Predicting disease recurrence in patients with endometriosis: an observational study.

Background: Despite surgical and pharmacological interventions, endometriosis can recur. Reliable information regarding risk of recurrence following a first diagnosis is scant. The aim of this study was to examine clinical and survey data in the setting of disease recurrence to identify predictors of risk of endometriosis recurrence.

Physical Running of Couplings in Quadratic Gravity.

We argue that the well-known beta functions of quadratic gravity do not correspond to the physical dependence of scattering amplitudes on external momenta, and derive the correct physical beta functions. Asymptotic freedom turns out to be compatible with the absence of tachyons.

Propofol anesthesia destabilizes neural dynamics across cortex.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people undergo general anesthesia. One hypothesis is that anesthesia disrupts dynamic stability-the ability of the brain to balance excitability with the need to be stable and controllable. To test this hypothesis, we developed a method for quantifying changes in population-level dynamic stability in complex systems: delayed linear analysis for stability estimation (DeLASE).

Feasibility, Safety, and Performance of Full-Head Subscalp EEG Using Minimally Invasive Electrode Implantation.

Background And Objectives: Current practice in clinical neurophysiology is limited to short recordings with conventional EEG (days) that fail to capture a range of brain (dys)functions at longer timescales (months). The future ability to optimally manage chronic brain disorders, such as epilepsy, hinges upon finding methods to monitor electrical brain activity in daily life. We developed a device for full-head subscalp EEG (Epios) and tested here the feasibility to safely insert the electrode leads beneath the scalp by a minimally invasive technique (primary outcome).

Effect of daridorexant on sleep architecture in patients with chronic insomnia disorder: a pooled post hoc analysis of two randomized phase 3 clinical studies.

Study Objectives: Post hoc analysis to evaluate the effect of daridorexant on sleep architecture in people with insomnia, focusing on features associated with hyperarousal.

Methods: We studied sleep architecture in adults with chronic insomnia disorder from two randomized phase 3 clinical studies (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03545191 and NCT03575104) investigating 3 months of daridorexant treatment (placebo, daridorexant 25 mg, daridorexant 50 mg).

Evaluating the Douglas-Cohen IRT Goodness of Fit Measure With BIB Sampling of Items.

Methods to detect item response theory (IRT) item-level misfit are typically derived assuming fixed test forms. However, IRT is also employed with more complicated test designs, such as the balanced incomplete block (BIB) design used in large-scale educational assessments. This study investigates two modifications of Douglas and Cohen's 2001 nonparametric method of assessing item misfit, based on A) using block total score and B) pooling booklet level scores for analyzing BIB data.

Exploration of fs-laser ablation parameter space for 2D/3D imaging of soft and hard materials by tri-beam microscopy.

Tri-beam microscopes comprising a fs-laser beam, a Xe+ plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) and an electron beam all in one chamber open up exciting opportunities for site-specific correlative microscopy. They offer the possibility of rapid ablation and material removal by fs-laser, subsequent polishing by Xe-PFIB milling and electron imaging of the same area. While tri-beam systems are capable of probing large (mm) volumes providing high resolution microscopical characterisation of 2D and 3D images across exceptionally wide range of materials and biomaterials applications, presenting high quality/low damage surfaces to the electron beam can present a significant challenge, especially given the large parameter space for optimisation.

Closed-loop control of anesthetic state in nonhuman primates.

Research in human volunteers and surgical patients has shown that unconsciousness under general anesthesia can be reliably tracked using real-time electroencephalogram processing. Hence, a closed-loop anesthesia delivery (CLAD) system that maintains precisely specified levels of unconsciousness is feasible and would greatly aid intraoperative patient management. The US Federal Drug Administration has approved no CLAD system for human use due partly to a lack of testing in appropriate animal models.

Propofol-mediated Unconsciousness Disrupts Progression of Sensory Signals through the Cortical Hierarchy.

A critical component of anesthesia is the loss of sensory perception. Propofol is the most widely used drug for general anesthesia, but the neural mechanisms of how and when it disrupts sensory processing are not fully understood. We analyzed local field potential and spiking recorded from Utah arrays in auditory cortex, associative cortex, and cognitive cortex of nonhuman primates before and during propofol-mediated unconsciousness.

An examination of sleep spindle metrics in the Sleep Heart Health Study: superiority of automated spindle detection over total sigma power in assessing age-related spindle decline.

Background: Sleep spindle activity is commonly estimated by measuring sigma power during stage 2 non-rapid eye movement (NREM2) sleep. However, spindles account for little of the total NREM2 interval and therefore sigma power over the entire interval may be misleading. This study compares derived spindle measures from direct automated spindle detection with those from gross power spectral analyses for the purposes of clinical trial design.

A molecular staging model for accurately dating the endometrial biopsy.

Natural variability in menstrual cycle length, coupled with rapid changes in endometrial gene expression, makes it difficult to accurately define and compare different stages of the endometrial cycle. Here we develop and validate a method for precisely determining endometrial cycle stage based on global gene expression. Our 'molecular staging model' reveals significant and remarkably synchronised daily changes in expression for over 3400 endometrial genes throughout the cycle, with the most dramatic changes occurring during the secretory phase.

Propofol-mediated loss of consciousness disrupts predictive routing and local field phase modulation of neural activity.

Unlabelled: Predictive coding is a fundamental function of the cortex. The predictive routing model proposes a neurophysiological implementation for predictive coding. Predictions are fed back from deep-layer cortex via alpha/beta (8-30Hz) oscillations.

Using a Quantitative High-Throughput Screening Platform to Identify Molecular Targets and Compounds as Repurposing Candidates for Endometriosis.

Endometriosis, defined as the growth of hormonally responsive endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterine cavity, is an estrogen-dependent, chronic, pro-inflammatory disease that affects up to 11.4% of women of reproductive age and gender-diverse people with a uterus. At present, there is no long-term cure, and the identification of new therapies that provide a high level of efficacy and favourable long-term safety profiles with rapid clinical access are a priority.

Radiotherapy exposure directly damages the uterus and causes pregnancy loss.

Female cancer survivors are significantly more likely to experience infertility than the general population. It is well established that chemotherapy and radiotherapy can damage the ovary and compromise fertility, yet the ability of cancer treatments to induce uterine damage, and the underlying mechanisms, have been understudied. Here, we show that in mice total-body γ-irradiation (TBI) induced extensive DNA damage and apoptosis in uterine cells.

The genetic basis of endometriosis and comorbidity with other pain and inflammatory conditions.

Endometriosis is a common condition associated with debilitating pelvic pain and infertility. A genome-wide association study meta-analysis, including 60,674 cases and 701,926 controls of European and East Asian descent, identified 42 genome-wide significant loci comprising 49 distinct association signals. Effect sizes were largest for stage 3/4 disease, driven by ovarian endometriosis.

A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiitake genus .

is a broadly distributed group of fungi that contains the cultivated shiitake mushroom, . We sequenced 24 genomes representing eight described species and several unnamed lineages of from 15 countries on four continents. comprises four major clades that arose in the Oligocene, three in the Americas and one in Asia-Australasia.

Interim Safety Profile From the Feasibility Study of the BrainGate Neural Interface System.

Background And Objectives: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are being developed to restore mobility, communication, and functional independence to people with paralysis. Though supported by decades of preclinical data, the safety of chronically implanted microelectrode array BCIs in humans is unknown. We report safety results from the prospective, open-label, nonrandomized BrainGate feasibility study (NCT00912041), the largest and longest-running clinical trial of an implanted BCI.

Peripheral, Central, and Cross Sensitization in Endometriosis-Associated Pain and Comorbid Pain Syndromes.

Endometriosis-associated pain and the mechanisms responsible for its initiation and persistence are complex and difficult to treat. Endometriosis-associated pain is experienced as dysmenorrhea, cyclical pain related to organ function including dysuria, dyschezia and dyspareunia, and persistent pelvic pain. Pain symptomatology correlates poorly with the extent of macroscopic disease.

Gene expression of the endocannabinoid system in endometrium through menstrual cycle.

Endocannabinoids mediate cellular functions and their activity is controlled by a complex system of enzymes, membrane receptors and transport molecules. Endocannabinoids are present in endometrium, a cyclical regenerative tissue requiring tightly regulated cellular mechanisms for maturation. The objective of this study was to investigate the gene expression of key elements involved in the endocannabinoid system across the menstrual cycle.

Propofol Anesthesia Alters Cortical Traveling Waves.

Oscillatory dynamics in cortex seem to organize into traveling waves that serve a variety of functions. Recent studies show that propofol, a widely used anesthetic, dramatically alters cortical oscillations by increasing slow-delta oscillatory power and coherence. It is not known how this affects traveling waves.