Activation and functional connectivity of cerebellum during reading and during arithmetic in children with combined reading and math disabilities.

Background: Reading and math constitute important academic skills, and as such, reading disability (RD or developmental dyslexia) and math disability (MD or developmental dyscalculia) can have negative consequences for children's educational progress. Although RD and MD are different learning disabilities, they frequently co-occur. Separate theories have implicated the cerebellum and its cortical connections in RD and in MD, suggesting that children with combined reading and math disability (RD + MD) may have altered cerebellar function and disrupted functional connectivity between the cerebellum and cortex during reading and during arithmetic processing.

A comparison of functional activation and connectivity of the cerebellum in adults and children during single word processing.

Meta-analyses on reading show cerebellar activation in adults, but not children, suggesting a possible age-dependent role of the cerebellum in reading. However, the few studies that compare adults and children during reading report mixed cerebellar activation results. Here, we studied (i) cerebellar activation during implicit word processing in adults and children and (ii) functional connectivity (FC) between the cerebellum and left cortical regions involved in reading.

An fMRI study of finger movements in children with and without dyslexia.

Introduction: Developmental dyslexia is a language-based reading disability, yet some have reported motor impairments, usually attributed to cerebellar dysfunction.

Methods: Using fMRI, we compared children with and without dyslexia during irregularly paced, left or right-hand finger tapping. Next, we examined seed-to-voxel intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) using six seed regions of the motor system (left and right anterior lobe of the cerebellum, SM1 and SMA).

A systems immunology study comparing innate and adaptive immune responses in adults to COVID-19 mRNA and adenovirus vectored vaccines.

Identifying the molecular mechanisms that promote optimal immune responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is critical for future rational vaccine design. Here, we longitudinally profile innate and adaptive immune responses in 102 adults after the first, second, and third doses of mRNA or adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccines. Using a multi-omics approach, we identify key differences in the immune responses induced by ChAdOx1-S and BNT162b2 that correlate with antigen-specific antibody and T cell responses or vaccine reactogenicity.

More Drug Monitoring and Less CT Scans of the Brain: Gabapentin Overdose in Two Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

In parallel with the decline of renal excretory function, drug dosing of many drugs becomes more challenging. Finding the right dose is even more difficult if kidney replacement therapy is instituted. This is further aggravated by the fact that even for substances with a narrow therapeutic range, drug monitoring is only rarely offered, let alone advocated.

Gray matter volume differences between early bilinguals and monolinguals: A study of children and adults.

Gray matter has been shown to be greater in early bilingual adults relative to monolingual adults in regions associated with language (Mechelli et al., 2004), and executive control (EC; Olulade et al., 2016).

The Role of Brain Activity in Characterizing Successful Reading Intervention in Children With Dyslexia.

Studies of reading intervention in dyslexia have shown changes in performance and in brain function. However, there is little consistency in the location of brain regions associated with successful reading gains in children, most likely due to variability/limitations in methodologies (study design, participant criteria, and neuroimaging procedures). Ultimately for the results to be meaningful, the intervention has to be successful, be assessed against a control, use rigorous statistics, and take biological variables (sex) into consideration.

The relationship between phonological processing and arithmetic in children with learning disabilities.

Phonological processing skills have not only been shown to be important for reading skills, but also for arithmetic skills. Specifically, previous research in typically developing children has suggested that phonological processing skills may be more closely related to arithmetic problems that are solved through fact retrieval (e.g.

Safety and efficacy of the Seraph® 100 Microbind® Affinity Blood Filter to remove bacteria from the blood stream: results of the first in human study.

Background: Bacterial burden as well as duration of bacteremia influence the outcome of patients with bloodstream infections. Promptly decreasing bacterial load in the blood by using extracorporeal devices in addition to anti-infective therapy has recently been explored. Preclinical studies with the Seraph® 100 Microbind® Affinity Blood Filter (Seraph® 100), which consists of heparin that is covalently bound to polymer beads, have demonstrated an effective binding of bacteria and viruses.

Functional neuroanatomy of English word reading in early bilingual and monolingual adults.

Skilled reading is important in daily life. While the understanding of the neurofunctional organization of this uniquely human skill has advanced significantly, it does not take into consideration the common bilingual experiences around the world. To examine the role of early bilingualism on the neural substrates supporting English word processing, we compared brain activity, as well as functional connectivity, in Spanish-English early bilingual adults (N = 25) and English monolingual adults (N = 33) during single-word processing.

Dorsal visual stream activity during coherent motion processing is not related to math ability or dyscalculia.

Math disability (MD) or developmental dyscalculia is a highly prevalent learning disability involving deficits in computation and arithmetic fact retrieval and is associated with dysfunction of parietal and prefrontal cortices. It has been suggested that dyscalculia (and other learning disabilities and developmental disorders) can be viewed in terms of a broader 'dorsal stream vulnerability,' which could explain a range of dorsal visual stream function deficits, including poor coherent visual motion perception. Behavioral evidence from two studies in typical children has linked performance on visual motion perception to math ability, and a third behavioral study reported poorer visual motion perception in a small group of children with MD compared to controls.

The immunotoxicity, but not anti-tumor efficacy, of anti-CD40 and anti-CD137 immunotherapies is dependent on the gut microbiota.

Immune agonist antibodies (IAAs) are promising immunotherapies that target co-stimulatory receptors to induce potent anti-tumor immune responses, particularly when combined with checkpoint inhibitors. Unfortunately, their clinical translation is hampered by serious dose-limiting, immune-mediated toxicities, including high-grade and sometimes fatal liver damage, cytokine release syndrome (CRS), and colitis. We show that the immunotoxicity, induced by the IAAs anti-CD40 and anti-CD137, is dependent on the gut microbiota.

In vitro and in vivo drug screens of tumor cells identify novel therapies for high-risk child cancer.

Biomarkers which better match anticancer drugs with cancer driver genes hold the promise of improved clinical responses and cure rates. We developed a precision medicine platform of rapid high-throughput drug screening (HTS) and patient-derived xenografting (PDX) of primary tumor tissue, and evaluated its potential for treatment identification among 56 consecutively enrolled high-risk pediatric cancer patients, compared with conventional molecular genomics and transcriptomics. Drug hits were seen in the majority of HTS and PDX screens, which identified therapeutic options for 10 patients for whom no targetable molecular lesions could be found.

Assisted peritoneal dialysis across Europe: Practice variation and factors associated with availability.

Background: In Europe, the number of elderly end-stage kidney disease patients is increasing. Few of those patients receive peritoneal dialysis (PD), as many cannot perform PD autonomously. Assisted PD programmes are available in most European countries, but the percentage of patients receiving assisted PD varies considerably.

Fosfomycin single- and multiple-dose pharmacokinetics in patients undergoing prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy.

Background: Fosfomycin is used increasingly in the treatment of MDR bacteria. It is eliminated by renal excretion, but data regarding dosing recommendations for patients undergoing modern means of renal replacement therapies are scarce.

Objectives: Evaluation of the pharmacokinetics (PK) of fosfomycin in patients undergoing prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy (PIRRT) to guide dosing recommendations.

The composition of the gut microbiota following early-life antibiotic exposure affects host health and longevity in later life.

Studies investigating whether there is a causative link between the gut microbiota and lifespan have largely been restricted to invertebrates or to mice with a reduced lifespan because of a genetic deficiency. We investigate the effect of early-life antibiotic exposure on otherwise healthy, normal chow-fed, wild-type mice, monitoring these mice for more than 700 days in comparison with untreated control mice. We demonstrate the emergence of two different low-diversity community types, post-antibiotic microbiota (PAM) I and PAM II, following antibiotic exposure.

Barriers and opportunities to increase PD incidence and prevalence: Lessons from a European Survey.

Introduction: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains underutilised and unplanned start of dialysis further diminishes the likelihood of patients starting on PD, although outcomes are equal to haemodialysis (HD).

Methods: A survey was sent to members of EuroPD and regional societies presenting a case vignette of a 48-year-old woman not previously known to the nephrology department and who arrives at the emergency department with established end-stage kidney disease (unplanned start), asking which dialysis modality would most likely be chosen at their respective centre. We assessed associations between the modality choices for this case vignette and centre characteristics and PD-related practices.

Functional neuroanatomy of arithmetic in monolingual and bilingual adults and children.

Prior studies on the brain bases of arithmetic have not focused on (or even described) their participants' language backgrounds. Yet, unlike monolinguals, early bilinguals have the capacity to solve arithmetic problems in both of their two languages. This raises the question whether this ability, or any other experience that comes with being bilingual, affects brain activity for arithmetic in bilinguals relative to monolinguals.

Dual Targeting of Chromatin Stability By The Curaxin CBL0137 and Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Panobinostat Shows Significant Preclinical Efficacy in Neuroblastoma.

Purpose: We investigated whether targeting chromatin stability through a combination of the curaxin CBL0137 with the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, panobinostat, constitutes an effective multimodal treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma.

Experimental Design: The effects of the drug combination on cancer growth were examined and in animal models of -amplified neuroblastoma. The molecular mechanisms of action were analyzed by multiple techniques including whole transcriptome profiling, immune deconvolution analysis, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, assays to assess cell growth and apoptosis, and a range of cell-based reporter systems to examine histone eviction, heterochromatin transcription, and chromatin compaction.

The relationship between brain structure and proficiency in reading and mathematics in children, adolescents, and emerging adults.

Behavioral and brain imaging studies speak to commonalities between reading and math. Here, we investigated relationships between individual differences in reading and math ability (single word reading and calculation) with brain anatomy (cortical thickness and surface area) in 342 participants between 6-22 years of age from the NIH Pediatric MRI Database. We found no brain-behavioral correlations in the full sample.

[Standardized histomorphological processing of peritoneal biopsies as part of the German Peritoneal Biopsy Registry (GRIP, German registry in PD)].

The peritoneal lining of the abdominal cavity consists of a parietal and visceral sheet. The serosa is an interesting organ, which in medical practice is particularly important in the context of chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD). This method of renal replacement therapy utilizes the semipermeability of the peritoneal surface by applying PD solutions of differing osmolarity to eliminate toxic substances and regulate fluid and electrolyte equilibrium.

Elimination of from the bloodstream using a novel biomimetic sorbent haemoperfusion device.

Removal of bacteria from the blood by means of extracorporeal techniques has been attempted for decades. In late 2019, the European Union licensed the first ever haemoperfusion device for removal of bacteria from the blood. The active ingredient of Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter is ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene beads with endpoint-attached heparin.

elimination of anti-infective drugs by the Seraph 100 Microbind affinity blood filter.

Background: In August 2019, the European Union licensed the first ever haemoperfusion device aimed to reduce pathogens in the blood. The core of the adsorber consists of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene beads with endpoint-attached heparin. These beads utilize pathogen inherent adhesion mechanisms to reduce pathogen load.