Search results for: brain relaxation

Authors: Masoumeh Khailghi Sikaroudi, Mohsen Masoodi, Fazad Shidfar, Meghdad Sedaghat

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Background: The hypertonicity of internal anal sphincter resting pressure is one of the main reasons for chronic anal fissures. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of oral administration of L-arginine on anal fissure symptom improvement by relaxation of the internal anal sphincter. Method: Seventy-six chronic anal fissure patients (age: 18-65 years) took part in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial study from February 2019 to October 2020 at Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Participants were allocated into treatment (L-arginine) or placebo groups. They took a 1000 mg capsule three times a day for one month and were followed up at the end of the first and third months after receiving the intervention. Clinical symptoms, anal sphincter resting pressure, and quality of life (QoL) were completed at baseline and the end of the study. Result: The analysis of data was shown significant improvement in bleeding, fissure size, and pain within each group; however, this effect was more seen in the arginine group compared to the control group at the end of the study (P-values<0.001). Following that, a significant increase in QoL was seen just in patients who were treated with arginine (P-value=0.006). Also, the comparison of anal pressures to baseline and between groups at the end of the study showed a significant reduction in sphincter pressure in treated patients (P-value<0.001, =0.049; respectively). Conclusion: Oral administration of 3000 mg L-arginine can heal chronic anal fissures by reducing anal internal sphincter pressure with fewer side effects. However, a long-term study with more follow-up is recommended.

Keywords: L-arginine, anal fissure, sphincter pressure, clinical symptoms, quality of life

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Authors: A. Katsman, L. Bloch, Y. Etinger, Y. Kauffmann, B. Pokroy

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Various nanosized amorphous alumina thin films in the range of (2.4 - 63.1) nm were deposited onto amorphous carbon and amorphous Si3N4 membrane grids. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to probe the size effect on the short range order and the amorphous to crystalline phase transition temperature. It was found that the short-range order changes as a function of size: the fraction of tetrahedral Al sites is greater in thinner amorphous films. This result correlates with the change of amorphous alumina density with the film thickness demonstrated by the reflectivity experiments: the thinner amorphous films have the less density. These effects are discussed in terms of surface reconstruction of the amorphous alumina films. The average atomic binding energy in the thin film layer decreases with decease of the thickness, while the average O-Al interatomic distance increases. The reconstruction of amorphous alumina is induced by the surface reconstruction, and the short range order changes being dependent on the density. Decrease of the surface energy during reconstruction is the driving force of the alumina reconstruction (density change) followed by relaxation process (short range order change). The amorphous to crystalline phase transition temperature measured by DSC rises with the decrease in thickness from 997.6°C for 13.9 nm to 1020.4 °C for 2.7 nm thick. This effect was attributed to the different film densities: formation of nanovoids preceding and accompanying crystallization process influences the crystallization rate, and by these means, the temperature of crystallization peak.

Keywords: amorphous alumina, density, short range order, size effect

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Authors: Jachin Pousson, Valdis Bernhofs

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Applications of the binaural sound experience are wide-ranged. This paper focuses on the interaction between binaural tones and human emotion with an aim to apply the resulting knowledge artistically. For the purpose of this study, binaural music is defined as musical arrangements of sound which are made of combinations of binaural difference tones. Here, the term ‘binaural difference tone’ refers to the pulsating tone heard within the brain which results from listening to slightly differing audio frequencies or pure pitches in each ear. The frequency or tempo of the pulsations is the sum of the precise difference between the frequencies two tones and is measured in beats per second. Polyrhythmic pulsations that can be heard within combinations of these differences tones have shown to be able to entrain or tune brainwave patterns to frequencies which have been linked to mental states which can be characterized by different levels of attention and mood.

Keywords: binaural auditory pulsations, brainwave entrainment, emotion, music composition

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Authors: Roberta Martino, Viviana Ventre

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Intertemporal choices are choices under conditions of uncertainty in which the consequences are distributed over time. The Discounted Utility Model is the essential reference for describing the individual in the context of intertemporal choice. The model is based on the idea that the individual selects the alternative with the highest utility, which is calculated by multiplying the cardinal utility of the outcome, as if the reception were instantaneous, by the discount function that determines a decrease in the utility value according to how the actual reception of the outcome is far away from the moment the choice is made. Initially, the discount function was assumed to have an exponential trend, whose decrease over time is constant, in line with a profile of a rational investor described by classical economics. Instead, empirical evidence called for the formulation of alternative, hyperbolic models that better represented the actual actions of the investor. Attitudes that do not comply with the principles of classical rationality are termed anomalous, i.e., difficult to rationalize and describe through normative models. The development of behavioral finance, which describes investor behavior through cognitive psychology, has shown that deviations from rationality are due to the limited rationality condition of human beings. What this means is that when a choice is made in a very difficult and information-rich environment, the brain does a compromise job between the cognitive effort required and the selection of an alternative. Moreover, the evaluation and selection phase of the alternative, the collection and processing of information, are dynamics conditioned by systematic distortions of the decision-making process that are the behavioral biases involving the individual's emotional and cognitive system. In this paper we present an original decomposition of the discount function to investigate the psychological principles of hyperbolic discounting. It is possible to decompose the curve into two components: the first component is responsible for the smaller decrease in the outcome as time increases and is related to the individual's impatience; the second component relates to the change in the direction of the tangent vector to the curve and indicates how much the individual perceives the indeterminacy of the future indicating his or her aversion to uncertainty. This decomposition allows interesting conclusions to be drawn with respect to the concept of impatience and the emotional drives involved in decision-making. The contribution that neuroscience can make to decision theory and inter-temporal choice theory is vast as it would allow the description of the decision-making process as the relationship between the individual's emotional and cognitive factors. Neurofinance is a discipline that uses a multidisciplinary approach to investigate how the brain influences decision-making. Indeed, considering that the decision-making process is linked to the activity of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, neurofinance can help determine the extent to which abnormal attitudes respect the principles of rationality.

Keywords: impatience, intertemporal choice, neurofinance, rationality, uncertainty

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Authors: A. Yacob, N. Hj. Ali, M. H. Yusoff, M. Y. MohdSaman, W. M. A. F. W. Hamzah

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Personalized learning becomes increasingly popular which not is restricted by time, place or any other barriers. This study proposes an analysis of Personalized Learning using Item Response Theory which considers course material difficulty and learner ability. The study investigates twenty undergraduate students at TATI University College, who are taking programming subject. By using the IRT, it was found that, finding the most appropriate problem levels to each student include high and low level test items together is not a problem. Thus, the student abilities can be asses more accurately and fairly. Learners who experience more anxiety will affect a heavier cognitive load and receive lower test scores. Instructors are encouraged to provide a supportive learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness because Cognitive Load Theory concerns the limited capacity of the brain to absorb new information.

Keywords: assessment, item response theory, cognitive load theory, learning, motivation, performance

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Authors: Fan Gao, Lior Pachter

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The primary tool currently used to pre-process 10X Chromium single-cell ATAC-seq data is Cell Ranger, which can take very long to run on standard datasets. To facilitate rapid pre-processing that enables reproducible workflows, we present a suite of tools called scATAK for pre-processing single-cell ATAC-seq data that is 15 to 18 times faster than Cell Ranger on mouse and human samples. Our tool can also calculate chromatin interaction potential matrices, and generate open chromatin signal and interaction traces for cell groups. We use scATAK tool to explore the chromatin regulatory landscape of a healthy adult human brain and unveil cell-type specific features, and show that it provides a convenient and computational efficient approach for pre-processing single-cell ATAC-seq data.

Keywords: single-cell, ATAC-seq, bioinformatics, open chromatin landscape, chromatin interactome

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Authors: X. Gumara Rigol, I. Martínez de Apellaniz Anzuola, A. Garcia Serrano, A. Franzi Cros, O. Vidal Calbet, A. Al Maruf

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Traditional federated architectures for data warehousing work well when corporations have existing regional data warehouses and there is a need to aggregate data at a global level. Schibsted Media Group has been maturing from a decentralised organisation into a more globalised one and needed to build both some of the regional data warehouses for some brands at the same time as the global one. In this paper, we present the architectural alternatives studied and why a custom federated approach was the notable recommendation to go further with the implementation. Although the data warehouses are logically federated, the implementation uses a single database system which presented many advantages like: cost reduction and improved data access to global users allowing consumers of the data to have a common data model for detailed analysis across different geographies and a flexible layer for local specific needs in the same place.

Keywords: data integration, data warehousing, federated architecture, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

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Authors: R. K. Chaurasiya, N. D. Londhe, S. Ghosh

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The study of the electrical signals produced by neural activities of human brain is called Electroencephalography. In this paper, we propose an automatic and efficient EEG signal classification approach. The proposed approach is used to classify the EEG signal into two classes: epileptic seizure or not. In the proposed approach, we start with extracting the features by applying Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) in order to decompose the EEG signals into sub-bands. These features, extracted from details and approximation coefficients of DWT sub-bands, are used as input to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The classification is based on reducing the feature dimension using PCA and deriving the support-vectors using Support Vector Machine (SVM). The experimental are performed on real and standard dataset. A very high level of classification accuracy is obtained in the result of classification.

Keywords: discrete wavelet transform, electroencephalogram, pattern recognition, principal component analysis, support vector machine

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Authors: Carla Nardelli, Jérome Holtzmann, Céline Baeyens, Catherine Bortolon

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Background. Emotion regulation (ER) is a process associated with difficulties in mental health. Given its transdiagnostic features, its improvement could facilitate the recovery of various psychological issues. A limit of current studies is the lack of knowledge regarding whether available interventionsimprove ER flexibility (i.e., the ability to implement ER strategies in line with contextual demands), even though this capacity has been associated with better mental health and well-being. Therefore, the aim of the study is to test the efficacy of a 9-weeks ER group program (the Affect Regulation Training-ART), using the most appropriate measures (i.e., experience sampling method) in a student population. Plus, the goal of the study is to explore the potential mediative role of ER flexibility on mental health improvement. Method. This Randomized Controlled Trial will comparethe ER program group to an active control group (a relaxation program) in 100 participants. To test the mediative role of ER flexibility on mental health, daily measures will be used before, during, and after the interventions to evaluate the extent to which participants are flexible in their ER. Expected outcomes. Using multilevel analyses, we expect an improvement in anxious-depressive symptomatology for both groups. However, we expect the ART group to improve specifically on ER flexibility ability and the last to be a mediative variable on mental health. Conclusion. This study will enhance knowledge on interventions for students and the impact of interventions on ER flexibility. Also, this research will improve knowledge on ecological measures for assessing the effect of interventions. Overall, this project represents new opportunities to improve ER skills to improve mental health in undergraduate students.

Keywords: emotion regulation flexibility, experience sampling method, psychological intervention, emotion regulation skills

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Authors: Albana Hasimi, Edlira Tako, Elvin Çomo, Partizan Malkaj, Blerina Papajani, Ledjan Malaj, Mirela Ndrita

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Many endeavors have been exerted during the last years for developing new artificial polymeric membranes which fulfill the demanded conditions for biomedical uses. One of the most tested polymers is Poly(vinyl alcohol) [PVA]. Ours groups, is based on the possibility of using PVA for personal protective equipment against covid. In them, we explore the possibility of modifying the properties of the polymer by adding Montmorillonite [MMT]. Heat-treatment above the glass transition temperature are used to improve mechanical properties mainly by increasing the crystallinity of the polymer, which acts as a physical network. Temperature-Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TMDSC) measurements indicated that the presence of 0.5% MMT in PVA causes a higher Tg value and shaped peak of crystallinity. Decomposition is observed at two of the melting points of the crystals during heating 25-240oC and overlap of the recrystallization ridges during cooling 240-25oC. This is indicative of the presence of two types (quality or structure ) of polymer crystals. On the other hand, some indication of improvement of the quality of the crystals by heat-treatment is given by the distinct non-reversing contribution to melting. Data on sorption and transport of water in polyvinyl alcohol films: PVA pure and PVA/MMT matrix, modified by thermal treatment, are presented. The thermal treatment has aftereffect the films become more rigid, and because of this, the water uptake is significantly lower in membranes. That is indicates by analysis of the resulting water uptake kinetics. The presence 0.5% w/w of MMT has no significant impact on the properties of PVA membranes. Water uptake kinetics deviates from Fick’s law due to slow relaxation of glassy polymer matrix for all membranes category.

Keywords: crystallinity, montmorillonite, nanocomposite, poly (vinyl alcohol)

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Authors: Kayla Renteria

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This study explored the role animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP) can play in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when incorporated into Trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). A review of the literature was performed to show how incorporating AAP could benefit TF-CBT since this treatment model often presents difficulties, such as client motivation and avoidance of the exposure element of the intervention. In addition, the fluidity of treatment goals during complex trauma cases was explored, as this issue arose in the case study. This study follows the course of treatment of a 12-year-old female presenting with symptoms of PTSD. Treatment consisted of traditional components of the TF-CBT model, with the added elements of AAP to address typical treatment obstacles in TF-CBT. A registered therapy dog worked with the subject in all sessions throughout her treatment. The therapy dog was incorporated into components such as relaxation and coping techniques, narrative therapy techniques, and psychoeducation on the cognitive triangle. Throughout the study, the client’s situation and clinical needs required the therapist to switch goals to focus on current safety and stability. The therapy dog provided support and neurophysiological benefits to the client through AAP during this shift in treatment. The client was assessed quantitatively using the Child PTSD Symptom Scale Self Report for DSM-5 (CPSS-SR-5) before and after therapy and qualitatively through a feedback form given after treatment. The participant showed improvement in CPSS-SR-V scores, and she reported that the incorporation of the therapy animal improved her therapy. The results of this study show how the use of AAP provided the client a solid, consistent relationship with the therapy dog that supported her through processing various types of traumas. Implications of the results of treatment and for future research are discussed.

Keywords: animal-assisted therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, PTSD in children, trauma treatment

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Authors: Wiqar Hussain Shah

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The Structural, magnetic and transport behavior of La1-xCaxMnO3+ (x=0.48, 0.50, 0.52 and 0.55 and =0.015) compositions close to charge ordering, was studied through XRD, resistivity, DC magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements. With time and thermal cycling (T<300 K) there is an irreversible transformation of the low-temperature phase from a partially ferromagnetic and metallic to one that is less ferromagnetic and highly resistive. For instance, an increase of resistivity can be observed by thermal cycling, where no effect is obtained for lower Ca concentration. The time changes in the magnetization are logarithmic in general and activation energies are consistent with those expected for electron transfer between Mn ions. The data suggest that oxygen non-stoichiometry results in mechanical strains in this two-phase system, leading to the development of irreversible metastable states, which relax towards the more stable charge-ordered and antiferromagnetic microdomains at the nano-meter size. This behavior is interpreted in terms of strains induced charge localization at the interface between FM/AFM domains in the antiferromagnetic matrix. Charge, orbital ordering and phase separation play a prominent role in the appearance of such properties, since they can be modified in a spectacular manner by external factor, making the different physical properties metastable. Here we describe two factors that deeply modify those properties, viz. the doping concentration and the thermal cycling. The metastable state is recovered by the high temperature annealing. We also measure the magnetic relaxation in the metastable state and also the revival of the metastable state (in a relaxed sample) due to high temperature (800 ) thermal treatment.

Keywords: Rare-earth maganites, nano-structural materials, doping effects on electrical, magnetic properties, competing interactions

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Authors: Thomas Ousterhout

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The purpose of this study was to investigate if incorporating meaningful pictures of gestures and facial expressions in short sentences of text could supplement the text with enough semantic information to produce and N400 effect when probe words incongruent to the picture were subsequently presented. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a 14-channel commercial grade EEG headset while subjects performed congruent/incongruent reaction time discrimination tasks. Since pictures of meaningful gestures have been shown to be semantically processed in the brain in a similar manner as words are, it is believed that pictures will add supplementary information to text just as the inclusion of their equivalent synonymous word would. The hypothesis is that when subjects read the text/picture mixed sentences, they will process the images and words just like in face-to-face communication and therefore probe words incongruent to the image will produce an N400.

Keywords: EEG, ERP, N400, semantics, congruency, facilitation, Emotiv

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Authors: Usama Abdulwahab, Mohammed Wahab

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This paper presents the application of uncapacitated facility location problems (UFLP) and 1-median problems to support decision making in blood supply chain networks. A plethora of factors make blood supply-chain networks a complex, yet vital problem for the regional blood bank. These factors are rapidly increasing demand; criticality of the product; strict storage and handling requirements; and the vastness of the theater of operations. As in the UFLP, facilities can be opened at any of $m$ predefined locations with given fixed costs. Clients have to be allocated to the open facilities. In classical location models, the allocation cost is the distance between a client and an open facility. In this model, the costs are the allocation cost, transportation costs, and inventory costs. In order to address this problem the median algorithm is used to analyze inventory, evaluate supply chain status, monitor performance metrics at different levels of granularity, and detect potential problems and opportunities for improvement. The Euclidean distance data for some Ontario cities (demand nodes) are used to test the developed algorithm. Sitation software, lagrangian relaxation algorithm, and branch and bound heuristics are used to solve this model. Computational experiments confirm the efficiency of the proposed approach. Compared to the existing modeling and solution methods, the median algorithm approach not only provides a more general modeling framework but also leads to efficient solution times in general.

Keywords: approximate dynamic programming, facility location, perishable product, inventory model, blood platelet, P-median problem

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Authors: Anvikshaa Bisen, Krish Makkar

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Professionals misdiagnose autism by ticking off symptoms on a checklist without questioning the causes of said symptoms, and without understanding the innate neurophysiology of the autistic brain. A dysfunctional cingulate gyrus (CG) hyperfocuses attention in the left frontal lobe (logical/analytical) with no ability to access the right frontal lobe (emotional/creative), which plays a central role in spontaneity, social behavior, and nonverbal abilities. Autistic people live in a specialized inner space that is entirely intellectual, free from emotional and social distractions. They have no innate biological way of emotionally connecting with other people. Autistic people process their emotions intellectually, a process that can take 24 hours, by which time it is too late to have felt anything. An inactive amygdala makes it impossible for autistic people to experience fear. Because they do not feel emotion, they have no emotional memories. All memories are of events that happened about which they felt no emotion at the time and feel no emotion when talking about it afterward.

Keywords: autism, Asperger, Asd, neuropsychology, neuroscience

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Authors: Aran Abd Al Rahman

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Joubert syndrome regards as a congenital cerebellar ataxia caused by autosomal recessive carried on X chromosome. The disease diagnosed by brain imaging—the so-called molar tooth sign. Neurological signs were present from the neonatal period and include hypotonia progressing to ataxia, global developmental delay, ocular motor apraxia, and breathing dysregulation. These signs are variably associated with multiorgan involvement, mainly of the retina, kidneys, skeleton, and liver. 30 causative genes have been identified so far, all of which encode for proteins of the primary cilium or its apparatus, The purpose of our project was to detect the mutant gene (INPP5E gene) which cause Joubert syndrome. There were many methods used for diagnosis such as MRI and CT- scan and molecular diagnosis by doing ARMS PCR for detection of mutant gene that we were used in this research project. In this research for individual family which reported, the two children with parents, the two children were affected and were carrier.

Keywords: Joubert syndrome, genetic disease, Kurdistan region, Sulaimani

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Authors: Mai M. Farid, Ximeng Yang, Tomoharu Kuboyama, Chihiro Tohda

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Trigonelline is a major alkaloid component derived from Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (fenugreek) and has been reported before as a potential neuroprotective agent, especially in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the previous data were unclear and used model mice were not well established. In the present study, the effect of trigonelline on memory function was investigated in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic model mouse, 5XFAD which overexpresses the mutated APP and PS1 genes. Oral administration of trigonelline for 14 days significantly enhanced object recognition and object location memories. Plasma and cerebral cortex were isolated at 30 min, 1h, 3h, and 6 h after oral administration of trigonelline. LC-MS/MS analysis indicated that trigonelline was detected in both plasma and cortex from 30 min after, suggesting good penetration of trigonelline into the brain. In addition, trigonelline significantly ameliorated axonal and dendrite atrophy in Amyloid β-treated cortical neurons. These results suggest that trigonelline could be a promising therapeutic candidate for AD.

Keywords: alzheimer’s disease, cortical neurons, LC-MS/MS analysis, trigonelline

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Authors: Efstratios Karavasilis, Foteini Christidi, Georgios Velonakis, Agapi Plousi, Kalliopi Platoni, Nikolaos Kelekis, Ioannis Evdokimidis, Efstathios Efstathopoulos

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Introduction: Advanced structural and functional neuroimaging techniques contribute to the study of anatomical and functional brain connectivity and its role in the pathophysiology and symptoms’ heterogeneity in several neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Aim: In the present study, we applied multiparametric neuroimaging techniques to investigate the structural and functional cortico-cerebellar changes in MS patients. Material: We included 51 MS patients (28 with clinically isolated syndrome [CIS], 31 with relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS]) and 51 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) who underwent MRI in a 3.0T MRI scanner. Methodology: The acquisition protocol included high-resolution 3D T1 weighted, diffusion-weighted imaging and echo planar imaging sequences for the analysis of volumetric, tractography and functional resting state data, respectively. We performed between-group comparisons (CIS, RRMS, HC) using CAT12 and CONN16 MATLAB toolboxes for the analysis of volumetric (cerebellar gray matter density) and functional (cortico-cerebellar resting-state functional connectivity) data, respectively. Brainance suite was used for the analysis of tractography data (cortico-cerebellar white matter integrity; fractional anisotropy [FA]; axial and radial diffusivity [AD; RD]) to reconstruct the cerebellum tracts. Results: Patients with CIS did not show significant gray matter (GM) density differences compared with HC. However, they showed decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar tracts, and increased cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity. Patients with RRMS showed decreased GM density in cerebellar regions, decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar WM tracts, as well as a pattern of increased and mostly decreased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity compared to HC. The comparison between CIS and RRMS patients revealed significant GM density difference, reduced FA and increased diffusivity measures in WM cortico-cerebellar tracts and increased/decreased functional connectivity. The identification of decreased WM integrity and increased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity without GM changes in CIS and the pattern of decreased GM density decreased WM integrity and mostly decreased functional connectivity in RRMS patients emphasizes the role of compensatory mechanisms in early disease stages and the disintegration of structural and functional networks with disease progression. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study highlights the added value of multimodal neuroimaging techniques for the in vivo investigation of cortico-cerebellar brain changes in neurodegenerative disorders. An extension and future opportunity to leverage multimodal neuroimaging data inevitably remain the integration of such data in the recently-applied mathematical approaches of machine learning algorithms to more accurately classify and predict patients’ disease course.

Keywords: advanced neuroimaging techniques, cerebellum, MRI, multiple sclerosis

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Authors: Mingxi Xiao

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Children’s experiences in the early years build and shape the brain. The early years learning environment plays a significantly important role in children’s development. A well-constructed environment will facilitate children’s physical and mental well-being. This case study used an early learning centre in Australia called SDN Hurstville as an example, describing the learning environment in the centre, as well as analyzing the functions of the affordances. In addition, this report talks about the sustainability of learning in the centre, and how the environment supports cultural diversity and indigenous learning. The early years for children are significant. Different elements in the early childhood centre should work together to help children develop better. This case study found that the natural environment and the artificial environment are both critical to children; only when they work together can children have better development in physical and mental well-being and have a sense of belonging when playing and learning in the centre.

Keywords: early childhood center, early childhood education, learning environment, Australia

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Authors: Frederick Huie, Lauren Fusfeld, William Burchenal, Scott Howell, Alyssa McVey, Thomas F. Goss

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Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a degenerative brain disease characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline that presents a substantial economic burden for patients and health insurers in the US. This study evaluates the payer budget impact of the DISCERN™ test in the diagnosis and management of patients with symptoms of dementia evaluated for AD. DISCERN™ comprises three assays that assess critical factors related to AD that regulate memory, formation of synaptic connections among neurons, and levels of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain and can provide a quicker, more accurate diagnosis than tests in the current diagnostic pathway (CDP). An Excel-based model with a three-year horizon was developed to assess the budget impact of DISCERN™ compared with CDP in a Medicare Advantage plan with 1M beneficiaries. Model parameters were identified through a literature review and were verified through consultation with clinicians experienced in diagnosis and management of AD. The model assesses direct medical costs/savings for patients based on the following categories: •Diagnosis: costs of diagnosis using DISCERN™ and CDP. •False Negative (FN) diagnosis: incremental cost of care avoidable with a correct AD diagnosis and appropriately directed medication. •True Positive (TP) diagnosis: AD medication costs; cost from a later TP diagnosis with the CDP versus DISCERN™ in the year of diagnosis, and savings from the delay in AD progression due to appropriate AD medication in patients who are correctly diagnosed after a FN diagnosis.•False Positive (FP) diagnosis: cost of AD medication for patients who do not have AD. A one-way sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the effect of varying key clinical and cost parameters ±10%. An additional scenario analysis was developed to evaluate the impact of individual inputs. In the base scenario, DISCERN™ is estimated to decrease costs by $4.75M over three years, equating to approximately $63.11 saved per test per year for a cohort followed over three years. While the diagnosis cost is higher with DISCERN™ than with CDP modalities, this cost is offset by the higher overall costs associated with CDP due to the longer time needed to receive a TP diagnosis and the larger number of patients who receive a FN diagnosis and progress more rapidly than if they had received appropriate AD medication. The sensitivity analysis shows that the three parameters with the greatest impact on savings are: reduced sensitivity of DISCERN™, improved sensitivity of the CDP, and a reduction in the percentage of disease progression that is avoided with appropriate AD medication. A scenario analysis in which DISCERN™ reduces the utilization for patients of computed tomography from 21% in the base case to 16%, magnetic resonance imaging from 37% to 27% and cerebrospinal fluid biomarker testing, positive emission tomography, electroencephalograms, and polysomnography testing from 4%, 5%, 10%, and 8%, respectively, in the base case to 0%, results in an overall three-year net savings of $14.5M. DISCERN™ improves the rate of accurate, definitive diagnosis of AD earlier in the disease and may generate savings for Medicare Advantage plans.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, budget, dementia, diagnosis.

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Authors: Rubaiyea Uddin

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The hippocampus, located in the limbic system, is most commonly known for its role in memory and spatial navigation (as cited in Brain Reward and Pathways). It maintains an especially important role in specifically episodic and declarative memory. The hippocampus has also recently been linked to dopamine, the reward pathway’s primary neurotransmitter. Since research has found that dopamine also contributes to memory consolidation and hippocampal plasticity, this neurotransmitter is potentially responsible for contributing to the hippocampus’s role in memory formation. In this experiment we tested to see the effect of tactile cues on spatial navigation for eight different mice. We used a radial arm that had one designated 'reward' arm containing sucrose. The presence or absence of bedding was our tactile cue. We attempted to see if the memory of that cue would enhance the mice’s memory of having received the reward in that arm. The results from our study showed there was no significant response from the use of tactile cues on spatial navigation on our 129 mice. Tactile cues therefore do not influence spatial navigation.

Keywords: mice, radial arm maze, memory, spatial navigation, tactile cues, hippocampus, reward, sensory skills, Alzheimer’s, neurodegnerative disease

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Authors: F. Bosca, F. Foglietta, F. Turci, E. Calcio Gaudino, S. Mana, F. Dosio, R. Canaparo, L. Serpe, A. Barge

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In recent years, medical science has improved chemotherapy, radiation therapy and adjuvant therapy and has developed newer targeted therapies as well as refining surgical techniques for removing cancer. However, the chances of surviving the disease depend greatly on the type and location of the cancer and the extent of the disease at the start of treatment. Moreover, mainstream forms of cancer treatment have side effects which range from the unpleasant to the fatal. Therefore, the continuation of progress in anti-cancer therapy may depend on placing emphasis on other existing but less thoroughly investigated therapeutic approaches such as Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT). SDT is based on the local activation of a so called 'sonosensitizer', a molecule able to be excited by ultrasound, the radical production as a consequence of its relaxation processes and cell death due to different mechanisms induced by radical production. The present work deals with synthesis, characterization and preliminary in vitro test of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) decorated with porphyrins and biological vectors. The SWCNT’s surface was modified exploiting 1, 3-dipolar cycloaddition or Dies Alder reactions. For this purpose, different porphyrins scaffolds were ad-hoc synthesized using also non-conventional techniques. To increase cellular specificity of porphyrin-conjugated SWCNTs and to improve their ability to be suspended in aqueous solution, the modified nano-tubes were grafted with suitable glutamine or hyaluronic acid derivatives. These nano-sized sonosensitizers were characterized by several methodologies and tested in vitro on different cancer cell lines.

Keywords: sonodynamic therapy, porphyrins synthesis and modification, SWNCT grafting, hyaluronic acid, anti-cancer treatment

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Authors: Simon B. N. Thompson

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Retinoblastoma is a rare type of childhood genetic cancer that affects children worldwide. The diagnosis is often missed due to lack of education and difficulty in presentation of the tumor. Frequently, the tumor on the retina is noticed by photography when the red-eye flash, commonly seen in normal eyes, is not produced. Instead, a yellow or white colored patch is seen or the child has a noticeable strabismus. Early detection can be life-saving though often results in removal of the affected eye. Remaining functioning in the healthy eye when the child is young has resulted in super-vision and high or above-average intelligence. Technological advancement of cameras has helped in early detection. Brain imaging has also made possible early detection of neurological diseases and, together with the monitoring of cortisol levels and yawning frequency, promises to be the next new early diagnostic tool for the detection of neurological diseases where cortisol insufficiency is particularly salient, such as multiple sclerosis and Cushing’s disease.

Keywords: cortisol, neurological disease, retinoblastoma, Thompson cortisol hypothesis, yawning

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Authors: Ece Kök Yetimoğlu, Soner Çubuk, Neşe Taşci, M. Vezir Kahraman

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Lead(II) is one of the most toxic environmental pollutants in the world, due to its high toxicity and non-biodegradability. Lead exposure causes severe risks to human health such as central brain damages, convulsions, kidney damages, and even death. To determine lead(II) in environmental or biological samples, scientists use atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), fluorescence spectrometry and electrochemical techniques. Among these systems the fluorescence spectrometry and fluorescent chemical sensors have attracted considerable attention because of their good selectivity and high sensitivity. The fluorescent polymers usually contain covalently bonded fluorophores. In this study imidazole based UV cured polymeric film was prepared and designed to act as a fluorescence chemo sensor for lead (II) analysis. The optimum conditions such as influence of pH value and time on the fluorescence intensity of the sensor have also been investigated. The sensor was highly sensitive with a detection limit as low as 1.87 × 10−8 mol L-1 and it was successful in the determination of Pb(II) in water samples.

Keywords: fluorescence, lead(II), photopolymerization, polymeric sensor

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Authors: Juan C. Torrado, Javier Gomez, Guadalupe Montero, German Montoro, M. Dolores Villalba

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One of the most challenging aspects of the executive dysfunction of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders is the behavior control. This is related to a deficit in their ability to regulate, recognize and manage their own emotions. Some researchers have developed applications for tablets and smartphones to practice strategies of relaxation and emotion recognition. However, they cannot be applied to the very moment of temper outbursts, anger episodes or anxiety, since they require to carry the device, start the application and be helped by caretakers. Also, some of these systems are developed for either obsolete technologies (old versions of tablet devices, PDAs, outdated operative systems of smartphones) or specific devices (self-developed or proprietary ones) that create differentiation between the users and the rest of the individuals in their context. For this project we selected smartwatches. Focusing on emergent technologies ensures a wide lifespan of the developed products, because the derived products are intended to be available in the same moment the very technology gets popularized, not later. We also focused our research in commercial versions of smartwatches, since this way differentiation is easily avoided, so the users’ abandonment rate lowers. We have developed a smartwatch system along with a smartphone authoring tool to display self-regulation strategies. These micro-prompting strategies are conformed of pictograms, animations and temporizers, and they are designed by means of the authoring tool: When both devices synchronize their data, the smartwatch holds the self-regulation strategies, which are triggered when the smartwatch sensors detect a remarkable rise of heart rate and movement. The system is being currently tested in an educational center of people with ASD of Madrid, Spain.

Keywords: assistive technologies, emotion regulation, human-computer interaction, smartwatches

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Authors: Britt Erni, Aldara Vazquez Fernandez, Roland Maurer

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Visuospatial perspective taking (VSPT) is a process that allows to integrate spatial information from different points of view, and to transform the mental images we have of the environment to properly orient our movements and anticipate the location of landmarks during navigation. VSPT is also related to egocentric perspective transformations (imagined rotations or translations of one's point of view) and to infer the visuospatial experiences of another person (e.g. if and how another person sees objects). This process is deeply related to a wide-ranging capacity called the theory of mind (ToM), an essential cognitive function that allows us to regulate our social behaviour by attributing mental representations to individuals in order to make behavioural predictions. VSPT is often considered in the literature as the starting point of the development of the theory of mind. VSPT and ToM include several levels of knowledge that have to be assessed by specific tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of tasks assessing these functions in clinical neuropsychology leads to underestimate, in brain-damaged patients, deficits of these functions which are essential, in everyday life, to regulate our social behaviour (ToM) and to navigate in known and unknown environments (VSPT). Therefore, this study aims to create and standardize a VSPT task in order to explore the cognitive requirements of VSPT and ToM, and to specify their relationship in healthy adults and thereafter in brain-damaged patients. Two versions of a computerized VSPT task were administered to healthy participants (M = 28.18, SD = 4.8 years). In both versions the environment was a 3D representation of 10 different geometric shapes placed on a circular base. Two sets of eight pictures were generated from this: of the environment with an avatar somewhere on its periphery (locations) and of what the avatar sees from that place (views). Two types of questions were asked: a) identify the location from the view, and b) identify the view from the location. Twenty participants completed version 1 of the task and 20 completed the second version, where the views were offset by ±15° (i.e., clockwise or counterclockwise) and participants were asked to choose the closest location or the closest view. The preliminary findings revealed that version 1 is significantly easier than version 2 for accuracy (with ceiling scores for version 1). In version 2, participants responded significantly slower when they had to infer the avatar's view from the latter's location, probably because they spent more time visually exploring the different views (responses). Furthermore, men significantly performed better than women in version 1 but not in version 2. Most importantly, a sensitive task (version 2) has been created for which the participants do not seem to easily and automatically compute what someone is looking at yet which does not involve more heavily other cognitive functions. This study is further completed by including analysis on non-clinical participants with low and high degrees of schizotypy, different socio-educational status, and with a range of older adults to examine age-related and other differences in VSPT processing.

Keywords: mental transformation, spatial cognition, theory of mind, visuospatial perspective taking

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Authors: Jiangbo Pu, Hanhui Xu, Yazhou Wang, Hongyan Cui, Yong Hu

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) brings great negative influence to the patients and society. Neurological loss in human after SCI is a major challenge in clinical. Instead, neural regeneration could have been seen in animals after SCI, and such regeneration could be retarded by blocking neural plasticity pathways, showing the importance of neural plasticity in functional recovery. Here we used sample entropy as an indicator of nonlinear dynamical in the brain to quantify plasticity changes in spontaneous EEG recordings of rats before and after SCI. The results showed that the entropy values were increased after the injury during the recovery in one week. The increasing tendency of sample entropy values is consistent with that of behavioral evaluation scores. It is indicated the potential application of sample entropy analysis for the evaluation of neural plasticity in spinal cord injury rat model.

Keywords: spinal cord injury (SCI), sample entropy, nonlinear, complex system, firing pattern, EEG, spontaneous activity, Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) score

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Authors: Sigal Portnoy, Jason Friedman, Eitan Raveh

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Introduction: Sensory substitution is possible due to the capacity of our brain to adapt to information transmitted by a synthetic receptor via an alternative sensory system. Practical sensory substitution systems are being developed in order to increase the functionality of individuals with sensory loss, e.g. amputees. For upper limb prosthetic-users the loss of tactile feedback compels them to allocate visual attention to their prosthesis. The effect of adding vibrotactile feedback (VTF) to the applied force has been studied, however its effect on the allocation if visual attention during dual-tasking and the response during misleading visual feedback have not been studied. We hypothesized that VTF will improve the performance and reduce visual attention during dual-task assignments in healthy individuals using a robotic hand and improve the performance in a standardized functional test, despite the presence of misleading visual feedback. Methods: For the dual-task paradigm, twenty healthy subjects were instructed to toggle two keyboard arrow keys with the left hand to retain a moving virtual car on a road on a screen. During the game, instructions for various activities, e.g. mix the sugar in the glass with a spoon, appeared on the screen. The subject performed these tasks with a robotic hand, attached to the right hand. The robotic hand was controlled by the activity of the flexors and extensors of the right wrist, recorded using surface EMG electrodes. Pressure sensors were attached at the tips of the robotic hand and induced VTF using vibrotactile actuators attached to the right arm of the subject. An eye-tracking system tracked to visual attention of the subject during the trials. The trials were repeated twice, with and without the VTF. Additionally, the subjects performed the modified box and blocks, hidden from eyesight, in a motion laboratory. A virtual presentation of a misleading visual feedback was be presented on a screen so that twice during the trial, the virtual block fell while the physical block was still held by the subject. Results: This is an ongoing study, which current results are detailed below. We are continuing these trials with transradial myoelectric prosthesis-users. In the healthy group, the VTF did not reduce the visual attention or improve performance during dual-tasking for the tasks that were typed transfer-to-target, e.g. place the eraser on the shelf. An improvement was observed for other tasks. For example, the average±standard deviation of time to complete the sugar-mixing task was 13.7±17.2s and 19.3±9.1s with and without the VTF, respectively. Also, the number of gaze shifts from the screen to the hand during this task were 15.5±23.7 and 20.0±11.6, with and without the VTF, respectively. The response of the subjects to the misleading visual feedback did not differ between the two conditions, i.e. with and without VTF. Conclusions: Our interim results suggest that the performance of certain activities of daily living may be improved by VTF. The substitution of visual sensory input by tactile feedback might require a long training period so that brain plasticity can occur and allow adaptation to the new condition.

Keywords: prosthetics, rehabilitation, sensory substitution, upper limb amputation

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Authors: Ying Shen, Weihua Zhu

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Medical images are important to help identifying different diseases, for example, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to investigate the brain, spinal cord, bones, joints, breasts, blood vessels, and heart. Image segmentation, in medical image analysis, is usually the first step to find out some characteristics with similar color, intensity or texture so that the diagnosis could be further carried out based on these features. This paper introduces an improved C-means model to segment the MRI images. The model is based on information entropy to evaluate the segmentation results by achieving global optimization. Several contributions are significant. Firstly, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used for achieving global optimization in this model where fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm (FCMA) is not capable of doing that. Secondly, the information entropy after segmentation is used for measuring the effectiveness of MRI image processing. Experimental results show the outperformance of the proposed model by comparing with traditional approaches.

Keywords: magnetic resonance image (MRI), c-means model, image segmentation, information entropy

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Authors: Mary Josephine Rani

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Virtually all metals are toxic to aquatic organisms because of the devastating effect of these metals on humans; heavy metals are one of the most toxic forms of aquatic pollution. Metal concentrations in aquatic organisms appear to be of several magnitudes higher than concentrations present in the ecosystem. Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals in the environment. The principal sources of contamination in wastewater are chloralkali plants, battery factories, mercury switches, and medical wastes. Elevated levels of mercury in aquatic organisms specially fish represent both an ecological and human concern. Amino acid levels were estimated in five tissues (gills, liver, kidney, brain and muscle) of Clariasbatrachus after 28 days of chronic exposure to mercury. Free amino acids serve as precursor for energy production under stress and for the synthesis of required proteins to face the metal challenge.

Keywords: amino acids, fish, mercury, toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 351