Rheumatology (Oxford)
February 2024
Detailed characterization of interneuron types in primary visual cortex (V1) has greatly contributed to understanding visual perception, yet the role of chandelier cells (ChCs) in visual processing remains poorly characterized. Using viral tracing we found that V1 ChCs predominantly receive monosynaptic input from local layer 5 pyramidal cells and higher-order cortical regions. Two-photon calcium imaging and convolutional neural network modeling revealed that ChCs are visually responsive but weakly selective for stimulus content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To develop evidence-based points to consider for cost-effective use of biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) in the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases, specifically rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis.
Methods: Following EULAR procedures, an international task force was formed, consisting of 13 experts in rheumatology, epidemiology and pharmacology from seven European countries. Twelve strategies for cost-effective use of b/tsDMARDs were identified through individual and group discussion.
Background: Tofacitinib is a Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), dosed as 5 mg twice daily (BID). It is primarily metabolized by the cytochrome P-3A (CYP3A) enzyme, and therefore, the manufacturer recommends to halve the dose when using CYP3A-inhibiting co-medication. Combining half-dose tofacitinib with a registered CYP3A inhibitor (cobicistat) could reduce costs and improve patient experience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImaging calcium signals in neurons of animals using single- or multi-photon microscopy facilitates the study of coding in large neural populations. Such experiments produce massive datasets requiring powerful methods to extract responses from hundreds of neurons. We present SpecSeg, an open-source toolbox for (1) segmentation of regions of interest (ROIs) representing neuronal structures, (2) inspection and manual editing of ROIs, (3) neuropil correction and signal extraction, and (4) matching of ROIs in sequential recordings.
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