatial processing in males and females, with effects that persist into adulthood.</AbstractText" ], [ "40164740", "A streaming brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis to restore naturalistic communication.", "Natural spoken communication happens instantaneously. Speech delays longer than a few seconds can disrupt the natural flow of conversation. This makes it difficult for individuals with paralysis to participate in meaningful dialogue, potentially leading to feelings of isolation and frustration. Here we used high-density surface recordings of the speech sensorimotor cortex in a clinical trial participant with severe paralysis and anarthria to drive a continuously streaming naturalistic speech synthesizer. We designed and used deep learning recurrent neural network transducer models to achieve online large-vocabulary intelligible fluent speech synthesis personalized to the participant's preinjury voice with neural decoding in 80-ms increments. Offline, the models demonstrated implicit speech detection capabilities and could continuously decode speech indefinitely, enabling uninterrupted use of the decoder and further increasing speed. Our framework also successfully generalized to other silent-speech interfaces, including single-unit recordings and electromyography. Our findings introduce a speech-neuroprosthetic paradigm to restore naturalistic spoken communication to people with paralysis.</AbstractText" ], [ "39460521", "A Practical Guide to Loco-Regional Nerve Blocks for Oromaxillofacial Surgery in Dogs and Cats.", "This article provides an overview of the neuroanatomy of the head with a detailed explanation and visual images to enable accurate placement of loco-regional nerve blocks to achieve pre-emptive blockade of the nociceptive input which occurs when performing oral surgery. Variations in anatomy and between species are addressed to assist in accurate placement.</AbstractText" ] ]
39263275
Ultra-early neurological deterioration following a brain arteriovenous malformation rupture.
This study aims to explore the impact of ultra-early neurological deterioration (U-END) on the outcome (mortality and poor neurological status) following a brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) rupture and identify determinants of U-END.</AbstractText Patients with BAVM ruptures admitted to a single tertiary care center were retrospectively reviewed. U-END was defined as a worsening by two or more points on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). U-END was tested as a potential predictor of in-hospital mortality and poor outcomes. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify determinants of U-END. Patients with U-END were also matched and compared with BAVM rupture controls presenting with a GCS close or equal to either their initial or their lowest GCS.</AbstractText A total of 248 patients with BAVM ruptures met the inclusion criteria, with 39 (15.7%) patients presenting with U-END. U-END was not associated with and was not an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (12.8 vs. 10.5% in the rest of the study population; <i Ultra-early neurological deterioration in ruptured BAVMs did not result in increased mortality or poor outcomes and was most often related to IVH and hydrocephalus.</AbstractText
[ [ "36090026", "Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in human iPSCs for deciphering the pathogenicity of a novel CCM1 transcription start site deletion.", "Cerebral cavernous malformations are clusters of aberrant vessels that can lead to severe neurological complications. Pathogenic loss-of-function variants in the <i" ], [ "34460919", "Cavernous Malformations of the Optic Nerve and Optic Pathway: A Case Series and Systematic Review of the Literature.", "Although rare, cavernous malformations (CMs) of the optic nerve and anterior optic pathway (optic pathway cavernous malformations [OPCMs]) can occur, as described in several single case reports in the literature.</AbstractText To describe the technical aspects of microsurgical management of CMs of the optic pathway on the basis of an extensive single-center experience and review of the literature.</AbstractText A systematic literature review was performed to augment an earlier review, using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. In addition, an institutional database was searched for all patients undergoing surgical resection of OPCMs. Patient information, surgical technique, and clinical and radiographic outcomes were assessed.</AbstractText Since the previous report, 14 CMs were resected at this institution or by the senior author at another institution. In addition, 34 cases were identified in the literature since the systematic review in 2015, including some earlier cases that were not discussed in the previous report. Most OPCMs were resected via pterional, orbital-pterional, and orbitozygomatic craniotomies. Visual outcomes were similar to those in earlier reports, with 70% of patients reporting stable to normal vision postoperatively.</AbstractText OPCMs can occur throughout the anterior visual pathway and may cause significant symptoms. Surgery is feasible and should be considered for OPCMs presenting to a surface of the nerve. Favorable results can be obtained with resection, although optimal results are obtained with patients who present with milder symptoms without longstanding damage to the optic apparatus.</AbstractText" ], [ "38980519", "Except for Robust Outliers, Rapamycin Increases Lesion Burden in a Murine Model of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations.", "Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is a hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease where lesions develop in the setting of endothelial mutations of CCM genes, with many cases also harboring somatic PIK3CA gain of function (GOF) mutations. Rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, inhibited progression of murine CCM lesions driven by Ccm gene loss and Pik3ca GOF, but it remains unknown if rapamycin is beneficial in the absence of induction of Pik3ca GOF. We investigated the effect of rapamycin at three clinically relevant doses on lesion development in the Ccm3<sup" ], [ "26444962", "How Relevant Is Occlusion of Associated Developmental Venous Anomaly in Cerebral Cavernoma Surgery? A Clinical and Radiographic Comparison Study.", "A developmental venous anomaly (DVA) associated with cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is the most common combined vascular malformation. Microsurgical resection of the CCM and avoidance of damage to the adjacent DVA is an overall accepted treatment regimen. Several publications have demonstrated serious consequences that possibly occur after damage of the associated DVA. Conversely, some authors have reported cases of injured DVAs without any relevant postoperative complications. This study compared the clinical and radiologic outcome in patients with and without occlusion of an associated DVA, following microsurgical removal of intracerebral cavernomas.</AbstractText In this single-center evaluation, all consecutive CCM surgical patients from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2011, were reviewed in a retrospective cohort study. Follow-up was from 12 months to 7 years. The patients were divided into three groups: group I, CCM without associated DVA; group II, damage and occlusion of the associated DVA during CCM removal; and group III, preservation of the associated DVA following CCM removal. Preservation and damage, respectively, of the DVA were defined by evaluation of the corresponding pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance (MR) image sequences. The clinical and radiographic findings in all three groups were evaluated and compared.</AbstractText A total of 38 patients underwent microsurgical resection of a CCM. Overall, 24 patients (63%) had no associated DVA (group I), in 10 patients (26%) the associated DVA was impaired and occluded (group II), and in 4 patients (11%) the associated DVA was surgically not impaired and confirmed as preserved (group III). The rate of postoperative neurologic deficits was 37.5% in group I, 10% in group II, and 75% in group III (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.05). Subgroup analysis in patients with preserved DVA (group III) showed a higher incidence of new postoperative neurologic deficits than in patients with impaired DVA (group II) (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.041). However, no significant difference was seen in patients with no associated DVA (group I) and patients with impaired DVA (group II) (p =0.215). The average postoperative Karnofsky score was 88.33&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;9.17 in group I, 92.0&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;6.32 in group II,; and 90.0&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;8.16 in group III (p =0.51). The peri-resectional edema volume in group I was 8.90&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;9.75 cm(3); in group II, 8.16&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;3.78 cm(3); and in group III, 2.48&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.48 cm(3) (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.35). The location (eloquent or noneloquent region) of the CCM and the DVA, respectively, was the only significant factor for any additional neurologic deficit (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001).</AbstractText Our results demonstrated similar postoperative clinical outcomes and radiographic findings between patients with impaired and unimpaired DVA after resection of CCMs. Postoperative MR images showed less peri-resectional edema in patients with preserved and unimpaired DVA. However, these results will not convert the paradigm in cavernoma surgery to preserve the associated DVA. The overall goal is still preservation of unimpaired venous drainage, but our results show that the occlusion of a DVA adjacent to a CCM can be tolerated because of a low risk of complications.</AbstractText" ], [ "38288202", "Vein of Galen Aneurysmal Malformation: A Case Report and Literature Review.", "The vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) is a rare congenital vascular malformation caused by the maldevelopment of its embryonic precursor, the median pros encephalic vein of Markowski. Although most of the VGAM cases are diagnosed in the neonatal period, sometimes it can also present during early childhood. It is very crucial to intervene immediately following the diagnosis because if&#xa0;left untreated, morbidity and mortality are imminent. The most common causes of morbidity and mortality are high-output congestive heart failure (most common neonatal presentation), hydrocephalus (most common presentation in infants), headache, and seizures.&#xa0; We are presenting the case of a two-year-old male with global developmental delay, failure to thrive, and macrocephaly who presented with recurrent generalized tonic-clonic seizures. MRI/magnetic resonance venography (MRV)/magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) brain showed an enlarged vein of Galen with venous hypertension and aqueduct stenosis.&#xa0; Treatment intervention included trans-arterial embolization of the right pericallosal, right/left lateral posterior, and medial posterior choroidal feeders with coils. The patient has had significant improvement in his neurocognitive functions including significant improvement in his speech/language development with outpatient therapies in between embolization.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39604757", "Target selection during \"snapshot\" foraging.", "While previous foraging studies have identified key variables that determine attentional selection, they are affected by the global statistics of the tasks. In most studies, targets are selected one at a time without replacement while distractor numbers remain constant, steadily reducing the ratios of targets to distractors with every selection. We designed a foraging task with a sequence of local \"snapshots\" of foraging displays, with each snapshot requiring a target selection. This enabled tighter control of local target and distractor type ratios while maintaining the flavor of a sequential, multiple-target foraging task. Observers saw only six items for each target selection during a \"snapshot\" containing varying numbers of two target types and two distractor types. After each selection, a new six-item array (the following snapshot) immediately appeared, centered on the locus of the last selected target. We contrasted feature-based and conjunction-based foraging and analyzed the data by the proportion of different target types in each trial. We found that target type proportion affected selection, with longer response times during conjunction foraging when the number of the alternate target types was greater than the repeated target types. In addition, the choice of target in each snapshot was influenced by the relative positions of selected targets and distractors during preceding snapshots. Importantly, this shows to what degree previous findings on foraging can be attributed to changing global statistics of the foraging array. We propose that \"snapshot foraging\" can increase experimental control in understanding how people choose targets during continuous attentional orienting.</AbstractText" ], [ "38908327", "1-Norm waveform analysis for MR elastography-based quantification of inhomogeneity: Effects of the freeze-thaw cycle and Alzheimer's disease.", "Despite its success in the mechanical characterization of biological tissues, magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) uses ill-posed wave inversions to estimate tissue stiffness. 1-Norm has been recently introduced as a mathematical measure for the scattering of mechanical waves due to inhomogeneities based on an analysis of the delineated contours of wave displacement.</AbstractText To investigate 1-Norm as an MRE-based quantitative biomarker of mechanical inhomogeneities arising from microscopic structural tissue alterations caused by the freeze-thaw cycle (FTC) or Alzheimer's disease (AD).</AbstractText In this proof-of-concept study, we prospectively investigated excised porcine kidney (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;6), liver (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;6), and muscle (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;6) before vs. after the FTC at 500-2000&#xa0;Hz and excised murine brain of healthy controls (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;3) vs. 5xFAD species with AD (n&#xa0;=&#xa0;3) at 1200-1800&#xa0;Hz using 0.5&#xa0;T tabletop MRE. 1-Norm analysis was compared with conventional wave inversion.</AbstractText While the FTC reduced both stiffness and inhomogeneity in kidney, liver, and muscle tissue, AD led to lower brain stiffness but more pronounced mechanical inhomogeneity.</AbstractText Our preliminary results show that 1-Norm is sensitive to tissue mechanical inhomogeneity due to FTC and AD without relying on ill-posed wave inversion techniques. 1-Norm has the potential to be used as an MRE-based diagnostic biomarker independent of stiffness to characterize abnormal conditions that involve changes in tissue mechanical inhomogeneity.</AbstractText" ], [ "38449899", "Use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication by Individuals with Rett Syndrome Part 1: Page-Linking.", "Although the last decade has welcomed evidence that individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) can communicate using alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), less is known about effective procedures for teaching various component skills required for expressive communication of individuals with complex communication needs. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of systematic individualized instruction procedures on the page-linking skills of individuals with RTT. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate independent and accurate responding utilizing both a high-tech and low-tech AAC device for three participants. All sessions were conducted in the participants' homes by their parents with remote coaching from a researcher via telehealth. Results indicated that for all three participants, individualized procedures that included behavior chaining, differential reinforcement, and delayed prompting were effective for teaching page-linking in both a high-tech and a low-tech AAC device. Directions for future research and practice are discussed.</AbstractText" ], [ "37849328", "The role of dopamine in visual imagery-An experimental pharmacological study.", "Mental imagery enables people to simulate experiences in their minds without the presence of an external stimulus. The underlying biochemical mechanisms are poorly understood but there is vague evidence that dopamine may play a significant role. A better understanding at the biochemical level could help to unravel the mechanisms of mental imagery and related phenomena such as aphantasia (=&#x2009;lack of voluntary mental imagery), but also opens up possibilities for interventions to enhance or restore mental imagery. To test the hypothesis that acute dopamine depletion leads to a decrease in the strength of mental imagery, N&#x2009;=&#x2009;22 male participants will be administered an amino acid mixture containing branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and tryptophan (TRP) to transiently reduce dopamine synthesis and further N&#x2009;=&#x2009;22 male participants will receive a placebo. Plasma prolactin (PRL) levels are determined as a peripheral marker of brain dopamine function. The strength of mental imagery will be measured before and after ingestion of the BCAA/TRP mixture using the method of mental imagery priming. Additional exploratory analyses will use genetic data to investigate possible effects of variations on dopaminergic gene loci (e.g., DAT1) on dopamine levels and strength of mental imagery. The results show [&#x2026;].</AbstractText" ], [ "36734413", "The Effect of Efavirenz on Reward Processing in Asymptomatic People Living with HIV: A Randomized Controlled Trial.", "Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated that HIV-infection affects the fronto-striatal network. It has not been examined what impact efavirenz (EFV), an antiretroviral drug notorious for its neurocognitive effects, has on the reward system: a key subcomponent involved in depressive and apathy symptoms. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of EFV on reward processing using a monetary incentive delay (MID) task. In this multicenter randomized controlled trial, asymptomatic adult participants stable on emtricitabine/tenofovirdisoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF)/EFV were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to switch to FTC/TDF/rilpivirine (RPV) (<i" ] ]
38654667
Attributes and Predictors of Opinion Leaders on Twitter: COVID-19 Childhood Vaccination Campaign.
Identifying attributes of the COVID-19 childhood vaccine message disseminators is beneficial to health campaign research. This study examines the <i
[ [ "28916181", "Replicability of time-varying connectivity patterns in large resting state fMRI samples.", "The past few years have seen an emergence of approaches that leverage temporal changes in whole-brain patterns of functional connectivity (the chronnectome). In this chronnectome study, we investigate the replicability of the human brain's inter-regional coupling dynamics during rest by evaluating two different dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analysis frameworks using 7&#xa0;500 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets. To quantify the extent to which the emergent functional connectivity (FC) patterns are reproducible, we characterize the temporal dynamics by deriving several summary measures across multiple large, independent age-matched samples. Reproducibility was demonstrated through the existence of basic connectivity patterns (FC states) amidst an ensemble of inter-regional connections. Furthermore, application of the methods to conservatively configured (statistically stationary, linear and Gaussian) surrogate datasets revealed that some of the studied state summary measures were indeed statistically significant and also suggested that this class of null model did not explain the fMRI data fully. This extensive testing of reproducibility of similarity statistics also suggests that the estimated FC states are robust against variation in data quality, analysis, grouping, and decomposition methods. We conclude that future investigations probing the functional and neurophysiological relevance of time-varying connectivity assume critical importance.</AbstractText" ], [ "38037006", "Alterations of brain activity in patients with alcohol use disorder: a resting-state fMRI study.", "Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has a negative impact on one's health and wastes a lot of societal resources since it damages one's brain tissue. Yet the knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction still remains limited. This study aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction by using voxel-wise binarized degree centrality (DC), weighted DC and functional connectivity (FC) methods to analyze brain network activity in individuals with AUD.</AbstractText Thirty-three AUD patients and 29 healthy controls (HC) participated in this study. Binarized and weighted DC approach coupled with a second seed-based FC algorithm was used to assess the abnormal intrinsic hub features in AUD. We also examined the correlation between changes in functional network nodes and the severity of alcohol dependence.</AbstractText Thirty AUD patients and 26 HC were retained after head motion correction. The spatial distribution maps of the binarized DC and weighted DC for the AUD and HC groups were roughly similar. In comparison to HC, the AUD group had decreased binarized DC and decreased weighted DC in the left precentral gyrus (PreCG) and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Significantly different brain regions in the DC analysis were defined as seed points in the FC analysis. Compared with HC, changes in FC within the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (SFGdor), bilateral IPL, left precuneus (PCUN), left lingual gyrus (LING), right cerebellum_crus1/ITG/inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and right superior parietal gyrus (SPG) were observed. The correlation analysis revealed that FC of right MTG-right PreCG was negatively correlated with MAST scores, and FC of right IPL-left IPL was positively correlated with ADS scores.</AbstractText Alcohol use disorder is associated with aberrant regional activities in multiple brain areas. Binarized DC, weighted DC and FC analyses may be useful biological indicators for the detection of regional brain activities in patients with AUD. Intergroup differences in FC have also been observed in AUD patients, and these variations were connected to the severity of the symptoms. The AUD patients with lower FC value of the right IPL - left IPL has a lighter dependence on alcohol. This difference in symptom severity may be a compensation for cognitive impairment, indicating a difference in pathological pathways. Future AUD research will now have a fresh path thanks to these discoveries.</AbstractText" ], [ "21124954", "Abnormal cortical networks in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.", "Recently, many researchers have used graph theory to study the aberrant brain structures in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and have made great progress. However, the characteristics of the cortical network in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are still largely unexplored. In this study, the gray matter volumes obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for all brain regions except the cerebellum were parcellated into 90 areas using the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) template to construct cortical networks for 98 normal controls (NCs), 113 MCIs and 91 ADs. The measurements of the network properties were calculated for each of the three groups respectively. We found that all three cortical networks exhibited small-world properties and those strong interhemispheric correlations existed between bilaterally homologous regions. Among the three cortical networks, we found the greatest clustering coefficient and the longest absolute path length in AD, which might indicate that the organization of the cortical network was the least optimal in AD. The small-world measures of the MCI network exhibited intermediate values. This finding is logical given that MCI is considered to be the transitional stage between normal aging and AD. Out of all the between-group differences in the clustering coefficient and absolute path length, only the differences between the AD and normal control groups were statistically significant. Compared with the normal controls, the MCI and AD groups retained their hub regions in the frontal lobe but showed a loss of hub regions in the temporal lobe. In addition, altered interregional correlations were detected in the parahippocampus gyrus, medial temporal lobe, cingulum, fusiform, medial frontal lobe, and orbital frontal gyrus in groups with MCI and AD. Similar to previous studies of functional connectivity, we also revealed increased interregional correlations within the local brain lobes and disrupted long distance interregional correlations in groups with MCI and AD.</AbstractText" ], [ "26477359", "White Matter Changes in Tinnitus: Is It All Age and Hearing Loss?", "Tinnitus is a condition characterized by the perception of auditory phantom sounds. It is known as the result of complex interactions between auditory and nonauditory regions. However, previous structural imaging studies on tinnitus patients showed evidence of significant white matter changes caused by hearing loss that are positively correlated with aging. Current study focused on which aspects of tinnitus pathologies affect the white matter integrity the most. We used the diffusion tensor imaging technique to acquire images that have higher contrast in brain white matter to analyze how white matter is influenced by tinnitus-related factors using voxel-based methods, region of interest analysis, and deterministic tractography. As a result, white matter integrity in chronic tinnitus patients was both directly affected by age and also mediated by the hearing loss. The most important changes in white matter regions were found bilaterally in the anterior corona radiata, anterior corpus callosum, and bilateral sagittal strata. In the tractography analysis, the white matter integrity values in tracts of right parahippocampus were correlated with the subjective tinnitus loudness.</AbstractText" ], [ "37122379", "Altered brain networks and connections in chronic heart failure patients complicated with cognitive impairment.", "Accumulating evidence shows that cognitive impairment (CI) in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients is related to brain network dysfunction. This study investigated brain network structure and rich-club organization in chronic heart failure patients with cognitive impairment based on graph analysis of diffusion tensor imaging data.</AbstractText The brain structure networks of 30 CHF patients without CI and 30 CHF patients with CI were constructed. Using graph theory analysis and rich-club analysis, changes in global and local characteristics of the subjects' brain network and rich-club organization were quantitatively calculated, and the correlation with cognitive function was analyzed.</AbstractText Compared to the CHF patients in the group without CI group, the CHF patients in the group with CI group had lower global efficiency, local efficiency, clustering coefficient, the small-world attribute, and increased shortest path length. The CHF patients with CI group showed lower nodal degree centrality in the fusiform gyrus on the right (FFG.R) and nodal efficiency in the orbital superior frontal gyrus on the left (ORB sup. L), the orbital inferior frontal gyrus on the left (ORB inf. L), and the posterior cingulate gyrus on the right (PCG.R) compared with CHF patients without CI group. The CHF patients with CI group showed a smaller fiber number of edges in specific regions. In CHF patients with CI, global efficiency, local efficiency and the connected edge of the orbital superior frontal gyrus on the right (ORB sup. R) to the orbital middle frontal gyrus on the right (ORB mid. R) were positively correlated with Visuospatial/Executive function. The connected edge of the orbital superior frontal gyrus on the right to the orbital inferior frontal gyrus on the right (ORB inf. R) is positively correlated to attention/calculation. Compared with the CHF patients without CI group, the connection strength of feeder connection and local connection in CHF patients with CI group was significantly reduced, although the strength of rich-club connection in CHF patients complicated with CI group was decreased compared with the control, there was no statistical difference. In addition, the rich-club connection strength was related to the orientation (direction force) of the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) scale, and the feeder and local connection strength was related to Visuospatial/Executive function of MoCA scale in the CHF patients with CI.</AbstractText Chronic heart failure patients with CI exhibited lower global and local brain network properties, reduced white matter fiber connectivity, as well as a decreased strength in local and feeder connections in key brain regions. The disrupted brain network characteristics and connectivity was associated with cognitive impairment in CHF patients. Our findings suggest that impaired brain network properties and decreased connectivity, a feature of progressive disruption of brain networks, predict the development of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "39616829", "Restless legs syndrome associated with teriflunomide use in two patients with multiple sclerosis.", "Teriflunomide is an oral agent that has long been used to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Teriflunomide inhibits the rapid proliferation of T and B lymphocytes by inhibiting the activity of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase. Common side effects include headache, alanine aminotransferase level elevation, hair thinning, and arthralgia. Cases of restless legs syndrome (RLS) associated with the use of teriflunomide have not been previously reported; however, RLS is more frequently observed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in healthy individuals. Herein, we present two patients with MS with low Expanded Disability Status Scale scores who developed RLS symptoms shortly after starting teriflunomide and whose complaints improved immediately after discontinuing the drug. These cases emphasize the need to consider RLS as a potential side effect of teriflunomide treatment in patients with MS, in whom RLS is more common.</AbstractText" ], [ "40519580", "Effects of Topical Capsaicin for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) Prophylaxis in Oxaliplatin-Treated Cancer Patients: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.", "Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a dose-limiting adverse effect of oxaliplatin treatment that significantly impacts patients' quality of life. This study investigated whether topical capsaicin could prevent CIPN progression.</AbstractText In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adult cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin chemotherapy were assigned to either 65% capsaicin cream or placebo, applied twice daily for 6 weeks. Neuropathy was assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version-5 scale at baseline, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks.</AbstractText Among 76 study completers, the capsaicin group showed significantly lower neuropathy grades compared to controls (<i Initial findings suggest topical capsaicin may provide neuroprotective effects against oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy. While these results indicate potential benefits for cancer patients' quality of life, larger multicenter trials are needed to confirm efficacy across diverse populations and establish capsaicin's role as a prophylactic intervention for CIPN.</AbstractText" ], [ "40752665", "Deep learning-based classification of fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis using confocal microscopy.", "Fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis carry the worst prognoses among microbial keratitis (IK), owing to challenges in diagnosis and treatment. This study assesses the feasibility of deep learning (DL) to classify types of IK-fungal keratitis (FK), Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), and nonspecific keratitis (NSK) (any other corneal inflammation)-and subtyping of FK using in vivo confocal microscopy.</AbstractText In this study, we employed transfer learning with a ResNet50 architecture to classify culture-confirmed keratitis types in a dataset of 1975 images (1137 FK, 457 AK, and 381 NSK) obtained from the Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph 3 (HRT 3). The dataset was split into training and testing sets. Data augmentation (e.g., rotation, zooming) was applied to the training subset to address class imbalance, and class weighting was used (5x for AK, 30x for NSK). Both models were trained for 150 epochs using the Adam optimizer with 5-fold cross-validation. Model 1 performed multi-class classification (FK, AK, NSK). Model 2 classified FK cases as either filamentous or non-filamentous.</AbstractText Model 1 achieved a macro average accuracy of 87&#xa0;% and a weighted average accuracy of 89&#xa0;%. Precision and recall were high for AK (93&#xa0;%, 96&#xa0;%) and FK (90&#xa0;%, 92&#xa0;%), while NSK showed lower performance (78&#xa0;%, 71&#xa0;%). Model 2 demonstrated an accuracy of 85&#xa0;% in subtyping FK, with an F1-score of 0.81 for filamentous and 0.85 for non-filamentous, an ROC AUC of 0.94, and a PR AUC of 0.95.</AbstractText DL models can accurately classify IK and subtype FK, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and informing targeted treatment strategies.</AbstractText" ], [ "39850254", "Dynamic association of antimicrobial resistance in urinary isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae between primary care and hospital settings in the Netherlands (2008-2020): a population-based study.", "It is unclear whether changes in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in primary care influence AMR in hospital settings. Therefore, we investigated the dynamic association of AMR between primary care and hospitals.</AbstractText We studied resistance percentages of <i The main AMR association was unidirectional from primary care to hospital settings with Granger-causality p-values between &lt;0.0001 and 0.029. Depending on the bacterium-antibiotic combination, a 1% increase of AMR in <i For the majority of bacterium-antibiotic combinations, the main AMR association was from primary care to hospital settings. These results underscore the importance of antibiotic stewardship at the community level.</AbstractText ISIS-AR is supported by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands and the first author by the Central University of Ecuador to follow a PhD program in Erasmus MC.</AbstractText" ], [ "39879402", "Psychophysical assessment of color vision with the Cambridge Color Vision Test in unilateral functional amblyopia.", "Amblyopia is a cortical neurological disorder caused by abnormal visual experiences during the critical period for visual development. Recent works have shown that, in addition to the well-known visual alterations, such as changes in visual acuity, several perceptual aspects of vision are affected. This study aims to analyze and compare the effects of different types of amblyopia on visual color processing and determine whether these effects are correlated with visual acuity.</AbstractText Our study sample comprised 42 amblyopic individuals, aged 7-40 years, (strabismus, n=16; anisometropia, n=18; and mixed-cause, n=8) and 33 age-matched controls. Color vision was tested by measuring the chromaticity threshold of each patient on the protan, deutan, and tritan axes using version 02 of the Cambridge Color Test. Spatial stimulation cues were eliminated using spatial noise and luminance.</AbstractText The color discrimination thresholds on the protan, deutan, and tritan axes were similar between control participants and amblyopic patients (p&gt;0.05). There was no correlation between VA values and color thresholds (p&gt;0.05).</AbstractText Patients with amblyopia have normal color vision in contexts that include luminance and spatial noise. Our results may be indicative of independent neural pathways for spatial and chromatic visual processing.</AbstractText" ] ]
39986545
An unraveled mystery: What's the role of brain sphingolipids in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
Sphingolipids are a class of lipids highly expressed in brain, especially in the myelin sheath of white matter. In recent years, with the development of lipidomics, the role of brain sphingolipids in neurological disorders have raised lots of interests due to their function in neuronal signal transduction and survival. Although not thoroughly investigated, some previous studies have indicated that sphingolipids homeostasis are closely linked to the etiology and development of some neurological disorders. For example, disrupted sphingolipids level have been found in clinic patients with neurological disorders, such as neurodegeneration and psychiatric disorders. Conversely, intervention of sphingolipids metabolism by modulating activity of related enzymes also could result in pathological deficits identified in neurological disorders. Moreover, the alteration of sphingolipids catabolic pathway in the brain could be partly represented in cerebrospinal fluid and blood tissues, which show diagnostic potential for neurological disorders. Therefore, our review aims to summarize and discuss the known contents of bioactive sphingolipid metabolism with their related studies in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, to help understand the potential mechanism underlying sphingolipid regulation of neural function and provide possible directions for further study. The new perspectives in this promising field will open up new therapeutic options for neurological disorders.</AbstractText
[ [ "39883092", "A Statistically-Robust Model of the Axomyelin Unit under Normal Physiologic Conditions with Application to Disease States.", "Despite tremendous progress in characterizing the myriad cellular structures in the nervous system, a full appreciation of the interdependent and intricate interactions between these structures is as yet unfulfilled. Indeed, few more so than the interaction between the myelin internode and its ensheathed axon. More than a half-century after the ultrastructural characterization of this axomyelin unit, we lack a reliable understanding of the physiological properties, the significance and consequence of pathobiological processes, and the means to gauge success or failure of interventions designed to mitigate disease. Herein, we highlight shortcomings in the most common statistical procedures used to characterize the myelin <i" ], [ "35694147", "In vivo myelin imaging and tissue microstructure in white matter hyperintensities and perilesional white matter.", "White matter hyperintensities negatively impact white matter structure and relate to cognitive decline in aging. Diffusion tensor imaging detects changes to white matter microstructure, both within the white matter hyperintensity and extending into surrounding (perilesional) normal-appearing white matter. However, diffusion tensor imaging markers are not specific to tissue components, complicating the interpretation of previous microstructural findings. Myelin water imaging is a novel imaging technique that provides specific markers of myelin content (myelin water fraction) and interstitial fluid (geometric mean T<sub" ], [ "37279748", "Profiling of purified autophagic vesicle degradome in the maturing and aging brain.", "Autophagy disorders prominently affect the brain, entailing neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative phenotypes in adolescence or aging, respectively. Synaptic and behavioral deficits are largely recapitulated in mouse models with ablation of autophagy genes in brain cells. Yet, the nature and temporal dynamics of brain autophagic substrates remain insufficiently characterized. Here, we immunopurified LC3-positive autophagic vesicles (LC3-pAVs) from the mouse brain and proteomically profiled their content. Moreover, we characterized the LC3-pAV content that accumulates after macroautophagy impairment, validating a brain autophagic degradome. We reveal selective pathways for aggrephagy, mitophagy, and ER-phagy via selective autophagy receptors, and the turnover of numerous synaptic substrates, under basal conditions. To gain insight into the temporal dynamics of autophagic protein turnover, we quantitatively compared adolescent, adult, and aged brains, revealing critical periods of enhanced mitophagy or degradation of synaptic substrates. Overall, this resource unbiasedly characterizes the contribution of autophagy to proteostasis in the maturing, adult, and aged brain.</AbstractText" ], [ "26104102", "Mapping pathological changes in brain structure by combining T1- and T2-weighted MR imaging data.", "A workflow based on the ratio between standardized T1-weighted (T1-w) and T2-weighted (T2-w) MR images has been proposed as a new tool to study brain structure. This approach was previously used to map structural properties in the healthy brain. Here, we evaluate whether the T1-w/T2-w approach can support the assessment of structural impairments in the diseased brain. We use schizophrenia data to demonstrate the potential clinical utility of the technique.</AbstractText We analyzed T1-w and T2-w images of 36 schizophrenic patients and 35 age-matched controls. These were collected for the Function Biomedical Informatics Research Network (fBIRN) collaborative project, which had an IRB approval and followed the HIPAA guidelines. We computed T1-w/T2-w images for each individual and compared intensities in schizophrenic and control groups on a voxel-wise basis, as well as in regions of interest (ROIs).</AbstractText Our results revealed that the T1-w/T2-w image permits to discriminate brain regions showing group-level differences between patients and controls with greater accuracy than conventional T1-w and T2-w images. Both the ROIs and the voxel-wise analysis showed globally reduced gray and white matter values in patients compared to controls. Significantly reduced values were found in regions such as insula, primary auditory cortex, hippocampus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus.</AbstractText Our findings were consistent with previous meta-analyses in schizophrenia corroborating the hypothesis of a potential \"disconnection\" syndrome in conjunction with structural alterations in local gray matter regions. Overall, our study suggested that the T1-w/T2-w technique permits to reliably map structural differences between the brains of patients and healthy individuals.</AbstractText" ], [ "33524576", "Can MRI measure myelin? Systematic review, qualitative assessment, and meta-analysis of studies validating microstructural imaging with myelin histology.", "Recent years have seen an increased understanding of the importance of myelination in healthy brain function and neuropsychiatric diseases. Non-invasive microstructural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) holds the potential to expand and translate these insights to basic and clinical human research, but the sensitivity and specificity of different MR markers to myelination is a subject of debate. To consolidate current knowledge on the topic, we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that validate microstructural imaging by combining it with myelin histology. We find meta-analytic evidence for correlations between various myelin histology metrics and markers from different MRI modalities, including fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, macromolecular pool, magnetization transfer ratio, susceptibility and longitudinal relaxation rate, but not mean diffusivity. Meta-analytic correlation effect sizes range widely, between R<sup" ] ]
[ [ "39780864", "Social network analysis as a new tool to measure academic impact of physicians.", "H-index is a widely used metric quantifying a researcher's productivity and impact based on an author's publications and citations. Though convenient to calculate, h-index fails to incorporate collaborations and interrelationships between physicians into its assessment of academic impact, leading to limited insight into grouped networks. We present social network analysis as a tool to measure relationships between physicians and quantify their academic impact.</AbstractText A bibliometric multicenter analysis was conducted on physician faculty from 129 US ACGME accredited otolaryngology programs who have publications with a physician co-author in the field. Using web searches, 2494 physician faculty were identified. Scopus IDs, h-indices, and publication data for these physicians were identified using multiple Elsevier APIs queried in December 2023. Publications with multiple otolaryngology physician co-authors were included. Network and sub network maps were generated using Gephi and analyzed with custom R scripts. Centrality measures (degree, PageRank, betweenness centralities) quantified collaboration propensity. Non-parametric correlation analysis between centrality measures and h-index was conducted. Sankey diagrams were plotted using ggplot2.</AbstractText A co-authorship network of 2259 physicians was constructed. Physicians were visualized as nodes with collaborations as links. Centrality measures correlated strongly with h-index (h-index vs. degree centrality: <i Social network analysis showed moderate correlation between social connectedness measures and h-index, supporting its use in measuring academic impact. In otolaryngology, collaborative interactions within the academic community are strongly shaped by sub-specialty affiliation and academic institution.</AbstractText" ], [ "40184588", "Facilitation and Interference Effects During Cognate Retrieval in a Multilingual Person With Aphasia.", "In this study, we investigated the phenomenon of cognate status-based picture-naming abilities before and after anomia treatment in a multilingual person with poststroke aphasia whose languages vary in relation to language typology, age of acquisition, proficiency, and exposure/use in the years leading up to the stroke. We examined baseline abilities as well as the efficacy of within- and cross-language generalization.</AbstractText In a multiple-baseline study, we measured cognate versus noncognate picture-based naming in one multilingual person with mixed transcortical aphasia in three of his languages: Swahili, English, and Hebrew. We provided 18 hrs of word retrieval treatment in English and then retested his cognate versus noncognate retrieval in all three languages.</AbstractText At baseline, no cognate advantage was observed in English (high proficiency, early acquisition, high daily use). A cognate advantage was observed for Hebrew (late acquisition, moderate proficiency, oft-used) and potentially for Swahili (high proficiency, early acquisition, rarely used). After treatment in English, our results indicated greater interference effects for cognates relative to noncognates in Hebrew and Swahili, but not English.</AbstractText Retrieval ability may be more influenced by prestroke usage than by age of acquisition or proficiency, with a facilitative cognate advantage for less proficient and/or less used languages. Furthermore, treating a stronger language may result in interference of cognate retrieval more than noncognate retrieval in weaker languages. More studies are needed in this field to better understand the contribution of each factor and how we can manipulate them to our advantage in the aphasia clinic.</AbstractText https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.28620785.</AbstractText" ], [ "40603783", "The Labile Side of Iron in Health and Disease: A Narrative Review.", "Labile iron is an exchangeable and redox-active form of Fe<sup" ], [ "40617623", "Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospita.", "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting motor neurons. In addition to motor impairments, ALS frequently involves cognitive and behavioural disturbances, including deficits in social cognition, which can impact interpersonal interactions and decision-making. Despite increasing recognition of these impairments, existing assessment tools often rely on static stimuli, limiting their ecological validity.</AbstractText This cross-sectional, single-centre study aims to assess social cognition abilities in patients with ALS compared with healthy controls using a combination of dynamic and static neuropsychological tools. The primary outcome measure will be performance on the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, an ecologically valid test evaluating theory of mind. Secondary outcomes will include emotion recognition (static and dynamic tasks: Ekman Faces and French Emotion Evaluation Test), mood assessments (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and clinical variables such as disease severity (ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised), cognitive function (Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural Screen, Mini-Mental State Examination) and disease staging (King's ALS Clinical Staging System). A total of 74 participants (37 patients with ALS and 37 matched healthy controls) will be recruited. Group differences will be analysed using analysis of variance, while regression models will explore associations between social cognitive deficits and clinical markers of ALS progression.</AbstractText This study has been approved by the French Ethics Committee (CPP) Ouest I under reference 2020-A01213-36. Data collection and processing comply with French and European data protection regulations (GDPR, Loi Informatique et Libert&#xe9;s). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences and will contribute to improving neuropsychological assessment methods for ALS.</AbstractText NCT04406675.</AbstractText" ], [ "40702298", "Expressive Writing and Self-Care in Palliative Care Professionals: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study.", "Palliative care professionals are exposed to emotionally intense situations. Stress, anxiety, and burnout can impact the dimension of care through the loss of motivation. Expressive writing in the general population effectively promotes emotion regulation through meaning-making. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Expressive writing on the meaning change in the perception of traumatic professional events in multi-professional palliative care settings in Italy. We conducted a prospective study with longitudinal qualitative methodology, following an ad-hoc expressive writing protocol. The study involved the selection of 10 various palliative care professionals working in hospices, hospital palliative care units, and community palliative care. We identified six main themes that shifted meaning throughout the four writing sessions: description of the phenomena, strong emotions, health workers' elaborations, processing feelings, improvement strategies, and interior resources. Expressive writing is effective in helping palliative care professionals process intense emotions and feelings related to a traumatic event, stimulating critical self-reflection and self-care, and supporting meaning-making.</AbstractText" ] ]
40509303
The Role of Lactoferrin in Combating Candida spp. Infections Through Regulation of Oxidative Stress, Immune Response, and Nutritional Support in Women and Newborns.
Lactoferrin (LF) is a natural glycoprotein with strong antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and nutritional potential and is widely present in milk and mucosal secretions. This paper aims to review the current knowledge on the application of lactoferrin and its bioactive peptides in the context of fungal infections caused by <i
[ [ "28276593", "Association between sickle cell anemia and alpha thalassemia reveals a high prevalence of the α(3.7) triplication in congolese patients than in worldwide series.", "Information about the association with alpha thalassemia in sickle cell patients is unknown in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is very little data on the alpha thalassemia in patients suffering from sickle cell anemia in Central Africa, and their consequences on the clinical expression of the disease.</AbstractText A cross-sectional study was conducted in 106 sickle cell patients living in the country's capital Kinshasa. The diagnosis of sickle cell anemia was confirmed with a molecular test using PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) technique. The diagnosis of thalassemia was performed by the technique of multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification.</AbstractText The mean age of our patients was 22.4&#xb1;13.6&#xa0;years. The &#x3b1;<sup The prevalence of &#x3b1;<sup" ], [ "38548024", "The protective role of sesame oil against Parkinson's-like disease induced by manganese in rats.", "Chronic exposure to manganese (Mn) results in motor dysfunction, biochemical and pathological alterations in the brain. Oxidative stress, inflammation, and dysfunction of dopaminergic and GABAergic systems stimulate activating transcription factor-6 (ATF-6) and protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK) leading to apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of sesame oil (SO) against Mn-induced neurotoxicity. Rats received 25&#x202f;mg/kg MnCl<sub" ], [ "33370528", "Novel Zn-Binding Peptide Isolated from Soy Protein Hydrolysates: Purification, Structure, and Digestion.", "In this study, a novel Zn-binding peptide, Lys-Tyr-Lys-Arg-Gln-Arg-Trp (KYKRQRW), was purified and identified from soy protein isolate hydrolysates (SPIHs). The Zn-binding peptide exhibited improved Zn-binding capacity (83.21 &#xb1; 2.65%) than SPIH solutions. CD, NMR, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to confirm the complexation between Zn and the peptide. The results showed that the Zn-binding peptide formed a folding structure with part of the &#x3b2;-sheet (29.3-13.4%) turning into random coils (41.7-57.6%) during complexation. It was further proved that the binding sites were located at the oxygen atoms on the carboxyl group of the Trp side chain and nitrogen atoms on the amino group of the Lys side chain. Moreover, the Zn-peptide complex exhibited increased solubility than ZnSO<sub" ], [ "39766599", "Perspectives on the Use of Echinocandins in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.", "The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) population, especially low birth weight and critically ill neonates, is at risk of invasive <i" ], [ "30765703", "Macrophage achieves self-protection against oxidative stress-induced ageing through the Mst-Nrf2 axis.", "Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in phagocytes is a major defense mechanism against pathogens. However, the cellular self-protective mechanism against such potential damage from oxidative stress remains unclear. Here we show that the kinases Mst1 and Mst2 (Mst1/2) sense ROS and maintain cellular redox balance by modulating the stability of antioxidant transcription factor Nrf2. Site-specific ROS release recruits Mst1/2 from the cytosol to the phagosomal or mitochondrial membrane, with ROS subsequently activating Mst1/2 to phosphorylate kelch like ECH associated protein 1 (Keap1) and prevent Keap1 polymerization, thereby blocking Nrf2 ubiquitination and degradation to protect cells against oxidative damage. Treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine disrupts ROS-induced interaction of Mst1/2 with phagosomes or mitochondria, and thereby diminishes the Mst-Nrf2 signal. Consistently, loss of Mst1/2 results in increased oxidative injury, phagocyte ageing and death. Thus, our results identify the Mst-Nrf2 axis as an important ROS-sensing and antioxidant mechanism during an antimicrobial response.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40615124", "Multiday intravenous ketamine infusion therapy for the management of central sensitisation syndrome secondary to chronic chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathic pain.", "Ketamine infusion therapy is increasingly being used as an effective treatment for chronic pain syndromes, including central sensitisation syndrome (CSS) or nociplastic pain. On the contrary, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common but poorly understood condition arising secondary to cancer treatment complications, which poses significant challenges in its management due to limited therapeutic options. We present a case of a man in his 60s with chronic CIPN, later complicated by CSS and post-COVID-19 symptoms treated with a multiday subanaesthetic ketamine infusion, resulting in a clinically significant and sustained long-term improvement in function and pain control, for pain due to CSS and CIPN.This case highlights the use of multiday ketamine infusion therapy for the management of CSS and post-COVID-19 symptoms in a patient with well-documented severe treatment refractory CIPN. It demonstrates the growing evidence for ketamine as an analgesic agent for chronic pain, with potential considerations to expand its use for other indications. His response to ketamine infusion may implicate the possibility of a unifying mechanism in patients with nociplastic pain or CSS, post- COVID-19 symptoms and chronic CIPN.</AbstractText" ], [ "40703661", "Inflammatory markers in the cerebrospinal fluid linked to mortality in tuberculous meningitis.", "This study examines the role of host inflammation in the high mortality of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and identifies potential biomarkers associated with improved survival. We conducted a case-control study involving 131 patients in a discovery cohort, 81 TBM patients in a validation cohort, and 43 non-infected controls from a referral hospital in Indonesia. We measured 94 inflammation-related proteins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and performed genome-wide quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. Sixty-seven proteins were found to be differentially expressed between TBM patients and controls, with 64 proteins elevated in patients. Five proteins, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-10 (MMP-10), were identified as predictors of 180-day mortality in TBM patients. The validation cohort confirmed that MMP-10, but not VEGF, was predictive of mortality. Genome-wide QTL mapping identified two genome-wide significant and four suggestive genetic loci associated with CSF MMP-10, which also predicted survival in an additional cohort of 218 patients. High CSF concentrations of MMP-10, along with specific genetic loci, may be associated with survival in TBM patients, suggesting a potential role for MMP-10 in disease pathogenesis and warranting further investigation into its utility in host-directed therapies.</AbstractText" ], [ "40622846", "Exploring the genetic basis of violence: The impact of Y and X chromosomes.", "Violence is a pressing global concern, causing more than 475 000 deaths annually and disproportionately affecting women and children. While environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors contribute to violent behavior, this article focuses on the genetic aspect, particularly the roles of the X and Y chromosomes. The monoamino oxidase A () gene influences neurotransmitter catabolism and is located on the X chromosome. Polymorphisms, such as tandem repeat variants associated with low transcriptional activity, have been linked to aggression, particularly in men, as X chromosome inactivation complicates studies in women. Other variants, including single-nucleotide polymorphisms, have also been associated with violent behavior. Additionally, individuals with fragile X syndrome often exhibit increased aggression patterns. The Y chromosome's sex-determining region Y gene () plays a pivotal role in male sexual development and behavior. Besides directing testicular formation, is expressed in other tissues, influencing violence by modulating catecholamine release and inhibiting the monoamio oxidasa A. Evolutionary hypotheses suggest that may have adapted to promote male aggression for survival. Despite evidence linking the X and Y chromosomes to violence, conflicting findings highlight the need for further research to fully understand their roles in aggressive behavior. This article focuses on the genetic component, specifically analyzing the bibliographic evidence associating Y and X chromosome genetics to violent behavior.</AbstractText La violencia es un problema mundial acuciante, que causa m&#xe1;s de 475.000 muertes al a&#xf1;o y afecta de forma desproporcionada a mujeres y ni&#xf1;os. Aunque los factores ambientales, gen&#xe9;ticos y epigen&#xe9;ticos contribuyen al comportamiento violento, este art&#xed;culo se centra en el aspecto gen&#xe9;tico, en particular en el papel de los cromosomas X e Y. El gen MAOA influye en el catabolismo de los neurotransmisores y se localiza en el cromosoma X. Los polimorfismos, como las variantes de n&#xfa;mero variable de repeticiones en t&#xe1;ndem asociadas a una baja actividad transcripcional, se han relacionado con la agresividad, sobre todo en los hombres, ya que la inactivaci&#xf3;n del cromosoma X complica los estudios en las mujeres. Otras variantes de la MAOA, incluidos polimorfismos espec&#xed;ficos de un solo nucle&#xf3;tido, tambi&#xe9;n se han relacionado con el comportamiento violento. Adem&#xe1;s, los individuos con s&#xed;ndrome del cromosoma X fr&#xe1;gil suelen presentar patrones de agresividad aumentados. El gen SRY del cromosoma Y desempe&#xf1;a un papel fundamental en el desarrollo sexual y el comportamiento masculinos. Adem&#xe1;s de dirigir la formaci&#xf3;n de los test&#xed;culos, el SRY se expresa en otros tejidos e influye en la violencia modulando la liberaci&#xf3;n de catecolaminas e inhibiendo la MAOA. Las hip&#xf3;tesis evolutivas sugieren que el SRY puede haberse adaptado para promover la agresividad masculina en aras de la supervivencia. A pesar de las pruebas que relacionan los cromosomas X e Y con la violencia, los resultados contradictorios ponen de relieve la necesidad de seguir investigando para comprender plenamente su papel en el comportamiento agresivo. Este art&#xed;culo se centra en el componente gen&#xe9;tico, analizando espec&#xed;ficamente las pruebas bibliogr&#xe1;ficas que asocian la gen&#xe9;tica de los cromosomas Y y X con la violencia.</AbstractText" ], [ "40543286", "Image-based AI tools in peripheral nerves assessment: Current status and integration strategies - A narrative review.", "Peripheral Nerves (PNs) are traditionally evaluated using US or MRI, allowing radiologists to identify and classify them as normal or pathological based on imaging findings, symptoms, and electrophysiological tests. However, the anatomical complexity of PNs, coupled with their proximity to surrounding structures like vessels and muscles, presents significant challenges. Advanced imaging techniques, including MR-neurography and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) neurography, have shown promise but are hindered by steep learning curves, operator dependency, and limited accessibility. Discrepancies between imaging findings and patient symptoms further complicate the evaluation of PNs, particularly in cases where imaging appears normal despite clinical indications of pathology. Additionally, demographic and clinical factors such as age, sex, comorbidities, and physical activity influence PN health but remain unquantifiable with current imaging methods. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions have emerged as a transformative tool in PN evaluation. AI-based algorithms offer the potential to transition from qualitative to quantitative assessments, enabling precise segmentation, characterization, and threshold determination to distinguish healthy from pathological nerves. These advances could improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment monitoring. This review highlights the latest advances in AI applications for PN imaging, discussing their potential to overcome the current limitations and opportunities to improve their integration into routine radiological practice.</AbstractText" ], [ "39847186", "Weathering the Pain: Ambient Temperature's Role in Chronic Pain Syndromes.", "Chronic pain is highly prevalent and involves a complex interaction of sensory, emotional, and cognitive processes, significantly influenced by ambient temperature. Despite advances in pain management, many patients continue to experience inadequate pain relief. This review aims to consolidate and critically evaluate the current evidence on the impact of ambient temperature on chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia (FM), multiple sclerosis (MS), complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and osteoarthritis (OA).</AbstractText Patients with FM often report pain exacerbations due to temperature changes, with studies showing lower thresholds for heat and cold-induced pain compared to healthy controls. In MS, the Uhthoff phenomenon, characterized by temperature-induced neurological deterioration, underscores the significance of ambient temperature in pain management. CRPS patients exhibit heightened pain sensitivity to temperature changes, with both warm and cold stimuli potentially aggravating symptoms. OA patients frequently report increased pain and rigidity associated with lower temperatures and higher humidity. Understanding the mechanisms through which temperature influences pain can enhance pain management strategies. This review highlights the need for further research to elucidate these mechanisms and develop targeted interventions, ultimately improving the quality of life for individuals with chronic pain conditions.</AbstractText" ] ]
37167467
Pulmonary and central nervous system nocardiosis: Alcoholism as an immunocompromising factor.
Nocardiosis is a disease with worldwide distribution. It is usually found in tropical areas and mainly affects immunocompromised patients, however, there are also cases where its infection has been reported in immunocompetent patients. This pathology is caused by bacteria known as Nocardia spp., which are gram-positive microorganisms and environmental saprophytes, and although exposure to Nocardia spp. is almost universal, only a small fraction of exposed people develops the disease. We present the case of a 47-year-old man, with no evidence of immunosuppression, from a rural area of Boyac&#xe1;, who was admitted due to intense and intermittent headache accompanied by paresthesia and, finally, a decrease in consciousness. A brain magnetic resonance was performed and evidenced a fronto-temporo- occipital space-occupying lesion in the cortico-subcortical region with a compressive effect and displacement of the ventricular system cavities. It was suspected at first a neoplastic lesion or a brain abscess. The lesion was surgically resected, and its culture showed Nocardia africana/nova. In later studies a possible primary pulmonary focus was evidenced. Alcoholism was the only risk factor documented. The patient completed 6 weeks of hospital antibiotic treatment with favorable clinical and radiological evolution and was discharged with a 1-year plan of outpatient antibiotic therapy. Although Nocardia spp. mainly affects immunocompromised patients, evidence shows that this microorganism can also be a threat to individuals without traditional immunosuppression risk factors.</AbstractText La nocardiosis es una enfermedad de distribuci&#xf3;n mundial; de forma habitual se encuentra en zonas tropicales y afecta principalmente a pacientes inmunocomprometidos, sin embargo, tambi&#xe9;n existen casos reportados de infecci&#xf3;n en personas inmunocompetentes. Esta infecci&#xf3;n es causada por actinomicetos del g&#xe9;nero Nocardia spp. que son bacterias Gram positivas, sapr&#xf3;fitos ambientales. Aunque la exposici&#xf3;n a Nocardia spp. es casi universal, solo una peque&#xf1;a fracci&#xf3;n de las personas expuestas desarrollan la enfermedad. Se presenta el caso de un hombre de 47 a&#xf1;os, sin dato de inmunosupresi&#xf3;n, procedente de un &#xe1;rea rural de Boyac&#xe1;, que consult&#xf3; por un cuadro cl&#xed;nico de cefalea intensa e intermitente, con parestesias y, finalmente, alteraci&#xf3;n del estado de conciencia. Se practic&#xf3; una resonancia magn&#xe9;tica cerebral, en la que se evidenci&#xf3; una lesi&#xf3;n que ocupaba espacio de localizaci&#xf3;n c&#xf3;rtico-subcortical en la regi&#xf3;n fronto-t&#xe9;mporo-parietal izquierda, con efecto compresivo y desplazamiento de las cavidades del sistema ventricular. Se sospech&#xf3;, inicialmente, una lesi&#xf3;n neopl&#xe1;sica o un absceso cerebral. El paciente fue sometido a una resecci&#xf3;n quir&#xfa;rgica, y el cultivo de la lesi&#xf3;n document&#xf3; Nocardia africana/nova; en estudios posteriores, se evidenci&#xf3; un posible foco pulmonar primario. Como &#xfa;nico factor de riesgo en el paciente, se document&#xf3; alcoholismo. Complet&#xf3; seis semanas de tratamiento antibi&#xf3;tico intrahospitalario con evoluci&#xf3;n cl&#xed;nica y radiol&#xf3;gica, y egres&#xf3; con plan de un a&#xf1;o de terapia antibi&#xf3;tica ambulatoria. Aunque la enfermedad por Nocardia spp. afecta principalmente a pacientes inmunocomprometidos, la "evidencia" cl&#xed;nica demuestra que este microorganismo tambi&#xe9;n puede ser una amenaza para individuos sin los factores de riesgo tradicionales para inmunosupresi&#xf3;n.</AbstractText Nocardiosis is a disease with worldwide distribution. It is usually found in tropical areas and mainly affects immunocompromised patients, however, there are also cases where its infection has been reported in immunocompetent patients. This pathology is caused by bacteria known as <i
[ [ "37221051", "Cerebral enhancement in MOG antibody-associated disease.", "Limited data exist on brain MRI enhancement in myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) and differences from aquaporin-4-IgG-positive-neuromyelitis-optica-spectrum-disorder (AQP4+NMOSD), and multiple sclerosis (MS).</AbstractText In this retrospective observational study, we identified 122 Mayo Clinic MOGAD patients (1 January 1996-1 July 2020) with cerebral attacks. We explored enhancement patterns using a discovery set (n=41). We assessed enhancement frequency and Expanded Disability Status Scale scores at nadir and follow-up in the remainder (n=81). Two raters assessed T1-weighted-postgadolinium MRIs (1.5T/3T) for enhancement patterns in MOGAD, AQP4+NMOSD (n=14) and MS (n=26). Inter-rater agreement was assessed. Leptomeningeal enhancement clinical correlates were analysed.</AbstractText Enhancement occurred in 59/81 (73%) MOGAD cerebral attacks but did not influence outcome. Enhancement was often patchy/heterogeneous in MOGAD (33/59 (56%)), AQP4+NMOSD (9/14 (64%); p=0.57) and MS (16/26 (62%); p=0.63). Leptomeningeal enhancement favoured MOGAD (27/59 (46%)) over AQP4+NMOSD (1/14 (7%); p=0.01) and MS (1/26 (4%); p&lt;0.001) with headache, fever and seizures frequent clinical correlates. Ring enhancement favoured MS (8/26 (31%); p=0.006) over MOGAD (4/59 (7%)). Linear ependymal enhancement was unique to AQP4+NMOSD (2/14 (14%)) and persistent enhancement (&gt;3 months) was rare (0%-8%) across all groups. Inter-rater agreement for enhancement patterns was moderate.</AbstractText Enhancement is common with MOGAD cerebral attacks and often has a non-specific patchy appearance and rarely persists beyond 3 months. Leptomeningeal enhancement favours MOGAD over AQP4+NMOSD&#x2009;and MS.</AbstractText" ], [ "36900177", "Peritumoral ADC Values Correlate with the MGMT Methylation Status in Patients with Glioblastoma.", "Different results have been reported concerning the relationship of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and the status of methylation as the promoter gene for the enzyme methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in patients with glioblastomas (GBs). The aim of this study was to investigate if there were correlations between the ADC values of the enhancing tumor and peritumoral areas of GBs and the MGMT methylation status. In this retrospective study, we included 42 patients with newly diagnosed unilocular GB with one MRI study prior to any treatment and histopathological data. After co-registration of ADC maps with T1-weighted sequences after contrast administration and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion, we manually selected one region-of-interest (ROI) in the enhancing and perfused tumor and one ROI in the peritumoral white matter. Both ROIs were mirrored in the healthy hemisphere for normalization. In the peritumoral white matter, absolute and normalized ADC values were significantly higher in patients with MGMT-unmethylated tumors, as compared to patients with MGMT-methylated tumors (absolute values <i" ], [ "36192175", "Differentiating Multiple Sclerosis From AQP4-Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder and MOG-Antibody Disease With Imaging.", "Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4-NMOSD), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) may have overlapping clinical features. There is an unmet need for imaging markers that differentiate between them when serologic testing is unavailable or ambiguous. We assessed whether imaging characteristics typical of MS discriminate RRMS from AQP4-NMOSD and MOGAD, alone and in combination.</AbstractText Adult, nonacute patients with RRMS, APQ4-NMOSD, and MOGAD and healthy controls were prospectively recruited at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (London, United Kingdom) and the Walton Centre (Liverpool, United Kingdom) between 2014 and 2019. They underwent conventional and advanced brain, cord, and optic nerve MRI and optical coherence tomography (OCT).</AbstractText A total of 91 consecutive patients (31 RRMS, 30 APQ4-NMOSD, and 30 MOGAD) and 34 healthy controls were recruited. The most accurate measures differentiating RRMS from AQP4-NMOSD were the proportion of lesions with the central vein sign (CVS) (84% vs 33%, accuracy/specificity/sensitivity: 91/88/93%, <i Cortical lesions, CVS, and optic nerve markers achieve a high accuracy in distinguishing RRMS from APQ4-NMOSD and MOGAD. This information may be useful in clinical practice, especially outside the acute phase and when serologic testing is ambiguous or not promptly available.</AbstractText This study provides Class II evidence that selected conventional and advanced brain, cord, and optic nerve MRI and OCT markers distinguish adult patients with RRMS from AQP4-NMOSD and MOGAD.</AbstractText" ], [ "35488516", "Diagnostic performance of gliomas grading and IDH status decoding A comparison between 3D amide proton transfer APT and four diffusion-weighted MRI models.", "The focus of neuro-oncology research has changed from histopathologic grading to molecular characteristics, and medical imaging routinely follows this change.</AbstractText To compare the diagnostic performance of amide proton transfer (APT) and four diffusion models in gliomas grading and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genotype.</AbstractText Prospective.</AbstractText A total of 62 participants (37 males, 25 females; mean age, 52&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;13&#x2009;years) whose IDH genotypes were mutant in 6 of 14 grade II gliomas, 8 of 20 of grade III gliomas, and 4 of 28 grade IV gliomas.</AbstractText APT imaging using sampling perfection with application optimized contrasts by using different flip angle evolutions (SPACE) and DWI with q-space Cartesian grid sampling were acquired at 3&#xa0;T.</AbstractText The ability of diffusion kurtosis imaging, diffusion kurtosis imaging, neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), mean apparent propagator (MAP), and APT imaging for glioma grade and IDH status were assessed, with histopathological grade and genetic testing used as a reference standard. Regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn by two neuroradiologists after consensus.</AbstractText T-test and Mann-Whitney U test; one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA); receiver operating curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC); DeLong test. P value&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05 was considered statistically significant.</AbstractText Compared with IDH-mutant gliomas, IDH-wildtype gliomas showed a significantly higher mean, 5th-percentile (APT<sub APT has higher diagnostic accuracy than DTI, DKI, MAP, and NODDI in glioma IDH genotype. APT<sub 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.</AbstractText" ], [ "37620065", "Transverse myelitis in children and adults.", "Transverse myelitis is a noncompressive myelopathy of inflammatory origin. The causes are broad, ranging from infective or toxic to immuno-mediated etiology. They can be manifestations of systemic diseases, such as sarcoidosis and systemic lupus erythematous, or phenotypes of neuroinflammation; in a portion of cases, the etiology remains unknown, leading to the designation idiopathic. The clinical presentation of transverse myelitis depends on the level of spinal cord damage and may include sensorimotor deficits and autonomic dysfunction. The age of onset of the disorder can impact the symptoms and outcomes of affected patients, with differences in manifestation and prognosis between children and adults. Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid examination are the main diagnostic tools that can guide clinicians in the diagnostic process, even though the search for antibodies that target the structural components of the neural tissue (anti-aquaporin4 antibodies and anti-myelin-oligodendrocyte antibodies) helps in the distinction among the immune-mediated phenotypes. Management and outcomes depend on the underlying cause, with different probabilities of relapse according to the phenotypes. Hence, immunosuppression is often recommended for the immune-mediated diseases that may have a higher risk of recurrence. Age at onset has implications for the choice of treatment.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37465366", "Fiberoptic hemodynamic spectroscopy reveals abnormal cerebrovascular reactivity in a freely moving mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.", "Many Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients suffer from altered cerebral blood flow and damaged cerebral vasculature. Cerebrovascular dysfunction could play an important role in this disease. However, the mechanism underlying a vascular contribution in AD is still unclear. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a critical mechanism that maintains cerebral blood flow and brain homeostasis. Most current methods to analyze CVR require anesthesia which is known to hamper the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying CVR. We therefore combined spectroscopy, spectral analysis software, and an implantable device to measure cerebral blood volume fraction (<i" ], [ "36968480", "Improvement of semantic processing ability of Chinese characters in school children: A comparative study based on 2009 and 2019 data.", "To explore the characteristics of semantic cognitive development of school children by observing the development changes over 10 years, a retrospective event-related potential (ERP) study was conducted on the semantic processing characteristics of Chinese characters in children aged 7-11 years with the same study design in 2009 and 2019. For the EEGs recorded in 2009, the N400 amplitude of semantic processing in children aged 7-11 years showed an approximately inverted U-shaped development trend with a slow rise at the age of 7-9, a peak at the age of 10, then a rapid decline at the age of 11. However, for the EEGs recorded in 2019, the N400 amplitude showed a gradually decreasing development trend with a slow decline for the 7-11 years class. Our data suggested that the semantic processing of Chinese characters in children aged 7-11 years in 2019 was one age stage earlier than that in 2009. The children's brain cognition is in the process of development and change with high plasticity. 10 years of favorable social and educational environmental factors have significantly improved children's semantic processing ability of Chinese characters.</AbstractText" ], [ "37265421", "Cerebral blood flow in patients recovered from mild COVID-19.", "Cerebral hypoperfusion has been described in both severe and mild forms of symptomatic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate global and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.</AbstractText Cases with mild COVID-19 infection and age-, sex-, and race-matched healthy controls were drawn from the Aging Brain Consortium at The University of South Carolina data repository. Demographics, risk factors, and data from the Montreal Cognitive Assessment were collected. Mean CBF values for gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and the whole brain were calculated by averaging CBF values of standard space-normalized CBF image values falling within GM and WM masks. Whole brain region of interest-based analyses were used to create standardized CBF maps and explore differences between groups.</AbstractText Twenty-eight cases with prior mild COVID-19 infection were compared with 28 controls. Whole-brain CBF (46.7&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;5.6 vs. 49.3&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;3.7, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;.05) and WM CBF (29.3&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;2.6 vs. 31.0&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;1.6, p = .03) were noted to be significantly lower in COVID-19 cases as compared to controls. Predictive models based on these data predicted COVID-19 group membership with a high degree of accuracy (85.2%, p&#xa0;&lt;&#xa0;.001), suggesting CBF patterns are an imaging marker of mild COVID-19 infection.</AbstractText In this study, lower WM CBF, as well as widespread regional CBF changes identified using quantitative MRI, was found in mild COVID-19 patients. Further studies are needed to determine the reliability of this newly identified COVID-19 brain imaging marker and determine what drives these CBF changes.</AbstractText" ], [ "39411210", "Project Soothe: A pilot study evaluating the mood effects of soothing images collected using a citizen science approach.", "Mentally-generated soothing imagery is a therapeutic technique to support mental wellbeing, but some individuals may require support using externally presented stimuli. Project Soothe was launched to collect soothing images using a citizen science approach. This online pilot study evaluated the first 575 soothing images collected, examining: 1) if the images were perceived to be soothing; 2) if viewing the images had a positive impact on mood; and 3) if mood effects were influenced by individual differences in age, gender and depressive symptoms.</AbstractText We recruited 1152 participants (13 - 79 years, M = 35.62, SD = 14.60; 77% female). Participants were randomly allocated to one of 23 sets, each containing 25 images (n = 50 per set) and asked to rate their emotional response (soothed, excited, and anxious) to each image. Participants also reported their mood states pre- and post-viewing the images (using the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Short Form).</AbstractText Project Soothe images were rated to be significantly more soothing than anxiety- or excitement-inducing. Further, viewing 25 images was significantly associated with an increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect. These effects were associated with age and depressive symptoms, with older individuals and those with lower depressive symptoms being associated with more positive changes in mood.</AbstractText This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that these soothing images can promote positive mood changes. Further work can now replicate these findings in larger-scale studies with comparison groups and extended outcome variables. The images and associated data have been made available in a data repository (OSF) as a free resource for researchers and practitioners. It is hoped that these images can be developed into useful therapeutic resources.</AbstractText" ], [ "37271998", "[Metal artifact reduction and clinical verification in oral and maxillofacial region based on deep learning].", "<b <b" ] ]
36533176
A primary rodent triculture model to investigate the role of glia-neuron crosstalk in regulation of neuronal activity.
Neuroinflammation and hyperexcitability have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease, and new models are required to investigate the cellular crosstalk involved in these processes. We developed an approach to generate a quantitative and reproducible triculture system that is suitable for pharmacological studies. While primary rat cells were previously grown in a coculture medium formulated to support only neurons and astrocytes, we now optimised a protocol to generate tricultures containing neurons, astrocytes and microglia by culturing in a medium designed to support all three cell types and adding exogenous microglia to cocultures. Immunocytochemistry was used to confirm the intended cell types were present. The percentage of ramified microglia in the tricultures decreases as the number of microglia present increases. Multi-electrode array recordings indicate that microglia in the triculture model suppress neuronal activity in a dose-dependent manner. Neurons in both cocultures and tricultures are responsive to the potassium channel blocker 4-aminopyridine, suggesting that neurons remained viable and functional in the triculture model. Furthermore, suppressed neuronal activity in tricultures correlates with decreased densities of dendritic spines and of the postsynaptic protein Homer1 along dendrites, indicative of a direct or indirect effect of microglia on synapse function. We thus present a functional triculture model, which, due to its more complete cellular composition, is a more relevant model than standard cocultures. The model can be used to probe glia-neuron interactions and subsequently aid the development of assays for drug discovery, using neuronal excitability as a functional endpoint.</AbstractText
[ [ "36228614", "In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world.", "Integrating neurons into digital systems may enable performance infeasible with silicon alone. Here, we develop DishBrain, a system that harnesses the inherent adaptive computation of neurons in a structured environment. In&#xa0;vitro neural networks from human or rodent origins are integrated with in silico computing via a high-density multielectrode array. Through electrophysiological stimulation and recording, cultures are embedded in a simulated game-world, mimicking the arcade game \"Pong.\" Applying implications from the theory of active inference via the free energy principle, we find apparent learning within five minutes of real-time gameplay not observed in control conditions. Further experiments demonstrate the importance of closed-loop structured feedback in eliciting learning over time. Cultures display the ability to self-organize activity in a goal-directed manner in response to sparse sensory information about the consequences of their actions, which we term synthetic biological intelligence. Future applications may provide further insights into the cellular correlates of intelligence.</AbstractText" ], [ "29381054", "Mesh Nanoelectronics: Seamless Integration of Electronics with Tissues.", "Nanobioelectronics represents a rapidly developing field with broad-ranging opportunities in fundamental biological sciences, biotechnology, and medicine. Despite this potential, seamless integration of electronics has been difficult due to fundamental mismatches, including size and mechanical properties, between the elements of the electronic and living biological systems. In this Account, we discuss the concept, development, key demonstrations, and future opportunities of mesh nanoelectronics as a general paradigm for seamless integration of electronics within synthetic tissues and live animals. We first describe the design and realization of hybrid synthetic tissues that are innervated in three dimensions (3D) with mesh nanoelectronics where the mesh serves as both as a tissue scaffold and as a platform of addressable electronic devices for monitoring and manipulating tissue behavior. Specific examples of tissue/nanoelectronic mesh hybrids highlighted include 3D neural tissue, cardiac patches, and vascular constructs, where the nanoelectronic devices have been used to carry out real-time 3D recording of electrophysiological and chemical signals in the tissues. This novel platform was also exploited for time-dependent 3D spatiotemporal mapping of cardiac tissue action potentials during cell culture and tissue maturation as well as in response to injection of pharmacological agents. The extension to simultaneous real-time monitoring and active control of tissue behavior is further discussed for multifunctional mesh nanoelectronics incorporating both recording and stimulation devices, providing the unique capability of bidirectional interfaces to cardiac tissue. In the case of live animals, new challenges must be addressed, including minimally invasive implantation, absence of deleterious chronic tissue response, and long-term capability for monitoring and modulating tissue activity. We discuss each of these topics in the context of implantation of mesh nanoelectronics into rodent brains. First, we describe the design of ultraflexible mesh nanoelectronics with size features and mechanical properties similar to brain tissue and a novel syringe-injection methodology that allows the mesh nanoelectronics to be precisely delivered to targeted brain regions in a minimally invasive manner. Next, we discuss time-dependent histology studies showing seamless and stable integration of mesh nanoelectronics within brain tissue on at least one year scales without evidence of chronic immune response or glial scarring characteristic of conventional implants. Third, armed with facile input/output interfaces, we describe multiplexed single-unit recordings that demonstrate stable tracking of the same individual neurons and local neural circuits for at least 8 months, long-term monitoring and stimulation of the same groups of neurons, and following changes in individual neuron activity during brain aging. Moving forward, we foresee substantial opportunities for (1) continued development of mesh nanoelectronics through, for example, broadening nanodevice signal detection modalities and taking advantage of tissue-like properties for selective cell targeting and (2) exploiting the unique capabilities of mesh nanoelectronics for tackling critical scientific and medical challenges such as understanding and potentially ameliorating cell and circuit level changes associated with natural and pathological aging, as well as using mesh nanoelectronics as active tissue scaffolds for regenerative medicine and as neuroprosthetics for monitoring and treating neurological diseases.</AbstractText" ], [ "32317928", "Melanopsin Driven Light Responses Across a Large Fraction of Retinal Ganglion Cells in a Dystrophic Retina.", "Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) express the photopigment melanopsin and project to central targets, allowing them to contribute to both image-forming and non-image forming vision. Recent studies have highlighted chemical and electrical synapses between ipRGCs and neurons of the inner retina, suggesting a potential influence from the melanopsin-born signal to affect visual processing at an early stage of the visual pathway. We investigated melanopsin responses in ganglion cell layer (GCL) neurons of both intact and dystrophic mouse retinas using 256 channel multi-electrode array (MEA) recordings. A wide 200 &#x3bc;m inter-electrode spacing enabled a pan-retinal visualization of melanopsin's influence upon GCL activity. Upon initial stimulation of dystrophic retinas with a long, bright light pulse, over 37% of units responded with an increase in firing (a far greater fraction than can be expected from the anatomically characterized number of ipRGCs). This relatively widespread response dissipated with repeated stimulation even at a quite long inter-stimulus interval (ISI; 120 s), to leave a smaller fraction of responsive units (&lt;10%; more in tune with the predicted number of ipRGCs). Visually intact retinas appeared to lack such widespread melanopsin responses indicating that it is a feature of dystrophy. Taken together, our data reveal the potential for anomalously widespread melanopsin responses in advanced retinal degeneration. These could be used to probe the functional reorganization of retinal circuits in degeneration and should be taken into account when using retinally degenerate mice as a model of disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "37402181", "Data Compression Versus Signal Fidelity Tradeoff in Wired-OR Analog-to-Digital Compressive Arrays for Neural Recording.", "Future high-density and high channel count neural interfaces that enable simultaneous recording of tens of thousands of neurons will provide a gateway to study, restore and augment neural functions. However, building such technology within the bit-rate limit and power budget of a fully implantable device is challenging. The wired-OR compressive readout architecture addresses the data deluge challenge of a high channel count neural interface using lossy compression at the analog-to-digital interface. In this article, we assess the suitability of wired-OR for several steps that are important for neuroengineering, including spike detection, spike assignment and waveform estimation. For various wiring configurations of wired-OR and assumptions about the quality of the underlying signal, we characterize the trade-off between compression ratio and task-specific signal fidelity metrics. Using data from 18 large-scale microelectrode array recordings in macaque retina ex vivo, we find that for an event SNR of 7-10, wired-OR correctly detects and assigns at least 80% of the spikes with at least 50&#xd7; compression. The wired-OR approach also robustly encodes action potential waveform information, enabling downstream processing such as cell-type classification. Finally, we show that by applying an LZ77-based lossless compressor (gzip) to the output of the wired-OR architecture, 1000&#xd7; compression can be achieved over the baseline recordings.</AbstractText" ], [ "30908502", "Cost-effective and multifunctional acquisition system for in vitro electrophysiological investigations with multi-electrode arrays.", "In vitro multi-electrode array (MEA) technology is nowadays involved in a wide range of applications beyond neuroscience, such as cardiac electrophysiology and bio-interface studies. However, the cost of commercially available acquisition systems severely limits its adoption outside specialized laboratories with high budget capabilities. Thus, the availability of low-cost methods to acquire signals from MEAs is important to allow research labs worldwide to exploit this technology for an ever-expanding pool of experiments independently from their economic possibilities. Here, we provide a comprehensive toolset to assemble a multifunctional in vitro MEA acquisition system with a total cost 80% lower than standard commercial solutions. We demonstrate the capabilities of this acquisition system by employing it to i) characterize commercial MEA devices by means of electrical impedance measurements ii) record activity from cultures of HL-1 cells extracellularly, and iii) electroporate HL-1 cells through nanostructured MEAs and record intracellular signals.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36507050", "Threat induction biases processing of emotional expressions.", "Threats can derive from our physical or social surroundings and bias the way we perceive and interpret a given situation. They can be signaled by peers through facial expressions, as expressed anger or fear can represent the source of perceived threat. The current study seeks to investigate enhanced attentional state and defensive reflexes associated with contextual threat induced through aversive sounds presented in an emotion recognition paradigm. In a sample of 120 healthy participants, response and gaze behavior revealed differences in perceiving emotional facial expressions between threat and safety conditions: Responses were slower under threat and less accurate. Happy and neutral facial expressions were classified correctly more often in a safety context and misclassified more often as fearful under threat. This unidirectional misclassification suggests that threat applies a negative filter to the perception of neutral and positive information. Eye movements were initiated later under threat, but fixation changes were more frequent and dwell times shorter compared to a safety context. These findings demonstrate that such experimental paradigms are capable of providing insight into how context alters emotion processing at cognitive, physiological, and behavioral levels. Such alterations may derive from evolutionary adaptations necessary for biasing cognitive processing to survive disadvantageous situations. This perspective sets up new testable hypotheses regarding how such levels of explanation may be dysfunctional in patient populations.</AbstractText" ], [ "35898410", "Involvement of White Matter Language Tracts in Glioma: Clinical Implications, Operative Management, and Functional Recovery After Injury.", "To achieve optimal survival and quality of life outcomes in patients with glioma, the extent of tumor resection must be maximized without causing injury to eloquent structures. Preservation of language function is of particular importance to patients and requires careful mapping to reveal the locations of cortical language hubs and their structural and functional connections. Within this language network, accurate mapping of eloquent white matter tracts is critical, given the high risk of permanent neurological impairment if they are injured during surgery. In this review, we start by describing the clinical implications of gliomas involving white matter language tracts. Next, we highlight the advantages and limitations of methods commonly used to identify these tracts during surgery including structural imaging techniques, functional imaging, non-invasive stimulation, and finally, awake craniotomy. We provide a rationale for combining these complementary techniques as part of a multimodal mapping paradigm to optimize postoperative language outcomes. Next, we review local and long-range adaptations that take place as the language network undergoes remodeling after tumor growth and surgical resection. We discuss the probable cellular mechanisms underlying this plasticity with emphasis on the white matter, which until recently was thought to have a limited role in adults. Finally, we provide an overview of emerging developments in targeting the glioma-neuronal network interface to achieve better disease control and promote recovery after injury.</AbstractText" ], [ "34656893", "Machine learning methods for electromyography error detection in field research: An application in full-shift field assessment of shoulder muscle activity in apple harvesting workers.", "This study presented an alternative technique for processing electromyography (EMG) data with sporadic errors due to challenges associated with the field collection of EMG data. The application of this technique was used to detect errors, clean and optimize EMG data in order characterize and compare shoulder muscular load in farmworkers during apple harvesting in a trellised orchard. Surface EMG was used to take measurements from twenty-four participants in an actual field work environment. Anomalies in the EMG data were detected and removed with a customized algorithm using principal component analysis, interquartile range cut-off and unsupervised cluster analysis. This study found significantly greater upper trapezius muscle activity in farmworkers who used a ladder as compared to the alternative platform-based method where a team of mobile platform workers harvested apples from the tree tops and a second separate team of ground workers harvested apples from the tree bottoms. By comparing the unprocessed and the processed, anomaly-free EMG data, the robustness of our proposed method was demonstrated.</AbstractText" ], [ "34154378", "Self-reported parkinsonism features in older autistic adults: A descriptive study.", "Autistic adults without a suspected intellectual disability reported several motor features such as having tremors, and stiffness in one's legs which are considered to be part of a complex of motor features called parkinsonism. This so-called parkinsonism was remarkably prevalent in middle-aged and older autistic adults in two independent studies (Dutch study: 50-81 years, 183 males, 113 females, all adulthood diagnoses; the USA study: 50-83 years, 110 females, 109 males, majority adulthood diagnosis). Parkinsonism can be part of the progressive motor disease-Parkinson's disease. Therefore, it is important that future studies, including in-person neurological assessment, determine if (and if so, why) autistic adults who report these motor features are at increased risk for developing Parkinson's disease.</AbstractText" ], [ "35770956", "Experimental suppression of transcranial magnetic stimulation-electroencephalography sensory potentials.", "The sensory experience of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evokes cortical responses measured in electroencephalography (EEG) that confound interpretation of TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs). Methods for sensory masking have been proposed to minimize sensory contributions to the TEP, but the most effective combination for suprathreshold TMS to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is unknown. We applied sensory suppression techniques and quantified electrophysiology and perception from suprathreshold dlPFC TMS to identify the best combination to minimize the sensory TEP. In 21 healthy adults, we applied single pulse TMS at 120% resting motor threshold (rMT) to the left dlPFC and compared EEG vertex N100-P200 and perception. Conditions included three protocols: No masking (no auditory masking, no foam, and jittered interstimulus interval [ISI]), Standard masking (auditory noise, foam, and jittered ISI), and our ATTENUATE protocol (auditory noise, foam, over-the-ear protection, and unjittered ISI). ATTENUATE reduced vertex N100-P200 by 56%, \"click\" loudness perception by 50%, and scalp sensation by 36%. We show that sensory prediction, induced with predictable ISI, has a suppressive effect on vertex N100-P200, and that combining standard suppression protocols with sensory prediction provides the best N100-P200 suppression. ATTENUATE was more effective than Standard masking, which only reduced vertex N100-P200 by 22%, loudness by 27%, and scalp sensation by 24%. We introduce a sensory suppression protocol superior to Standard masking and demonstrate that using an unjittered ISI can contribute to minimizing sensory confounds. ATTENUATE provides superior sensory suppression to increase TEP signal-to-noise and contributes to a growing understanding of TMS-EEG sensory neuroscience.</AbstractText" ] ]
36503205
Noninvasive imaging biomarkers for liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: current and future.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly prevalent worldwide and becoming a major cause of liver disease-related morbidity and mortality. The presence of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD is closely related to prognosis, including the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and other complications of cirrhosis. Therefore, assessment of the presence of significant or advanced liver fibrosis is crucial. Although liver biopsy has been considered the "gold standard" method for evaluating the degree of liver fibrosis, it is not suitable for extensive use in all patients with NAFLD owing to its invasiveness and high cost. Therefore, noninvasive biochemical and imaging biomarkers have been developed to overcome the limitations of liver biopsy. Imaging biomarkers for the stratification of liver fibrosis have been evaluated in patients with NAFLD using different imaging techniques, such as transient elastography, shear wave elastography, and magnetic resonance elastography. Furthermore, artificial intelligence and deep learning methods are increasingly being applied to improve the diagnostic accuracy of imaging techniques and overcome the pitfalls of existing imaging biomarkers. In this review, we describe the usefulness and future prospects of noninvasive imaging biomarkers that have been studied and used to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.</AbstractText
[ [ "30703013", "Fast Robust Dejitter and Interslice Discontinuity Removal in MRI Phase Acquisitions: Application to Magnetic Resonance Elastography.", "MRI phase contrast imaging methods that assemble slice-wise acquisitions into volumes can contain interslice phase discontinuities (IPDs) over the course of the scan from sources, including unavoidable physiological activity. In magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), this can alter wavelength and tissue stiffness estimates, invalidating the analysis. We first model this behavior as jitter along the z-axis of the phase of 3D complex-valued wave volumes. A two-step image processing pipeline is then proposed that removes IPDs. First, constant slicewise phase shift is removed with a novel, non-convex dejittering algorithm. Then, regional physiological noise artifacts are removed with novel filtering of 3D wavelet coefficients. Calibration of two pipeline coefficients, the dejitter parameter &#x3b1; and the wavelet band high-pass coefficient &#x3c9;<sub" ], [ "34963645", "Characterization of cardiac amyloidosis using cardiac magnetic resonance fingerprinting.", "Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy with poor prognosis absent appropriate treatment. Elevated native myocardial T<sub Nine CA patients and five controls were scanned at 3&#xa0;T using a prospectively gated cMRF acquisition. Two cMRF-based analysis approaches were examined: (1) relaxometric-based linear discriminant analysis (LDA) using native T<sub Elevated myocardial T<sub These findings suggest that cMRF may be a valuable technique for the detection and characterization of CA. Analysis of cMRF signal timecourse data may improve tissue characterization as compared to analysis of native T<sub" ], [ "38073093", "Rapid quantitative magnetization transfer imaging: Utilizing the hybrid state and the generalized Bloch model.", "To explore efficient encoding schemes for quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging with few constraints on model parameters.</AbstractText We combine two recently proposed models in a Bloch-McConnell equation: the dynamics of the free spin pool are confined to the hybrid state, and the dynamics of the semi-solid spin pool are described by the generalized Bloch model. We numerically optimize the flip angles and durations of a train of radio frequency pulses to enhance the encoding of three qMT parameters while accounting for all eight parameters of the two-pool model. We sparsely sample each time frame along this spin dynamics with a three-dimensional radial koosh-ball trajectory, reconstruct the data with subspace modeling, and fit the qMT model with a neural network for computational efficiency.</AbstractText We extracted qMT parameter maps of the whole brain with an effective resolution of 1.24 mm from a 12.6-min scan. In lesions of multiple sclerosis subjects, we observe a decreased size of the semi-solid spin pool and longer relaxation times, consistent with previous reports.</AbstractText The encoding power of the hybrid state, combined with regularized image reconstruction, and the accuracy of the generalized Bloch model provide an excellent basis for efficient quantitative magnetization transfer imaging with few constraints on model parameters.</AbstractText" ], [ "31689536", "High-resolution 3D MR Fingerprinting using parallel imaging and deep learning.", "MR Fingerprinting (MRF) is a relatively new imaging framework capable of providing accurate and simultaneous quantification of multiple tissue properties for improved tissue characterization and disease diagnosis. While 2D MRF has been widely available, extending the method to 3D MRF has been an actively pursued area of research as a 3D approach can provide a higher spatial resolution and better tissue characterization with an inherently higher signal-to-noise ratio. However, 3D MRF with a high spatial resolution requires lengthy acquisition times, especially for a large volume, making it impractical for most clinical applications. In this study, a high-resolution 3D MR Fingerprinting technique, combining parallel imaging and deep learning, was developed for rapid and simultaneous quantification of T<sub" ], [ "35791792", "Liver stiffness accuracy by magnetic resonance elastography in histologically proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients: a Spanish cohort.", "to evaluate the performance of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to stage liver fibrosis in patients with histologically confirmed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to assess the impact of potential confounding factors in MRE diagnostic accuracy. The secondary objective was to compare MRE with other non-invasive methods for staging fibrosis such as transient elastography (TE) and non-invasive scores (APRI and FIB-4).</AbstractText sixty-five histologically confirmed NAFLD patients were prospectively enrolled at the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Roc&#xed;o (Seville, Spain). Liver stiffness was measured by MRE, TE and non-invasive scores (APRI and FIB-4). Fibrosis was assessed by liver biopsy using the steatosis, activity and fibrosis (SAF) score. Patients were classified into three groups according to the consistency between MRE and histopathological findings: underestimation, concordance and overestimation groups. Areas under the ROC curve (AUROC) and diagnostic performance were evaluated.</AbstractText the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of MRE in advanced fibrosis (&#x2265; F3) was 0.90 (0.82-0.97), while TE AUROC was 0.82 (0.72-0.93) (p = 0.22) and lower for the non-invasive test (FIB-4 0.67 and APRI 0.62). Inflammatory activity, steatosis grade and higher levels of liver biochemistry appeared to overestimate MRE results in the univariate analysis, but only gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) was statistically significant in the multivariate analysis (p &lt; 0.01). Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), weight, diabetes mellitus (DM), high blood pressure (HBP), platelets or lipidic profile did not affect MRE accuracy.</AbstractText MRE is an effective and non-invasive method for detecting and staging liver fibrosis in NAFLD patients. MRE is more accurate than TE and allows the study of liver anatomy. Histological inflammation and surrogate biomarkers of inflammation can overestimate liver stiffness, but only GGT was statistically significant in the multivariate analysis. Important features of NAFLD patients such as obesity, DM, or lipidic profile did not affect MRE accuracy.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "36977684", "Genetic Creutzfeldt‒Jakob disease with 5-octapeptide repeats presented as frontotemporal dementia.", "The N-terminus of the PRNP gene normally contains a 5-octapeptide repeat (R1-R2-R2-R3-R4), and insertions at this locus can cause hereditary prion diseases. In the present study, we found a 5-octapeptide repeat insertion (5-OPRI) in a sibling case of frontotemporal dementia. Consistent with previous literature, 5-OPRI rarely met the diagnostic criteria for Creutzfeldt&#x2012;Jakob disease (CJD). We propose 5-OPRI as a suspected causative mutation for early-onset dementia, especially the frontotemporal type.</AbstractText" ], [ "37505390", "Natural gas supply cuts and searching alternatives in Germany: A disaggregated level energy consumption analysis for environmental quality by time series approaches.", "By considering the search for alternatives against Russia's natural gas supply cuts, this study explores the impact and causality of disaggregated level energy consumption indicators on environmental quality. Hence, the study investigates Germany, which is the leading economy in Europe and highly dependent on Russia's natural gas supply, by using carbon dioxide (CO<sub" ], [ "37689600", "Serum metabolomics study of narcolepsy type 1 based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.", "Narcolepsy is a chronic and underrecognized sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. Furthermore, narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) has serious negative impacts on an individual's health, society, and the economy. Currently, many sleep centers lack the means to measure orexin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. We aimed to analyze the characteristics of metabolite changes in patients with NT1, measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A principal component analysis (PCA), an orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), t tests, and volcano plots were used to construct a model of abnormal metabolic pathways in narcolepsy. We identified molecular changes in serum specimens from narcolepsy patients and compared them with control groups, including dehydroepiandrosterone, epinephrine, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, and other metabolites, based on an OPLS-loading plot analysis. Nine metabolites yielded an area under the receiver operating curve&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;0.75. Meanwhile, seven abnormal metabolic pathways were correlated with differential metabolites, such as metabolic pathways; neuroactive ligand&#x2012;receptor interaction; and glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the characteristic metabolite changes in sera from NT1 patients for the selection of potential blood biomarkers and the elucidation of NT1 pathogenesis.</AbstractText" ], [ "36880845", "Functional neuroanatomy of craving in heroin use disorder: voxel-based meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) drug cue reactivity studies.", "<i" ], [ "36855880", "Functional Connectivity Mapping for rTMS Target Selection in Depression.", "Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocols increasingly use subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) functional connectivity to individualize treatment targets. However, the efficacy of this approach is unclear, with conflicting findings and varying effect sizes across studies. Here, the authors investigated the effect of the stimulation site's functional connectivity with the sgACC (sgACC-StimFC) on treatment outcome to rTMS in 295 patients with major depression.</AbstractText The reliability and accuracy of estimating sgACC functional connectivity were validated with data from individuals who underwent extensive functional MRI testing. Electric field modeling was used to analyze associations between sgACC-StimFC and clinical improvement using standardized assessments and to evaluate sources of heterogeneity.</AbstractText An imputation-based method provided reliable and accurate sgACC functional connectivity estimates. Treatment responses weakly but robustly correlated with sgACC-StimFC (r=-0.16), but only when the stimulated cortex was identified using electric field modeling. Surprisingly, this association was driven by patients with strong global signal fluctuations stemming from a specific periodic respiratory pattern (r=-0.49).</AbstractText Functional connectivity between the sgACC and the stimulated cortex was correlated with individual differences in treatment outcomes, but the association was weaker than those observed in previous studies and was accentuated in a subgroup of patients with distinct, respiration-related signal patterns in their scans. These findings indicate that in a large representative sample of patients with major depressive disorder, individual differences in sgACC-StimFC explained only &#x223c;3% of the variance in outcomes, which may limit the utility of existing sgACC-based targeting protocols. However, these data also provide strong evidence for a true-albeit small-effect and highlight opportunities for incorporating additional functional connectivity measures to generate models of rTMS response with enhanced predictive power.</AbstractText" ] ]
33758092
Noncanonical Transmission of a Measles Virus Vaccine Strain from Neurons to Astrocytes.
Viruses, including members of the herpes-, entero-, and morbillivirus families, are the most common cause of infectious encephalitis in mammals worldwide. During most instances of acute viral encephalitis, neurons are typically the initial cell type that is infected. However, as replication and spread ensue, other parenchymal cells can become viral targets, especially in chronic infections. Consequently, to ascertain how neurotropic viruses trigger neuropathology, it is crucial to identify which central nervous system (CNS) cell populations are susceptible and permissive throughout the course of infection, and to define how viruses spread between distinct cell types. Using a measles virus (MV) transgenic mouse model that expresses human CD46 (hCD46), the MV vaccine strain receptor, under the control of a neuron-specific enolase promoter (NSE-hCD46<sup
[ [ "25896885", "Synaptic plasticity in the auditory system: a review.", "Synaptic transmission via chemical synapses is dynamic, i.e., the strength of postsynaptic responses may change considerably in response to repeated synaptic activation. Synaptic strength is increased during facilitation, augmentation and potentiation, whereas a decrease in synaptic strength is characteristic for depression and attenuation. This review attempts to discuss the literature on short-term and long-term synaptic plasticity in the auditory brainstem of mammals and birds. One hallmark of the auditory system, particularly the inner ear and lower brainstem stations, is information transfer through neurons that fire action potentials at very high frequency, thereby activating synapses &gt;500 times per second. Some auditory synapses display morphological specializations of the presynaptic terminals, e.g., calyceal extensions, whereas other auditory synapses do not. The review focuses on short-term depression and short-term facilitation, i.e., plastic changes with durations in the millisecond range. Other types of short-term synaptic plasticity, e.g., posttetanic potentiation and depolarization-induced suppression of excitation, will be discussed much more briefly. The same holds true for subtypes of long-term plasticity, like prolonged depolarizations and spike-time-dependent plasticity. We also address forms of plasticity in the auditory brainstem that do not comprise synaptic plasticity in a strict sense, namely short-term suppression, paired tone facilitation, short-term adaptation, synaptic adaptation and neural adaptation. Finally, we perform a meta-analysis of 61 studies in which short-term depression (STD) in the auditory system is opposed to short-term depression at non-auditory synapses in order to compare high-frequency neurons with those that fire action potentials at a lower rate. This meta-analysis reveals considerably less STD in most auditory synapses than in non-auditory ones, enabling reliable, failure-free synaptic transmission even at frequencies &gt;100&#xa0;Hz. Surprisingly, the calyx of Held, arguably the best-investigated synapse in the central nervous system, depresses most robustly. It will be exciting to reveal the molecular mechanisms that set high-fidelity synapses apart from other synapses that function much less reliably.</AbstractText" ], [ "31623011", "Synaptic cleft microenvironment influences potassium permeation and synaptic transmission in hair cells surrounded by calyx afferents in the turtle.", "In central regions of vestibular semicircular canal epithelia, the [K<sup In the vertebrate nervous system, ions accumulate in diffusion-limited synaptic clefts during ongoing activity. Such accumulation can be demonstrated at large appositions such as the hair cell-calyx afferent synapses present in central regions of the turtle vestibular semicircular canal epithelia. Type I hair cells influence discharge rates in their calyx afferents by modulating the potassium concentration in the synaptic cleft, [K<sup" ], [ "30994458", "Selective targeting of unipolar brush cell subtypes by cerebellar mossy fibers.", "In vestibular cerebellum, primary afferents carry signals from single vestibular end organs, whereas secondary afferents from vestibular nucleus carry integrated signals. Selective targeting of distinct mossy fibers determines how the cerebellum processes vestibular signals. We focused on vestibular projections to ON and OFF classes of unipolar brush cells (UBCs), which transform single mossy fiber signals into long-lasting excitation or inhibition respectively, and impact the activity of ensembles of granule cells. To determine whether these contacts are indeed selective, connectivity was traced back from UBC to specific ganglion cell, hair cell and vestibular organ subtypes in mice. We show that a specialized subset of primary afferents contacts ON UBCs, but not OFF UBCs, while secondary afferents contact both subtypes. Striking anatomical differences were observed between primary and secondary afferents, their synapses, and the UBCs they contact. Thus, each class of UBC functions to transform specific signals through distinct anatomical pathways.</AbstractText" ], [ "38214769", "Early endocannabinoid-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of excitation delays the appearance of the epileptic phenotype in synapsin II knockout mice.", "The mechanism underlying the transition from the pre-symptomatic to the symptomatic state is a crucial aspect of epileptogenesis. SYN2 is a member of a multigene family of synaptic vesicle phosphoproteins playing a fundamental role in controlling neurotransmitter release. Human SYN2 gene mutations are associated with epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder. Mice knocked out for synapsin II (SynII KO) are prone to epileptic seizures that appear after 2&#xa0;months of age. However, the involvement of the endocannabinoid system, known to regulate seizure development and propagation, in the modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the epileptic hippocampal network of SynII KO mice has not been explored. In this study, we investigated the impact of endocannabinoids on glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses at hippocampal dentate gyrus granule cells in young pre-symptomatic (1-2&#xa0;months old) and adult symptomatic (5-8&#xa0;months old) SynII KO mice. We observed an increase in endocannabinoid-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of excitation in young SynII KO mice, compared to age-matched wild-type controls. In contrast, the endocannabinoid-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition remained unchanged in SynII KO mice at both ages. This selective alteration of excitatory synaptic transmission was accompanied by changes in hippocampal endocannabinoid levels and cannabinoid receptor type 1 distribution among glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic terminals contacting the&#xa0;granule cells of the dentate gyrus. Finally, inhibition of type-1 cannabinoid receptors in young pre-symptomatic SynII KO mice induced seizures during a tail suspension test. Our results suggest that endocannabinoids contribute to maintaining network stability in a genetic mouse model of human epilepsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "27133466", "Transsynaptic Modulation of Kainate Receptor Functions by C1q-like Proteins.", "Postsynaptic kainate-type glutamate receptors (KARs) regulate synaptic network activity through their slow channel kinetics, most prominently at mossy fiber (MF)-CA3 synapses in the hippocampus. Nevertheless, how KARs cluster and function at these synapses has been unclear. Here, we show that C1q-like proteins C1ql2 and C1ql3, produced by MFs, serve as extracellular organizers to recruit functional postsynaptic KAR complexes to the CA3 pyramidal neurons. C1ql2 and C1ql3 specifically bound the amino-terminal domains of postsynaptic GluK2 and GluK4 KAR subunits and the presynaptic neurexin 3 containing a specific sequence in&#xa0;vitro. In C1ql2/3 double-null mice, CA3 synaptic responses lost the slow, KAR-mediated components. Furthermore, despite induction of MF sprouting in a temporal lobe epilepsy model, KARs were not recruited to postsynaptic sites in C1ql2/3 double-null mice, leading to reduced recurrent circuit activities. C1q family proteins, broadly expressed, are likely to modulate KAR function throughout the brain and represent promising antiepileptic targets.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "34489673", "The Cognitive Connectome in Healthy Aging.", "<b" ], [ "34066066", "Novel Approaches to the Design of an Ultra-Fast Magnetorheological Valve for Semi-Active Control.", "This article presents a list of suitable techniques and materials leading to the design of an ultra-fast magnetorheological (MR) valve. Two approaches for achieving the short response time are proposed: (a) by means of material, and (b) by means of the shape. Within the shape approach, the revolutionary technique of 3D metal printing using a selective laser melting (SLM) method was tested. The suitability of the materials and techniques is addressed based on the length of the response time, which is determined by the FEM. The simulation results determine the response time of the magnetic flux density on the step signal of the current. Subsequently, the response time is verified by the measurement of the simple magnetorheological valve. The following materials were tested: martensitic stainless steel AISI 420A (X20Cr13), cutting steel 11SMn30, pure iron for SLM, Sintex SMC STX prototyping material, ferrite N87, and Vacoflux 50. A special technique involving grooves was used for preventing eddy currents on materials with a high electrical conductivity. The simulation and experimental results indicate that a response time shorter than 2.5 ms can be achieved using materials such as Sintex SMC prototyping, ferrite N87, and grooved variants of metal pistons.</AbstractText" ], [ "34080265", "Neuroimaging Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Task-Based Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Activation Following 12 Weeks of Cosmos caudatus Supplementation Among Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment.", "Cosmos caudatus (CC) is traditional Asian vegetable, commonly consumed among the Southeast Asian population. It has been reported to be high in flavonoids and might potentially improve brain activity among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The effect of CC in brain activation improvement using neuroimaging is yet to be discovered.</AbstractText To investigate the effects of CC supplement on brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) among older adults with MCI.</AbstractText Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.</AbstractText Twenty older adults with mild cognitive impairment (60-75&#x2009;years old), 14 of them (70%) were female subjects.</AbstractText A 3.0-T, T1-weighted anatomical images, T2*-weighted imaging data, A single shot, gradient echo-echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence.</AbstractText All subjects were asked to consume two 500&#x2009;mg capsules of either CC supplement or placebo (maltodextrin) daily for 12&#x2009;weeks. Cognitive function was measured using validated neuropsychological tests (i.e. Mini-mental State Examination and Digit Span) and task-based fMRI (N-back and Stroop Color Word Test) at baseline and 12th week. Brodmann's area 9, 46 and anterior cingulate cortex were selected as the regions of interest to define dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in fMRI analysis.</AbstractText Normality test was performed with the Shapiro-Wilk test. Two-way repeated ANOVA determined the intervention effects of the CC supplementation on brain activity after adjustments for covariates. Significance level at P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.05 for independent-t test and Chi square test; adjusted P&#x2009;&lt;&#x2009;0.0042 for two-way repeated ANOVA after Bonferroni correction.</AbstractText Findings showed significant improvements in digit span (partial &#x3b7;<sup CC supplementation might have the ability to improve DLPFC activation, potentially leading to improved working memory among older adults with MCI after 12&#x2009;weeks of administration.</AbstractText 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 4.</AbstractText" ], [ "34198911", "The Timecourse of Electrophysiological Brain-Heart Interaction in DoC Patients.", "Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) are a spectrum of pathologies affecting one's ability to interact with the external world. Two possible conditions of patients with DOC are Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome/Vegetative State (UWS/VS) and Minimally Conscious State (MCS). Analysis of spontaneous EEG activity and the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) are effective techniques in exploring and evaluating patients with DOC. This study aims to observe fluctuations in EEG and HRV parameters in the morning/afternoon resting-state recording. The study enrolled 13 voluntary Healthy Control (HC) subjects and 12 DOC patients (7 MCS, 5 UWS/VS). EEG and EKG were recorded. PSDalpha, PSDtheta powerband, alpha-blocking, alpha/theta of the EEG, Complexity Index (CI) and SDNN of EKG were analyzed. Higher values of PSDalpha, alpha-blocking, alpha/theta and CI values and lower values of PSD theta characterized HC individuals in the morning with respect to DOC patients. In the afternoon, we detected a significant difference between groups in the CI, PSDalpha, PSDtheta, alpha/theta and SDNN, with lower PSDtheta value for HC. CRS-R scores showed a strong correlation with recorded parameters mainly during evaluations in the morning. Our finding put in evidence the importance of the assessment, as the stimulation of DOC patients in research for behavioural response, in the morning.</AbstractText" ], [ "34353911", "Interactions among diameter, myelination, and the Na/K pump affect axonal resilience to high-frequency spiking.", "Axons reliably conduct action potentials between neurons and/or other targets. Axons have widely variable diameters and can be myelinated or unmyelinated. Although the effect of these factors on propagation speed is well studied, how they constrain axonal resilience to high-frequency spiking is incompletely understood. Maximal firing frequencies range from &#x223c;1 Hz to &gt;300 Hz across neurons, but the process by which Na/K pumps counteract Na<sup" ] ]
39958461
Early Antithrombotic Therapy in Acute Ischemic Stroke.
Antithrombotic therapy plays a crucial role in secondary prevention following ischemic stroke from the acute phase. Numerous trials, along with a meta-analysis, contributed to establishing aspirin as the primary medication for secondary stroke prevention. According to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review 2022, initiating antiplatelet therapy with aspirin at a dose of 160 mg to 300 mg daily within 48 hours of stroke onset reduces the risk of death or dependency at the end of follow-up. Other antiplatelet drugs, such as clopidogrel, cilostazol, prasugrel, and intravenous ozagrel sodium, are also available within the Japanese Health Care Insurance System. Two pivotal trials from the 2010s underscored the effectiveness and safety of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) using aspirin and clopidogrel, administered for 21 days to 3 months following acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. However, the extension of DAPT with aspirin and clopidogrel beyond 3 months may result in substantial bleeding risks. Although prasugrel offers a rapid, potent, and consistent inhibition of platelet aggregation and can be used in place of clopidogrel, there is a lack of substantial real-world clinical data on its use in acute ischemic stroke. It is important to recognize that antiplatelet drugs might not be beneficial and could even increase the risk of hemorrhagic events in cardioembolic stroke. In cases of ischemic stroke with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, direct oral anticoagulants are the primary choice if applicable. Warfarin continues to be the anticoagulant of choice for secondary stroke prevention in patients with mechanical valve replacements. In patients who have undergone intravenous thrombolysis, antithrombotic therapy is generally delayed for up to 24 hours, although there are no definitive guidelines for the period during and immediately after mechanical thrombectomy. This review provides an overview of the current status of antithrombotic therapy for acute ischemic stroke.</AbstractText
[ [ "38720851", "Association of vulnerable plaques with white matter hyperintensities on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.", "One of the widespread manifestations of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) of the brain parenchyma is white matter lesion, which appears as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Previous studies have illustrated that large artery atherosclerosis is related to CSVD, but the precise progress of pathogenesis remains unknown. High-resolution MRI (HR-MRI) has the ability to delineate intracranial vascular walls, enabling a thorough exploration of the structure and composition of unstable plaques. This study aimed to apply HR-MRI to characterize the wall changes and plaque characteristics of middle cerebral arteries in patients with WMHs and to investigate the correlation between plaque vulnerability parameters and different degrees of WMHs.</AbstractText In this study, 138 patients with acute ischemic stroke at Harbin Medical University's First Clinical Hospital (May 2021 to October 2023) were cross-sectionally reviewed and underwent conventional brain and HR-MRI using T1-weighted 3D volumetric isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition (T1W-3D-VISTA) of the unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA). According to Fazekas grade (0-6), the patients were divided into two groups: Fazekas score 0-2, no-or-mild WMHs; and Fazekas 3-6, moderate-to-severe WMHs. The intraplaque hemorrhage, plaque distribution, plaque enhancement, plaque load, remodeling pattern, and stenosis of the two groups were measured. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between vulnerable plaques and WMHs.</AbstractText Of the participants who were initially considered for inclusion, 71 were deemed eligible, among whom 34 were placed in the no-or-mild WMH group and 37 in the moderate-to-severe WMH group. Between the two groups, there were significant differences in intraplaque hemorrhage (P=0.01), a wide distribution (P=0.02), and plaque enhancement (P=0.02). Univariate analysis showed that WMHs were associated with age [odds ratio (OR) =1.080; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.020-1.144; P=0.008], hypertension (OR =3.500; 95% CI: 1.276-9.597; P=0.01), intraplaque hemorrhage (OR =3.955; 95% CI: 1.247-12.538; P=0.02), a wide distribution (OR =3.067; 95% CI: 1.159-8.115; P=0.02), and significant plaque enhancement (OR =4.372; 95% CI: 1.101-17.358; P=0.03); however, the multivariate results showed that the only independent factors associated with WMHs were age (OR =1.095; 95% CI: 1.019-1.176; P=0.01) and intraplaque hemorrhage (OR =5.88; 95% CI: 1.466-23.592; P=0.01).</AbstractText Our findings suggest that age and intraplaque hemorrhage may be associated with more severe WMHs in patients with acute ischemic stroke, which may be helpful for further clinical examination and intervention treatment.</AbstractText" ], [ "10987591", "Contemporary outcome trends in the elderly undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions: results in 7,472 octogenarians. National Cardiovascular Network Collaboration.", "We sought to define the risks facing octogenarians undergoing contemporary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs).</AbstractText The procedural risks of PCI for octogenarians have not been well established.</AbstractText We compared the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of 7,472 octogenarians (mean age 83 years) with those of 102,236 younger patients (mean age 62 years) who underwent PCI at 22 National Cardiovascular Network (NCN) hospitals from 1994 through 1997.</AbstractText Octogenarians had more comorbidities, more extensive coronary disease and a two- to fourfold increased risk of complications, including death (3.8% vs. 1.1%), Qwave myocardial infarction (1.9% vs. 1.3%), stroke (0.58% vs. 0.23%), renal failure (3.2% vs. 1.0%) and vascular complications (6.7% vs. 3.3%) (p &lt; 0.001 for all comparisons). Independent predictors of procedural mortality in octogenarians included shock (odds ratio [OR] 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.3 to 8.8), acute myocardial infarction (OR 3.2, 95% CI 2.3 to 4.4), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) &lt;35% (OR 2.9, 95% CI 2.1 to 3.9), renal insufficiency (OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.8), first PCI (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7 to 3.3), age &gt;85 years (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.7) and diabetes mellitus (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.0). For elective procedures, octogenarian mortality varied nearly 10-fold, and was strongly influenced by comorbidities (0.79% mortality with no risk factors vs. 7.2% with renal insufficiency or LVEF &lt;35%). Despite similar case-mix, PCI outcomes in octogenarians improved significantly over the four years of observation (OR of 0.61 for death/myocardial infarction/stroke in 1997 vs. 1994; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.85).</AbstractText Risks to octogenarians undergoing PCI are two- to fourfold higher than those of younger patients, strongly influenced by comorbidities, and have decreased in the stent era.</AbstractText" ], [ "26163431", "Development of the Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) checklist: A guideline for the reporting of incidence and prevalence studies in neuroepidemiology.", "Incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders play an important role in assessing the burden of disease and planning services. However, the assessment of disease estimates is hindered by problems in reporting for such studies. Despite a growth in published reports, existing guidelines relate to analytical rather than descriptive epidemiologic studies. There are also no user-friendly tools (e.g., checklists) available for authors, editors, and peer reviewers to facilitate best practice in reporting of descriptive epidemiologic studies for most neurologic disorders.</AbstractText The Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) is a guideline that consists of recommendations and a checklist to facilitate better reporting of published incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders.</AbstractText A review of previously developed guidance was used to produce a list of items required for incidence and prevalence studies in neurology. A 3-round Delphi technique was used to identify the \"basic minimum items\" important for reporting, as well as some additional \"ideal reporting items.\" An e-consultation process was then used in order to gauge opinion by external neuroepidemiologic experts on the appropriateness of the items included in the checklist.</AbstractText Of 38 candidate items, 15 items and accompanying recommendations were developed along with a user-friendly checklist.</AbstractText The introduction and use of the STROND checklist should lead to more consistent, transparent, and contextualized reporting of descriptive neuroepidemiologic studies resulting in more applicable and comparable findings and ultimately support better health care decisions.</AbstractText" ], [ "39205754", "A Detailed Systematic Review Comparing Patent Foramen Ovale Closure vs Medical Therapy for the Prevention of Recurrent Cryptogenic Stroke.", "Cryptogenic stroke refers to a type of ischemic stroke with no identifiable cause despite extensive diagnostic testing. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) treatment modality for the prevention of cryptogenic stroke has been controversial. We undertook this systematic review to compare the efficacy of PFO closure versus medical therapy in preventing recurrent cryptogenic stroke and to provide insight into the most effective treatment modality. Inclusion criteria included patients who had PFO, papers written in English language or had translation available, and papers focusing on medical therapy including drug and surgical treatment for PFO for the prevention of recurrent stroke. Exclusion criteria included articles in which full text could not be obtained and articles in which only one treatment modality was mentioned, either surgical closure or drug therapy. The databases used were PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov. We conducted a bias assessment through the modified Jadad scale for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and AMSTAR.Ca for meta-analysis and systematic review. The literature search identified a total of 277 papers. After screening, 12 papers were selected for the review. Among these, five were RCTs, five were meta-analyses, one was a systematic review, and one was a systematic review with network meta-analysis. The RCTs included a total of 3,336 participants, while the meta-analyses included 21,813 participants. These finalized papers examined the outcomes of PFO closure compared to medical therapy in preventing recurrent strokes.</AbstractText" ], [ "34126944", "Pre-stroke cognitive impairment is associated with vascular imaging pathology: a prospective observational study.", "Chronic brain pathology and pre-stroke cognitive impairment (PCI) is predictive of post-stroke dementia. The aim of the current study was to measure pre-stroke neurodegenerative and vascular disease burden found on brain MRI and to assess the association between pre-stroke imaging pathology and PCI, whilst also looking for potential sex differences.</AbstractText This prospective brain MRI cohort is part of the multicentre Norwegian cognitive impairment after stroke (Nor-COAST) study. Patients hospitalized with acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were included from five participating stroke units. Visual rating scales were used to categorize baseline MRIs (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;410) as vascular, neurodegenerative, mixed, or normal, based on the presence of pathological imaging findings. Pre-stroke cognition was assessed by interviews of patients or caregivers using the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Stroke severity was assessed with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between imaging markers, PCI, and sex.</AbstractText Patients' (N&#x2009;=&#x2009;410) mean (SD) age was 73.6 (&#xb1;11) years; 182 (44%) participants were female, the mean (SD) NIHSS at admittance was 4.1 (&#xb1;5). In 68% of the participants, at least one pathological imaging marker was found. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) was present in 30% of patients, white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in 38% of patients and lacunes in 35% of patients. PCI was found in 30% of the patients. PCI was associated with cerebrovascular pathology (OR 2.5; CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.4 to 4.5, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001) and mixed pathology (OR 3.4; CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.9 to 6.1, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.001) but was not associated with neurodegeneration (OR 1.0; CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.5 to 2.2; p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.973). Pathological MRI markers, including MTA and lacunes, were more prevalent among men, as was a history of clinical stroke prior to the index stroke. The OR of PCI for women was not significantly increased (OR 1.2; CI&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.8 to 1.9; p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.3).</AbstractText Pre-stroke chronic brain pathology is common in stroke patients, with a higher prevalence in men. Vascular pathology and mixed pathology are associated with PCI. There were no significant sex differences for the risk of PCI.</AbstractText NCT02650531 , date of registration: 08.01.2016.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40752269", "Beyond the cortex: Cerebellar contributions to apraxia of speech in stroke survivors.", "Apraxia of Speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder affecting speech planning and coordination, often co-occurring with aphasia after left hemisphere stroke. While commonly linked to cortical damage, the cerebellum's role remains underexplored. This study examined associations between cerebellar gray matter volume and AOS severity in individuals with chronic left hemisphere cortical stroke. Participants from the Aphasia Recovery Cohort (N = 142) completed structural MRI and AOS assessment using the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale. Regional cerebellar gray matter volumes were extracted from T1-weighted scans using MATLAB, SPM12, CAT12, and the SUIT atlas, adjusted for total intracranial volume. Multiple linear regressions and partial correlations tested relationships between cerebellar volume and AOS severity, controlling for lesion volume, age, and time post-stroke. Reduced volume in right cerebellar regions was significantly associated with greater AOS severity. Right lobule V was the strongest predictor (R<sup" ], [ "40674863", "Cytoskeletal scaffolding of Na(V)s and K(V)s in neocortical pyramidal neurons: Implications for neuronal signaling and plasticity.", "The initiation and propagation of action potentials (APs) depend on the precise localization of voltage-gated sodium (Na<sub" ], [ "40555862", "Csde1 Mediates Neurogenesis via Post-transcriptional Regulation of the Cell Cycle.", "Loss-of-function variants in CSDE1 have been strongly linked to neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the precise role of CSDE1 in neurogenesis remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that knockout of Csde1 during cortical development in mice results in impaired neural progenitor proliferation, leading to abnormal cortical lamination and embryonic lethality. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Csde1 upregulates the transcription of genes involved in the cell cycle network. Applying a dual thymidine-labelling approach, we further revealed prolonged cell cycle durations of neuronal progenitors in Csde1-knockout mice, with a notable extension of the G1 phase. Intersection with CLIP-seq data demonstrated that Csde1 binds to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNA transcripts encoding cell cycle genes. Particularly, we uncovered that Csde1 directly binds to the 3' UTR of mRNA transcripts encoding Cdk6, a pivotal gene in regulating the transition from the G1 to S phases of the cell cycle, thereby maintaining its stability. Collectively, this study elucidates Csde1 as a novel regulator of Cdk6, sheds new light on its critical roles in orchestrating brain development, and underscores how mutations in Csde1 may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.</AbstractText" ], [ "40003140", "As One and Many: Relating Individual and Emergent Group-Level Generative Models in Active Inference.", "Active inference under the Free Energy Principle has been proposed as an across-scales compatible framework for understanding and modelling behaviour and self-maintenance. Crucially, a collective of active inference agents can, if they maintain a group-level Markov blanket, constitute a larger group-level active inference agent with a generative model of its own. This potential for computational scale-free structures speaks to the application of active inference to self-organizing systems across spatiotemporal scales, from cells to human collectives. Due to the difficulty of reconstructing the generative model that explains the behaviour of emergent group-level agents, there has been little research on this kind of multi-scale active inference. Here, we propose a data-driven methodology for characterising the relation between the generative model of a group-level agent and the dynamics of its constituent individual agents. We apply methods from computational cognitive modelling and computational psychiatry, applicable for active inference as well as other types of modelling approaches. Using a simple Multi-Armed Bandit task as an example, we employ the new ActiveInference.jl library for Julia to simulate a collective of agents who are equipped with a Markov blanket. We use sampling-based parameter estimation to make inferences about the generative model of the group-level agent, and we show that there is a non-trivial relationship between the generative models of individual agents and the group-level agent they constitute, even in this simple setting. Finally, we point to a number of ways in which this methodology might be applied to better understand the relations between nested active inference agents across scales.</AbstractText" ], [ "39832911", "Autoimmune encephalitis: recovery, residual symptoms and predictors of long-term sequelae.", "Data regarding long-term recovery from autoimmune encephalitis (AE) remain limited.</AbstractText This retrospective observational study investigated outcomes in 182 patients who met the 2016 criteria for definite AE. Recovery data were available in 172 patients. Follow-up data at &#x2265;24 months post-attack were available for 119. Recovery trajectory, residual symptoms, outcome predictors and causes of post-AE death were assessed.</AbstractText Of 172 patients, 138 (80%) achieved good recovery (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) &#x2264;2) with a median recovery time of 4 months (95% CI: 2 to 6 months). Recovery varied by associated neural antibody, with the best recovery observed in leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (97% good recovery, median recovery time 0 (0 to 2) months). Paraneoplastic AE (p=0.007), severe attacks (eg, mRS &#x2265;4 at attack, p=0.007) and cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis (p=0.005) were associated with a lower likelihood of good recovery, while seizure presentation (p=0.026) was associated with better recovery. Despite good recovery, several residual symptoms persisted &#x2265;24 months post-AE, including cognitive deficits (53%), seizures (26%), depression (23%), sleep disorders (25%), brainstem/cerebellar symptoms (13%), other movement disorders (14%) and autonomic symptoms (12%). Predictors of long-term sequelae included disabling cognitive deficit at onset and delayed immunotherapy for post AE-dementia, and medial temporal atrophy as well as escalation to cyclophosphamide therapy for both drug-resistant epilepsy and chronic depression. Of 182 patients, 20 (11%) died; the most common cause of death was progression of AE (6/20 (30%)).</AbstractText While the majority of patients achieved functional independence after AE, several residual symptoms persisted. Several clinical and paraclinical features were associated with long-term sequelae.</AbstractText" ] ]
40427637
Modulation of Kv Channel Gating by Light-Controlled Membrane Thickness.
Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels are e ssential for shaping action potentials and rely on anionic lipids for proper gating, yet the mechanistic basis of lipid-channel interactions remains unclear. Cryo-electron microscopy studies suggest that, in the down state, arginine residues of the voltage sensor draw lipid phosphates upward, leading to a local membrane thinning of ~5 &#xc5;-an effect absent in the open state. To test whether membrane thickness directly affects voltage sensor function, we reconstituted Kv channels from <i
[ [ "28922053", "Distribution and function of voltage-gated sodium channels in the nervous system.", "Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are the basic ion channels for neuronal excitability, which are crucial for the resting potential and the generation and propagation of action potentials in neurons. To date, at least nine distinct sodium&#xa0;channel&#xa0;isoforms have been detected in the nervous system. Recent studies have identified that voltage-gated sodium channels not only play an essential role in the normal electrophysiological activities of neurons but also have a close relationship with neurological diseases. In this study, the latest research findings regarding the structure, type, distribution, and function of VGSCs in the nervous system and their relationship to neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, neuropathic pain, brain tumors, neural trauma, and multiple sclerosis, are reviewed in detail.</AbstractText" ], [ "33528822", "Gene therapy in color vision deficiency: a review.", "Color vision deficiencies are a group of vision disorders, characterized by abnormal color discrimination. They include red-green color blindness, yellow-blue color blindness and achromatopsia, among others. The deficiencies are caused by mutations in the genes coding for various components of retinal cones. Gene therapy is rising as a promising therapeutic modality. The purpose of this review article is to explore the available literature on gene therapy in the different forms of color vision deficiencies.</AbstractText A thorough literature review was performed on PubMed using the keywords: color vision deficiencies, gene therapy, achromatopsia and the various genes responsible for this condition (OPN1LW, OPN1MW, ATF6, CNGA3, CNGB3, GNAT2, PDE6H, and PDE6C).</AbstractText Various adenovirus vectors have been deployed to test the efficacy of gene therapy for achromatopsia in animals and humans. Gene therapy trials in humans and animals targeting mutations in CNGA3 have been performed, demonstrating an improvement in electroretinogram (ERG)-investigated cone cell functionality. Similar outcomes have been reported for experimental studies on other genes (CNGB3, GNAT2, M- and L-opsin). It has also been reported that delivering the genes via intravitreal rather than subretinal injections could be safer. There are currently 3 ongoing human clinical trials for the treatment of achromatopsia due to mutations in CNGB3 and CNGA3.</AbstractText Experimental studies and clinical trials generally showed improvement in ERG-investigated cone cell functionality and visually elicited behavior. Gene therapy is a promising novel therapeutic modality in color vision deficiencies.</AbstractText" ], [ "10910034", "Exisulind induction of apoptosis involves guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterase inhibition, protein kinase G activation, and attenuated beta-catenin.", "Sulindac sulfone (exisulind), although a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug derivative, induces apoptosis in tumor cells by a mechanism that does not involve cyclooxygenase inhibition. SW480 colon tumor cells contain guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) phosphodiesterase (PDE) isoforms of the PDE5 and PDE2 gene families that are inhibited by exisulind and new synthetic analogues. The analogues maintain rank order of potency for PDE inhibition, apoptosis induction, and growth inhibition. A novel mechanism for exisulind to induce apoptosis is studied involving sustained increases in cGMP levels and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) induction not found with selective PDE5 or most other PDE inhibitors. Accumulated beta-catenin, shown to be a substrate for PKG, is decreased by exisulind, suggesting a mechanism to explain apoptosis induction in neoplastic cells harboring adenomatous polyposis coli gene mutations.</AbstractText" ], [ "36514335", "Modulation of L-type calcium channels in Alzheimer's disease: A potential therapeutic target.", "Calcium plays a fundamental role in various signaling pathways and cellular processes in the human organism. In the nervous system, voltage-gated calcium channels such as L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) are critical elements in mediating neurotransmitter release, synaptic integration and plasticity. Dysfunction of LTCCs has been implicated in both aging and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), constituting a key component of calcium hypothesis of AD. As such, LTCCs are a promising drug target in AD. However, due to their structural and functional complexity, the mechanisms by which LTCCs contribute to AD are still unclear. In this review, we briefly summarize the structure, function, and modulation of LTCCs that are the backbone for understanding pathological processes involving LTCCs. We suggest targeting molecular pathways up-regulating LTCCs in AD may be a more promising approach, given the diverse physiological functions of LTCCs and the ineffectiveness of LTCC blockers in clinical studies.</AbstractText" ], [ "8184256", "Association between cell membrane potential and breast cancer.", "Cell membrane potentials were measured in breast tissue and in breast epithelial cells to explore the relation between cell membrane potentials, oncogenesis and electrical potentials previously measured on the surface of the breast. The mean membrane potential in breast biopsy tissue from 9 women with infiltrating ductal carcinoma was significantly depolarized, compared with values measured in tissue from 8 women with benign breast disease. Depolarization was also observed in transformed breast epithelial cells, compared with normal breast cells; the transformed cells were particularly sensitive to the action of K+ channel blockers. The results were consistent with previous observations of electropositivity of skin sites over malignant tumors of the breast.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "40141125", "Prosodic Differences in Women with the FMR1 Premutation: Subtle Expression of Autism-Related Phenotypes Through Speech.", "Evidence suggests that carriers of <i" ], [ "40776524", "Tapentadol withdrawal, a newer trend in opioid overuse in Nepal: A case report.", "Crigler-Najjar Syndrome Type 2 (CNS2) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia due to partial deficiency of the enzyme uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1). We present a case of a 13-month-old male admitted to Kanti Children's Hospital with persistent jaundice since birth. Diagnostic evaluation accompanied by gene sequencing confirmed CNS2 and the patient was effectively managed with orally administered phenobarbitone. CNS2 can be distinguished from other potential causes of unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia based on bilirubin concentration and the affected patient's response to phenobarbitone. Genetic counselling is essential for the recognition and prevention of severe hyperbilirubinemia which, in the absence of timely medical intervention, may lead to neurotoxicity. Keywords: Case report; crigler-Najjar syndrome; genetic counseling; phenobarbitone; unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia.</AbstractText" ], [ "40480982", "Refining centromedian nucleus stimulation for generalized epilepsy with targeting and mechanistic insights from intraoperative electrophysiology.", "Epilepsy affects 65 million people worldwide, with 30% suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. While surgical resection is the primary treatment, its application is limited in generalized epilepsy. Centromedian nucleus neurostimulation offers a promising alternative, yet its mechanisms remain unclear, limiting target optimization. We present a multimodal approach integrating intraoperative thalamic and sub-scalp electroencephalogram recordings with post-implant reconstructions to define neural targets affected by centromedian nucleus stimulation. We find that stimulating low-activity regions near the centromedian nucleus, particularly the white matter of internal medullary lamina, induces significant cortical delta power increases greater than stimulation within high-activity areas inside the nucleus. Implantation in these low-activity targets results in greater than 50% seizure reduction in all three subjects. These findings suggest that seizure control primarily involves stimulating white matter regions such as the internal medullary lamina rather than the centromedian nucleus itself. A personalized, electrophysiology-guided implantation approach may enhance neurostimulation efficacy in drug-resistant epilepsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "40409406", "Colitis induced ventricular alternans increases the risk for ventricular arrhythmia.", "Inflammatory bowel disease was linked to an increased risk for conduction defects and ventricular arrhythmia. It coincides with dysregulation of gut microbiota, increased inflammation, and deregulation of the renin-angiotensin system. In this study, we aimed to determine the mechanism of colitis-induced electrophysiological remodeling that increases the risk for ventricular arrhythmia. In a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium induced active colitis (3.5&#xa0;%, 7&#xa0;days) cardiac electrophysiological properties were quantified during active inflammation. Electrocardiographic recordings exhibited a prolonged QT duration in mice with active colitis compared to control. Field potential (FP) recordings of Langendorff perfused colitis-hearts exhibited increased FP dispersion, a reduced threshold for ventricular alternans, and an increased propensity for spatially discordant alternans. The increased propensity for alternans was also reflected in isolated ventricular myocytes where Ca<sup" ], [ "40744297", "TMBIM4 affects left-right patterning via pluripotency exit during gastrulation.", "Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most prevalent congenital defect, but its underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Transmembrane BAX inhibitor motif-containing protein 4 (TMBIM4) has emerged as a candidate gene from genomic studies in CHD patients. Patients with deleterious genetic variation in TMBIM4 can exhibit cardiac heterotaxy, a type of left-right (LR) patterning defect characterized by abnormal cardiac asymmetry. Using Xenopus tropicalis, we investigated tmbim4's developmental roles and identified its critical function in LR patterning. tmbim4 depletion in Xenopus produced cardiac asymmetry defects which could be rescued by human and viral orthologs of the protein, reflecting remarkable evolutionary conservation. We identified gastrulation as a critical window for tmbim4 function. tmbim4 depletion impairs gastrulation, leading to abnormal pluripotency marker expression and delayed pluripotency exit. TMBIM4's underlying function is as a putative ion channel, and ion channels are emerging as key regulators of LR patterning and cell fate determination. Using sharp electrodes to measure membrane potential (V<sub" ] ]
33707658
The representational dynamics of perceived voice emotions evolve from categories to dimensions.
Long-standing affective science theories conceive the perception of emotional stimuli either as discrete categories (for example, an angry voice) or continuous dimensional attributes (for example, an intense and negative vocal emotion). Which position provides a better account is still widely debated. Here we contrast the positions to account for acoustics-independent perceptual and cerebral representational geometry of perceived voice emotions. We combined multimodal imaging of the cerebral response to heard vocal stimuli (using functional magnetic resonance imaging and magneto-encephalography) with post-scanning behavioural assessment of voice emotion perception. By using representational similarity analysis, we find that categories prevail in perceptual and early (less than 200&#x2009;ms) frontotemporal cerebral representational geometries and that dimensions impinge predominantly on a later limbic-temporal network (at 240&#x2009;ms and after 500&#x2009;ms). These results reconcile the two opposing views by reframing the perception of emotions as the interplay of cerebral networks with different representational dynamics that emphasize either categories or dimensions.</AbstractText
[ [ "32032670", "Functional Dissociations of the Left Anterior and Posterior Occipitotemporal Cortex for Semantic and Non-semantic Phonological Access.", "Previous studies have identified the ventral and dorsal brain regions that respectively support semantic and non-semantic phonological access. Nevertheless, the specific role of the left occipitotemporal cortex (lOTC) in the two pathways of phonological access is ambiguous. To address that question, the present study compared word reading in Chinese (presumably relying on the semantic pathway) with that in English (presumably relying on the non-semantic pathway). Results revealed a clear dissociation in the involvement of the anterior and posterior lOTC in semantic and non-semantic phonological access. Specifically, the anterior lOTC showed greater activation for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior lOTC showed greater activation for English than for Chinese. More importantly, both psychophysiological interaction analysis and resting-state functional connectivity analysis showed that the anterior lOTC was functionally connected to the ventral brain regions (e.g., left anterior fusiform gyrus, anterior temporal lobe, and ventral inferior frontal gyrus), whereas the posterior lOTC was functionally connected to the dorsal brain regions (e.g., left posterior superior temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and dorsal inferior frontal gyrus). These results suggest that the anterior and posterior lOTC are involved in semantic and non-semantic phonological access, respectively.</AbstractText" ], [ "26861557", "Repetition suppression and its contextual determinants in predictive coding.", "This paper presents a review of theoretical and empirical work on repetition suppression in the context of predictive coding. Predictive coding is a neurobiologically plausible scheme explaining how biological systems might perform perceptual inference and learning. From this perspective, repetition suppression is a manifestation of minimising prediction error through adaptive changes in predictions about the content and precision of sensory inputs. Simulations of artificial neural hierarchies provide a principled way of understanding how repetition suppression - at different time scales - can be explained in terms of inference and learning implemented under predictive coding. This formulation of repetition suppression is supported by results of numerous empirical studies of repetition suppression and its contextual determinants.</AbstractText" ], [ "30773147", "Distinct temporal brain dynamics in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia during emotion regulation.", "Disturbances in emotion regulation (ER) are characteristic of both patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ). We investigated the temporal dynamics of brain activation during cognitive ER in BD and SZ to understand the contribution of temporal characteristics of disturbed ER to their unique and shared symptomatology.</AbstractText Forty-six participants performed an ER-task (BD, n = 15; SZ, n = 16; controls, n = 15) during functional magnetic resonance imaging, in which they were instructed to use cognitive reappraisal techniques to regulate their emotional responses. Finite impulse response modeling was applied to estimate the temporal dynamics of brain responses during cognitive reappraisal (v. passive attending) of negative pictures. Group, time, and group &#xd7; time effects were tested using multivariate modeling.</AbstractText We observed a group &#xd7; time interaction during ER in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), supplementary motor area (SMA) and inferior occipital gyrus. Patients with SZ demonstrated initial hyper-activation of the VLPFC and SMA activation that was not sustained in later regulatory phases. Response profiles in the inferior occipital gyrus in SZ showed abnormal activation in the later phases of regulation. BD-patients showed general blunted responsivity in these regions.</AbstractText These results suggest that ER-disturbances in SZ are characterized by an inefficient initialization and failure to sustain regulatory control, whereas in BD, a failure to recruit regulatory resources may represent initial deficits in formulating adequate representations of the regulatory needs. This may help to further understand how ER-disturbances give rise to symptomatology of BD and SZ.</AbstractText" ], [ "27103529", "Age differences in the functional interactions among the default, frontoparietal control, and dorsal attention networks.", "Older adults typically show weaker functional connectivity (FC) within brain networks compared with young adults, but stronger functional connections between networks. Our primary aim here was to use a graph theoretical approach to identify age differences in the FC of 3 networks-default mode network (DMN), dorsal attention network, and frontoparietal control (FPC)-during rest and task conditions and test the hypothesis that age differences in the FPC would influence age differences in the other networks, consistent with its role as a cognitive \"switch.\" At rest, older adults showed lower clustering values compared with the young, and both groups showed more between-network connections involving the FPC than the other 2 networks, but this difference was greater in the older adults. Connectivity within the DMN was reduced in older compared with younger adults. Consistent with our hypothesis, between-network connections of the FPC at rest predicted the age-related reduction in connectivity within the DMN. There was no age difference in within-network FC during the task (after removing the specific task effect), but between-network connections were greater in older adults than in young adults for the FPC and dorsal attention network. In addition, age reductions were found in almost all the graph metrics during the task condition, including clustering and modularity. Finally, age differences in between-network connectivity of the FPC during both rest and task predicted cognitive performance. These findings provide additional evidence of less within-network but greater between-network FC in older adults during rest but also show that these age differences can be altered by the residual influence of task demands on background connectivity. Our results also support a role for the FPC as the regulator of other brain networks in the service of cognition. Critically, the link between age differences in inter-network connections of the FPC and DMN connectivity, and the link between FPC connectivity and performance, support the hypothesis that FC of the FPC influences the expression of age differences in other networks, as well as differences in cognitive function.</AbstractText" ], [ "31814610", "Functional MRI in Conjunction with a Novel MRI-compatible Hand-induced Robotic Device to Evaluate Rehabilitation of Individuals Recovering from Hand Grip Deficits.", "Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging technique that images brain activation in vivo, using endogenous deoxyhemoglobin as an endogenous contrast agent to detect changes in blood-level-dependent oxygenation (BOLD effect). We combined fMRI with a novel robotic device (MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device [MR_CHIROD]) so that a person in the scanner can execute a controlled motor task, hand-squeezing, which is a very important hand movement to study in neurological motor disease. We employed parallel imaging (generalized auto-calibrating partially parallel acquisitions [GRAPPA]), which allowed higher spatial resolution resulting in increased sensitivity to BOLD. The combination of fMRI with the hand-induced robotic device allowed precise control and monitoring of the task that was executed while a participant was in the scanner; this may prove to be of utility in rehabilitation of hand motor function in patients recovering from neurological deficits (e.g., stroke). Here we outline the protocol for using the current prototype of the MR_CHIROD during an fMRI scan.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "34732327", "Comparative connectomics of the primate social brain.", "Social interaction is thought to provide a selection pressure for human intelligence, yet little is known about its neurobiological basis and evolution throughout the primate lineage. Recent advances in neuroimaging have enabled whole brain investigation of brain structure, function, and connectivity in humans and non-human primates (NHPs), leading to a nascent field of comparative connectomics. However, linking social behavior to brain organization across the primates remains challenging. Here, we review the current understanding of the macroscale neural mechanisms of social behaviors from the viewpoint of system neuroscience. We first demonstrate an association between the number of cortical neurons and the size of social groups across primates, suggesting a link between neural information-processing capacity and social capabilities. Moreover, by capitalizing on recent advances in species-harmonized functional MRI, we demonstrate that portions of the mirror neuron system and default-mode networks, which are thought to be important for representation of the other's actions and sense of self, respectively, exhibit similarities in functional organization in macaque monkeys and humans, suggesting possible homologies. With respect to these two networks, we describe recent developments in the neurobiology of social perception, joint attention, personality and social complexity. Together, the Human Connectome Project (HCP)-style comparative neuroimaging, hyperscanning, behavioral, and other multi-modal investigations are expected to yield important insights into the evolutionary foundations of human social behavior.</AbstractText" ], [ "33706575", "'Somebody stuck me in a bag of sand': Lived experiences of the altered and uncomfortable body after stroke.", "This study explored stroke survivors' experiences of altered body perception, whether these perceptions cause discomfort, and the need for clinical interventions to improve comfort.</AbstractText A qualitative phenomenological study.</AbstractText Participants' homes.</AbstractText A purposive sample of 16 stroke survivors were recruited from community support groups. Participants (median: age 59; time post stroke &gt;2&#x2009;years), were at least six-months post-stroke, experiencing motor or sensory impairments and able to communicate verbally.</AbstractText Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were analysed using an interpretive phenomenological approach and presented thematically.</AbstractText Four themes or experiences were identified: Participants described (1) a body that did not exist; (2) a body hindered by strange sensations and distorted perceptions; (3) an uncontrollable body; and (4) a body isolated from social and clinical support. Discomfort was apparent in a physical and psychological sense and body experiences were difficult to comprehend and communicate to healthcare staff. Participants wished for interventions to improve their comfort but were doubtful that such treatments existed.</AbstractText Indications are that altered body perceptions cause multifaceted physical and psychosocial discomfort for stroke survivors. Discussions with patients about their personal perceptions and experiences of the body may facilitate better understanding and management to improve comfort after stroke.</AbstractText" ], [ "33938002", "Performance of an enhanced afterloader with electromagnetic tracking capabilities for channel reconstruction and error detection.", "To assess catheter reconstruction and error detection performance of an afterloader (Elekta Brachytherapy, Veenendaal, The Netherlands) equipped with electromagnetic (EM) tracking capabilities.</AbstractText The Flexitron research unit used was equipped with a special check cable integrating an EM sensor (NDI Aurora V3) that enables tracking and reconstruction capability. The reconstructions of a 24-cm long catheter were performed using two methods: continuous fixed-speed check cable backward stepping (at 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25 and 50&#xa0;cm/s) and stepping through each dwell position every 1&#xa0;mm. The ability of the system to differentiate between two closely located (parallel) catheters was investigated by connecting catheters to the afterloader and moving it from its axis with an increment of 1&#xa0;mm. A robotic arm (Meca500, Mecademic, Montreal) with an accuracy of 0.01&#xa0;mm was used to move the catheter between each reconstruction. Reconstructions were obtained with a locally weighted scatterplot smoothing algorithm. To quantify the reconstruction accuracy, distances between two catheters were computed along the reconstruction track with a 5&#xa0;mm step. The reconstructions of curve catheter paths were assessed through parallel and perpendicular phantom configuration to the EM field generator. Indexer length and lateral errors were simulated and a ROC analysis was made.</AbstractText Using a 50&#xa0;cm/s check cable speed does not allow for accurate reconstructions. A slower check cable speed results in better reconstruction performance and smaller standard deviations. At 1&#xa0;cm/s, a catheter can be shifted laterally down to 1&#xa0;mm and all paths can be uniquely identified. The optimum operating distance from the field generator (50 to 300&#xa0;mm) resulted in a lower absolute mean deviation from the expected value (0.2&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;0.1&#xa0;mm) versus being positioned on the edge of the electromagnetic sensitive detection volume (0.6&#xa0;&#xb1;0.3 mm). The reconstructions of curved catheters with a check cable speed under 5&#xa0;cm/s gave a 0.8&#xa0;mm&#xa0;&#xb1;0.3&#xa0;mm error, or better. All indexer and lateral shifts of 1&#xa0;mm were detected with a check cable speed of 2.5&#xa0;cm/s or lower.</AbstractText The EM-equipped Flexitron afterloader is able to track and reconstruct catheters with high accuracy. A speed under 5&#xa0;cm/s is recommended for straight and curved catheter reconstructions. It allows catheter identification down to 1&#xa0;mm inter-catheter distance shift. The check cable can also be used to detect common shift errors.</AbstractText" ], [ "33948119", "Switch from intravenous to subcutaneous immunoglobulin IgPro20 in CIDP patients: a prospective observational study under real-world conditions.", "IgPro20 is the first approved subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) preparation for the treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Two different doses of the SCIg preparation were investigated in the pivotal PATH study. Real-world data, and particularly the efficacy of an equivalent dose switch from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) to SCIg, are still not available.</AbstractText In this prospective observational study, 41 patients with CIDP treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) were changed to an equivalent (1:1) dose of IgPro20 1&#x2009;week after last IVIg treatment. Patients were examined at the time of switch from IVIg to SCIg, after 3 and after 6&#x2009;months and efficacy, treatment preferences and systemic and local reactions were assessed.</AbstractText Various clinical outcome parameters demonstrated overall stability regarding disability, general activity and social participation, grip and muscle strength, as well as gait impairment. Treatment satisfaction remained unchanged between IVIg and SCIg therapy. However, 88% of patients favoured treatment with subcutaneous IgPro20 over IVIg 6&#x2009;months after switch to IgPro20.</AbstractText Results demonstrate that the switch of IVIg to an equivalent dose of SCIg represents an effective and preferred treatment option for CIDP patients.</AbstractText" ], [ "31909444", "Multimodal assessment of white matter microstructure in antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients and confounding effects of recreational drug use.", "Cerebral white matter (WM) aberrations in schizophrenia have been linked to multiple neurobiological substrates but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Moreover, antipsychotic treatment and substance use constitute potential confounders. Multimodal studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) may provide deeper insight into the whole brain WM pathophysiology in schizophrenia. We combined DTI and MTI to investigate WM integrity in 51 antipsychotic-na&#xef;ve, first-episode schizophrenia patients and 55 matched healthy controls, using 3&#xa0;T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Psychopathology was assessed with the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). A whole brain partial least squares correlation (PLSC) method was used to conjointly analyze DTI-derived measures (fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mode of anisotropy (MO)) and the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) to identify group differences, and associations with psychopathology. In secondary analyses, we excluded recreational substance users from both groups resulting in 34 patients and 51 healthy controls. The primary PLSC group difference analysis identified a significant pattern of lower FA, AD, MO and higher RD in patients (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.04). This pattern suggests disorganized WM microstructure in patients. The secondary PLSC group difference analysis without recreational substance users revealed a significant pattern of lower FA and higher AD, RD, MO, MTR in patients (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.04). This pattern in the substance free patients is consistent with higher extracellular free-water concentrations, which may reflect neuroinflammation. No significant associations with psychopathology were observed. Recreational substance use appears to be a confounding issue, which calls for attention in future WM studies.</AbstractText" ] ]
37208583
Brain D2-Like Dopamine Receptor Distribution in Rats with Different Types of Genetic Epilepsy.
The distribution of the D2-like dopamine receptor (D2DR) in the cortex and striatum was compared between rats with absence, audiogenic, or combined genetically determined epilepsy and normal Wistar rats by autoradiography. A significantly lower D2DR binding density was observed in the dorsal and ventrolateral aspects of the nucleus accumbens in epileptic vs. non-epileptic rats. Rats with audiogenic epilepsy additionally showed a higher D2DR density in the dorsal striatum and motor and somatosensory cortex and a lower D2DR density in the ventrolateral part of the nucleus accumbens. The findings indicated that a common neuronal circuit is involved in the pathogenesis of both convulsive and nonconvulsive forms of generalized epilepsy.</AbstractText
[ [ "34022430", "Single-pulse stimulation of cerebellar nuclei stops epileptic thalamic activity.", "Epileptic (absence) seizures in the cerebral cortex can be stopped by pharmacological and optogenetic stimulation of the cerebellar nuclei (CN) neurons that innervate the thalamus. However, it is unclear how such stimulation can modify underlying thalamo-cortical oscillations.</AbstractText Here we tested whether rhythmic synchronized thalamo-cortical activity during absence seizures can be desynchronized by single-pulse optogenetic stimulation of CN neurons to stop seizure activity.</AbstractText We performed simultaneous thalamic single-cell and electrocorticographical recordings in awake tottering mice, a genetic model of absence epilepsy, to investigate the rhythmicity and synchronicity. Furthermore, we tested interictally the impact of single-pulse optogenetic CN stimulation on thalamic and cortical recordings.</AbstractText We show that thalamic firing is highly rhythmic and synchronized with cortical spike-and-wave discharges during absence seizures and that this phase-locked activity can be desynchronized upon single-pulse optogenetic stimulation of CN neurons. Notably, this stimulation of CN neurons was more effective in stopping seizures than direct, focal stimulation of groups of afferents innervating the thalamus. During interictal periods, CN stimulation evoked reliable but heterogeneous responses in thalamic cells in that they could show an increase or decrease in firing rate at various latencies, bi-phasic responses with an initial excitatory and subsequent inhibitory response, or no response at all.</AbstractText Our data indicate that stimulation of CN neurons and their fibers in thalamus evokes differential effects in its downstream pathways and desynchronizes phase-locked thalamic neuronal firing during seizures, revealing a neurobiological mechanism that may explain how cerebellar stimulation can stop seizures.</AbstractText" ], [ "32513827", "Dynamical Mechanisms of Interictal Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Epilepsy.", "Drug-resistant focal epilepsy is a large-scale brain networks disorder characterized by altered spatiotemporal patterns of functional connectivity (FC), even during interictal resting state (RS). Although RS-FC-based metrics can detect these changes, results from RS functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) studies are unclear and difficult to interpret, and the underlying dynamical mechanisms are still largely unknown. To better capture the RS dynamics, we phenomenologically extended the neural mass model of partial seizures, the Epileptor, by including two neuron subpopulations of epileptogenic and nonepileptogenic type, making it capable of producing physiological oscillations in addition to the epileptiform activity. Using the neuroinformatics platform The Virtual Brain, we reconstructed 14 epileptic and 5 healthy human (of either sex) brain network models (BNMs), based on individual anatomical connectivity and clinically defined epileptogenic heatmaps. Through systematic parameter exploration and fitting to neuroimaging data, we demonstrated that epileptic brains during interictal RS are associated with lower global excitability induced by a shift in the working point of the model, indicating that epileptic brains operate closer to a stable equilibrium point than healthy brains. Moreover, we showed that functional networks are unaffected by interictal spikes, corroborating previous experimental findings; additionally, we observed higher excitability in epileptogenic regions, in agreement with the data. We shed light on new dynamical mechanisms responsible for altered RS-FC in epilepsy, involving the following two key factors: (1) a shift of excitability of the whole brain leading to increased stability; and (2) a locally increased excitability in the epileptogenic regions supporting the mixture of hyperconnectivity and hypoconnectivity in these areas.<b" ], [ "37021337", "Sex-based electroclinical differences and prognostic factors in epilepsy with eyelid myoclonia.", "Although a striking female preponderance has been consistently reported in epilepsy with eyelid myoclonia (EEM), no study has specifically explored the variability of clinical presentation according to sex in this syndrome. Here, we aimed to investigate sex-specific electroclinical differences and prognostic determinants in EEM. Data from 267 EEM patients were retrospectively analyzed by the EEM Study Group, and a dedicated multivariable logistic regression analysis was developed separately for each sex. We found that females with EEM showed a significantly higher rate of persistence of photosensitivity and eye closure sensitivity at the last visit, along with a higher prevalence of migraine with/without aura, whereas males with EEM presented a higher rate of borderline intellectual functioning/intellectual disability. In female patients, multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed age at epilepsy onset, eyelid myoclonia status epilepticus, psychiatric comorbidities, and catamenial seizures as significant predictors of drug resistance. In male patients, a history of febrile seizures was the only predictor of drug resistance. Hence, our study reveals sex-specific differences in terms of both electroclinical features and prognostic factors. Our findings support the importance of a sex-based personalized approach in epilepsy care and research, especially in genetic generalized epilepsies.</AbstractText" ], [ "34877694", "DBS of Thalamic Centromedian Nucleus for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (ESTEL Trial).", "Prior uncontrolled studies have reported seizure reductions following deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), but evidence from randomized controlled studies is lacking. We aimed to formally assess the efficacy and safety of DBS to the centromedian thalamic nucleus (CM) for the treatment of LGS.</AbstractText We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized study of continuous, cycling stimulation of CM-DBS, in patients with LGS. Following pre- and post-implantation periods, half received 3 months of stimulation (blinded phase), then all received 3 months of stimulation (unblinded phase). The primary outcome was the proportion of participants with &#x2265;50% reduction in diary-recorded seizures in stimulated versus control participants, measured at the end of the blinded phase. A secondary outcome was the proportion of participants with a &#x2265;50% reduction in electrographic seizures on 24-hour ambulatory electroencephalography (EEG) at the end of the blinded phase.</AbstractText Between November 2017 and December 2019, 20 young adults with LGS (17-37&#x2009;years;13 women) underwent bilateral CM-DBS at a single center in Australia, with 19 randomized (treatment, n&#xa0;=&#xa0;10 and control, n&#xa0;=&#xa0;9). Fifty percent of the stimulation group achieved &#x2265;50% seizure reduction, compared with 22% of controls (odds ratio [OR] =&#x2009;3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] =&#x2009;0.44-21.45, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.25). For electrographic seizures, 59% of the stimulation group had &#x2265;50% reduction at the end of the blinded phase, compared with none of the controls (OR=&#x2009;23.25, 95% CI&#xa0;=&#xa0;1.0-538.4, p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.05). Across all patients, median seizure reduction (baseline vs study exit) was 46.7% (interquartile range [IQR] =&#x2009;28-67%) for diary-recorded seizures and 53.8% (IQR&#xa0;=&#xa0;27-73%) for electrographic seizures.</AbstractText CM-DBS in patients with LGS reduced electrographic rather than diary-recorded seizures, after 3 months of stimulation. Fifty percent of all participants had diary-recorded seizures reduced by half at the study exit, providing supporting evidence of the treatment effect. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:253-267.</AbstractText" ], [ "35884857", "Resting-State EEG Functional Connectivity in Children with Rolandic Spikes with or without Clinical Seizures.", "Alterations in dynamic brain network function are increasingly recognized in epilepsy. Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS), or benign rolandic seizures, is the most common idiopathic focal epilepsy in children. In this study, we analyzed EEG functional connectivity (FC) among children with rolandic spikes with or without clinical seizures as compared to controls, to investigate the relationship between FC and clinical parameters in children with rolandic spikes. The FC analysis based on graph theory and network-based statistics in different frequency bands evaluated global efficiency, clustering coefficient, betweenness centrality, and nodal strength in four frequency bands. Similar to BECTS patients with seizures, children with rolandic spikes without seizures had significantly increased global efficiency, mean clustering coefficient, mean nodal strength, and connectivity strength, specifically in the theta frequency band at almost all proportional thresholds, compared with age-matched controls. Decreased mean betweenness centrality was only present in BECTS patients with seizures. Age at seizure onset was significantly positively associated with the strength of EEG-FC. The decreased function of betweenness centrality was only presented in BECTS patients with clinical seizures, suggesting weaker local connectivity may lower the seizure threshold. These findings may affect treatment policy in children with rolandic spikes.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37669669", "Continuous time-resolved estimated synthetic 4D-CTs for dose reconstruction of lung tumor treatments at a 0.35 T MR-linac.", "<i" ], [ "38515642", "Spinning Through History: Evolution of the Concept of Vestibular Migraine.", "Vestibular migraine represents a growing public health problem, imposing enormous societal burdens in the form of patient suffering, loss of productivity, and direct healthcare costs. This raises the question of how we developed our ideas about vestibular migraine and how these ideas shape how we treat it. This review walks through the history of how our conceptualization of migraine and vestibular symptoms evolved, starting with clinical observations in ancient times, inclusion under the umbrella of Meniere's disease, and then separation from Meniere's disease with its own identity. Tradition, clinical observations, and diagnostic criteria developed by professional societies have played prominent roles in building our current concept of vestibular migraine. A review of the ideas that have shaped our current conception of vestibular migraine may help us to see which ones have stood the test of time and which ones should continue to evolve. As in other disciplines, we study history in medicine to be inspired, warned, and sometimes, to be freed.</AbstractText" ], [ "37015587", "Data Augmentation of SSVEPs Using Source Aliasing Matrix Estimation for Brain-Computer Interfaces.", "Currently, ensemble task-related component analysis (eTRCA) and task discriminative component analysis (TDCA) are the state-of-the-art algorithms for steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). However, training the BCIs requires multiple calibration trials. With insufficient calibration data, the accuracy of the BCI will degrade, or even become invalid with only one calibration trial. However, collecting a large amount of electroencephalography (EEG) data for calibration is a time-consuming and laborious process, which hinders the practical use of eTRCA and TDCA.</AbstractText This study proposed a novel method, namely Source Aliasing Matrix Estimation (SAME), to augment the calibration data for SSVEP-BCIs. SAME could generate artificial EEG trials with the featured SSVEPs. Its effectiveness was evaluated using two public datasets (i.e., Benchmark, BETA).</AbstractText When combined with SAME, both eTRCA and TDCA had significantly improved performance with a limited number of calibration data. Specifically, SAME increased the average accuracy of eTRCA and TDCA by about 12% and 3%, respectively, with as few as two calibration trials. Notably, SAME enabled eTRCA and TDCA to work well with a single calibration trial, achieving an average accuracy &gt;90% for the Benchmark dataset and &gt;70% for the BETA dataset with 1-second EEG.</AbstractText SAME is an effective method for SSVEP-BCIs to augment the calibration data, thereby significantly enhancing the performance of eTRCA and TDCA.</AbstractText We propose a new data-augmentation method that is compatible with the state-of-the-art algorithms of SSVEP-based BCIs. It can significantly reduce the efforts required to calibrate SSVEP-BCIs, which is promising for the development of practical BCIs.</AbstractText" ], [ "37672782", "Conceptions and Misconceptions: What Do School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists Think About Dyslexia?", "The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') conceptions and misconceptions about dyslexia.</AbstractText Participants were 86 school-based SLPs. They completed an online survey on which they rated their agreement and disagreement with true and false statements related to the scientific evidence about the nature of dyslexia and interventions for dyslexia, as well as common misconceptions about dyslexia.</AbstractText There was considerable variability among SLPs' agreement and disagreement with the statements. Critically, despite abundant contrary evidence in the literature, many SLPs believe that dyslexia involves a visual processing deficit.</AbstractText These findings suggest that many school-based SLPs hold misconceptions about dyslexia, especially those related to dyslexia being a visual disorder. The identified misconceptions may contribute to some SLPs' reluctance to incorporate reading and prereading skills into speech-language assessment and intervention. SLPs need greater knowledge of dyslexia to provide more effective evaluations and intervention services.</AbstractText" ], [ "36816857", "Discrimination and learning of temporal input sequences in a cerebellar Purkinje cell model.", "Temporal information processing is essential for sequential contraction of various muscles with the appropriate timing and amplitude for fast and smooth motor control. These functions depend on dynamics of neural circuits, which consist of simple neurons that accumulate incoming spikes and emit other spikes. However, recent studies indicate that individual neurons can perform complex information processing through the nonlinear dynamics of dendrites with complex shapes and ion channels. Although we have extensive evidence that cerebellar circuits play a vital role in motor control, studies investigating the computational ability of single Purkinje cells are few.</AbstractText We found, through computer simulations, that a Purkinje cell can discriminate a series of pulses in two directions (from dendrite tip to soma, and from soma to dendrite), as cortical pyramidal cells do. Such direction sensitivity was observed in whatever compartment types of dendrites (spiny, smooth, and main), although they have dierent sets of ion channels.</AbstractText We found that the shortest and longest discriminable sequences lasted for 60 ms (6 pulses with 10 ms interval) and 4,000 ms (20 pulses with 200 ms interval), respectively. and that the ratio of discriminable sequences within the region of the interesting parameter space was, on average, 3.3% (spiny), 3.2% (smooth), and 1.0% (main). For the direction sensitivity, a T-type Ca<sup Our results show that individual Purkinje cells can perform more complex information processing than is conventionally assumed for a single neuron, and suggest that Purkinje cells act as sequence discriminators, a useful role in motor control and learning.</AbstractText" ] ]
37928153
Proof-of-concept for characterization of neurodegenerative disorders utilizing two non-REM sleep biomarkers.
This proof-of-concept study aimed to determine whether the combined features of two non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep biomarkers acquired predominantly in-home could characterize different neurodegenerative disorders.</AbstractText Sleep spindle duration and non-REM hypertonia (NRH) were evaluated in seven groups including a control group (CG&#x2009;=&#x2009;61), and participants with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD&#x2009;=&#x2009;19), mild cognitive impairment (MCI&#x2009;=&#x2009;41), Parkinson disease (PD&#x2009;=&#x2009;16), Alzheimer disease dementia (ADem&#x2009;=&#x2009;29), dementia with Lewy Bodies or Parkinson disease dementia (LBD&#x2009;=&#x2009;19) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP&#x2009;=&#x2009;13). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Mann-Whitney <i ANOVA identified group differences in age, sleep efficiency, REM, NRH (<i The NREM sleep biomarkers spindle duration and NRH may be useful in distinguishing patients with different neurodegenerative disorders. Larger prospective cohort studies are needed to determine whether spindle duration and NRH can be combined for prodromal assessment and/or monitoring disease progression.</AbstractText
[ [ "26810913", "Cortical thickness changes in patients with Parkinson's disease and impulse control disorders.", "To investigate gray matter (GM) and cortical thickness (CTh) changes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with and without Impulse Control Disorders (ICDs).</AbstractText Fifteen patients with PD with ICDs (ICD+), 15 patients with PD without ICDs (ICD-) and 24 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in the study. Patients were screened for ICDs by the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview (MIDI) and underwent an extensive neuropsychological evaluation. Whole brain structural imaging was performed on a 3T GE MR scanner. Surface-based investigation of CTh was carried out by using Freesurfer Software. We also used voxel-based morphometry to investigate the pattern of GM atrophy.</AbstractText The voxel-wise analysis of the regional differences in CTh revealed that ICD+ patients showed a statistically significant (p&lt;0.01 FDR) thicker cortex when compared to both ICD- patients and HCs in the anterior cingulate (ACC) and orbitofrontal (OFC) cortices. Moreover, cortical thickness abnormalities were positively correlated with ICD severity (p&lt;0.05 FDR). VBM data did not reveal any statistically significant differences in local GM.</AbstractText Our results demonstrate that ICD+ patients have an increased CTh in limbic regions when compared with ICD- patients at the same disease stage and with an equal daily levodopa equivalent dose. These corticometric changes may play a role in the lack of inhibition of compulsive behaviors. The presence of such structural abnormalities may result from a synergistic effect of dopaminergic therapy in patients with a pre-existing vulnerability to develop an abnormal behavioral response to external stimuli.</AbstractText" ], [ "35431890", "Resting-State Functional Network Topology Alterations of the Occipital Lobe Associated With Attention Impairment in Isolated Rapid Eye Movement Behavior Disorder.", "This study investigates the topological properties of brain functional networks in patients with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD).</AbstractText A total of 21 patients with iRBD (iRBD group) and 22 healthy controls (HCs) were evaluated using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological measures in cognitive and motor function. Data from rs-fMRI were analyzed using graph theory, which included small-world properties, network efficiency, network local efficiency, nodal shortest path, node efficiency, and network connectivity, as well as the relationship between behavioral characteristics and altered brain topological features.</AbstractText Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test (ROCFT-copy), symbol digital modalities test (SDMT), auditory verbal learning test (AVLT)-N1, AVLT-N2, AVLT-N3, and AVLT-N1-3 scores were significantly lower in patients with iRBD than in HC (<i These results suggest that abnormal behaviors may be associated with disrupted brain network topology and functional connectivity in patients with iRBD and also provide novel insights to understand pathophysiological mechanisms in iRBD.</AbstractText" ], [ "38094641", "The Increasing Prevalence of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder with Parkinson's Disease Progression: A Polysomnography-Supported Study.", "Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is proposed as an early diagnostic marker in Parkinson's disease (PD). We investigated the frequency of RBD during the progression of PD in the advanced stages and identified potential risk factors for developing RBD earlier or later.</AbstractText We performed a retrospective analysis and determined the frequency of RBD in all PD in-patients (Hoehn and Yahr stages &#x2265;3) with motor fluctuations who had undergone video-polysomnography (vPSG) for a sleep complaint or daytime sleepiness. To correct for selection bias, we analyzed the prevalence of RBD in PD patients from the DeNoPa cohort. PD patients with RBD were compared with PD without RBD. To identify potential risk factors, we performed multiple regression modeling.</AbstractText A total of 504 PD patients had vPSG. 37 were excluded due to missing REM or artifacts during REM. RBD was present in 406/467 (86.9%) PD patients. PD&#x2009;+&#x2009;RBD patients were older than PDnonRBD (69&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;7.7 vs. 64&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;9.2&#x2009;years, <i The prevalence of RBD in patients with advanced PD is high and increases with disease severity, motor deficits, postural instability, orthostatic symptoms, and age. This suggests RBD is a progression marker of PD in patients with sleep complaints.</AbstractText" ], [ "35140402", "Mechanisms of inhibition and activation of extrasynaptic αβ GABA(A) receptors.", "Type A GABA (&#x3b3;-aminobutyric acid) receptors represent a diverse population in the mammalian brain, forming pentamers from combinations of &#x3b1;-, &#x3b2;-, &#x3b3;-, &#x3b4;-, &#x3b5;-, &#x3c1;-, &#x3b8;- and &#x3c0;-subunits<sup" ], [ "35249132", "The trigeminal pathways.", "The role of the trigeminal system in facial and dural sensitivity has been recognized for a long time. More recently, the trigeminal system has also been considered a prominent actor in brain nociceptive innervation. It is the anatomical substrate of several frequent conditions, such as primary or secondary headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, and other orofacial pains. Appreciation of the delicate anatomical arrangement of the trigeminal pathway is one of the keys to understanding these conditions' pathophysiology and to proposing innovative treatments. This review provides a structured presentation of existing knowledge about the trigeminal system, from classical anatomical data to the most recent literature. First, we present the organization of the trigeminal pathway from the trigeminal divisions, nerve, and nuclei to the thalamus and somatosensory cortex. We describe the neurons and fibers' repartition at each level, depending on the location (somatotopic organization) and the type of receptors (modal organization). Such a dual somatotopic-modal arrangement of the trigeminal fibers is especially clear for the juxtapontine segment of the trigeminal nerve and the trigeminal nuclei of the brainstem. It has significant clinical consequences both for diagnosis and treatment. Second, we explore how the trigeminal system is modulated and involved in reflexes, for instance the trigemino-cardiac and the trigemino-autonomic reflexes, which could play an essential role in the autonomic symptoms observed in cluster headache. Finally, we present how to interact with this complex system to relieve pain mediated by the trigeminal system. This section covers both neuromodulatory and lesional approaches.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "37510019", "Information-Theoretic Analysis of Cardio-Respiratory Interactions in Heart Failure Patients: Effects of Arrhythmias and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.", "The properties of cardio-respiratory coupling (CRC) are affected by various pathological conditions related to the cardiovascular and/or respiratory systems. In heart failure, one of the most common cardiac pathological conditions, the degree of CRC changes primarily depend on the type of heart-rhythm alterations. In this work, we investigated CRC in heart-failure patients, applying measures from information theory, i.e., Granger Causality (<i" ], [ "37717502", "MRgFUS of the nucleus ventralis intermedius in essential tremor modulates functional connectivity within the classical tremor network and beyond.", "Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus is an incisionless lesional treatment for essential tremor.</AbstractText To examine relationships between tremor severity and functional connectivity in patients with essential tremor and to assess long-term changes in the tremor network after sonication of the ventral intermediate nucleus.</AbstractText Twenty-one patients with essential tremor (70.33&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;11.32 years) were included in the final analysis and underwent resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3&#xa0;T before and 6 months after treatment. Tremor severity (Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Clinical Rating Scale) was evaluated and functional connectivity was investigated using independent component analysis.</AbstractText MRgFUS of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus reduced contralateral tremor effectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed exclusively negative correlations between FC and tremor severity, notably in the right cerebellar lobe VI and the left cerebellar lobe VIIIa (cerebellar network), in the left occipital fusiform gyrus (lateral visual network), the anterior division of the left superior temporal gyrus (fronto-parieto-temporal network), and in the posterior division of the left parahippocampal gyrus and the bilateral lingual gyri (default mode network). Six months after treatment, increased functional connectivity was observed in almost all tremor-associated clusters, except the cluster localized in the left cerebellum.</AbstractText Our findings suggest that tremor-related activity in essential tremor extends beyond the classical cerebellar network, additionally involving areas related to visual processing. Functional restoration of network activity after sonication of the ventral intermediate nucleus is observed within the classical tremor network (cerebellum) and notably also in visual processing areas.</AbstractText" ], [ "37305539", "Essential role of microglia in the fast antidepressant action of ketamine and hypidone hydrochloride (YL-0919).", "<b" ], [ "29770122", "Acute Unilateral Audiovestibulopathy due to Embolic Labyrinthine Infarction.", "Labyrinthine infarction is a cause of acute audiovestibulopathy, but can be diagnosed only in association with other infarctions involving the brainstem or cerebellar areas supplied by the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) since current imaging techniques cannot visualize an infarction confined to the labyrinth. This case series aimed to establish embolic labyrinthine infarction as a mechanism of isolated acute audiovestibulopathy.</AbstractText We analyzed clinical features, imaging findings, and mechanisms of embolism in 10 patients (8 men, age range: 38-76) who had developed acute audiovestibulopathy in association with an obvious source of embolism and concurrent acute embolic infarctions in the non-anterior inferior cerebellar artery territories. The presence of audiovestibulopathy was defined when bedside or laboratory evaluation documented unilateral vestibular (head-impulse tests or caloric tests) or auditory loss (audiometry).</AbstractText Six patients showed combined audiovestibulopathy while three had isolated vestibulopathy. One patient presented isolated hearing loss. Audiovestibular findings were the only abnormalities observed in nine patients. In all patients, MRIs documented single or multiple infarctions in the cerebellum (<i Selective embolism to the labyrinth may be considered in patients with acute unilateral audiovestibulopathy and concurrent acute infarctions in the non-AICA territories.</AbstractText" ], [ "36772594", "K-Anonymity Privacy Protection Algorithm for Multi-Dimensional Data against Skewness and Similarity Attacks.", "Currently, a significant focus has been established on the privacy protection of multi-dimensional data publishing in various application scenarios, such as scientific research and policy-making. The K-anonymity mechanism based on clustering is the main method of shared-data desensitization, but it will cause problems of inconsistent clustering results and low clustering accuracy. It also cannot defend against several common attacks, such as skewness and similarity attacks at the same time. To defend against these attacks, we propose a K-anonymity privacy protection algorithm for multi-dimensional data against skewness and similarity attacks (KAPP) combined with <i" ] ]
34529676
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances internal source monitoring abilities in healthy participants.
Source monitoring refers to the ability to identify the origin of a memory, for example, whether you remember saying something or thinking about it, and confusions of these sources have been associated with the experience of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Both AVHs and source confusions are reported to originate from dysfunctional brain activations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the superior temporal gyrus (STG); specifically, it is assumed that a hypoactive PFC and a hyperactive STG gives rise to AVHs and source confusions. We set out to test this assumption by trying to mimic this hypertemporal/hypofrontal model in healthy individuals with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): the inhibitory cathode was placed over the left PFC and the excitatory anode over the left dorsolateral STG. Participants completed a reality monitoring task (distinguishing between external and internal memory sources) and an internal source monitoring task (distinguishing between two or more internal memory sources) in two separate experiments (offline vs. online tDCS). In the offline experiment (n = 34), both source monitoring tasks were completed after tDCS stimulation, and in the online experiment (n = 27) source monitoring tasks were completed while simultaneously being stimulated with tDCS. We found that internal source monitoring abilities were significantly enhanced during active online tDCS, while reality monitoring abilities were unaffected by stimulation in both experiments. We speculate, based on combining the present findings with previous studies, that there might be different brain areas involved in reality and internal source monitoring. While internal source monitoring seems to involve speech production areas, specifically Broca's area, as suggested in the present study, reality monitoring seems to rely more on the STG and DLPFC, as shown in other studies of the field.</AbstractText
[ [ "35113692", "Discovery of genomic loci of the human cerebral cortex using genetically informed brain atlases.", "To determine the impact of genetic variants on the brain, we used genetically informed brain atlases in genome-wide association studies of regional cortical surface area and thickness in 39,898 adults and 9136 children. We uncovered 440 genome-wide significant loci in the discovery cohort and 800 from a post hoc combined meta-analysis. Loci in adulthood were largely captured in childhood, showing signatures of negative selection, and were linked to early neurodevelopment and pathways associated with neuropsychiatric risk. Opposing gradations of decreased surface area and increased thickness were associated with common inversion polymorphisms. Inferior frontal regions, encompassing Broca's area, which is important for speech, were enriched for human-specific genomic elements. Thus, a mixed genetic landscape of conserved and human-specific features is concordant with brain hierarchy and morphogenetic gradients.</AbstractText" ], [ "33884373", "Neuroplasticity in post-stroke aphasia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of functional imaging studies of reorganization of language processing.", "Recovery from aphasia is thought to depend on neural plasticity, that is, functional reorganization of surviving brain regions such that they take on new or expanded roles in language processing. We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of all articles published between 1995 and early 2020 that have described functional imaging studies of six or more individuals with post-stroke aphasia, and have reported analyses bearing on neuroplasticity of language processing. Each study was characterized and appraised in detail, with particular attention to three critically important methodological issues: task performance confounds, contrast validity, and correction for multiple comparisons. We identified 86 studies describing a total of 561 relevant analyses. We found that methodological limitations related to task performance confounds, contrast validity, and correction for multiple comparisons have been pervasive. Only a few claims about language processing in individuals with aphasia are strongly supported by the extant literature: first, left hemisphere language regions are less activated in individuals with aphasia than neurologically normal controls, and second, in cohorts with aphasia, activity in left hemisphere language regions, and possibly a temporal lobe region in the right hemisphere, is positively correlated with language function. There is modest, equivocal evidence for the claim that individuals with aphasia differentially recruit right hemisphere homotopic regions, but no compelling evidence for differential recruitment of additional left hemisphere regions or domain-general networks. There is modest evidence that left hemisphere language regions return to function over time, but no compelling longitudinal evidence for dynamic reorganization of the language network.</AbstractText" ], [ "33832955", "Resting-State Functional MRI for Determining Language Lateralization in Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.", "Task-based fMRI is a noninvasive method of determining language dominance; however, not all children can complete language tasks due to age, cognitive/intellectual, or language barriers. Task-free approaches such as resting-state fMRI offer an alternative method. This study evaluated resting-state fMRI for predicting language laterality in children with drug-resistant epilepsy.</AbstractText A retrospective review of 43 children with drug-resistant epilepsy who had undergone resting-state fMRI and task-based fMRI during presurgical evaluation was conducted. Independent component analysis of resting-state fMRI was used to identify language networks by comparing the independent components with a language network template. Concordance rates in language laterality between resting-state fMRI and each of the 4 task-based fMRI language paradigms (auditory description decision, auditory category, verbal fluency, and silent word generation tasks) were calculated.</AbstractText Concordance ranged from 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.65) to 0.73 (95% CI, 0.58-0.87), depending on the language paradigm, with the highest concordance found for the auditory description decision task. Most (78%-83%) patients identified as left-lateralized on task-based fMRI were correctly classified as left-lateralized on resting-state fMRI. No patients classified as right-lateralized or bilateral on task-based fMRI were correctly classified by resting-state fMRI.</AbstractText While resting-state fMRI correctly classified most patients who had typical (left) language dominance, its ability to correctly classify patients with atypical (right or bilateral) language dominance was poor. Further study is required before resting-state fMRI can be used clinically for language mapping in the context of epilepsy surgery evaluation in children with drug-resistant epilepsy.</AbstractText" ], [ "34259072", "A CBF decrease in the left supplementary motor areas: New insight into postoperative pediatric cerebellar mutism syndrome using arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI.", "Postoperative pediatric cerebellar mutism syndrome (pCMS), characterized mainly by delayed onset transient mutism is a poorly understood complication that may occur after pediatric medulloblastoma (MB) resection. Our aim was to investigate postoperative changes in whole-brain cerebral blood flow (CBF) at rest in pCMS patients using arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging. This study compared preoperative and postoperative T2-weighted signal abnormalities and CBF using a voxel-wise, whole-brain analysis in 27 children undergoing MB resection, including 11 patients who developed mutism and 16 who did not. Comparison of postoperative T2 signal abnormalities between patients who developed pCMS (mean age 7.0&#x2009;years) and those who did not showed that pCMS (mean age 8.9&#x2009;years) patients were significantly more likely to present with T2-weighted hyperintensities in the right dentate nucleus (DN) (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.02). Comparison of preoperative and postoperative CBF in patients with pCMS showed a significant postoperative CBF decrease in the left pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.007) and SMA (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.009). In patients who did not develop pCMS, no significant differences were observed. Findings provide evidence of an association between pCMS, injury to the right DN, and left pre-SMA/SMA hypoperfusion, areas responsible for speech. This supports the relevance of CBF investigations in pCMS.</AbstractText" ], [ "28400265", "Convergence of semantics and emotional expression within the IFG pars orbitalis.", "Humans communicate through a combination of linguistic and emotional channels, including propositional speech, writing, sign language, music, but also prosodic, facial, and gestural expression. These channels can be interpreted separately or they can be integrated to multimodally convey complex meanings. Neural models of the perception of semantics and emotion include nodes for both functions in the inferior frontal gyrus pars orbitalis (IFGorb). However, it is not known whether this convergence involves a common functional zone or instead specialized subregions that process semantics and emotion separately. To address this, we performed Kernel Density Estimation meta-analyses of published neuroimaging studies of the perception of semantics or emotion that reported activation in the IFGorb. The results demonstrated that the IFGorb contains two zones with distinct functional profiles. A lateral zone, situated immediately ventral to Broca's area, was implicated in both semantics and emotion. Another zone, deep within the ventral frontal operculum, was engaged almost exclusively by studies of emotion. Follow-up analysis using Meta-Analytic Connectivity Modeling demonstrated that both zones were frequently co-activated with a common network of sensory, motor, and limbic structures, although the lateral zone had a greater association with prefrontal cortical areas involved in executive function. The status of the lateral IFGorb as a point of convergence between the networks for processing semantic and emotional content across modalities of communication is intriguing since this structure is preserved across primates with limited semantic abilities. Hence, the IFGorb may have initially evolved to support the comprehension of emotional signals, being later co-opted to support semantic communication in humans by forming new connections with brain regions that formed the human semantic network.</AbstractText" ] ]
[ [ "33486423", "The Pediatric Neurology 2020 Research Workforce Survey: Optimism in a Time of Challenge.", "The past decades have seen a transformational shift in the understanding and treatment for neurological diseases affecting infants and children. These advances have been driven in part by the pediatric neurology physician-scientist workforce and its efforts. However, pediatric neurology research faces substantial challenges from internal and external forces including work-life balance demands, COVID-19 pandemic effects, and research funding. Understanding the impact of these challenges on the perceptions, planning, and careers of pediatric neurology physician-scientists is needed to guide the research mission.</AbstractText Our objective was to survey the research challenges, goals, and priorities of pediatric neurologists. In 2020 we conducted a cross-sectional, 28-question survey emailed to 1,775 members of the Child Neurology Society.</AbstractText One hundred fifty-one individuals responded to the survey. Most respondents were grant investigators (52%) and conducted clinical research (69%). Research areas included epilepsy (23%), neurodevelopmental and autism (16%), neurocritical care and stroke (11%), neurogenetics and neurometabolics (9%), neonatal neurology (8%), and others. The most common funding source was the National Institutes of Health (37%). Shared major research concerns were funding, utilization of remote technology, overcoming disparities, natural history and multicenter studies, global neurology, and diversification of the research portfolio. Commitment to continuing and increasing research efforts was evident.</AbstractText Our survey demonstrates obstacles for physician-scientist researchers in pediatric neurology, but it also shows optimism about continued opportunity. Creative approaches to address challenges will benefit the research mission, maximize the current and future pool of researchers, and help improve the lives of children with neurological disorders.</AbstractText" ], [ "35295454", "Dorsal Root Entry Zone Lesioning for Brachial Plexus Avulsion Injuries: Case Series and Literature Review.", "<b" ], [ "34982449", "Sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 9 mutation in epilepsy.", "In humans, gene mutations in voltage-gated sodium channels can cause a range of epileptic symptoms, including genetic (generalized) epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) and Dravet syndrome (DS). The SCN9A is a member of the SCN9 gene family that encodes sodium transporter proteins. In the current case report, we delineate a 12-year-old patient who was referred to a pediatric neurology clinic for infantile-onset generalized epileptic seizures and progressive neurodevelopmental delay. Novel heterozygous mutations c.4702A&gt;C (p.Asn1568His) in the SCN9A gene, and c.65G&gt;A (p.Arg22Gln) in the MLC1 gene were detected using targeted next-generation gene sequencing. The replacement of Histidine (His) with Asparagine (Asn) at position 1568 in the topological domain of SCN9A channel protein provides new insights into the impaired excitation and inactivation patterns of sodium channels. The case report adds this new patient with genetic link of SCN9A variants with progressive myoclonic epilepsy and cognitive difficulties.</AbstractText" ], [ "34115565", "Living with global amnesia: self-established compensation strategies of a patient with severe memory impairment - a narrative report.", "We report the case of C.H., a&#xa0;48-year-old&#xa0;patient with global amnesia caused by herpes simplex encephalitis at the age of 20 and subsequent extensive bilateral temporal lobe lesions. Neuropsychological examinations performed at various intervals found persistent dense explicit memory impairment and limited vocabulary, yet intact procedural memory. Despite these limitations, C.H. self-developed&#xa0;and acquired a&#xa0;variety of effective strategies. As a result, C.H. achieved a&#xa0;high level of autonomy in everyday life. Her remarkable case is an encouraging and helpful example for successful implementation of creative methods and procedures to compensate and alleviate cognitive limitation, even if extensive.</AbstractText" ], [ "36324725", "Imaging neurovascular, endothelial and structural integrity in preparation to treat small vessel diseases. The INVESTIGATE-SVDs study protocol. Part of the SVDs@Target project.", "Sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) share clinical and neuroimaging features and possibly vascular dysfunction(s). However few studies have included both conditions, assessed more than one vascular dysfunction simultaneously, or included more than one centre. The INVESTIGATE-SVDs study will assess several cerebrovascular dysfunctions with MRI in participants with sporadic SVD or CADASIL at three European centres.</AbstractText We will recruit participants with sporadic SVDs (ischaemic stroke or vascular cognitive impairment) and CADASIL in Edinburgh, Maastricht and Munich. We will perform detailed clinical and neuropsychological phenotyping of the participants, and neuroimaging including structural MRI, cerebrovascular reactivity MRI (CVR: using carbon dioxide challenge), phase contrast MRI (arterial, venous and CSF flow and pulsatility), dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage) and multishell diffusion imaging. Participants will measure their blood pressure (BP) and its variability over seven days using a telemetric device.</AbstractText INVESTIGATE-SVDs will assess the relationships of BBB integrity, CVR, pulsatility and CSF flow in sporadic SVD and CADASIL using a multisite, multimodal MRI protocol. We aim to establish associations between these measures of vascular function, risk factors particularly BP and its variability, and brain parenchymal lesions in these two SVD phenotypes. Additionally we will test feasibility of complex multisite MRI, provide reliable intermediary outcome measures and sample size estimates for future trials.</AbstractText" ] ]