Publications by authors named "Ana V Cruz"

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that affects both motor and non-motor functions, including depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. Currently, it remains a challenge to distinguish the correlation between these aspects and their impact on one another. To try to clarify these reciprocal influences, in this study we have used specific radio electric asymmetric conveyer (REAC) technology neuromodulation treatments for behavioral mood disorders and adjustment disorders.

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Sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSP) or Kayexalate is a cation-exchange resin, widely used in the management of hyperkalaemia due to renal disease. A rare, yet potentially dangerous, adverse event related to sodium polystyrene sulfonate use is intestinal mucosal injury, especially in the colon. The injury to the gastrointestinal mucosa can range from mild and superficial to wall necrosis and bowel perforation.

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Prolonged L-dopa treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) often leads to the expression of abnormal involuntary movements known as L-dopa-induced dyskinesia. Recently, dramatic 80 Hz oscillatory local field potential (LFP) activity within the primary motor cortex has been linked to dyskinetic symptoms in a rodent model of PD and attributed to stimulation of cortical dopamine D1 receptors. To characterize the relationship between high gamma (70-110 Hz) cortical activity and the development of L-dopa-induced dyskinesia, cortical LFP and spike signals were recorded in hemiparkinsonian rats treated with L-dopa for 7 days, and dyskinesia was quantified using the abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs) scale.

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Oscillatory activity in both beta and gamma ranges has been recorded in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and linked to motor function, with beta activity considered antikinetic, and gamma activity, prokinetic. However, the extent to which nonmotor networks contribute to this activity is unclear. This study uses hemiparkinsonian rats performing a treadmill walking task to compare synchronized STN local field potential (LFP) activity with activity in motor cortex (MCx) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), areas involved in motor and cognitive processes, respectively.

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Exaggerated beta range (15-30 Hz) oscillatory activity is observed in the basal ganglia of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients during implantation of deep brain stimulation electrodes. This activity has been hypothesized to contribute to motor dysfunction in PD patients. However, it remains unclear how these oscillations develop and how motor circuits become entrained into a state of increased synchronization in this frequency range after loss of dopamine.

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Exaggerated beta range (13-30Hz) synchronized activity is observed in the basal ganglia of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients during implantation of deep brain stimulation electrodes and is thought to contribute to the motor symptoms of this disorder. To explore the translational potential of similar activity observed in a rat model of PD, local field potentials (LFPs) and spiking activity in basal ganglia output were characterized in rats with unilateral dopamine cell lesion during a range of behaviors. A circular treadmill was used to assess activity during walking; hemiparkinsonian rats could maintain a steady gait when oriented ipsiversive to the lesioned hemisphere, but were less effective at walking when oriented contraversive to lesion.

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Excessive beta frequency oscillatory and synchronized activity has been reported in the basal ganglia of parkinsonian patients and animal models of the disease. To gain insight into processes underlying this activity, this study explores relationships between oscillatory activity in motor cortex and basal ganglia output in behaving rats after dopamine cell lesion. During inattentive rest, 7 d after lesion, increases in motor cortex-substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) coherence emerged in the 8-25 Hz range, with significant increases in local field potential (LFP) power in SNpr but not motor cortex.

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Abnormal oscillatory synchrony is increasingly acknowledged as a pathophysiological hallmark of Parkinson's disease, but what promotes such activity remains unclear. We used novel, nonlinear time series analyses and information theory to capture the effects of dopamine depletion on directed information flow within and between the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and external globus pallidus (GPe). We compared neuronal activity recorded simultaneously from these nuclei in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned Parkinsonian rats with that in dopamine-intact control rats.

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This work compares the estimation of the particle size distribution of a pharmaceutical powder using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), powder flowability properties, and components concentration. The estimations were made by considering the former data blocks separately and together using a multi-block approach. The powders were based on a formulation of paracetamol as the pharmaceutical active ingredient.

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The physical properties of pharmaceutical powders are of upmost importance in the pharmaceutical industry. The knowledge of their flow properties is of critical significance in operations such as blending, tablet compression, capsule filling, transportation, and in scale-up operations. Powders flow properties are measured using a number of parameters such as, angle of repose, compressibility index (Carr's index) and Hausner ratio.

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Dopamine depletion in cortical-basal ganglia circuits in Parkinson's disease (PD) grossly disturbs movement and cognition. Classic models relate Parkinsonian dysfunction to changes in firing rates of basal ganglia neurons. However, disturbances in other dynamics of neural activity are also common.

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