Transperineal microwave thermoablation for benign prostatic hyperplasia-related lower urinary tract symptoms in an elderly patient.

Transperineal prostate microwave thermoablation (TPMT) has been established as a safe means of treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); however, its effectiveness in addressing BPH-related lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) remains unexplored. This case study aims to evaluate the efficacy of TPMT in LUTS attributed to BPH. An 84-year-old man with LUTS due to BPH-induced bladder outlet obstruction, unresponsive to previous medical treatments, and failed prostate artery embolization, underwent TPMT.

Three Sliding Probes Placed on Forelimb Skin for Proprioceptive Feedback Differentially yet Complementarily Contribute to Hand Gesture Detection and Object-Size Discrimination.

The purpose was to assess the effectiveness of three sliding tactile probes placed on the forelimb skin to provide proprioceptive feedback for the detection of hand gestures and discrimination of object size. Tactile contactors representing the first three fingers were driven along the proximodistal axis by linear servo motors. Twenty healthy subjects were involved in the gesture detection test, with 10 of them also participating in the object-size discrimination task.

ROI-based analysis of diffusion indices in healthy subjects and subjects with deficit or non-deficit syndrome schizophrenia.

We analyzed DTI data involving 22 healthy subjects (HC), 15 patients with deficit syndrome schizophrenia (DSZ), and 25 patients with non-deficit syndrome schizophrenia (NDSZ). We used a 1.5-T MRI scanner to collect diffusion-weighted images and T1 images, which were employed to correct distortions and deformations within the diffusion-weighted images.

Bayesian prediction of psychophysical detection responses from spike activity in the rat sensorimotor cortex.

Decoding of sensorimotor information is essential for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) as well as in normal functioning organisms. In this study, Bayesian models were developed for the prediction of binary decisions of 10 awake freely-moving male/female rats based on neural activity in a vibrotactile yes/no detection task. The vibrotactile stimuli were 40-Hz sinusoidal displacements (amplitude: 200 µm, duration: 0.

Tunneled Uncuffed Pigtail Drainage Catheter Placement in Patients with Refractory Ascites or Pleural Effusion: A Single-Center Experience.

Purpose: No evidence exists to support the use of tunneled non-cuffed pigtail drainage catheters in patients with refractory ascites or pleural effusion. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of non-cuffed tunneled pigtail drainage catheters in patients with refractory ascites or pleural effusions.

Materials And Methods: Between October 5, 2020 and May 25, 2021, 34 pigtail catheters were implanted in 27 patients (17 males, 10 females; average age: 65.

Psychophysical Evaluation of Proprioceptive Feedback Through a Probe Sliding on the Forearm Skin of Healthy Humans.

We have tested the forearm skin of humans as a target organ to deliver proprioceptive feedback via a tactile sensory substitution method. In the proposed method, a contactor probe was actuated by a linear servo motor and moved on the skin in proximo-distal axis depending on the angle of a virtual joint moving on a 180° arc. Twenty healthy subjects were tested to stop the joint at a given target under no-feedback, visual feedback, and tactile (dorsal and volar) feedback conditions.

Mechanical Impedance of Rat Glabrous Skin and Its Relation With Skin Morphometry.

The mechanical impedance of intact and epidermis-peeled rat glabrous skin was studied at two sites (digit and sole) and at two frequencies (40 Hz and 250 Hz). The thicknesses of skin layers at the corresponding regions were measured histologically from intact- and peeled-skin samples in every subject. Compared to intact sole skin, digital rat skin has thicker layers and higher mechanical resistance, and it is less stiff.

A Retrospective Analysis of the Effectiveness of Extrapleural Autologous Blood Patch Injection on Pneumothorax and Intervention Need in CT-guided Lung Biopsy.

Purpose: To assess the effect of extrapleural autologous blood injection (EPABI) technique on pneumothorax development before and after coaxial needle withdrawal (CNW) and intervention rate for pneumothorax. To analyze the risk factors of pneumothorax and parenchymal hemorrhage.

Materials And Methods: The records of 288 patients who had lung biopsies were analyzed.

Correction to: Psychophysical detection and learning in freely behaving rats: a probabilistic dynamical model for operant conditioning.

The original version of this article unfortunately has some typographical errors in equations (5), (6), (7), (8), and (12).

Novel Use of Extrapleural Autologous Blood Injection in CT-Guided Percutaneous Lung Biopsy and its Comparison to Intraparenchymal Autologous Blood Patch Injection: A Single-Center, Prospective, Randomized, and Controlled Clinical Trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the rate of iatrogenic pneumothorax and the need for intervention with extrapleural autologous blood injection (EPABI) along with intraparenchymal autologous blood patch injection (IABPI) or IABPI-only in CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine participants were referred for CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy, and 81 were randomized into study (EPABI + IABPI, n = 40) and control (IABPI-only, n = 41) groups. In the study group, ~5 ml of autologous blood was injected into the extrapleural space before passing through the parietal and visceral pleura.

Psychophysical detection and learning in freely behaving rats: a probabilistic dynamical model for operant conditioning.

We present a stochastic learning model that combines the essential elements of Hebbian and Rescorla-Wagner theories for operant conditioning. The model was used to predict the behavioral data of rats performing a vibrotactile yes/no detection task. Probabilistic nature of learning was implemented by trial-by-trial variability in the random distributions of associative strengths between the sensory and the response representations.

Real-Time Performance of a Tactile Neuroprosthesis on Awake Behaving Rats.

With the advancement of electrode and equipment technology, neuroprosthetics have become a promising alternative to partially compensate for the loss of sensorimotor function in amputees and patients with neurological diseases. Cortical neural interfaces are suitable especially for spinal cord injuries and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Although considerable success has been achieved in the literature by spike decoding of motor signals from the human brain, somatosensory feedback is essential for better motor control, interaction with objects, and the embodiment of prosthetic devices.

Psychophysical correspondence between vibrotactile intensity and intracortical microstimulation for tactile neuroprostheses in rats.

Objective: Recent studies showed that intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) generates artificial sensations which can be utilized as somatosensory feedback in cortical neuroprostheses. To mimic the natural psychophysical response, ICMS parameters are modulated according to psychometric equivalence functions (PEFs). PEFs match the intensity levels of ICMS and mechanical stimuli, which elicit equal detection probabilities, but they typically do not include the frequency as a control variable.

A novel vibrotactile system for stimulating the glabrous skin of awake freely behaving rats during operant conditioning.

Background: Rat skin is innervated by mechanoreceptive fibers similar to those in other mammals. Tactile experiments with behaving rats mostly focus on the vibrissal system which does not exist in humans. The aim of this study was to design and implement a novel vibrotactile system to stimulate the glabrous skin of behaving rats during operant conditioning.

Asymmetric response properties of rapidly adapting mechanoreceptive fibers in the rat glabrous skin.

Previous histological and neurophysiological studies have shown that the innervation density of rapidly adapting (RA) mechanoreceptive fibers increases towards the fingertip. Since the psychophysical detection threshold depends on the contribution of several RA fibers, a high innervation density would imply lower thresholds. However, our previous human study showed that psychophysical detection thresholds for the Non-Pacinian I channel mediated by RA fibers do not improve towards the fingertip.